HARDWARE: Verizon sucks; FIOS NOTRECOMMENDED!

Saturday, March 19, 2011

It was a pleasure to assist you. Your chat session has ended. Thank You.

  Your chat ID number is 03191189238.

Chat Subject: FiOS Television (Other)

Your Question: Box is cycling every few minutes.

A Verizon Service Representative will be with you shortly. Thank you. (21:05:16)

<<< Ten minutes?>>>

21:15:01 Estimated wait time is 4 mins 42 secs. We apologize for the delay. You are next in the queue. A representative will be with you shortly.

Agent George has joined. (21:15:22)

George : Chat ID for this session is 03191189238. (21:15:22)

George(21:15:27): Thank you for using Verizon FiOS Technical Support. I apologize for any delays in reaching an agent today.

My name is George, for security purposes please post the name and address on the account as well as a good can be reached telephone number.

While I access your account and start running some diagnostic tests, please open a new browser window and type http://www.verizon.com/inhomeagent in the address bar and follow the prompts to download our new In Home Agent support tool, if you?ve not already done so.

Ferdinand Reinke(21:15:28): I don’t think there is much that can be done. The box is recycling every few minutes. And, my other box is running fine. Argh!

Ferdinand Reinke(21:16:11): I don’t want the inhome agent on my hardware.

George(21:16:36): please provide the information, i have asked for above please

Ferdinand Reinke(21:16:50): {Extraneous Deleted}

George(21:17:30): address on the account also

Ferdinand Reinke(21:17:45): {Extraneous Deleted}

George(21:18:20): ok

George(21:18:30): After our chat session is completed, I will send you a helpful email to the email address listed above reinke@reinke.cc

George(21:18:30): I’m sorry for any frustration this has caused, but I’d be glad to assist you with your issue today.

George(21:18:51): For security purposes can I please get you to confirm the account number, the last amount you paid, or the install date, please.

Ferdinand Reinke(21:19:07): I have no idea of that information.

George(21:19:42): i also need that information, i can wait also. if you need me to

Ferdinand Reinke(21:20:26):

{Extraneous Deleted}

George(21:21:01): thank you

George(21:21:27): also which box has the issue, the dvr or the sd box?

Ferdinand Reinke(21:21:51): the hd dvr box

George(21:22:22): is there any clicking or humming noise from the dvr/

Ferdinand Reinke(21:22:29): no

George(21:22:50): are you in front of it now?

George(21:22:55): i just flashed the programming on it

George(21:23:00): i need you to test it and see if it reboots

Ferdinand Reinke(21:23:03): sounds like the other tv has stopped playing

Ferdinand Reinke(21:23:19): press menu

George(21:23:34): i programmed both

George(21:23:40): go ahead and press menu

Ferdinand Reinke(21:23:44): done

George(21:23:54): picture?

Ferdinand Reinke(21:23:57): yes

George(21:24:03): let it play ok

Ferdinand Reinke(21:24:08): yup

Ferdinand Reinke(21:24:18): recylced

George(21:24:29): just did?

Ferdinand Reinke(21:24:32): yes

George(21:25:07): I’m going to mail out a replacement Set Top Box to you. It will arrive by UPS Next-Day Air (typically within 2-3 business days).

1. Once you receive the new Set Top Box, unplug the bad STB and power adapter and use the new STB and power adapter.

2. Then send back the bad Set Top Box using the supplied UPS shipping label and dropoff at the nearest UPS Store (www.theupsstore.com) or UPS Dropoff location.

Ferdinand Reinke(21:26:11): And I’m supposed to be happy about that. I’m without the TV service for 2-3 business days and I lose all the programs on the DVR?

George(21:26:31): yes you will lose all the recorded programs

Ferdinand Reinke(21:26:47): I know but I am NOT happy about that.

George(21:27:02): i am sorry, there is nothing we can do to make it not reboot

Ferdinand Reinke(21:27:36): OK let’s delete the DVR service completely. Just send me a replacement HD box.

George(21:28:06): can not do that, you have to talk to billing to do that

Ferdinand Reinke(21:28:26): This is the third DVR box that is being replaced.

George(21:28:31): if you want to swap to a lower priced box, they will have to do an ordr

George(21:28:36): i am sorry, but this isnt billing and orders

George(21:28:52): we do not, do orders to downgrade your box

George(21:29:02): i can only send you out a like for like unit

George(21:29:07): no downgrades

Ferdinand Reinke(21:29:43): Well you can credit the bill for at least four days out of service.

George(21:29:53): no

George(21:29:59): this isnt biling, this is repair

Ferdinand Reinke(21:30:04): NO>

George(21:30:24): repair, does not handle your bill or orders

Ferdinand Reinke(21:30:25): just shaking my head.

