Woody Cavenaugh

As I mentioned in a previous blog sometime ago we felt like someone was stealing our phone. When we reported it to the phone center our phone went dead and has been dead ever since. A followup phone call got us a bill for $40.00 and the assurance that our phone line was fine, it was our inside wiring or maybe even our phone. We tried our old phones, (yes plural) in the telephone test jack outside of our
house and got nothing, dead air. Perhaps all of our phones were killed By lightning, even the one we keep unplugged as an emergency backup phone. So we bought a new phone, and we still had a dead line. Sara Suggested I call their customer service representative and report the problem, after all, I am a man. They would more likely listen to me.

And listen they did.

The service box on the house has two parts, one has a normal flat head screw so the customer or the inside wiring contractor can test from the service into the house. There is a second pannel behind the first put together with security screws, this is the domain of the phone Company.
the Sprint guy said that the telephone tech tested our box, the test said it was fine, So it isn't their problem. He says the tech wrote
a note inside the customer pannel. I checked, there is no note.

My optimistic theory, the nice telephone repair tech got the wrong house. Its an honest mistake. "No" assures The phone monkey he reads a note that says the tech found the box on the left side of the house next to the power meter. It turns out Sara made that note when she called them last week to suggest perhaps they got the wrong house.

Phone monkey then told me that if it Worked on their side of the
box and not on our side of the box it is our problem. Even though you have to be on their side of the box to fix the problem.

I am going to take a multi-meter to my side of the box, if it has no
power, I am going to check again for a notes if there is no note, I an going to call again and explain that I will have to use a drill to get past the security screws an into their side of the box. I am willing to bet that if I do that they will site me for messing with their property. (being the secure side of the box) I'm on to their game. I say they will send a tech and I will meet him, and he can prove to me that 1. he got the right house. 2. It actually works on his side of the box.

I have to admit I am starting to understand why my phone service was stolen in the first place. If you have to argue with the Sprint guys it would just be easier to bypass the problem. I wonder if one of my neighbors works for Sprint.