Here I am calling Cox Communications to get cable TV and Internet service in my TV-and-computer room. This room did not have any hookup when I moved in, and neither did my guest bedroom, so Cox would have to install two new hookups, to turn on cable TV, to turn on Internet service, and to make sure it all works.

     This should be a standard setting for a standard techno-geek. I need to connect a couple of television sets in two rooms and three computers in a network with hub, router, firewall, and domain (the-adam.com). This should be in the same class as showing up at a sporting goods store and asking for a tennis racket.

     This should have been one telephone call to Cox Communications and one site visit to my house, right? Yeah, right.

     I would like to define the term "late." When you tell me you're going to be somewhere at nine o'clock and you show up at 9:05, then you're five minutes late. When you say you're going to be there between nine and nine-thirty and you show up at 9:05, then you're on time. But when you say you're going to be there between nine and nine-thirty and you show up at 9:35, then you're thirty-five minutes late. If you asked me to wait for half an hour and then miss by five minutes, then you're responsible for the entire time I have to sit around waiting for you.

     Cox gave me a two hour window for the first guy who showed up two-and-a-half hours late, hooked up one of the TV rooms, and mentioned that the other hookup requires outside wiring and I should have approval from my homeowners association. Perfectly professional and reasonable, perhaps, but shouldn't the professional and reasonable person on the telephone at Cox have known more about homeowner associations and outside wiring than somebody just moving in?

     In the meantime, I tried my now-turned-on Internet service from another room in the house and it didn't work. So I scheduled a second visit to check-out the cable modem and to complete the wiring for which I now had permission. The second guy showed up right near the end of the two hour window with no clue about the wiring job. He checked out the Internet, determined that the outside "drop" was no good for Internet, and told me he would be back the next morning to install it. Since it was outside, he didn't need me to be here. Another visit was also scheduled for the outside wiring work.

     The next day there was no sign he had been here. I called Cox and they had no idea anybody was supposed to have been here, but said they would send somebody out. But they said it could take a while as they might require permission from the town of Scottsdale to replace the cable drop outside my house. I was promised that I will get a call the next day to apprise me of the status of my drop order.

     For the next few days, I got no call, called Cox myself, went through all their telephone menus, explained my situation all over again, and was assured a call the next day from somebody who knows what is going on.

     Finally, one day, my cable modem came to life with flashing green lights. I could get Internet service from my Windows machine but not from my firewall.

     I specifically scheduled the outside-wiring-work visit for mid-afternoon so the Cox worker would have daylight for running wires over my roof. He showed up four and a half hours late, well after dark, and did a thoroughly professional job of hooking up both the television and the computers in the room where I wanted service.

     Is there a point to this story? Yes, there is. All the Cox people in this adventure did their jobs. Each person followed his instructions with zeal and gusto. All seemed sympathetic and were clearly used to apologizing. One woman said, "I'm sorry sir," when I asked, "Today is Monday, right?"

     This should have been one telephone call and one visit to my house.

     This egregiously-poor management is bad for me, true enough, but it can't be good for Cox Communications, either. Four visits, over a dozen telephone calls, broken promises, constant apologies, and people constantly working overtime has to be inefficient and expensive for them.

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