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Shaw Cable had a melt down today and out Internet access and phone service went down at 1 p.m.  The Interwebs were down!

This is a Very Bad Thing, as we are launching a big Web site tomorrow.  Having no Internet access is a bad thing generally.  Having no Internet and no phone midday on a Monday—that’s very n.s.g.

Calling the Customer Service line; got a busy signal the first three times.  Not even voice mail—busy signal.  You remember busy signals, don’t you?  Very 1989.

But the best part was the the song playing when I finally got through to be put on hold. It was “You’re out of Touch,” by Hall & Oates.  I can’t think of a more perfect hold music for this situation.  Someone has a good sense of humor.

You’re out of touch/
I’m out of time/
But I’m out of my head when you’re not around

Followed by, and I kid you not, “Red Red Wine,” by UB40.

Red, red wine
Go to my head
Make me forget that i
Still need her so

Red, red wine
It`s up to you
All I can do, i’ve done
...
Red, red wine
Stay close to me
Don`t let me be alone

Oh Shaw, you post modern wry pop culture hold music player, you.

Update: I got through, they said, basically, “Yeah, there’s a big outage, we don’t know how long or why.” Service came back 35 minutes later at 1:35 p.m. And shortly thereafter, Shaw customer service called me back, unbidden, to make sure things were working O.K.  I forgive the busy signal.

Overheard

“The summer weather is expected to last well into next week.”

...who said it?

“Watch your step as you exit the train, and if you’re late, just remember that life is a lot like being on this train: we may not be there yet, but we’re getting there.”

...who said it?

“There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order.”

...who said it?

“Description: MySQL server has gone away”

...who said it?

“According to Golf Digest, from 1996 to 2007, Woods made $769,440,709. Golf Digest predicts that, by 2010, Woods will become the world’s first athlete to pass one billion dollars in earnings.”

...who said it?

Comments

 

 

Shaw wouldn't have chosen specific songs for their on-hold music. It's just canned.

 

Posted by gillian  at  1:19 pm on Sep. 18, 2006

 

 

 

Really? What happened to the good old days when companies even had que jockeys?

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0SMG/is_n17_v12/ai_13073093

 

Posted by Travis Smith  at  1:36 pm on Sep. 18, 2006

 

 

 

i was on hold with shaw once for over 45 minutes. when i finally got to talk to a human, i told her i had realized why it was they played kenny g and other awful hold music: it makes people hang up!

 

Posted by heather  at  2:01 pm on Sep. 18, 2006

 

 

 

I had the same thing happen to me at home. Good to know that I wasn't alone.

 

Posted by John Bollwitt  at  3:13 pm on Sep. 18, 2006

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