The Accidental Change Agent: Do As I Say, Not As I Do

Over the course of my career, particularly the last 20 years as chief marketing officer for large accounting firms, I prided myself as a change agent. My role in coming to a firm was to implement programs that would raise a firm’s public persona, improve its external and internal communications, increase the knowledge of its team members, further their professional development, and ultimately, help increase revenues to the firm. I embraced change — when it came to others.

It’s always harder at home. As the old saying goes, if something ain’t broke, don’t fix it. But things start to gnaw at you, and things repeatedly break, and then you feel it’s time for a change, even when change comes hard.

So after almost five years, I could not stand the thought of one more lengthy conversation with Xfinity/Comcast over why my cable or Internet was out. I did not want to hear one more automated phone call instructing me to tighten my cables and unplug/ replug everything. Simply put, we were spending too much money for poor service.

As I sat at my desk , I could literally see our cable exposed from its cable box for months, dragging across our neighbor’s yards, exposed to lawn mowers, foot traffic, car traffic, animals, and more. The same situation existed with other Comcast cable boxes in our neighborhood. It was time to make a break.

Several people we know were very pleased with AT&T, so we went to the local store for a look-see, with our Xfinity bill in hand. Come to find out, AT&T could provide us with the same level of television and internet service for less than half the price. We were willing to try the 14-day free trial and scheduled the in-house visit.

That visit included a technical support person, who handled the cable install, as well as a customer support person. We showed him our cell phone bill. Though we have always been pleased with Verizon, we were paying $250 a month for three lines with unlimited text and data. AT&T offered us three lines with unlimited text and data, plus three brand new iPhone 11s, for $150/ month. Bye-bye, Verizon.

In short, our monthly bills for cable, television and telephone will drop from $500 to less than $300. That is serious money over the course of a year. So far, so good with service.

But here’s my one complaint. And it is directed at all the 20- and 30-somethings who tell people of our generation that every function we need to do on our own will be easy. No worries. Click, click, click and installation will be done.

Allan and I successfully installed the AT&T television box once it arrived. The instructions were only four steps, both in pictures and words, much easier than his expert-level Lego sets. But it was not as easy to set-up the voice activated remote control. You were given the option to “skip” Google Assistant, which we did, but with no indication that skipping this step negated voice activation. Ninety minutes later, we figured that out, logged on to Google Assistant, and voice activated our remote control.

All in all, the AT&T experience was not bad. In each instance, we were able to deal with real people, who gave us phone numbers and email addresses. And theirs was an office we could visit. The young man at the AT&T even went on line and located what router we needed to buy at BestBuy, which we dutifully purchased.

If I had a complaint — and there is always something to complain about — it would be that I now have three separate accounts with AT&T: one for television service; one for internet; and one for phone. So that’s three payments to track, etc. Seems like a company that large and that smart (?) could consolidate billing…

So let’s talk about Verizon. We needed to do two functions: transfer our phones to AT&T and discontinue service. The process seemed a bit more complicated since our daughter, on our family plan, lives half a country away.

No one in the local Verizon store could help us; nor would they even let us inside the store. Literally. We were stopped at the door and referred to a 1-800 number. First, there was a 90-minute call, so long in part after remaining on hold for at least 30 minutes. The call seemed to be going well until the final step — getting a transfer pin for our daughter. Then radio silence with no call back.

After giving up on a call back, my husband called Verizon again, sat on hold for 30 minutes, and talked to a competent individual who, within 10 minutes, produced the pin number, communicated with our daughter, and the transfer was complete.

We have since learned that Verizon offers a tremendously discounted senior rate that would have reduced our monthly bill. Shame on us for never calling to inquire; shame on Verizon for not publicizing such a rate. In the end, Verizon lost a long-standing, loyal customer.

To add insult to injury, I have received multiple emails and phone calls over the past month from Comcast, notifying that it was past due time to return my Comcast equipment. That equipment was returned, in person, to a Comcast store on Dec. 11, 2020, because I was not willing to trust a shipping service prior to the holidays. One month later, Comcast still calls, looking for their equipment.

To say this process of changing our cable, internet and telephone providers was an experience from hell is an understatement. And it is an understatement because we didn’t have “live people” to talk to across a desk anymore. Someone to talk us through a process. To show us how to do things. To help us through technology. The follow-up that was promised, after the initial home visit, simply wasn’t there, for us or for our daughter.

Our generation is not a tech savvy generation. Or if it is a tech savvy generation, Allan and I missed that bus. Please don’t talk down to us and deliver on the service that you promised. All we want is to talk to a human being as we navigate our new “toys.”

I also need a new laptop. Help …