Another fun example: I'm renting a modem from Comcast for my internet, and was told I could upgrade to a much faster Docsis3.0 modem. E-mail support person said I could swap out my old modem at any Comcast service center. Called Comcast to doublecheck; they wouldn't give me the phone number for a local service center and said they couldn't check stock at the service centers but they were "totally sure" that every service center would have one of these modems in stock. You guessed it: I drove to a Comcast service center this morning and they said, hmm, we've never stocked those modems. We'll have to have a technician come out and install it for you. Gah! :( To their credit, at least, they're able to have someone come out here next-day (Sunday) so I don't have to stay home from work. - Adam Lasnik

And it gets better. Service guy came over, planned to traipse over our white carpet in his boots (he's not allowed to take them off). Noted that he was only authorized to repair broken service, not help with upgrades and didn't even have a docsis3 modem to offer. So I'm just delighted I wasted a very nice Sunday afternoon staying inside to wait for a completely useless meetup. I cannot wait for there to be more competition in the broadband and cable markets!!! - Adam Lasnik

wow.... just.... wow... - Claudia Petrilli

I love the word "craptastic". - Elsa Chang