Athans.org

It’s not news the Level 3 has recently taken over Broadwing Communications, but what is news (to me) is the lack of customer service during the merger and lack of formal transition for the existing Broadwing customer base.  My service contracts with Level 3/Broadwing will  be expiring this upcoming June and suprisingly, I hadn’t heard from a represenative from Level 3 asking to come out and meet with me to to discuss renewal and what the new company can do for me, etc.  Having a few mintues, I decided to call up the main Broadwing number, which I later found out was routed to the Level 3 Customer Center, to find out who my new represenative would be so that I could tell them about my needs and to see what they new, larger company could offer me.  To my surpise I was informed by the woman on the other end that my account would be handled by ‘Customer Care’.  I asked her to confirm that I no longer had a dedicated Account Represenative and I was told, “No, Now you have an Account Team.  Any of us can help you.” (Side note: I should have asked how big my team was)   At this point in the conversation I started to smell something–only to later found out my hunch was correct–BS.  I told the represenative I wanted to discuss my service renewal options and find out what services (VoIP Term/Orig) were available.  After waiting for 5 mintues for her to find my accounts, I was told that she’d have someone call me back with the information I had requested.  Additionally, if I needed to call back and speak with someone be sure to referenced Account # (xxx, yyy, etc.. )  [I know what you’re thinking–this sure beats having a single number to call up and speak with someone who knows you and your company by name and doesn’t treat you like a number–me too]

To say the least, I haven’t had any ‘real’ business dealings with Level 3 as of yet, but so far, I’m unimpressed.  My original business and account represenative was with Focal Communications.  Focal was purchased by Broadwing, and my level of service was the same with my prices actually dropping a few times during my renewals.  Now Level 3 is here, my account represenative is MIA (rumor has it he, as well as most of the Houston reps jumped ship–for reasons not known to me yet) and I feel like I’m dealing with the company I left (SBC) back in 2000 because of sort of 1 in a million treatment (not to mention poor customer serivce and pricing).  It’s still early in this business relationship, so I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and we’ll see how this plays out.  Needless to say, Level 3 will have some work to do to keep my business.

On the recommendation from a long-time friend and someone’s opinion I trust, I went to go see That One Guy’s concert last Monday at Rudyard’s British Pub .  As painful as it was to be out until 1am on a worknight, it was well worth it.  Mike’s (ThatOneguy) talent goes beyond anything that I’ve seen or experienced in a long time.  If you’ve never heard of him, in short, he’s a one man band that plays an Electric Pipe Guitar, a boot (yes, a cowboy boot), and an amplified saw, all the while occasionally playing the drums at the same time.  I’d describe his music as a fusion of techno, rock, with an occasional jazz beat.  The more I lisented to his music and watched him play his instruments (term used loosely), the more I wondered how he was able to come up with such an interesting score for his music.  I had listened to some of his music and watched his videos online prior to his performance, but nothing compared to his live performance.

 To anyone who enjoys live music, but sure to check out That One Guy when he comes into your town.

After many years of this domain being parked and used only for email, a real-website is in the works–honestly.  I’ve decided its time to put some substantial content here in the near future.  Stay tuned….