Lessons of a first time business.

I've operated Skyline Sound Studios in a residential area for years. The studio was always basically a collection of equipment and acoustic treatment that was made to look nice in the residence I happened to be occupying at the time. This month, I made the leap and leased space to put the studio. I'm official! YAY!

.....'cept that so far the services I need are more costly for a business than they are for a residence. This smacked me hard in the face, as I'm faced with $25 more per month minimum for a high speed internet connection than I'm currently paying at my residence. The kicker is that this connection is slower than my home connection, but since it's in a business location they will not install it as a residential connection. Evidently, the two are completely different logistically. Business service gets priority for bandwidth. Home service will slow down when the bandwidth is stretched thin. Business service will not. If I have a business that were using up 80% of the bandwidth available in Grove City, then that would slow down the internet connections of everyone who had a residential connection in Grove City so that I can keep my money making internet speed. That to me seems a bit unfair, but that's how it is.

I talked to my contractors last week, and they told me that I needed to have the internet turned on and wired before the drywall went up. At this time, the studs were in place but the drywall wasn't in. The electrical wasn't in. I had some time, but not much. So I start calling. I call Time Warner, and got my first dose of sticker shock. I call W.O.W., and though their prices were much more favorable (about 60% the cost of Time Warner's quote), the connection was half that of Time Warner.

So I ask them to tell me how much it will cost to do the install. Time Warner drags their feet and I hear nothing. W.O.W. does an on site check, and 3 days later alerts me that the install would be free. Then I ask her to clarify what that would involve, and she says it would involve the internet being tethered from the pole to the building. I clearly told them that I needed it wired inside, and reminded her of this. She said she'd check with her tech and get back to me.

.....that was Friday, 5 calendar days ago.

I talk to the contractor yesterday and inform him that the cable companies are being slowpokes and not getting back to me, so he checks with his electrician to see if he can wire it for high speed internet. Unfortunately, he can't, so I've been on the phone with W.O.W. and Time Warner for the past 90 minutes trying to get this sorted out. The contractors are ready to drywall in 48 hours, and once it's drywalled it's too late. They would either have to rip out the drywall to install the cable, which would be a waste of time and money, or tether the cable through the room in an insightly manner that would not look very attractive. I'm getting this space built to my specs, I want it done right damn it!

So I call Time Warner, who checks to see if they can expidite the installation. It'll cost me $100 to install, but they may be able to expidite the installation for me. Ugh. $100 to install, plus $90-month for slower-than-home internet? I'm not happy.

So I call W.O.W., and I get the rep whom I spoke to on Friday last week. She seemed stunned that the tech had never returned my call, but there is no missed call on my phone and no voicemail in my mailbox. I asked her if this would be able to be done in 48 hours, and she said it was doubtful but she'd have the tech call me.

W.O.W. was the clear winner with regard to price. But if W.O.W. isn't competent enough to call me to set up the install, and W.O.W. can't do it in the next 48 hours as I must now have, then Time Warner will win the contract at nearly double the cost to me. It would be more expensive for me to delay the opening of my studio just to save money on the internet bill.

But even then, Time Warner gave me no guarantee that they could get it done in time. I swear, sometimes I feel like I'm surrounded by complete idiots!

On that note, the operators have been trying their best to accomodate me. I have no complaints about the specific operators. But I tried to shop around, and now my choice may have to cost me more because the cheaper option was too incompetent.

I guess you get what you pay for.