Someone broke into the apartment complex's cable box--several people ended up with free cable. But that's a... hmm, they wouldn't be customers, so maybe a people_suck post? In the process, my modem was knocked offline. I called Brighthouse--that's when pandemonium demonstrated its etemology--"pan", meaning "all", and "demonium", meaning "demons".
I dealt with three different techs over a five-day period. The first was an independent contractor--he said it wasn't his problem that other people were getting free cable, just as long as mine was working. The second tech, also an independent contractor, said that whoever broke into the box had damaged my connection so severely that they were going to have to rewire the whole thing. He said he couldn't do it then, and Brighthouse told me the soonest they could repair it was in four days.
I waited for the four days. This time they sent out a uniformed employee in a company van. He took a look at the box, then told me that the second tech had disconnected me along with the cable thieves. He finally got it back up and running, although the blasted connection doesn't always hold.
Oh, well, at least it's working now.