A Dialog with Pacbell

A Dialog With SBC Pacbell

As you can see from the previous page, my DSL connection is less than perfect. After calling the SBC tech support line several times to no avail (I must have only penetrated to level 1 or 2), I decided to quit wasting my time. However, not content to just sit and take it on the chin, I decided to at least email them once a month with my outage statistics.

Here is the exchange so far.

April 1, 2002 -- this elicited no replies other than a simple auto response indicating they received the email.
May 1, 2002 -- this got the auto response as well, but then ...
- Response 1 From SBC Pacbell -- hey, maybe I'm getting somewhere ...
- My Rebuttal -- after reading SBC's response, I got a little peeved ...
- Response 2 From SBC Pacbell -- well, another form response pointing me to their help line ...
- My Second Rebuttal -- adding fuel to the fire ...
- Response 3 From SBC Pacbell -- beginning to sound like a broken record ...
June 1, 2002 -- no response whatsoever
July 1, 2002

April 1, 2002

From: "Douglas A. Seifert" <email address omitted>
To: <support@pacbell.net>; <billing@pacbell.net>
Subject: Service Disruptions in March
Date: Monday, April 01, 2002 8:17 AM

I am writing this email to express my dissatisfaction with my DSL service
during the past month (March 2002).  During this month I have experienced
many disruptions in service caused by sporadic packet loss by my gateway
router which has ip address 63.196.255.254.

During these disruptions, normal access to the internet is not possible.
For last month, I experienced a total time of disruption of 39:38:53.  Given
that there are 421 usable online hours in the month of March, this means my
DSL connection was unusable 9.42 per cent of the time during March.  I 
expect at the very least a credit of 9.42% of my monthly charge on my
next bill.

Below, find a summary of all the service disruptions I have experienced 
during the last month.  I define a "disruption" as any period of time
longer than five minutes during which ping packets are dropped by the
gateway host.  The disruption begins at the time the first ping is
dropped and ends at the time of the last dropped ping which is followed by
5 minutes of no dropped pings.  Packet loss is reported as the ratio
of dropped pings versus successful pings during the disruption.

Usable hours are calculated using the following formula:
  U = 5/7 * D * 11 + 2/7 * D * 20
where D = the number of days in the month.  The above formula assumes the
connection is usable to me for 11 hours on weekdays (when I am not at work
or sleeping) and 20 hours on weekend days.

The following information can also be viewed at
March Outages

<list omitted for brevity, but it was actually sent 
in the email>

Thank You,
Douglas A. Seifert
310-832-1673

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May 1, 2002

To: support@pacbell.net,billing@pacbell.net
Subject: Service Outages
Date: 05/01/2002

I am writing this email to express my dissatisfaction with my DSL service
during the past month (April 2002).  During this month I have experienced
many disruptions in service caused by sporadic packet loss by my gateway
router which has ip address 63.196.255.254.

During these disruptions, normal access to the internet is not possible.
For last month, I experienced a total time of disruption of 54:06:54.  Given
that there are 407 usable online hours in the month of April, this means my
DSL connection was unusable 13.29 per cent of the time during April.  I 
expect at the very least a credit of 13.29% of my monthly charge on my
next bill.

Below, find a summary of all the service disruptions I have experienced 
during the last month.  I define a "disruption" as any period of time
longer than five minutes during which ping packets are dropped by the
gateway host.  The disruption begins at the time the first ping is
dropped and ends at the time of the last dropped ping which is followed by
5 minutes of no dropped pings.  Packet loss is reported as the ratio
of dropped pings versus successful pings during the disruption.

The following information can also be viewed at
April Outages

<list omitted for brevity, but I actually sent it in the
real email>

Thank You,

Douglas A. Seifert
310-832-1673

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The first real response

From: <support_replies@pacbell.net>
Subject: Re :  Service Outages
Date: Friday, May 03, 2002 10:18 AM

Dear Doug Seifert,

Thank you for contacting SBC Internet Services.  We focus on providing
solutions with a commitment to enhance your Internet experience. 

We have received your e-mail, which addresses your DSL connection
and the problems you are currently experiencing.

In order to better support your current need, our telephone support agents
have the tools available to investigate the issue you are having with your
DSL service.  Please contact a support representative at 877-SBC-DSL5 or
800-708-4638.

Your case reference number is 18629224.  We request you quote this number
in all your future correspondence related to this issue.

Thank you for informing us of your concern.  Your contact with our office
is appreciated.

