Certainly there is no arguing with the position GCI would have us all believe concerning the ongoing changeover from cable to internet TV service. It’s just that it isn’t working as described to your writer, or hasn’t yet, and there are a lot of frustrated consumers. It’s not surprising that you were able to locate at least one disgruntled senior citizen among them, but I’d like to offer another perspective.
I began “reaching out” to GCI last September. There were hours of waiting either on the phone or for a callback. Several of the calls were such poor connections that no business could be connected, so the long wait had been in vain. Eventually it all worked out — almost — on Nov. 26. We were connected! This should be the end of the story, but it’s not.
At the heart of our problem is the fact that our household has been provided with a streaming device that I cannot use. The remote that makes all the Yukon TV service possible does not respond accurately to my touch, which is unsteady. On the very first attempt at setup, the GCI technician recommended over the phone that I return the Apple TV streaming device and exchange it for another, more user-friendly model of a different make. I am on a waiting list for that replacement device and no one can tell me when it may arrive. In the meantime, I have discovered that the remote I have is an outdated version. None of the GCI folks I have talked to know how it operates well enough to instruct me or to guide me to written instructions. There is supposed to be a newer version, but that is evidently not currently available either.
Here we are with cable service that will go away, and equipment to replace it that we cannot use! We are senior citizens who take serious exception to the suggestion that we’re resisting this change. We’ve tried hard to do as we’ve been asked, we’ve invested time and money to make it work, and added required services we would not otherwise have needed. The entire process of this shift has been intrusive and inconvenient, and it’s not over yet.
What’s a consumer to do?
— Susan Faith
Anchorage
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