The phone company is coming today between 9 and 5.

It's almost 2:30 right now. I could have been riding from 9-2:30, but I'm stuck here waiting for the phone company.

Bastards.

I hate that crap. I got rid of my home phone, so now I'll never need to wait for them. For anything else, I tell them they need to come on my schedule if they expect me to pay...its worked so far.

That's customer service for you. An 8 hour window. If they did that to me, I'd probably just have to cancel phone service.

Carefull... play hookie and you'll get them after you - like Kramer on 'Seinfeld'.

If Comcast is your cable provider you should check out their Digital Voice phone service, high quality and better than the current VoIP providers out there.

tell then you'll pay your bill sometime between september and november.

I'm all for technology but consider a few things before going to VoIP only (directed at anybody interested in VoIP, not just OP):

The cable company is not as regulated as the phone company. Hence, they have no pressure, other than a sincere wish to keep the customer happy , to maintain a certain level of reliability. Comcast in Montgomery Co., MD blows goats, so I wouldn't do it.

Some VoIP systems are either incompatible, or have problems with 911. You have probably heard some of the stories behind this. If you haven't heard: link

However, that was a few months ago. I've heard some talk about some sort of requireing VoIP providers to be 911 compliant/compatable, but I don't know anything for sure. But even if it was 100% useable, think about how often your cable/internet goes out compared to your phone (except during a bad hurricane/storm where both are equally likely to go out). If you can stand to live without your phone at such an interval, it's probably worth it . . .
Anyways, if your cable goes out, how are you going to call for support to get them to fix it? And if you get ahold of them, why do you think they would be better than the phone company?

went to vonage about 6 months ago - awesome

Just go cell as long as most of your out going calls are in the US. One Company around Madison , WI offers Free incoming calls from any where. I no longer have a land line.

Lingo has been good for us, too. International calls are the only reason we have a landline - 3c per minute calls to Australia (most of our family), and calls to land lines in Western Europe are free (my sister is in London... very handy). Canada and all of the USA included too. Even with a few long calls each month to Oz, our monthly bill is under $30.

We have Comcast cable, but have only had 2 serious outages in 3 years. One was our modem dying, the other was just after they completely fugged up their major server upgrade. We both have cell phones, mine supplied by work with pretty much unlimited minutes, so hanging out on the cell talking to comcast is no biggie. We've had Lingo for over a year, and never had a problem with it.

The VOIP companies have all had to become 911 compliant lately. As I understood it, a major part of why they weren't previously wasn't because they didn't want to be, but because the local phone companies wouldn't give them access to that part of the service. Not all that sure on the details...

A year, or so ago, I waited all day for Comcast to repair my cable. When they didn't show up AT ALL, I called them. There response is that they don't guarantee that they will show up. I made another appointment knowing I wouldn't be home. The next time, the guy showed up.

The bottom line is that they are all screwed up.

I am waiting for the UPS guy for my "Le Champ". I can ride Tues/Thurs mornings 9-1. So I wait today and it's now 4:00 and he's still not here.

I went to Vonnage in December. Not a lick of trouble. Less than $30.00 a month and no regulatory fees.

I don't even use phones, and I hate cell phones, so I'd never get one. I don't even want the phone, really.

I'm just getting the phone because I have to get the phone to get DSL. It was either $30/month for DSL and phone combined or $30/month for just cable internet. I went with the DSL and phone because my mom was bugging me about not having a phone.

I've been stealing wireless internet from the apartments across the street for a week now. I have to be in the exact right spot or the signal goes away. I can't really complain though- I'm not paying for it.

Anyway, the point is that I should be riding right now. ****!

It's a little more complicated than that. It's not that the phone companies were just being pricks about it. The switching technology used to foward 911 calls to the appropriate switchboards is in place because government regulations tell them that they have to have them. VoIP companies basically wanted access to this system, that they don't incur any costs for or contribute to in any way, for free. I haven't checked, but I'm sure what most of the problem is, from a legal stand point, is who pays for the 911 system. phone companies will say that they incur most of the costs, therefore if VoiP wants to use it, they must pay. VoIP will say that, inevitably the taxpayer foots the bill, so it's general domain, therefore the phone company must open it up for general use.

However this shakes out, the bottom line is that VoIP is not regulated and not secure. There are no guarantees, at any level that service will be up all the time. Those that solely go VoIP take the risk that an emergency does come up, and they have no access to 911.

I went this route too. AT&T had been slamming me for long distance charges I never signed up for. Try dealing with those thieves! AT&T == EVIL. I decided to hell with the phone company and had them disconnect the whole shebang. Bill that AT&T!

Gotta a cell. T-Mobile. $19.95 for 60 anytime/500 weekend minutes. Yes, I'm on the phone that little. If I want to talk to someone, I'll probably talk to them face-to-face. Otherwise, the phone is for emergencies only.

For those of you who live in a Comcast Cable service area, I highly recommend their Digital Voice service. No long distance charges, great service and reliability. Forget Verizon, Vonage or cell carriers.

I just got Time Warner's digital phone service today. It works great. Also, I completely agree with the cable companies about 911 access. taxpayers foot the bill, so the phone company can either play nice, or butt out. There's not a lot stopping the cable companies from building their own 911 switching stations except towns and cities don't want to have 2 separate systems.

Vonage has been directly responsible for several deaths due to their inability to allow users to dial 911. So I'm glad you enjoy it but hopefully you'll never have an emergency while a Vonage user, also, power outage, no phone.

I worked with the guy who later founded Vonage VoIP at a company in Jersey City, NJ - obviously I was very jealous!

-- two years later he landed in jail for accounting fraud. No longer jealous

I use a cell phone for emergencies, so I don't worry about that feature on my VoIP. I've had Sunrocket for about a year and have had no problems. Paid $200 upfront for one year's service for three phone numbers. Calls across the country and to Canada are totally free and to the rest of the world are really cheap, cents a minute.

AAA told me they'd be at my house between 2-4 yesterday afternoon. 5:00 rolls around and I call them. They said someone was there at 3:30...big fat lie! I was home the whole time...in my back yard for a bit, with a sign on the door saying I was in the back yard!! So instead of dispatching someone out right away again, I have to call the center and request another vehicle! 6:45 they finally show up!! I was so pissed.

Course, if I hadn't locked my keys in the car we wouldn't have had this problem in the first place...STILL!!!

Well, those mother****ers never showed up.

DIE, PHONE COMPANY!!!

SBC sucks.

Get local only phone (for 911) , get DSL (for fast computer online too), get VoIP, get bikes and parts with the money you save, GET SMART!

Admit it, you want a cell phone. You want one bad.