Killing Me Softly
No, it's not Roberta Flack who makes me want to curl up on the couch and cry. It's NET, my Brazilian Internet provider. I'll explain. It's been a comedy of errors from day one; we set up an appointment for the afternoon. The next day someone calls to confirm "between 8 a.m. and noon." The same woman tells me I'll need a Xerox copy of my ID and CPF (Brazil's Tax ID Card). It's Saturday afternoon, they're coming tomorrow morning, how come no one told me this before, and where do I get copies made in my neighborhood? My landlady's scanner, of course. Sunday morning: two technicians show up, hook me up, and there's no mention of documents. Phew...I don't really feel comfortable with the idea of handing out copies of my papers to anyone!
Chapter two: I signed up for a 4 MB connection; NET guarantees download at 400 KB/sec, upload at 600 KB/sec., they proudly assured me. A week later or so, I start to notice that the speed slows down to a crawl in the evening. I call technical support and we try the usual tests. No dice. A technician comes. Then another. This one stays for almost two hours. Then more phone calls (an average of one hour and a half on the phone every time). Finally, I despair and do what I should have done in the first place: I start asking around my friends and neighbors about their experience with NET. And guess what: it's the same thing. One tells me: "Oh, they're selling above their capacity, so at peak times (meaning, when everyone around here gets home around 6 p.m.), it doesn't make any difference what kind of connection you have." The other one says that it's useless to call them: "You're only wasting your time on the phone. Just wait until it gets better." So, I've been trying to beat the crowds and work at odd hours. The bills, of course, appear on time at my doorstep. I hurry to make my payment at the bank. God forbid that I should be late. Consumer rights is a concept that looks good on paper in Brazil. In practice, there's very little you can do, apparently.
And where does the softly come into this story? Everyone you deal with over there is so VERY nice, of course!
Chapter two: I signed up for a 4 MB connection; NET guarantees download at 400 KB/sec, upload at 600 KB/sec., they proudly assured me. A week later or so, I start to notice that the speed slows down to a crawl in the evening. I call technical support and we try the usual tests. No dice. A technician comes. Then another. This one stays for almost two hours. Then more phone calls (an average of one hour and a half on the phone every time). Finally, I despair and do what I should have done in the first place: I start asking around my friends and neighbors about their experience with NET. And guess what: it's the same thing. One tells me: "Oh, they're selling above their capacity, so at peak times (meaning, when everyone around here gets home around 6 p.m.), it doesn't make any difference what kind of connection you have." The other one says that it's useless to call them: "You're only wasting your time on the phone. Just wait until it gets better." So, I've been trying to beat the crowds and work at odd hours. The bills, of course, appear on time at my doorstep. I hurry to make my payment at the bank. God forbid that I should be late. Consumer rights is a concept that looks good on paper in Brazil. In practice, there's very little you can do, apparently.
And where does the softly come into this story? Everyone you deal with over there is so VERY nice, of course!
posted by Sheila Thomson at
10:01 AM
2 Comments:
Is there a list of internet cafes in Rio that you recommend?
- Norm
Do you have recommendations for internet cafes in Rio?
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