I am on a high horse so please bear with me. We have a special phone system that required the phone company add a nine digit number to their software whenever we add a person. No big deal — we have been doing this for almost 10 years. Verizon has been relatively responsive, taking 1-2 days to get the job done. Usually a single phone call or perhaps two (to get the right department,) a fax, or an email and that’s it. Boy how times have changed.
But not now. I am just off the phone from a supervisor at Verizon who actually said these words:"Well, now that we have grown you can’t expect the kind of fast service you had in the old days." WOW!!! I told her I was stunned that she would actually admit that, even if it was true.
I have discovered that now you have to talk to a salesperson, who then sends a document of some kind to order entry. Order entry takes 5-7 days to actually write the order and then they can give you an approximate time of installation, which could be as much as 21 days after that. And I am certain there will be a $100 charge for the 30 seconds it took to make the entry.
They are a big company now and they have their procedures, I have been told.
Let’s see, Dell can manufacture a computer and ship it to me in less than a week and I never have to talk to anyone. I just ordered a Tuxedo over the Internet (a complicated order, based on my growing waistline), and they called to confirm a size and shipped it the same day they received the order. I wanted to add my wife to my frequent parker card at the Off Airport location I use here in LA — I dropped them an email on Sunday. They got back to me on Monday that the card was in the mail. Hell I can ship images of a magazine to my printer and eight days later a 64 page magazine is in the mail. Travel agents are out of business because airlines have figured out how to let you make reservations on line and frankly, they work.
Oh, yes, I forgot. These are all private sector companies. They have no guarantees from the government. They don’t have franchises. They have to compete in the real world where service makes a difference.
Verizon is my only choice. I think — I may be wrong. I have just hired a person who used to work for MCI. Maybe she knows an alternative. If so. I can certainly tell you where Verizon is going to go. Bye Bye.
Sell you Verizon stock today. They are sinking fast.
Update: The supervisor I contacted was able to make things happen. The fix is done. I called and congratulated her and told her that her talents were lost at Verizon..
