August 1, 2011 at 3:56 pm
george sibbald (8/1/2011)
........(and it wasn't their fault in the first place - some idiot developers had dug up a few metres of underground phone line). .
How do you know it wasn't the DBA dug the phone line up?
Usually I'd blame the DBA for most problems - after all, they are over-specialised (both to DB and to A) and don't see the big picture, which makes it easy for them to screw up.
But this time, the DBA (Dinner and Breakfast Arranger - the guy who runs nearest restaurant) employed the developers (people who undertake building development projects plus, as in this case, odd jobs) to build him a new gas bottle store. I guess they were just lucky the conduit they cut was my phone spur rather than my 220V 70 amp electricity mains spur, which might have damaged their tools or even them (the two cable runs were about 15 inches apart where they were digging). So it wasn't the DBA, it was the developers he hired. (I hate to admit this, as I ausually think of myself as a developer.)
Tom
August 1, 2011 at 4:10 pm
GilaMonster (8/1/2011)
4 days? That's excellent service.Here a telephone fault often takes a few weeks to sort out. I had a fault several years ago where I reported the line as not working every week for 2 months. At the end of the 2 months I called and asked for the service (well, actually just the billing) to be terminated. I was still getting bills 3 months later. I asked a friend to speak personally with a senior manager and get the mess sorted out. It took another month before I got a letter notifying me that the line had been disconnected and they were refunding me 2 months service charges because of the fault and reminding me that I still owed them money.
OK, phone service in SA is even worse than in the UK. I understand how people put up with it, I can remember POTS in the UK as it was when I was a teenager (it was pretty awful).
But ten years later than my teens POTS was better than BT is today at fixing problems: ask them for a phone line, and there would be all sorts of bureaucratic reasons why it couldn't be provided for several months; but once you had a phone line, report a fault and it was fixed PDQ. BT were, last couple times I did it, much faster at providing a new line than POTS ever were - days instead of months; exactly the opposite at fault fixing - they take days instead of hours.
I guess whoever provides phones in SA manages to be worse that POTS on installation and much worse than BT on problem fixing - and that's quite an achievement!
Tom
August 1, 2011 at 6:43 pm
Tom.Thomson (8/1/2011)
Bad day today. Needed telephone for various things (could use mobile, but (a) expensive and (b) no loudspeaker and area mike so wife and I couldn't have joint conversation with third party). No dial tone on fixed line phones this morning. Unplugged everything and then checked master socket by plugging in wired BT handset - still no dial tone. ADSL still works fine when I plug filters and router back in, but still no dial tone. Report it to BT (using non-BT mobile phone) - answer is that it's a fault in their exchange, they'll try to mend it by end of Thursday. Best part of 4 days to fix a "not connected" fault??? That's cazy, appalling, mustn't say what I really feel as need vocabulary not suitable for family wesite like SQLSCentral. That's service level for fixed line phones provided by effective monopoly provider BT in UK. Last time I had similar problem in Spain, Telefonica were falling over themselves to fix it, reported problem late afternoon and fixed before noon next day, Telefonica ringing up to apologise that it had happened at al and that it had taken so long to fix, and to check that it really did work now (and it wasn't their fault in the first place - some idiot developers had dug up a few metres of underground phone line). Vast difference in attitude to customers, customer service. Must persuade wife we don't need to come back to UK each summer, as BT is typical of utility companies in UK, would be better off staying away.
Reminds me of when I was stationed at RAF Alconbury (79 - 81). We lost power to the base early Friday evening (17:00 - 18:00). All critical operations ran off generators until Monday when power was finally restored.
August 2, 2011 at 2:59 am
Tom.Thomson (8/1/2011)
I guess whoever provides phones in SA manages to be worse that POTS on installation and much worse than BT on problem fixing - and that's quite an achievement!
Government-supported monopoly. They own all of the cable in the ground in the entire country.
Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability
August 2, 2011 at 4:03 am
GilaMonster (8/2/2011)
Tom.Thomson (8/1/2011)
I guess whoever provides phones in SA manages to be worse that POTS on installation and much worse than BT on problem fixing - and that's quite an achievement!Government-supported monopoly. They own all of the cable in the ground in the entire country.
I was seconded to a company in Zimbabwe many years ago for 6 months. Shortly after I moved into the apartment they had organised they moved me out and into one where the 'phone worked. The 'phone company couldn't guarantee that the 'phone line would have been repaired within the six months.
BrainDonor
August 2, 2011 at 4:10 am
BrainDonor (8/2/2011)
I was seconded to a company in Zimbabwe many years ago for 6 months.
Before or after around 1997?
Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability
August 2, 2011 at 4:54 am
GilaMonster (8/2/2011)
BrainDonor (8/2/2011)
I was seconded to a company in Zimbabwe many years ago for 6 months.Before or after around 1997?
Long before - mid-80's if I recall correctly. Had some good friends there that I lost touch with when it all collapsed in a heap.
BrainDonor.
August 2, 2011 at 6:43 am
Man, reading about phone problems in other countries makes me less upset at what I consider poor customer service in the U.S. Like most things it's really all about perspective.
Jack Corbett
Consultant - Straight Path Solutions
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August 2, 2011 at 6:49 am
Jack Corbett (8/2/2011)
Man, reading about phone problems in other countries makes me less upset at what I consider poor customer service in the U.S. Like most things it's really all about perspective.
Not really, AFAIK we still have the most expansive service (in Canada) pound for pound. Even compared to 3rd world economies.
It's still "better" but I wonder if it's really worth it. Some people I know pay as much for their phone than their cars. Seems a little over the top to me ;-).
