Impaled: Should not happen

The story was almost two months ago, but after reading at the beginning of the week that Cablecom had sent data at the incredible speed of 1.37 Gbit/s via a conventional coaxial TV cable as part of a record attempt, the memory came flooding back. But first things first.

I've owned an HD television for some time now, but I still had the old, non-HD-capable box from Cablecom. So I couldn't enjoy the brave new world of HD television. On January 30, I decided to replace the box in question. I packed it in a carrier bag and drove to the Cablecom Service Center in Zurich. I realized that I had perhaps not chosen the most suitable day when I took my number in the waiting area. There were ten other customers waiting in front of me. But it went relatively quickly and soon a charming young lady asked me what I wanted. The deal went through quickly and after a short time I left the service center with a new HD-compatible box.

When I arrived home, I unpacked the device, connected it without any problems and after entering the activation code I had received, the installation began. A short time later I was told "reception is very good", but then nothing worked. After two more unsuccessful attempts, I picked up the phone and dialed the hotline number. After a short wait (Cablecom has learned from past mistakes), I had someone on the line who took care of my problem. It soon turned out that everything was correct, but that the activation of the box had apparently been forgotten. When I asked whether it would be possible to contact the young lady whose name was on the delivery bill by phone so that she could make up for the forgotten activation, my helper said that this would not be possible, but he could send an e-mail to the service center. However, if I wanted to be on the safe side, I should go back in person.

Okay. Into the car and back into town. When I arrived at the service center, after a short wait I was assured that everything was fine. Back home and another attempt. Nothing! Another phone call to the support team. This time it was a lady who tried to help me. She said everything was OK now, so it should work. But it didn't. After a short time, I decided to install a newer version of the software on my box. (Why does a new device need a newer software version?) But what the heck. Now it got a bit complicated, because you had to press two buttons on the front with two fingers at the same time (and keep them pressed), then turn off the power switch on the back of the device and only after turning it on were you allowed to release the two buttons on the front. Sounds simple, but it's not that easy from a purely motorized point of view. But it worked and the installation began. Nothing again. A lot of guesswork. Then the hesitant question: What activation code do you have? It turned out that the code printed on the delivery bill was wrong. I entered the correct code and - wonder of wonders - everything worked.