Here (Huntsville, Alabama) we have two competitive cable companies, and last week when I saw what was about to transpire I called Comcast's competitor (Knology) to see what was available. Surprise! The bundle I needed cost 30% less with the competitor, so I signed up, and the installer came today. The transition was flawless, and bringing up the new link took nothing more than a simple ifdown, linuxconf, ifup sequence to have the firewall/router back up.
As soon as it worked, I called up Comcast, cancelled, and personally took their modem and dropped it off at their office. Well, this evening we got a call from a seemingly desperate Comcast sales lady who desperately wanted to know why, since it was still working, that we would bolt.
My answer was this: I cannot afford downtime, period. The deal negotiated between Comcast and E@H is a tentative thing, and under the circumstances, the bondholders may reject it and demand that the case be transferred immediately into chapter 7 liquidation. Why? Taxes! The game is over, and they want their tax loss writeoff as soon as possible.
The bankruptcy judge in some ways has "godlike" powers, and indeed may not let there be a 90 day transition. He has no duty to the customers whatsoever. His is basically a fiduciary duty, in which the customer is a non-entity.
I have found that if I want to influence my elected representatives, that email is probably the least effective means possible. The best way to get noticed is to have something _physical_ in their hands, and the more personal it looks, the better. A snail-mail letter works great, and a fax is nearly as good.
Furthermore, if I want them to respond, they need to know that I am in their district, so the letter gets a real name, with a physical address in their district.
For really important issues, I do not even use the computer printer, but hand write the letter. Whether it is mailed or faxed, that virtually always gets a response. Remember that the person reading your correspondence sees tons of it each week, and so yours needs to stand out as being both important and genuine.
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Here (Huntsville, Alabama) we have two competitive cable companies, and last week when I saw what was about to transpire I called Comcast's competitor (Knology) to see what was available. Surprise! The bundle I needed cost 30% less with the competitor, so I signed up, and the installer came today. The transition was flawless, and bringing up the new link took nothing more than a simple ifdown, linuxconf, ifup sequence to have the firewall/router back up.
As soon as it worked, I called up Comcast, cancelled, and personally took their modem and dropped it off at their office. Well, this evening we got a call from a seemingly desperate Comcast sales lady who desperately wanted to know why, since it was still working, that we would bolt.
My answer was this: I cannot afford downtime, period. The deal negotiated between Comcast and E@H is a tentative thing, and under the circumstances, the bondholders may reject it and demand that the case be transferred immediately into chapter 7 liquidation. Why? Taxes! The game is over, and they want their tax loss writeoff as soon as possible.
The bankruptcy judge in some ways has "godlike" powers, and indeed may not let there be a 90 day transition. He has no duty to the customers whatsoever. His is basically a fiduciary duty, in which the customer is a non-entity.
90 day transition? I wouldn't bet on it.
I have found that if I want to influence my elected representatives, that email is probably the least effective means possible. The best way to get noticed is to have something _physical_ in their hands, and the more personal it looks, the better. A snail-mail letter works great, and a fax is nearly as good. Furthermore, if I want them to respond, they need to know that I am in their district, so the letter gets a real name, with a physical address in their district. For really important issues, I do not even use the computer printer, but hand write the letter. Whether it is mailed or faxed, that virtually always gets a response. Remember that the person reading your correspondence sees tons of it each week, and so yours needs to stand out as being both important and genuine.