George(21:30:45): you understand, in repair we do not handle billing or orders

George(21:30:45): correct?

George(21:31:00): im going to send you out a replacement unit for your dvr

Ferdinand Reinke(21:31:00): I understand only to well.

George(21:31:05): since it keeps rebooting

George(21:31:11): it has been ordered

George(21:34:07): do you have any other questions, about the replacement unit

Ferdinand Reinke(21:34:32): NO!

George(21:35:08): I’m glad I could help. Chat Support is available everyday from 8am-9pm Central. Additional information on all 3 FiOS services can be found online at http://verizon.com/residentialhelp/.

Also, we have the Verizon In Home Agent that you can download at http://www.verizon.com/inhomeagent Thank you for choosing Verizon and have a great day.

Your session is now closed.

Thank you, have a nice day.

Your session is now closed.

Thank you, have a nice day.

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This is not help.

This is the THIRD DVR!

VERIZON FIOS is NOTRECOMMENDED!

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SERVICE: STUFFBAK “not recommended”

Monday, January 17, 2011

http://www.stuffbak.com

201101071801.jpg

I signed up for this a while ago. And, for a variety of reasons, forgot about it. Found some of my left over labels. Hey, let’s see if the service is still up.

Yup! I was. Yay!

So, I “registered” one. And, found out it forgot me. (?)

“call 1-800-yeah-right”

I don’t do phone in “customer non-service”. My blood pressure can’t stand it. It has to be really really important for me to endure that particular hell.

From what I remember, it only had one level of service. And, there was zero charge for recovery. (I know I had one.) Now before you “tag” any thing, make sure you’re willing to pay 50$ for it’s return. Argh!

I don’t like folks that suck you in and then change the game after you’ve bought in. I had to buy the labels. If they had presented this value equation, then I’d have passed.

NOTRECOMMENDED!

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WEBSITE: BADOO is a “badie”!

Saturday, January 8, 2011

http://badoo.com

201101071859.jpg

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Received a message from some one I know.

Curious, I looked.

They hold his message hostage uless I give them an email address they “support”.

Nahh!

NOTRECOMMENDED!

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RECOMMENDED: A florist in Conover NC

Friday, November 5, 2010

http://www.merchantcircle.com/business/Thornburgs.Florist.Gifts.And.Interiors.828-464-9750

*** begin quote ***

Thornburg’s Florist Gifts & Interiors
505 1st Ave S
Conover, NC 28613
828-464-9750

*** end quote ***

Highly recommended. Called on Saturday night; they called me back on Sunday morning. (That’s good.) I had a rush request. (Are there any others?) They were able to stay a little later and meet my need for an early Monday morning delivery. The feedback I got was that their work was beautiful. I am stunned that they went the extra mile for me, a stranger. If I need flowers again their geography, then they have my business. I’d suggest that they should have yours as well.

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RECOMMENDED: Get some vitamins and mineral into you before it’s too late

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

http://www.masoncountynews.com/news/article/32628

Natural Health from A to Z
Margaret Durst
July 21, 2010

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Chromium levels decline with age, which may be one of the reasons for the increased incidence of adult onset diabetes. The average American gets less than 50 micrograms of chromium per day. The general recommendation on supplementing chromium is 200 mcg. per day. If diabetic, the recommendation is double that, or 400 mcg. per day. Food sources of chromium include beer, brewer’s yeast, brown rice, cheese, meat and whole grains. Supplemental forms are chromium picolinate and chromium polynicotinate. Either form is absorbed well.

*** end quote ***

Guess I’ll have to get some.

RDAs are for sheeple.

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NOTRECOMMENDED: Apple and MOBILEME

Saturday, July 3, 2010

GAVE THIS FEEDBACK TO APPLE. LET’S SEE WHO CARES. (My guess: No one.)

I have an obviously complex sync problem. The answer I’ve been given is move to a new account. The reason I went to mac was the reinstall blues with windoze. Seems like the same problem here. I’ve rated MAC as “Not Recommended” on my blog FWIW. And that won’t change as long as sync is broken.

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SERVICE: 750WORDS RECOMMENDED

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

http://750words.com

*** begin quote ***

Hello, welcome to a little thing called 750 Words

I’ve long been inspired by an idea I first learned about in The Artist’s Way called morning pages. Morning pages are three pages of writing done every day, typically encouraged to be in “long hand”, typically done in the morning, that can be about anything and everything that comes into your head. It’s about getting it all out of your head, and is not supposed to be edited or censored in any way. The idea is that if you can get in the habit of writing three pages a day, that it will help clear your mind and get the ideas flowing for the rest of the day. Unlike many of the other exercises in that book, I found that this one actually worked and was really really useful.

