Posted on 12/31/2007 10:23:57 AM PST by 3AngelaD
...Like virtually everyone in America under 35, and like virtually no one over 35, I am now using only a cellphone. I have given up my land line. It happened almost by accident. One day, I changed my home phone service from Verizon to Comcast because Comcast had lowered its prices for a Special Introductory Offer. Right from the start, though, there were problems: People whom I phoned were telling me that my voice sounded like it was coming to them across a parking lot from the drive-through speaker at a Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits.
...soon afterward my phone went dead altogether. Comcast said it would send a guy over to see what was wrong, demanding the customary four-hour "window" during which I would have to stay home....So, I remained at home for four hours, obediently waiting for the Comcast man to come and make my land line phone work. He never arrived. When I finally contacted customer service, someone explained what had happened: Following company procedures, the repairman phoned my home first, and when no one answered the land line that was broken, he canceled the appointment on the theory that no one was home. It was at that very moment that I elected to officially terminate my service by yanking some wires out of the wall.
Things have gone reasonably well since, except for some rough spots related to the fact that I remain, at the center of my being, an old coot. For example, I see no reason to upgrade my cellphone, which I bought seven years ago...Also, I still use that faux-leather protective covering over my phone, which evidently, to young people, is as reliable a signal of fogydom as wearing sandals with socks....
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
...sounds so biological; too bad it's only about phones; I hate phones :)
So, about what does internet access cost without a land line?
The ONLY reason I have a land line is because we don’t have wifi in our way rural area yet - hence, the need for dialup. As soon as I can get a wireless connection, the landline is OUTTA HERE!!
wearing sandels with socks rules!!!
I love it!
I use wireless, $35 per month for DSL speed.
Thank you and Thank you. No service anymore. Just a bunch of greedy you know whats. Unfortunately Comcast bought out Road Runner and I am now forced to get my wireless from them. It’s been a mess from the start. If there is a week that goes by that I don’t have to call these guys; it’s a miracle. I am seriously thinking of calling Road Runner and making them take me back. I will not go to cable or phone service from these guys. I will never see or hear anything again.
Yep, only option for us is dial-up unless we want to shell out for a satellite feed. Sooner or later they’ll get cable or DSL out our way...
Good luck getting that cell phone to work inside buildings, and hope you have enough minutes to call people before night and weekends become free. I had the intention of killing my landline about two and a half years ago, and decided that poor call quality, lousy rate packages, and other problems were just not worth the hassle.
About 52 per month for hi speed internet access via Comcast. For about 110, I get digital cable with ‘some’ lesser movie channels, all of the high numbered digital channels, and the on demand library.
Is part of many peoples cable packages. Broadband is the ONLY way to go......
BAck in THE ice storm of ‘98, I was without power for 19 days. Needless to say, the portable phones were dead and the cell also, once the battery needed recharging.
It’s my old timey land line that keeps me with a safety link...
Comcast stand along internet broadband is $60 a month. They have all kinds of $20 a month for six months deals to get you to sign a contract. It is $40 a month if you also get their cable TV service, which keeps increasing in cost.
I got rid of my land line in 2004 and just used a cell until my x and I got back together. She “had” to have a land line.
When, if, I live alone again I am ditching the land line.
John
35 is his cut point? Is this going to be like the old running joke about people over 30 needing their kids to set their VCRs, despite the fact the kids are now well over 30 themselves?
I fired PacBell years ago, and never looked back. I love my Verizon phone, and plan, it’s cheaper than the lowest rate phone I had years ago, INCLUDING long distance. My land line was supposed to be $14 a month, but after taxes and fees and the Al Gore tax, it was over $35, their version of tech support is a living nightmare, and when i woke one day to find the phone line and DSL service I’d had for over 2 years was off, and later found they had no record of me as a customer and were blaming ME, I fired them and swore to never do business with them ever again.
Ihold my nose and use comcast for HSI, but as soon as wireless gets cheap enough, and I can transfer the files I need to (I’m a designer, I need to upload very large photoshop files), comcast is fired too.
The old dinosaurs are a waste of money. Spend a little extra on the extended batteries, get a charger for your desk at work, the car, and two at home (one for the kitchen/den, the other for next to the bed), and you’re good to go.
My cell serves many functions, the least of which is as an alarm clock.
As for Comcast they are becoming a monopoly and I’m looking forward to them being knocked down a few rungs.
Its true that if Comcast doesn’t get ahold of you they WILL cancel the appointment. I had them scheduled to come out a few months ago. I gave them my office landline number as I’m pretty much in a dead zone cell phone wise at my office. Anyways the phone rung and I picked it up - there was silence and then the line went dead. My intuition told me that it had been the Comcast guy. I waited for a few minutes for him to call me back. He never did! So I harassed Comcast customer service after they told me HE HAD CANCELLED MY APPOINTMENT! Never mind that HE was the one who hung up on me! Due to my determination and MANY phone calls (they were wanting me to wait 2 weeks again) the guy came out that evening and fixed my problem.
That isn’t the only problem I’ve had with Comcast. If you go to:
www.my3cents.com
or
www.consumerist.com
You will read plenty of horror stories about them.
Windstream bought out our Alltel phone service. Service down, prices UP. The thing I hate worst is the overseas computer “support”
Here’s my recent service call excerpt:
ok ma’am please click Start in the lower right hand corner of your desktop
I’m on a Mac
ok ma’am, just a minute. Then in your Internet Explorer...
I’m using Safari, I have an Apple computer
Thank you ma’am, then go to your desktop and click Start please ma’am.
I.AM.ON.A.MAC.COMPUTER. THERE.IS.NO.START.BUTTON.
and so on, several more times, including one time where she swore she got it, understood, PLEASE give her one more chance. ok ok, so I did and she said...
Thank you ma’am, now click the Start button.....
AT&T/Bellsouth just announced a dry-loop dsl service (no landline) for $19.95 per month. No contract. Available in service areas in limited states, where they currently offer telephone coverage.
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