Three service calls in one afternoon that all went sideways

Last Tuesday I had a run of three installs in a row that just would not cooperate. First house had a dog that chewed through the drop line while I was inside testing the box. Second job the customer's attic was full of old blown insulation up to my knees and I had to crawl 40 feet to the far wall. Third one the customer wanted the modem in a closet behind a bunch of holiday decorations, then got mad when I said the signal would be weak. By 5pm I had insulation dust in my hair and a cracked ladder from the dog incident. Anybody else ever have a day where everything just fights you from start to finish?

3 comments

3 Comments

carter.gavin18d ago

Got tackled by a Great Dane while running a line last spring and the customer just stood there saying "oh he's friendly" as I'm trying to keep my tools from scattering everywhere. Tbh that blown insulation crawl sounds like my personal version of hell, I'd rather deal with three more cranky closet customers than wade through that itchy mess again. The cracked ladder is just adding insult to injury though, hope you didn't have to explain to dispatch why you need a new one.

milessmith19d ago

Man, I feel you on that blown insulation crawl. Did a job last month where the attic temp was pushing 130 and I had to shuffle across those old fiberglass batts with no plywood. Got home that night and my arms were covered in little red welts from the itchy dust. That cracked ladder from the dog thing is brutal too, those drop line chews always happen at the worst time. What did you do about the customer who wanted the modem in the closet, did you try to talk them into a mesh setup or just run the line somewhere else?

the_wren18d ago

Did you see that post from @milessmith about the mothball smell stuck in the router? Heard that stuff seeps into the plastic and never leaves. Some people will do anything to hide that attic funk.