The ten-star happiness started with a DSL plug in the wall of my rental house, right where I wanted to put the desk. "Call Pioneer, this here number," my new landlord said, and since he's a wise old friend of many years, that's what I did. My provider back in the big city was a big heartless corporation, so better to spend the money here, locally.
Didn't wait long, watched the queue numbers go down, tiny screen kept helpfully going black, thought about how Pachelbel's Canon would be soothing hold-music for Pioneer to play, but forgot to mention it when Winnie answered. Her voice let me know that I had reached a true expert in customer service, and then she proved it. Due to bad eyesight, I don't use a laptop and WiFi like every other human on the planet, apparently, and the so-called phone is more of a curse in old age than a handy magic wand of communication. Evil necessary evil with tiny-print text. Just saying.
So very glad the Pioneer is a cooperative, staffed by actual human neighbors. Thirty years ago Pioneer gave me perfect satisfaction, working at home and depending on reliable service, but my admiration found new horizons for them as Winnie guided me through the process. She kept the conversation on track even as I muttered about random outrages inflicted on the analog elderly in the modern era and the hopelessness of fighting telephonic dehumanized transactions. She showed me how the human element still works fine here. Within days, I was able to rant jeremiads on the Internet and inform my few friends: Not Dead Yet. Thank you, Pioneer Cooperative, for making it easy and pleasant! read more