“Have you tried turning it on and off again,” you hear for the 10 millionth time, a new voice at the other end of the phone greeting you each and every day that you’re trying to fix your non-working device. You’ve tried everything, the next step being a degree in engineering and software design. It’s time for a change.
One maintenance man decided to take matters into his own hands, after seeing a year-long inconvenience happening right before his eyes. The old folks residing in the senior home he worked at had been complaining about their TVs not working properly, but regardless of the countless calls made, there seemed to be no progress.
Luckily, he came up with a solution so simple, yet so genius that it not only ended the cycle of disappointment and exploitation, but it also let residents who’d never had TV service enjoy some good ol’ entertainment at no extra cost to their rent. Let’s get into the details!
More info: Reddit
There is nothing more frustrating than being denied the pleasure of enjoying your favorite shows, all because of malfunctioning software and its negligent providers
Image credits: ELEVATE (not the actual photo)
The last thing anybody wants is to be disrupted from watching their favorite show on the telly. Be it Netflix, good ol’ cable, Twitch, or anything else, there’s something incredibly satisfying about sitting down, letting reality slip away, only to be replaced by a film, a show, a stream, a noise. But then it stops for no reason whatsoever. It’s infuriating.
This sort of disorder had become the norm at one senior living center with the elderly residents encountering more than their fair share of TV service issues. The maintenance man at the establishment, who’s known on Reddit as memphisgrit, had been trying to get it all sorted, with dozens of calls going out to the service provider, only to result in frustration and continued issues.
He’d had enough. Caring very much for his job and the residents that he’d been serving, he decided to take a different approach, leading to a massive win for the senior living center. The man detailed the tumultuous journey in the subreddit called r/ProRevenge, which features stories of people getting back at those that have wronged them.
The residents of this senior care facility had been struggling with their TV service provider for over a year, and the maintenance man decided enough was enough
Image credits: memphisgrit
Considering the fact that the senior residents spent a majority of their time watching their favorite TV shows, the issues caused them a lot of grief
Image credits: idalingi (not the actual photo)
TV and internet service providers might be some of the most disliked companies on the planet. Rarely has anyone spoken about the amazingly quick and quality service they received after an issue rose up. Seemingly simple problems take an extensive amount of time, the consumer always getting the short end of the stick.
According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index's Telecommunications Study for 2021-2022, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) came in dead last for customer satisfaction out of more than 45 different industries surveyed. In second place came TV subscription services, showing a 1.5% loss over the previous year's performance.
Kathryn Moody argues that two of the main reasons for such loathing towards ISPs and TVSPs are the high costs and poor customer service. All this stems from the fact that there’s almost no competition among cable companies.
“Cable companies can still say, well, there's competition because look at all the cable companies that exist,” explains Christopher Ali, media studies professor at the University of Virginia. “There's Cox. There's Charter. There's Comcast. We're not a monopoly. But if you drill down to the individual markets, you start to see these kinds of local monopolies exist.”
You may wonder why these companies are not trying to break these handshake deals and compete anyway, or why smaller companies and startups don't get into the market. Christopher says it's because of the cost. “It is so incredibly expensive to lay down wires now. Like, the literal infrastructure costs - the capital investment is too much right now,” he states.
Image credits: memphisgrit
This is how the cables went into each apartment. The company caused significant property damage and still failed to fix the issues
Image credits: memphisgrit
The truth of the matter is that these companies are far more interested in getting new customers signed up rather than keeping those who’ve been loyal happy. Promotional offers don’t last, although they’re still advertised to newcomers. The rock-bottom prices on bundles often require a two-year agreement, with the cheapest rates only applying to the first 12 months.
One should always be double checking their expenses each month, monitoring whether the cost has suddenly doubled without warning. Kathryn Moody advises all to never accept a price hike without a fight. She states that you can haggle your way back to promotional-level pricing with a call to the cable company, threatening to switch providers if the price isn’t lowered, and mentioning a friend who got a better deal on a similar contract.
Although the odds seem stacked against you, there’s always a different option available. Bruce Leichtman, a researcher who specializes in the broadband and entertainment industries, says about 90% of Americans have access to satellite TV and about 40% have access to so-called overbuilders or non-cable providers. Online services such as Netflix and Hulu offer movies and TV shows to subscribers, no cable box required.
Image credits: memphisgrit
Although this story has a very happy ending, all thanks to the determination of a caring maintenance man, one can ask whether this sort of thing should be the norm, that we all should bond over the horrendous service we receive from these companies.
According to the United Nations guidelines for consumer protection, the buyer has the right to safety from potential health hazards a product may cause: the right to redress, as in the chance to receive a fair settlement of just claims, including compensation for misrepresentation, shoddy goods or unsatisfactory services. The right to choose and the right to be heard.
Seems like all of these have been either neglected or ignored by the TV service provider in this case, from ridiculous installations of cables and satellite dishes, to continuous emotional turmoil that these people faced just because of someone’s negligence and poor customer care. No one should have to climb mountains in order to get what they paid for.
The online community was incredibly supportive of the maintenance man’s actions and the victory he brought to all the seniors. But let us know your thoughts on this, what would you have done differently? Enjoy scrolling through these comments from fellow netizens and I’ll see you all in the next one!
Thankfully, the maintenance man was given the “okay” to fix the issue entirely, resulting in a huge win for all the residents. The online community rejoiced at this outcome
Some people wanted more clarification, offering other potential solutions. Let us know your thoughts on this and what you’d have done in such a situation
At the end of the day, one thing is for certain:
