Mary's Finest Hour
When Mary and I first moved to Guadalajara, we tried to get a cable modem installed so that we could access the Internet at a high speed. We signed a contract with Cybercable and gave them a security deposit. Then we waited. And then we waited some more. Finally, when we started demanding some answers, they told us that there had been a problem with customs at the border over the cable modems Cybercable was trying to import. We would have to wait six more weeks before we could get our modem.
We decided not to wait and instead decided to get Internet service via the telephone from another company. This other company had us hooked up in 24 hours. Meanwhile, it took numerous telephone calls and two trips to the cable company before we were finally able to get our deposit back from Cybercable. Right after finally getting our deposit back, Cybercable came around and cut the cable leading from a telephone pole to our house. They just cut the cable off at the pole and left the cable dangling down the front of our house and across the front lawn. I was so pissed off at their rudeness.
Months passed and my anger slowly cooled down. We met Sam and he got us interested in getting a cable modem again. Cybercable was, of course, a monopoly. If we wanted cable Internet, then we had to get it from them. Surely they must have gotten the modems across the border by now. So I called them (Mary was back in the States at this point in time). They sent somebody out and I paid another deposit via credit card. Side note: customers can dispute charges on US issued credit cards, but not on Mexican issued ones.
Ten days after paying the deposit two guys showed up with the cable modem, but they said the existing cable was not the correct type - it would only carry television signals, not digital ones (in order to get cable Internet you have to buy the television signal as well). Sam called Cybercable to get the correct cable installed.
I waited. Then I waited some more. I had Sam call them several more times. Finally, after two months of waiting they did the cable installation. Even then things weren't finished. Sam came over and configured the modem and got the account activated.
We were finally on the net at cable modem speeds and it was wonderful. Web pages loaded in the blink of an eye, complete with graphics. Things were so fast that we invested in a router so Mary and I could both be surfing the net at the same time. Life was good -- until Cybercable cut us off.
One afternoon the net mysteriously quit working. I rebooted the computers, the cable modem, and the router - several times. No Internet, but we still had a television signal. It was very mysterious.
The next day (our connection quit just before businesses close down for the day), Mary called up Cybercable. They told her that we had been disconnected because of non-payment. No email warning, no paper mail warning - just termination at the end of the day with no notice whatsoever. I was livid at the arrogance. Mary was more laid back, attributing everything to inefficiency.
We immediately drove to Cybercable's office. There was very little parking, of course, so I sat in the car as Mary went in to talk. She came back out 15 minutes later with a small smile. She had talked to a supervisor and pointed out that our coupon book's first payment coupon was for the month of September, that we had paid it already, and that the deal was that we were supposed to get one month free for signing up.
The supervisor agreed that we did not owe any money and said our Internet connection would be turned on later that day. Mary didn't get any apology, of course. They had cut us off without warning when we didn't owe any money, but that was tough shit. They were a monopoly and we could take it or leave it.
We went back home. We checked the connection every hour, but no Internet. Mary called and called. Finally she got through on one number and was told to call another number. They said we would soon be connected.
Hours later, still no connection. Then Mary was told that the computer showed we still owed money. Mary asked to speak to a supervisor. She was told they had left for the day. Finally, after eight hours of waiting, we gave up for the day as the business closed. Obviously no reconnection order had ever been generated and passed on to the technical department. They had flat out lied to Mary at every step of the way.
The next day Mary called and asked to speak to a supervisor whose name she had gotten the previous day. The lying started immediately. "That person is on vacation."
Mary asked to speak to that person's supervisor. Finally she was put through. Mary managed to arrange a meeting with that person. During the conversation Mary mentioned that the first person she had tried to talk with was on vacation. "Oh no" was the response. That person just walked by my desk ten minutes ago.
We girded up our loins (whatever that means) and drove back to Cybercable. This time I found a parking spot and went along with Mary for moral support. I might not be able to speak much Spanish, but I could smack someone in the face - that's how mad as I was.
We were buzzed through an electrically locked gate to get to the receptionist. We stated that we were there for a meeting with a supervisor. After a 15 minute wait, another iron gate leading deeper into the building opened to let two people in to talk with us as we stood in front of the receptionists desk.
I didn't know it at the time, but these were two low level flunkies sent out to deal with us. Mary knew it, though. I was just a witness to what happened next, but it was something else. Mary's Spanish got louder and faster. She crouched down a little and leaned forward as she started telling off the two flunkies. As she moved forward, spitting out Spanish at a speed I had never seen, the flunkies moved backward. Every time they tried to get a word in edgewise, Mary raised her voice and yelled out "NO". She refused to let them peddle their lies and evasions. Mary was in full battle mode. A berserker Viking would have turned tail and run.
The flunkies gave up and retreated to the other side of the iron gate. They promised to send back a supervisor.
Mary and I waited in the middle of the suddenly quiet room. Suddenly another customer who had witnessed Mary's controlled explosion walked up to her and warmly grasped her hand. "Bravo", he loudly said to her as he shook her hand. "There should be more people like you." He thought Mary was magnificent. Apparently other people think Cybercable sucks too.
After a couple of minutes someone unlocked the gate let us into the inner sanctum. We were shown into a meeting room where the supervisor who had agreed to meet us finally made an appearance. After quite a bit of discussion we agreed to pay the August fee. Mary pointed out that we had received no notice and had no coupon for August, so wasn't it kind of rude to just disconnect us.
That was like pouring water on a duck's back - it just rolled right off. The supervisor told us to go stand in line and make our payment outside. Mary told him what he could do with that idea, so the supervisor trotted off like a good little boy and made the payment for us. Then Mary made him give us a written statement that our Internet connection would be turned on that day.
When we got home, there was a message on the answering machine from the supervisor. He used the word "ok" after almost every sentence - no apology, but he wanted to make sure everything was being done to get our connection back. He even included instructions on how to reboot the modem so that we would be re-connected. I don't think he wanted Mary to come back again.
I think I'll get a bumper sticker printed up. It will say,
Don't Mess With Mary