A True Story

A friend of mine called me up two days ago and asked my help. She was having trouble getting on the web on her desktop computer. I suggested she try rebooting her modem, which is something I do with mine every week or so and it sometimes makes a difference. She asked how to do that.

I said, "Your modem has a back-up battery in it. Find the panel to access it and take the battery out, making sure you note how it goes in so you can replace it. Once it's out, unplug your modem, wait a couple of minutes, then plug the modem back in and replace the battery." She said she would try this.

Yesterday, she called me back and said she'd located the battery compartment, opened it…and found no battery in there. She called Tech Support for her internet provider, which is AT&T and they told her, "No, we don't supply a back-up battery in that model of modem. If you search online, you can probably find an electronics store and order one."

She pointed out that under the terms of her contract, the modem is their property…shouldn't they supply the battery for it? And shouldn't they tell the customer that it might be a good idea to buy a back-up battery?" They told her they just don't do that.

No wonder that company can afford to buy Time-Warner.