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| This image was created with the Canon 100-400mm IS L zoom lens handheld at 180mm with the EOS-1D MIV. ISO 800. Evaluative Metering +1 1/3 stops: 1/15 sec. at f/11. Denise Ippolito and I are hard at work on “The Guide to Pleasing Blurs.” |
Midday on Tuesday we lost our internet services. We called Verizon DSL for service. We are somewhat in the boonies and only Verizon provides DSL service in Indian Lake Estates but to call it “High Speed Internet” even on a good day is ludicrous 🙂 In addition to finding the telephone menu nearly impossible to navigate, I was connected to the wrong department several times by humans. When I finally did get to the right place we spend 2 1/2 hours on the phone that afternoon following their trouble-shooting suggestions. We were told that they could not escalate the case because the lines tested perfectly from their end. In the meantime we could receive e-mails but not send them and could not connect to any web site. After another 2 hours on the phone that evening repeating the same tests that we did that afternoon, we were told that the case was being escalated to Level 2, the Network Level, and that they would be calling us within 24-48 hours. They never did call us. In the meantime, I called to order an additional DSL line and some additional phone services in part to reduce bandwidth problems and in part tin hopes of having the current problems fixed. They agreed to send us one new modem free of charge but could not schedule a tehnician visit until Friday, June 17. The technician was to bring a second modem. On Wednesday afternoon I called back, spent another two hours on the phone doing the same tests, and again was told that the case could not be escalated further because the lines tested perfectly from their end. This time they determined that our modem was faulty. We knew that that was not the case. Why? On Day 1 Robert O’Toole had driven to Winter Haven (a nearly 2 hour round trip) to purchase a new modem from Staples. He got back, we installed the modem, and spent another 1 1/2 hours on the phone following Verizon’s directions. The same problem persisted: no internet. No outgoing e-mail.
Later on Wednesday, i think–I am getting confused with the dates and times–I called back to order a third DSL lines (to handle my laptop wireless and further reduce bandwith problems). This gentleman gave me a number so that I could reach Level 3. I called, they told me that I should not be calling that number, and then shocked me by telling me that the ticket had been closed by the Network Level . I got back on the phone, was subjected to another two hours of the same tests, and was finally told that the case was being escalated to the Supervisory Level. That resulted in more of the same: hours of needless testing by phone with us begging that a technician be sent to the BAA home-office. The result: still no internet service. Ann, the supervisor whom we were speaking with, promised to call on Thursday to help us install the modem that was being sent. She had stated that her two hours of testing showed that the modem was the problem. (Do note that the modem would not have been sent had I not order additional services from Verizon.) She did call and called back at 3:20 pm on Thursday. She was confident that we would soon have internet services. I spent an hour on the phone with her installing the modem and trying to “register it with Verizon.” Nothing. Then I gave the phone to Jim who spent two more hours doing “testing.” On Thursday evening after consulting many times with “the central office” Ann stated that she needed to consult more with the central office and promised to call Jim back Thursday evening. She never did.
Currently we can receive e-mails but not send them. Folks who have ordered Site Guides, MII, MIV, and 7D Guides, and Digital Basics have been e-mailing to ask where their PDFs were. Not only have we not been able to send them but we cannot even reply to their e-mails. We have no internet services. We are unable to access the BAA On-Line Store or to process our mail orders. We do appreciate your patience. My best advice at present for those wishing to have product shipped is to call Jim today (Friday) before 1pm.
I posted this while on line at the Orlando Airport Courtyard Marriott on my way to Barrow, AK for 8 days of tundra photography. I do hope that Verizon is able to get us back on line soon….
On a different and happier note…I am REALLY looking forward to that guide on “pleasing blurs” that you and Denise are working on!
Hi Nancy, We are working hard on it 🙂 But I did not say anything about being unhappy; remember, I am a lover of what is. I will admit to the situation being mildly frustrating. We are back on line as of today, Monday.
Can you access internet/receive and send e-mail from another person’s computer?
If yes, the problem is on your end with computer (firewall?).
If no try another person’s computer with a different router.
If no try another person’s computer and router at a different location.
Good luck.
It was totally a Verizon screw-up. See the next blog post 🙂
You can bypass your e-mail problems by using a web e-mail client like GMail.
Bill, I have a G-mail account. Our problem is not an e-mail problem; I I stated originally, we cannot get online…
Verizon finally sent a technician on Friday; it turns out that the new modem that they sent was no good…. So now we are back to square one.
artie:
It may be the reason you can’t send email is that you have the wrong settings for the Outgoing server called the SMTP server. That’s usually the case when you can receive email but not send it.
Check and make sure they are the settings that Verizon needs (or that Verizon hasn’t changed them and not told the users).
A few months ago I had a similar situation here in the UK. However complaints to British Telecom, my supplier, means you are transferred to their ‘technical services’ lines operated from a call centre in INDIA because it is cheaper for BT to maintain a call centre in India than here in the UK. With all due respect to the Indian operators, they are very polite and try to be helpful but many of them have very strong accents and are difficult to understand. I was asked to go through a series of tests and was then told that the BT line was perfectly alright, except I could still not access the internet or receive e-mails, therefore it must be my computer that was at fault. I replied that I had tried different computers but was still not able to access the internet and other people were having the same problems in my area. Still I was told the line was perfectly OK – still I could not access the internet, and I had to try more tests. Each session lasted up to two hours with no positive result and this went on for several days with a different operator in India going through the same tests with the same negative results. Finally I was told it was the router that was at fault and a new one would be supplied. On the fifth day my connection was miraculously returned and two days later the new router arrived. Think yourself lucky Artie that your supplier does not decide to increase their profits by using call centres in INDIA.
Wow, I thought Comcast was bad having spent many hours on the phone with them, but this is beyond outrageous. Thank you from warning us all about Verizon and there total lack of customer care.
I went through the same kind of drill with Verizon as well just this week. I spent 4 hours with Verizon (Philippines) one day only to have them tell me that my problem was my Linksys router and that I needed to contact them. After a paid call to Linksys (India) (My router was out of warranty.) I was told that the problem was not theirs. The router worked fine! Linksys pinpointed the problem on a faulty Verizon modem. Back to Verizon. Replaced the Verizon modem with a new one that a tech from Verizon had left behind on a previous call. All was well. So I wasted approximately 6 hours speaking with techs around the globe to solve a problem that should have been fixed in a few minutes! I empathize with your Verizon hell!
And this was Verizon? And here I thought only AT&T was able to give this level of absurd customer service.
I feel your pain, Arthur. I went through the same thing last year and it took me three weeks to get it all resolved (and, by resolved, I mean I ended up changing Internet providers as AT&T never were able to figure out why my line ‘all of a sudden’ stopped working.) It’s very frustrating to say the least!
Yes Verizon. I just spoke to Jim and they are sending someone to the house this afternoon…. As I am a lover of what is (http://www.thework.com) there is no pain or anger. Just a bit of frustration 🙂