be careful where you sling that mud

i got two things in the mail on friday…

…a pair of shoes i ordered that, while the box said 11.5 (my size) the shoes inside were 9.5 (not even my size if i cut off my toes). and then an ad from at&t.

i have an interesting relationship with american telegraph and telephone…back when i took over the household bills you got “a phone bill”. it didn’t include my cell, which at the time was through cellular one…but it covered both the local service (southwestern bell) and the long distance (typically at&t) and the pages would all look the same, save for the company headers at the top. i never thumbed through it after Mom died – i was the only one here, i knew any calls were mine, and the bill typically wasn’t bad…so i just dug out the back page (which showed the amount due and you had to put it in the little envelope window to send back) and said envelope. wrote a check and sent it. moved on with my life.

ah, the simple times.

but at some point towards the end of my landline run (i haven’t had a landline phone since 2002) at&t started to bill separately…but i didn’t know this. so i just paid “the phone bill” like i always did and dismissed that at&t envelope as junk mail…but it wasn’t. and led to collection notices. the amount due? seventy-four bucks and some change.

but now i get solicitation emails from at&t weekly to get their service – and when i finally called i was denied service for “reasons i’m not quite sure of” according to the rep i got that, despite the company’s real name, had no idea what a “telegraph” was nor was he american.

and there we were.

(and i just realized we were “there” recently…sorry about that!)

but this latest mailing was funny. i get it – it takes a while to come up with an ad campaign. it’s gotta be “run up the flag pole”. graphics have to be approved. and finally it’s gotta be bid on by printers, printed, and then mailed.

it’s a process.

it’s not instantaneous.

but the news that filters to the american public these days by and large is…

…so, the week AFTER it was announced (and i think i even mentioned it here) that at&t and direct tv were merging (which i’m not really happy about being a direct tv subscriber and all) i get a post card from at&t that is all factoid bullet points:

fact 1: the two cable compaines with some of the poorest overall customer satisfaction scores have announced they are merging.

interesting to send out the week after it’s announced YOU (at&t) are merging with direct tv, and this after i’ve loved direct and the ufc had HORRIBLE experiences with their u-verse service

fact 2: when it comes to your new service provider, you actually have a choice in the matter.

really? so i can keep direct tv and choose to NOT have at&t in the house? oh, wait…you’re talking about some other merger…

…and finally:

fact 3: at&t u-verse customers are more satisfied than time warner and comcast customers.

and direct tv customers are more satisfied than any of ’em…so why fuck with a good thing? and are you sure about that? roadrunner from time warner has done the ufc proud…at&t failed more times than we could count.