When Tech Support Costs More Than Therapy (and Gospel Saves
the Day)
I’m
convinced these technology companies have us exactly where they want
us—confused, frustrated, and reaching for our wallets.
I’ve
been wrestling with my ReadySHARE setup for longer than I care to admit, and
yesterday I made the bold, dangerous, life-altering decision to “just
reinstall everything.” You know—the kind of decision that feels productive in
the moment and quickly turns into regret.
You
already know how that went.
Somehow, I managed to get the downstairs router back
online. Small victory. But the upstairs router—the one I bought just last
September to
make ReadySHARE dreams come true—refused to connect to anything. Not the
internet, not my devices, not even reality- no hint of cooperation. It just sat there. Blinking. Judging
me.
So I did what most of us end up doing: I called tech
support. That’s when I got the line: “Technical support is only available
for 90 days after purchase.”
Ninety days. What is that—a free trial for basic functionality? After that? You pay. And pay I did—$99 and two hours of
my life—working through the issue with a tech who I’m pretty sure I frustrated
just as much as I was frustrated and I’m fairly certain the tech was reconsidering their career
choices thanks to me.
To be fair, we
eventually got the internet back up, which at that point felt like a miracle
and I nearly stood up and
clapped. But ReadySHARE? Oh no. That’s going to require another call…
another day… and probably another exercise in patience.
But seriously— let’s talk about this 90-day nonsense for a second. You
mean to tell me I can spend good money on a router—and not a cheap one—and
after three months, I’m basically on my own? That’s not support. That’s a
countdown.
Ironically, now I do have a year of
support—because I paid for it. And trust me, they are going to earn every cent of that $99. I might call
just to say hello. “Hey, it’s me again—you remember, the ReadySHARE guy”. They’re
going to hear from me until ReadySHARE is working the way it’s supposed to.
At this point, I could keep going. I could spiral into a full rant about blinking lights, firmware updates, and the emotional damage caused by Wi-Fi issues. But instead… I’m going to let it go. Because today is Gospel Sunday. And honestly, that’s probably the only thing that kept me from throwing that upstairs router out the window.
I’ve been digging through some of my old boxes lately and came across a record that reminded me why I love music so much. I’ve always liked how gospel groups named themselves—The Gospel Cavaliers of [Somewhere, USA]— There’s something about it that feels proud, grounded, and real. No marketing team needed
The soul of the A side pulls you in and you are grooving, then
you flip it over, and sometimes the B-side feels like it wandered in from a
completely different universe. Maybe it’s just me, but the B-side on this one has a
sound that reminds me a lot of the Manhattans’ “Shining Star.” That same smooth groove, same kind of
soul—but with that gospel spirit running through it.
Whether that connection is real or just something I’m
hearing, it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that feeling—the shift from
frustration to something grounding, something joyful, something bigger than a
router that won’t cooperate. And
just like that, I went from arguing with a router… to sitting back and smiling
at a record.
No
passwords. No updates. No support fees. And that’s the balance, I guess. Technology might test
your patience… but music? Music soothes your soul.
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