Blow up your television
Editor's note: There's a sweet irony to this post; it is National TV-Turnoff Week. Synergy, baby, synergy.
Whoops. My fault. I put it out there to the universe – and see what I get?
I’ve been wrestling with television.
Satellite television.
I watch about five channels on any regular basis: Food TV, Discovery, NFL Network, ESPN, the Travel Channel.
Mostly, I listen to Sirius Satellite Radio, which is a perk if you have Dish.
Only I have to get the 200-channel package to get Sirius.
Why not just get Sirius in the car – and then get the $49 docking station for the radio and run it through my stereo system?
That was the debate I was having in my head. It was the message I sent to the Universe.
And the Law of Attraction made the decision for me.
Last month, I dumped my land telephone line with AT&T. Bundled with that was my Dish contract.
“You’d like to keep Dish, correct?” the person on the phone said.
“Yeah, but I need to dump HBO and Cinemax.”
“No problem, we’ll go with America’s Top 200 package, which includes all the great music choices with Sirius Satellite Radio. Anything else I can do for you today?”
“No, thanks.”
Tuesday, I get home to no satellite signal.
“OK, I see the problem,” Todd at Dish said. “AT&T didn’t debundle the package.”
“What’s that mean?”
“Can I put you on hold for a few minutes?”
“Sure.”
“Ahh, sorry for the long wait,” Todd said about five minutes later. “Ahhh, it means you’d have to start all over as a new customer and I’d have to rebuild your package from scratch.”
“And that means?”
“You’d have to pay the $50 activation fee, set up the account with a new credit card and pay the first two months. Oh, and we’d have to send out a technician to re-install new equipment, meaning a service call.”
“Todd, why would I want to do that?”
“Ahhh, well, there’s nothing we can do here at Dish. AT&T bundled it and they messed up. I wish I could just turn it back on, but I can’t.”
“So you’re willing to lose a five-year customer because you can’t just re-activate the account.”
“Ahhh, yeah. Sorry.”
“So my options are to pay you about $200 to recreate the account, or what?”
“Our we ship you out a box to send back the equipment.”
“Todd?”
“Yes, sir?”
“Send the box.”
And the decision is made.
I’ll get Sirius, which I wanted anyway, for substantially less than satellite or cable television.
And rely on the goodness of my friends when football season rolls around.
Whoops. My fault. I put it out there to the universe – and see what I get?
I’ve been wrestling with television.
Satellite television.
I watch about five channels on any regular basis: Food TV, Discovery, NFL Network, ESPN, the Travel Channel.
Mostly, I listen to Sirius Satellite Radio, which is a perk if you have Dish.
Only I have to get the 200-channel package to get Sirius.
Why not just get Sirius in the car – and then get the $49 docking station for the radio and run it through my stereo system?
That was the debate I was having in my head. It was the message I sent to the Universe.
And the Law of Attraction made the decision for me.
Last month, I dumped my land telephone line with AT&T. Bundled with that was my Dish contract.
“You’d like to keep Dish, correct?” the person on the phone said.
“Yeah, but I need to dump HBO and Cinemax.”
“No problem, we’ll go with America’s Top 200 package, which includes all the great music choices with Sirius Satellite Radio. Anything else I can do for you today?”
“No, thanks.”
Tuesday, I get home to no satellite signal.
“OK, I see the problem,” Todd at Dish said. “AT&T didn’t debundle the package.”
“What’s that mean?”
“Can I put you on hold for a few minutes?”
“Sure.”
“Ahh, sorry for the long wait,” Todd said about five minutes later. “Ahhh, it means you’d have to start all over as a new customer and I’d have to rebuild your package from scratch.”
“And that means?”
“You’d have to pay the $50 activation fee, set up the account with a new credit card and pay the first two months. Oh, and we’d have to send out a technician to re-install new equipment, meaning a service call.”
“Todd, why would I want to do that?”
“Ahhh, well, there’s nothing we can do here at Dish. AT&T bundled it and they messed up. I wish I could just turn it back on, but I can’t.”
“So you’re willing to lose a five-year customer because you can’t just re-activate the account.”
“Ahhh, yeah. Sorry.”
“So my options are to pay you about $200 to recreate the account, or what?”
“Our we ship you out a box to send back the equipment.”
“Todd?”
“Yes, sir?”
“Send the box.”
And the decision is made.
I’ll get Sirius, which I wanted anyway, for substantially less than satellite or cable television.
And rely on the goodness of my friends when football season rolls around.
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