*** end quote ***

Amusing little site that has a way of getting under your skin.

I’m using it to write my course and my next book.

It sort of fits my early morning persona.

Maybe like Sudoku, it too will ward of the dreaded Alzheimer’s?

No one can see what you write but you can share the automated analysis of that writing.

See me at: http://750words.com/entries/share/174852

ROFL, yeah, I’m that nuts!

Now all I need is a tshirt declaring that I’m an ITSJ and a fat old white guy injineer. (But then I repeat myself.)

LOL!

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SERVICE: MOBILEME updated but still not working for me and NOTRECOMMENDED

Friday, June 18, 2010
Service Update: New MobileMe Mail, Find My iPhone, and more.
Dear MobileMe Member,

Today we’re making available to all MobileMe members an all-new Mail web application, a Find My iPhone app, and a new way to navigate between applications at me.com. Read on for details.

All-new Mail at me.com
MobileMe Mail on the web (now out of beta) has been completely redesigned with powerful new features such as widescreen view for reading email with less scrolling, rules to keep your email organized everywhere, and faster performance. For more details on these and other new Mail features, please read this news post.

Find My iPhone app and more
You can now download the free Find My iPhone app, enabling you to locate a misplaced device directly from iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch while on the go. After installing it from the App Store, just launch the app and sign in to quickly locate your devices on a map and access the other Find My iPhone features — Display a Message or Play a Sound, Remote Lock, and Remote Wipe.*

The Find My iPhone web application on me.com has also been updated with a full-screen map view. Clicking your missing device on the map lets you access all the Find My iPhone actions to help you recover your device and protect the information on it.

Learn more about improvements to Find My iPhone here.

New way to get around me.com
We’ve also given me.com a new look and a new way to navigate between applications. Simply click the cloud icon in the upper left of the page, and choose from Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Gallery, iDisk, and Find My iPhone. To access account information, help, or to sign out, just click your name on the top right.

We recommend accessing me.com with Safari 5, Firefox 3.6 or later, or Internet Explorer 8. If you have questions about this update, please read this FAQ.

We hope you enjoy these improvements to MobileMe. Thank you for being a MobileMe member.

Sincerely,

The MobileMe Team

*Find My iPhone and Remote Wipe are not available in all countries.


RECOMMENDED: PAYTRUST

Monday, June 14, 2010

http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2010/06/14/the-rewards-of-routine-maintenance/

The Rewards of Routine Maintenance

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I used to make fun of my cousin, Nick, for this. Nick has tens of thousands of dollars in the bank, yet he’s always getting late fees for things like the electric bill. “What the heck?” I asked him once. “How can this be possible?” He shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said. “I get the bills in the mail, put them on the table, and then I forget about them. They get buried under other mail. It’s only three or four months later that I find them again.” This used to baffle me, but now I understand.

*** end quote ***

May I make an unusual suggestion? (It’s unusual for me. Not that I’m making a suggestion. I am after all a “know it all” and never leave a suggestion unexpressed. — “That’s supposed to be a joke, son.” Yosemite Sam — I try ONLY to suggest things that are free. This ain’t free.)

PAYRUST

It costs about 15$/month. For this, they will receive your bills by USMAIL or over the net and put it in your “inbox”. It can automatically “action” your bills; paying them in full or in part. And, it emails you weekly summaries, reminders, and such. You pay them on their site and they send the checks or e-payments.

All very organized.

I recommend it highly. Especially if you’re disorganized, travel a lot, or have psych issues with bills in the mail.

It’s a great service.

At the end of the year, they will send you a CD of your stuff for 20$. It’s all very useful.

And, I recommend it. Highly.

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RECOMMENDED: OpenDNS

Saturday, June 12, 2010

http://www.opendns.com/

Rock-Solid Security

   * Web Content Filtering

   Cloud-based, award-winning Web content filtering from OpenDNS with more than 50 categories of content. No appliance necessary. Effective against proxies, P2P, Web 2.0, adult and more.

   * PhishTank Anti-Phishing

   Industry-leading anti-phishing powered by PhishTank, the most authoritative source of phishing data on the Internet. Protects your network, organization and its employees from fraudulent phishing scams.

   * Malware Site Protection / Botnet Protection

   DNS layer security protects the most vulnerable level of your network against the latest threats, including viruses, worms and zero-day vulnerabilities.

   * Whitelist / Blacklist

   Lets you decide where your users can navigate on your customized Internet. Whitelist-only functionality available.

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