August 2, 2011 at 7:01 am
Ninja's_RGR'us (8/2/2011)
Jack Corbett (8/2/2011)
Man, reading about phone problems in other countries makes me less upset at what I consider poor customer service in the U.S. Like most things it's really all about perspective.Not really, AFAIK we still have the most expansive service (in Canada) pound for pound. Even compared to 3rd world economies.
It's still "better" but I wonder if it's really worth it. Some people I know pay as much for their phone than their cars. Seems a little over the top to me ;-).
Really? I just took a quick look at bell.ca and it doesn't seem too expensive to me.
What do you mean with "expensive"?
I pay 42 Euros / month for my ADSL Internet line, no telephone, ADSL only.
-- Gianluca Sartori
August 2, 2011 at 7:05 am
Gianluca Sartori (8/2/2011)
Ninja's_RGR'us (8/2/2011)
Jack Corbett (8/2/2011)
Man, reading about phone problems in other countries makes me less upset at what I consider poor customer service in the U.S. Like most things it's really all about perspective.Not really, AFAIK we still have the most expansive service (in Canada) pound for pound. Even compared to 3rd world economies.
It's still "better" but I wonder if it's really worth it. Some people I know pay as much for their phone than their cars. Seems a little over the top to me ;-).
Really? I just took a quick look at bell.ca and it doesn't seem too expensive to me.
What do you mean with "expensive"?
I pay 42 Euros / month for my ADSL Internet line, no telephone, ADSL only.
I pay about the same. But I got a *censored* download limit...
Need an answer? No, you need a question
My blog at https://sqlkover.com.
MCSE Business Intelligence - Microsoft Data Platform MVP
August 2, 2011 at 7:17 am
Gianluca Sartori (8/2/2011)
Ninja's_RGR'us (8/2/2011)
Jack Corbett (8/2/2011)
Man, reading about phone problems in other countries makes me less upset at what I consider poor customer service in the U.S. Like most things it's really all about perspective.Not really, AFAIK we still have the most expansive service (in Canada) pound for pound. Even compared to 3rd world economies.
It's still "better" but I wonder if it's really worth it. Some people I know pay as much for their phone than their cars. Seems a little over the top to me ;-).
Really? I just took a quick look at bell.ca and it doesn't seem too expensive to me.
What do you mean with "expensive"?
I pay 42 Euros / month for my ADSL Internet line, no telephone, ADSL only.
That's your first mistake. Web site <><><><><><> than what you really end up paying.
I was also reffering to people talking basically 5 hours / day on their cell phone + internet, etc. So those come well above 100$ per month even with a massive discount.
August 2, 2011 at 7:18 am
Koen Verbeeck (8/2/2011)
Gianluca Sartori (8/2/2011)
Ninja's_RGR'us (8/2/2011)
Jack Corbett (8/2/2011)
Man, reading about phone problems in other countries makes me less upset at what I consider poor customer service in the U.S. Like most things it's really all about perspective.Not really, AFAIK we still have the most expansive service (in Canada) pound for pound. Even compared to 3rd world economies.
It's still "better" but I wonder if it's really worth it. Some people I know pay as much for their phone than their cars. Seems a little over the top to me ;-).
Really? I just took a quick look at bell.ca and it doesn't seem too expensive to me.
What do you mean with "expensive"?
I pay 42 Euros / month for my ADSL Internet line, no telephone, ADSL only.
I pay about the same. But I got a *censored* download limit...
That's also factored in my price. The 1-2 studies I saw compared us to most other countries where the speed was the same and there was no download limit.
I've had periods in my life where I had to do a lot of youtube and other sql videos and that 100GB gets blown up like it's nothing (highest package last time I checked).
August 2, 2011 at 7:42 am
Ninja's_RGR'us (8/2/2011)
Koen Verbeeck (8/2/2011)
Gianluca Sartori (8/2/2011)
Ninja's_RGR'us (8/2/2011)
Jack Corbett (8/2/2011)
Man, reading about phone problems in other countries makes me less upset at what I consider poor customer service in the U.S. Like most things it's really all about perspective.Not really, AFAIK we still have the most expansive service (in Canada) pound for pound. Even compared to 3rd world economies.
It's still "better" but I wonder if it's really worth it. Some people I know pay as much for their phone than their cars. Seems a little over the top to me ;-).
Really? I just took a quick look at bell.ca and it doesn't seem too expensive to me.
What do you mean with "expensive"?
I pay 42 Euros / month for my ADSL Internet line, no telephone, ADSL only.
I pay about the same. But I got a *censored* download limit...
That's also factored in my price. The 1-2 studies I saw compared us to most other countries where the speed was the same and there was no download limit.
I've had periods in my life where I had to do a lot of youtube and other sql videos and that 100GB gets blown up like it's nothing (highest package last time I checked).
I have unlimited internet, granted it's not top of the line because the infrastructure in my neighborhood won't support highest, plus phone with unlimited local and long-distance (US & Canada) for under $100/month. That doesn't include my cell, but I'm paying $40.month for 1200min, unlimited text & data using VirginMobile. Biggest problem is that the network is only in urban areas and even spotty in many of those. IT works where I am 95% of the time so I'm sticking with it for now. If I wanted similar service through ATT&T or Verizon (no unlimited data with either) I'd be paying about $100/month. The better coverage isn't worth that much more to me right now. I can get a TracFone in addition to my smartphone that'll work where I my smartphone doesn't and still be saving $50/month.
Jack Corbett
Consultant - Straight Path Solutions
Check out these links on how to get faster and more accurate answers:
Forum Etiquette: How to post data/code on a forum to get the best help
Need an Answer? Actually, No ... You Need a Question
August 2, 2011 at 8:00 am
If I have to take the cell phone into account, I'm paying something like 50/60 Euros a month.
You add the ADSL line and there you are: 100 Euros/month.
This is EUR, not USD. And no home phone.
-- Gianluca Sartori
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