Lori Deschene

I wrote this on Sunday but just got around to posting it:

It is 6:30 PM. I’ve spent an entire sunny weekend day waiting for Netgear technical support. Six-and-a-half hours. I’m frustrated, tired, anxious, and irate. I’m antsy for someone to yell at.

A little back story: I live in an in-law apartment where all the utilities are included. Last week my landlord’s daughter accidentally did something to their router, and they took a week to address the problem. I’ve been working elsewhere for the last seven days. I’d like to work from home this week.

Fast forward to 11:00 AM today. I knocked on my landlord’s door to inquire about the Internet. It had been twenty minutes since I left my last location and checked Twitter. If I didn’t sign on soon, I’d be clueless about trending, and probably not make it ‘til tomorrow.

He told me they’d paid $199 for three months of 24/7 technical support. He gave me the phone number, a customer ID, and the last four digits of his credit card.

I called at noon and was put in the caller queue.

Elevator music.

Please hold. Someone will be with your shortly.

An hour and a half went by. I called back and explained my frustration to the man who routes calls—how much longer would I have to wait? Gmail won’t check itself, you know. He told me someone would call me back by 3:30.

We assure you, you’re our priority Ma’am.

When the phone hadn’t rung by 3:31, I was ready to call my lawyer. I called back. The same call router reminded me he’d told me to wait, and then hung up on me.

The horror!

I called back and was on hold for 25 minutes before reaching another call router, who told me I was the next priority. Someone would call me by 4:30.

4:45 and there was nary a Facebook update in sight.

I called back at 5:00 and once again a call router cut me off mid-tirade to put me back in the dreaded queue.

Please hold. Someone will be with your shortly.

By 5:30 I was ready to explode. I got a new call router on the phone and spewed the following in one labored breath:

“I’ve spent my entire Sunday waiting for you guys because I have work to do tomorrow—you know, that thing you’re supposed to be doing right now? I’ve been hung up on once, lied to twice, transferred three times, and pissed off more times than I can even count. Can someone please, please, pretty please help me get online? Please? Please?”

I’ve been on hold again for an hour.

Yes, this is the definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. But I’ve learned a few powerful things through this process.

I hate feeling out of control. But that’s life. I hate feeling I’ve been treated unfairly. But that’s life. I hate giving up on something I want when I want it now, and I feel it’s due. You can’t always get what you want. That’s life.

Is it crazy that I spent my whole day on-and-by the phone? Absolutely. But what’s crazier is how upset I became. That my leg started twitching, and I almost poked a hole in my palm with my nails while clenching my fist and grimacing.

That—while waiting for a call-back—I called my sister and complained about Netgear. Called my father and complained about Netgear. Called my mother and complained about Netgear. And generally decided today was the day that Netgear controlled my mood and choices.

There will be more never-ending queues. There will be other unconcerned customer service representatives. Yes, I’m talking metaphorically.

I can’t control external factors. I can’t make people do what I want them to do. But I can control how I respond to them. I can assess, accept, breathe, let go, and put things in perspective.

Thank you understaffed Netgear technical support for reminding me to change myself first.

by Lori Deschene, @lori_deschene on Twitter, Photo by wstera2

Tags: frustration, insanity, netgear