1 July 2023

Faizon Love's character's failed attempt to sell the "interconnect" (internet service) to partygoers in the 2005 movie, The Luau, is forever burned into my memory. Since watching it, whenever we talk about internet service, we refer to it as the "interconnect." It was the first thing to come to mind when recently, I was the victim of an unmanaged internet service change. The internet service provider for my area really dropped the ball by failing to value its residential customers’ needs for the interconnect.

I opened my front door to check for the FedEx or UPS delivery for the day. There was no cardboard box but a plastic bag was leaning against the door. I thought it was an advertising mailer or something similar. However, the bag contained a letter and a small box. The letter was on the ISP’s letterhead and stated that my cable modem was outdated, and it needed to be replaced. I looked up and down the street to see whether someone was punking me. With all the cyber crime taking place, why on Earth would I ever connect a modem left on my porch?

I set the bag in File #13 (as my mom would describe it) and went back to work on a data analysis project. Within 5 minutes, my internet connection was inoperable. Fortunately, I have a back-up connection via mobile hotspot, so I was able to continue my work.

Later, I phoned the ISP tech department and asked about the inoperable connection. I was informed that a modem had been dropped off and that I should connect. Okay, well that solved the mystery of the plastic bag but wait, “No one informed us about this new modem, and then the internet was disconnected right after…”

He told me I could speak with a supervisor about it but after a few seconds on hold, I decided that there was nothing the supervisor could tell me to repair what was broken: it was time to terminate the relationship with this ISP. I called customer service again to end the service and when I explained why, I was informed that other people were cancelling their service, too. So I was not the only person who thought this change procedure was outrageously bad, disrespectful and a cancel-worthy customer experience.

Do unto others...

So what could the ISP have done instead? Plenty! When system making changes, the primary objective is to communicate the change to the users, clients or customers. Tell them what is going to happen, tell them while it's happening, tell them when it's done, and make sure they are able to continue their pre-change activities.

The ISP had access to us via multiple channels to announce the change, including dropping off a letter at the doorstep a few days in advance, sending email or mail, phoning, or broadcasting a message over the webpage several times per day (they sent messages this way before we signed up for auto-pay). They chose instead to save time and effort, which resulted in multiple cancelled subscriptions.

All said and done, I turned in the modem the next morning and I saw several people there doing the same. My new mobile hotspot device will arrive on the next FedEx truck.