Phone Service?
Just a heads up for those of you with family out of your area---
I tried to call my parents this evening and got a busy signal. Now that's not unusual but when it goes on for 5 hours I have cause for concern. Either their phone is off the hook or their line is out of order. I decided that their phone must be out of order since my folks just don't spend that kind of time on the phone and when their phone is out of order that is the usual symptom.
Mom and Dad live in the middle of no where and without a phone they have no communication. To make thing more interesting, Mom and Dad are in their late 70s and Dad is quite ill. And I want to talk to my Mama!!!!
I tried dialing '"0" like in the golden oldies days. That took me to my cell phone carrier. Not a good option since my folk don't have the same service. Next try, my home phone. Guess who I got --- You got it - my home phone carrier. Now my mom and dad do not have the same service either - they don't even live in the same state. The young man on the line wanted to know their service carrier. I don't know that. Do you know the service carrier of all your family? Unless you want to spend at least one hour on the phone tracking it down, you better know.
I did finally get the number I needed after 1 hour on the phone with non-humans and a couple of "humans". However, it required another 45 minutes of research on the internet and going through their "user friendly" computerized phone system.
The very nice
woman (actually a human not a computer) that I finally talked with (after a total of 2 hours on the phone) did give the direct number to the repair service. This number is not one that was on their web-site or referred by anyone else. I am recording this number in stone and I pray that Mom and Dad don't change their phone service and that the phone service isn't bought out by someone else.
Bottom line: Know the name of your loved one's phone service especially the elderly
Have the numbers of the service's repair line
