I wasn't saying you guys forget and I understand why you have to call. It's just a cumbersom system IMO. Tell the customer you'll be there durring whatever window of time and then show up. If they stiff you bill them $75 or $100. If they are told before hand they'll be billed if they stand you guys up, my guess is folks will make an effort to be home. $100/hour would more than cover the cost of the drive over to a house and ringing the doorbell.
The cellphone thing isn't an option as it doesn't work well inside the house and then that would be one more phone ringing while I'm likely on the landline phone with a customer. It's not real professional to ask a customer to hold on so I can take a call from my cable guy.
I've asked the CS person to just have the tech show up but I've always been told they have to call. Are the CS people full of it? If so, that's good to know. Thanks. My guess is the tech will still call ahead. They've (CS) have screwed up calling the right number to my house almost every time I can remember.
The 6:00-9:00pm time frame is handy, however, everybody else and their brother wants that time so the next available slot is sometime next century. I need the internet to work, so if I'm having issues I want the tech there ASAP (within reason, I understand there's people in line ahead of me), not wait until next Wednesday night (or that weekend either).
I just previewed my post and I guess I sound like a whining jerk.
But like I said in my first post, it gravels me that I have to sit on my phone for 4 hours because some other idiot can't be home when they schedule a service call.