Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Incompetence Drives Me Insane

Last night, our DVR receiver died.

At first, it wasn't dead, it was only sick. The picture cut in and out, and it kept flashing messages about trying to connect to the satellite. Eventually, resetting it got me locked into nothing while it failed to download satellite info. So I bit the bullet and called DirecTV. He had me switch the satellite 1 and 2 cables and hit reset.

THEN it died.

"Oh, gee, I'm sorry, our only option now is to send you a replacement receiver." He totally ignored me all three times I said this was the third receiver in less than a year, and why did they keep sending us crap?

Yeah, I know, I'd switch to Verizon FiOS in an instant, but DirecTV holds us hostage with their exclusive contract with the NFL. I can't live without the NFL Sunday Ticket. Well, I can, but I don't have to, so I refuse to. That's what keeps my husband married to me, you know. :)

So that's our choice, which means I have to deal with crap and idiots. Hey, at least it happened in the summer. If it had happened during the regular season, and I'd lost the entire season of Supernatural? You'd have heard the roar of fury, no matter where on the planet you are.

But that's not all. The frustration continues. Today I got an e-mail that my mortgage statement was ready for viewing. For the third month in a row, I can't open it. I get a blank screen, no matter what browser I'm using. I double checked, and Adobe Reader is completely up to date. I can open every other PDF I try, from any other site I've been on. I can open all statements prior to May. But May, June, and July, I can't open. Last month I sent an e-mail, and got what was probably an automated response that they were mailing copies and for future convenience, I could go to the website to access my statements from my account...

So today I called them. The CSR tells me there's no problem from their end. Asks me if I consulted a computer professional. What the ? I asked for technical support and got an "I'm sorry, ma'am."

There's no upside to this one.

I'm not paying a computer professional because of this random, specific glitch. It would be different if I was having a problem with all PDFs, or even just random, specific PDFs from other sites. But it's just this one.

I supposed I'll have to go spend time I don't have looking for smart, competent people on some forums somewhere that might have a solution. God forbid the mortgage company should HIRE SOME OF THEM.

5 comments:

vickyb said...

Good luck. Similar issue happened with our bank - took nearly two hours of us sitting in their office recreating the problem that they didn't understand - but did eventually fix - with our help!

MJFredrick said...

HUGS on your loss.

I have the same computer issues with Progressive insurance. They do not like Macs. Considering they're an online country, and many many people have Macs, you'd think they'd address this.

Natalie J. Damschroder said...

Hell, Bix, I'm not doing that! I'll just switch back to paper statements. LOL

I empathize about the Mac thing, MJ. My BIL used to bitch about them when he did web stuff. I told him to suck it up. It's not that hard to fulfill the tech requirements to make your stuff accessible to everyone. But they act like it's our fault and we should bow to an inferior platform just because all the sheep do it!

Cindy Procter-King said...

We've had our DVR replaced at least 3 times in the 3 years we've had one. Good thing it doesn't cost us to replace it, because that's an awful record.

Natalie J. Damschroder said...

I wonder if it's the same manufacturer, Cindy. :)

The thing is, we don't have to pay for the unit, since we're essentially leasing it for no cost (just the monthly DVR service fee) but I have to pay $22 for shipping every time. So I'm up to $66. One more time, and it would be better to buy a new one, than take a chance on their refurbished ones!