Actually I was a member of 3 different bookclubs belonging to the same group... now it's just one because they kept bloody well sending me the editors choice despite the fact that I keep rejecting it online in good time! You do tend to feel more than a bit irate after the umpteenth time! I've just kept on Computer Books Direct... it's the only one I seem to buy from anyway.
As for my cable modem the first thing I usually do is reboot the modem and pc, then check it's connected and working properly in device manager, phone up to check if there are problems in this area and if none of these work, THEN phone the help-line... usually with a note of any error messages I've received.
I can imagine most people won't have done that.