Consumer Suggestion

Next time you find yourself sitting for hours on end, wasting another vacation or sick day from work, waiting for the cable, telephone, or any other utility installation or repair call your local news channel. Tell them that you are being held hostage by said company. Sit down and write an op-ed piece (you'll have time) about how the subcontracted installation/repair guy couldn't actually fix the problem because, even though he knows what the problem is, he isn't authorized to do the job and this is the fifth time someone has been out to look at the problem. All the while YOUR available vacation/ sick days at work are going down the toilet. Which will inevitably mean more time away from work while you wait for the plumber to fix your toilet. Don't get your hopes up, though. Once your days have been retrieved from the loo, you probably won't want them back.

Hmmmm, I think this is yet another situation where deregulation and the free market has NOT served the greater interests of the consumer. Funny how that works, or rather DOESN'T work. Eh?