Turley Juvenile Zin 2005 in the Reidel stemless red wine glass, "Adrenaline" by Gavin Rossdale (from XXX) on iTunes. I usually post between 7:45 and 8:45 so I am right on target. But I am off target because it's 7:52 PM, not AM. Today, today... oh boy. Let me 'splain... no, that would take too long. Let me sum up.
PTA meeting, check. Ikebana, check. New air conditioning unit installed (a honking big sucker), check. Kiln load in, check. Painting done (not much), check. Electricity on? Oh so NOT check.
The studio is located in a house that is a bank foreclosure. It's been vacant for over two years so before the electricity can be turned on, it needs an inspection from the City of Atlanta. Add to that that I want to upgrade the service from 100 amp to 200 amp (can you say Big Bertha Mark II?) and we have inspections galore. It was tedious, but it is DONE (I have an INCREDIBLE electrician). So I call on Friday to ask Georgia Power to turn my service (finally) on. They say Monday, I say Okay! It's Monday. When no one has shown to light my fire by 2:00 pm I call again to make sure I am in the system. Sure nuff--sometime before 7:00 pm.
Yawn. 6:00 pm and no one has shown and, hey, I KNOW no one is going to show up before 7:00 pm. I call again and I am told "my service will be on within 3-5 business days". I ask, 3-5 business days from when? From the date the inspection was finished? The day I put the order in? The due date? When?!? "3-5 business days from the due date." So why call it a due date if it's not actually DUE for 3-5 business days?
And while we're on the subject, it's the year 2007, people. There is NO reason why a power company--who presumably turns on electrical service for people as a primary part of their business--needs to have a 3-5 day window to perform a routine meter install, wire run. When I ask what the issue is, I am told it takes a truck and a crew and so it takes longer than a normal flip-the-power-on call. Okay, so it takes longer. You must know how much longer and you just schedule it WITHIN A PREDETERMINED WINDOW. You are a POWER company, you do this for a living. I am completely dumbfounded to be told that "they could show up in 10 minutes or it could be 3-5 business days...".
The satellite dish company can give me a four-hour window for a complete install, why does the power company need 3-5 BUSINESS DAYS? I'll tell you why, they have the monopoly and, as the only game in town, they don't have to know what they're doing. The next time someone says socialized anything to me I think I might have to bodily harm them.
Postscript from Dave: Poland 1983, a man in a apartment has an electrical issue and calls an electrician. The electrician comes and says, "I think we can fix your problem. I'll put you on the list. It'll be three years.". The mans queries, "Three years in the morning, or three years in the afternoon?" "Why do you ask?" "Because the plumber said three years before noon."
I'll regale you with termite tales tomorrow.
5 comments:
It's hard to imagine any monopoly caring in the slightest for the public that they ostensibly work for.
oh the joy of dealing with the wonderfull utility company! hopefully you'll be on by the end of the week. is this the advantage of the deregulation here?
D
You know, I don't know what the issue is. People always complain about the phone company and deregulation, but I've had nothing but good service with the land-line phone company (Cingular was another story--and they have gone the way of the dodo).
Absorbed by a bigger dodo?
Naw, I actually like AT&T. (And doesn't that feel like it's come full circle! Aren't they the ones we broke up 20-30 years ago?)
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