I wish it were that way for me. I called a competitor once, as I had a $500/month account. All I could see was the tower they're on. Called them, told em I'd pay them $250 / month for the account ( I know they charge a lot more than that... ) since I'd manage the customer, etc.
They hung up on me. I called back to talk to the owner and was rudely told, even by him, that they would not support their competitors. hah. I hooked the customer up with a cable modem, and I paid for the line so I could run an AP off his roof with now 12 customers from there. One of the other customers could see my stuff, so I use the cable line as a backup now. :) Oh, the competitor left that tower, too... -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Marlon K. Schafer Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2007 11:36 PM To: WISPA General List Subject: Re: [WISPA] Refreshing Day Yeah, a guy needs days like that once in a while eh? I went to do an install today and found that I couldn't hit the customer due to trees etc. While up on the roof I noticed that one of the dozen or so ap's I was picking up belonged to one of my competitors. A quick phone call later and I had an IP addy from him. Got the customer up and running. My competitor will make some money from me, I'll get a bit from the customer, and the customer has service. A great day all around! marlon ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rick Harnish" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "'WISPA General List'" <wireless@wispa.org> Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2007 7:16 PM Subject: [WISPA] Refreshing Day > Well it was 10 degrees above zero this afternoon here in northern Indiana. > We have been having an issue on one particular tower and after changing > the > base station equipment a couple times in the last few days, I decided to > get > out from behind a desk and go out to some customer locations that were > still > having issues. Turned out to be some minor tweaking of settings but it > gave > me a chance to interface with some customers face to face. > > > > It was very refreshing to hear compliments about our service and many > thanks > for bringing broadband out into the rural areas. These were a few > customers > that had very little service in the last few days. I almost feel like I > should make each member of my staff go do this at least once a month. It > really gives a guy a renewed appreciation of why we do what we do. Eight > years ago when we started this, it was very apparent. Lately it seems > like > most people expect service anywhere they are and at a very cheap price. > Normal phone conversations seem to leave me with a "bad guy" impression. > "Too Much", "not fast enough", "whaddya mean, I can't get service", "TWO > YEAR CONTRACT, no way!". Well today, shaking people's hands and seeing > the > smile on their face when everything was fixed and back to normal, takes > all > that away. Heck, I think I was happier than they were. > > > > My last service call was to a gentleman I have known for 20 years from a > distance. He called late in the afternoon and said he couldn't get logged > on and that our installer had been there today to replace a radio. He > was > so complimentary on the phone about the quality work and attitude of the > installer and the rest of my staff, so I called my wife and told her I > would > be home in about an hour. I drove 15 miles out of town and fixed the > issue > rather quickly. Same IP address, different radio MAC address........tower > needed a reboot to get rid of the arp issue. I guess I could have done > that > from the office but this one seemed like it was better handled face to > face. > The customer was off to church as soon as I left his house and I'm sure > that > he probably told all his friends about our service and my fine staff. > Some > people just value the local support a WISP is willing to give to its > customers. It's not all about price, service like this makes customers > for > life, no matter how cheap they can buy it from somewhere else. > > > > Oh yeah, I also backed into his mailbox on the way out the driveway. You > know, it didn't even bother him....."I'll fix that right up tomorrow, you > go > on home now" :-) > > > > Respectfully, > > > > Rick Harnish > > President > > OnlyInternet Broadband & Wireless, Inc. > > 260-827-2482 > > Founding Member of WISPA > > > > -- > WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org > > Subscribe/Unsubscribe: > http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless > > Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/