It gets better (really).

So now I’m on the phone talking to someone else at the Business High Speed Internet office at Island Tel. She tell me that Watts Communications does the “first tier” technical support for Residential High Speed Internet. I explain to her my current frustrations. I offer to upgrade to the Business product if it will let me talk to a technician. She thinks this doesn’t make sense, as I would be paying more for exactly the same service. She offers to transfer me directly to “second tier” support. So I get to talk to Cindy. Cindy is very capable, obviously understands exactly what the problem is, makes sure she understands all of the details, and tells me that she will call me back in 20 minutes to 1/2 an hour. I no longer feel like a jerk. Cindy even says “this is obviously time-sensitive as you have some work to get done on that server.” This is good.