In Which I Make An Assumption, And Suffer Accordingly

[serinde]

So, I've been sitting on the bare floor for four hours, waiting for Verizon. At half past twelve I give up and call them, and actually get straight through to A Human on this continent, mirabile dictu.

"Oh, they've already turned it on. Your order doesn't have any jacks on it, so they didn't need to knock on your door."

but but but the order lady told me....

"I'm sorry about that, but they won't have needed to, so. Anyways it should be on now, why don't you plug a phone in and test."

....because there are no jacks in the apartment. Well, shit. You would think, would you not, that an apartment that's been inhabited since 1872 might have had ONE PERSON WITH PHONE SERVICE LIVING HERE? Ever? At some point? I certainly did, so contemptuously checked "no" on the tickybox. Mais non.

So, I must be here 8am-noon on Tuesday, and will pay a three-digit sum, and the nice man will make inside wiring appear. At least I shall have a chair.

Now to return to NJ, and deliver office cats, and pack more boxes, and make time to meet up with my mom who drove here to give me a coffeepot.

Comments

[caelfinn.livejournal.com]

Did you check inside the closet(s)? Our demarc is in the bedroom closet and not at all obvious.

[syringavulgaris.livejournal.com]

I did. Stephen found a pair of badly-terminated, painted-over wires coming in from the window; we think that might be it.

[elibalin.livejournal.com]

I'm still surprised that nobody would, as standard operating procedure, have tried to test for dialtone where they thought jacks should be.

It's not as if whoever was dispatched wouldn't have been equipped to install jacks, if he'd bothered to notice that none were there.

[briony530.livejournal.com]

How could they have Done What Was Needed if there wasn't a line going to a jack in the apartment. Of course I ask that as if the phone company has EVER made sense in any way...silly me.

[syringavulgaris.livejournal.com]

There is probably a line coming out of the demarc and going...up (a riser pair, as they say in the biz). The tech probably assumed, as I did, that it actually GOES SOMEWHERE USEFUL.

[nancaurelia.livejournal.com]

It doesn't seem possible that the apartment never had any jacks. Maybe the outie-bit was removed and painted over by someone more recent who had a cell phone only? Could it be useful to ask the super? If the wires are there, the part that sticks out is easy to attach. I have actually done it myself, and I'm not handy.

You were clever to call them when you did.

More deep breaths.

[solomita.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure that rentals are legally required to provide a phone jack. I don't know what your relationship is with your landlord, but you might want to address it with them before coughing up the cash.