This is the excuse that my ISP's tech support department gives me every time I call.
My ISP has a habit of going down once or twice a week, for anywhere between 3 and 7 hours. I'll call up, and I'll hear the standard "We're experiencing technicial problems in the following sites" recording, and Smyrna will always be listed. Obviously they know there's a problem, so I (with my morbid curiosity) want to know why.
"Thank you for calling Tech Support, this is _______, how can I help you?"
"Hey, how's it going? Listen, I live in Smyrna, and I know there's a problem....I'm just wondering if you have any kind of time frame as to when it'll be back up." (These techies go through hell, so I always go out of my way to be polite.)
"Unfortunately, we don't really know."
"Okay, that's cool. What's the problem?"
"UUNet's routers are acting up again."
Now somehow, I don't think UUNet would *be* UUNet if their routers had problems twice a week for 3+ hours at a time. This is what the techs are told the problem is, and they relay this to the caller. The only reason I stay with this ISP is because running servers isn't against their AUP. It's a cable modem. It's amazing though, that every time I call, UUNet is the problem. It's never my ISP's fault...their servers never have issues...it's always UUNet's routers. I can just see a call to the billing department...
"Billing, this is Mike."
"Hi, Mike....listen, I didn't get a bill for this month, and I don't want to have any late charges."
"Hmmmm......I see why you didn't get your bill. It looks like UUNet's routers are acting up."
Guys, the story only works for so long.