How to lose a friend in 30 minutes?

Since I have Verizon FiOS running perfectly for 3 days now, I called to cancel all my Cox services. It took 3 attempts to do it.

First call:

I navigated through their complex and redundant voice menu to finally hear “Please hold.” Boy they mean it. I was put on ‘silent’ hold for 15 minutes, then a strange music was on then off, and back on hold I was. Taking a peek from working on my Macbook, I was disconnected

Hmm… I figure they really can’t afford to lose any more customers to Verizon and they are probabl thinking maybe I will change my mind and call Verizon instead to cancel my FiOS. Nice try!

Second call:

Again I was greeted by their automated voice system. BTW, Cox has been my friend many times more than the number of friends I made since I had ICQ, AIM, MSN, Yahoo, Google Talk, Skype, Facebook,… combined.

Here is the conversation (not exact word by word coz I can’t possibly remember that many words coming out of a robot’s mouth):

Robot: Thank you for choosing Cox Communications, your friend in the digital age. (Some spanish…)

Robot: Welcome to the Cox automated service, … so tell me in just a few words, tell me why you are calling today?

Me: Cancel services.

Robot: Did you say “Change your existing services?” If so, please say yes,….

Me: Cancel!

Robot: I am sorry I did not understand you. Please try again. You can say in a few words…

Me: Fucking Cancel!!!

Robot: I am sorry…

I just hung up… Should I send them a letter through USPS?

Last call (hopefully ever):

I made yet another friend with Cox. Usual greeting not worth repeating anymore.

Robot: Thank you for choosing Cox Communications, your friend in the digital age. (Some spanish…)

Robot: Welcome to the Cox automated service, … so tell me in just a few words, tell me why you are calling today?

Me: Cancel ALL services.

Robot: Did you say “Cancel all services?”

Me: YES!!!

Robot: Okay. Please hold while I transfer you to a representative…

Apparently, the key to cancel with Cox is the word ALL.

I finally was able to speak to a guy who helped me cancel my services with Cox. He asked:

Human: May I ask why you want to cancel?

Me: (Not wanting to hear any last minute pitch about how I would suffer after losing Cox as my friend) I switched to Verizon. It was cheaper, works better, got more stuff. It was kind of a no-brainer.

That finally sealed the deal and ended my long-lasting friendship with Cox. So I wrote this post to celebrate my new friendship with Verizon FiOS, hoping our friendship will not come to a bitter end.

I hate TSA and laugh at their stupidity

TSA stupidity on Macbook Air

Seriously, TSA is just wasting the government’s (hence our tax) money and does not provide much in return. They are known to harrass regular traverlers. I was once a victim while traveling on work. I wrote an essay about it but am not sure if I should post it…

FUCK TSA!