Sincerely,

Alan Taragan
SBC Internet Services

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My rebuttal

From: "Douglas A. Seifert"
To: <support_replies@pacbell.net>
Subject: Re: Service Outages
Date: Sunday, May 05, 2002 7:37 AM

Alan,

I have called the support line repeatedly to no avail.  I have been
given various reasons for the downtime, all of which indicate that
your technical staff doesn't know what they are talking about.
Maybe this is because I only penetrated to Level 1 or 2 support and
your network gurus are insulated further down the line.  I don't know
and don't care at this point.  There isn't anything I can do because
I need your service (static IP address) and there is no competition.
Otherwise I would have switched a long time ago.  I'm done wasting my
time (and yours, I guess) trying to use the support line to resolve
this situation.  I am accepting the status quo.

Anyway, as a furtive signal of mastabatory discontent, you guys will
receive a report once a month detailing my downtime.  I hold no hopes
of spurring you into action, much less getting a discount on
my bill, so don't worry about it.  I just thought you should know about it.

Thanks for your reply, Alan, it was very considerate.

Sincerely,
Douglas A. Seifert

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The second real response

From: <support_replies@pacbell.net>
Subject: Re :  Re: Service Outages
Date: Monday, May 06, 2002 1:13 PM

Dear Douglas A. Seifert,

Thank you for contacting SBC Internet Services.  

As per your e-mail we understand that you are facing difficulties
due to data packet loss at your router "63.196.255.254" and you wish
to get some discount on your bill.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused.  It would be our pleasure
to assist you, but neither have we had the required tool to assist you
nor do we have access to customers billing details.  Since your issue
needs line assistance, we request you to contact our Technical Support
at:
877-SBC-DSL5.
800-708-4638.

If you have further inquiry, please feel free to contact us again.
Please refer to case number 18682314, which corresponds with this e-mail.

Your contact with our office is appreciated. Thank you for informing us
of your concerns.

Sincerely,

Lauren Shawn
SBC Internet Services

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My second rebuttal

From: Douglas A. Seifert
Subject: Re :  Re: Service Outages
Date: Friday, May 24, 2002 7:32 AM

Lauren,

Thanks for your prompt response.

As I stated in my previous email and as I now reiterate here: I will
*not* call the support line.  I have done so on several occasions (4?).
After waiting on hold, trying to penetrate the lack of knowledge of
the Level 1 support people and generally running around in circles, I
have never once been satisfied that your company is capable of dealing
with this situation.  I'm not even sure that you understand what is
going on.  Your Level 1 support folks certainly don't seem to
understand.

I will not call the support line again.  I'm tired of them asking me
what operating system I run, I'm tired of them asking me to check my
cables, I'm tired of turning off my modem and waiting 30 seconds.  None
of these "solutions" work.  The problem obviously is either in your CO
with your hardware, or it's along my line somewhere.  The fact that it
comes and goes is odd to me.  Maybe squirrels are gnawing the phone
line and whenever they do, I start dropping packets to the gateway.  If
it is in my line, I'd appreciate being told, hey, there's nothing we
can do about it, sorry.  Maybe a discount for my trouble would go a
long way.

If you gave me the phone number of the person who maintains the
hardware in your CO and let me talk this out with him or her, I would
probably call.  But I won't call the customer support line.

Your statement about not having access to the billing system makes my
mind reel.  I know in this day of mega mergers that some disconnect can
exist between various departments, but is it not possible for you to
pick up the phone and talk to the billing folks to maybe get me a
discount?  If it is not possible, then give me a phone number, I will
be more than happy to make the call.

Thanks for your reply, Lauren.  I realize that you can do nothing to
help me and don't blame you.  Look for my outage report next month,
will you?

Sincerely,
Douglas A. Seifert

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The third real response

Date: Mon, 27 May 2002 11:57:35
From: support_replies@pacbell.net
Subject: Re :  Re: Re: Service Outages, Case 1868

Dear Doug Seifert,

Thank you for contacting SBC Internet Services Customer Care.  We value
your membership and our goal is to provide you the best Internet
experience.  

We have received your e-mail and understand that you are facing issues
related to your DSL connection and the issues you are currently
experiencing.  We understand your frustration and sincerely apologize
for the inconvenience caused.

We wish to assure you that you need to contact our telephone support
agents as they have got the necessary expertise in this field and this
issue could be resolved with their assistance only.  In order to better
support your current need and assist you effectively, we request you to
contact a support representative at 877-SBC-DSL5.

Your case reference number is 19083811.  We request you to quote this
number in all your future communications related to this case.

If you have any other issue, please feel free to e-mail us.  In order to
access updated information and quick solutions for any issues that you
may encounter, we invite you to visit the Member Help Center at
http://pacbell.prodigy.net.

Thank you for being a member of SBC Internet Services.  Your contact with
our office is appreciated.

Sincerely,

Vivian Stanton

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June 1, 2002

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Doug's Compendium of Stuff

Stuff

Code

Old

Offsite

Contact

A Dialog With SBC Pacbell

April 1, 2002

May 1, 2002

The first real response

My rebuttal

The second real response

My second rebuttal

The third real response

June 1, 2002