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I am Sandra - faithful steward. listener. shepherd. dream believer. hard worker. collects brass bells, boots. Jesus follower. contented. star gazer. homemaker. farmer. prayer warrior. country woman. reader. traveler. writer. homebody. living life large.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Verizon...Can you hear me now?

POST SCRIPT ~ It's now 9:32 and nope, Verizon is a no show. Mama and Daddy taught me when I gave my word but then went back on my word, that made me a liar. Have times changed? Does giving your word, then breaking your word no longer mean you're a liar?

Naughty Verizon.

BTW, folks about 10 or 12 miles down the road, in the next valley, had their phone go out in the same storm...last Wednesday...and Verizon managed to fix their phone the Very Next Day!

Dave just handed me information he printed off the Verizon website for our account which states (a) Assigned to a technician and (b) waiting to be assigned to a technician. These are separate Verizon posts, dated the exact same day...today...and the exact same time...7:00 p.m.

Does this mean a Verizon employee has a grudge against us and is attempting to make our lives miserable? Very definitely, there's a Verizon employee...perhaps the woman who called and left a message stating, "this is Mrs. ____, a Verizon clown, and I'm calling to say we won't repair your phone until July"...who, perhaps, thinks she's being cute, vengeful or ??? Sad, Mrs. ____, Very, Very Sad. It's at times like these I struggle to see that we're all made in the image of Christ 'cause truth be told Mrs. ____, it's just a tad difficult to see the Jesus in you right now.

Hear this Verizon employee...every major religion in the world says something along the lines of "karma", "what goes round comes round" or, in the Christian faith, "cast your bread upon the water". What you're putting "out there", into the universe, is bad karma and moldy bread. So, when things start going south for you...and they will, trust me. Oh yes, they will...look back upon the lies and dastardly deeds you've done and know...the birds have come home to roost.

Original Post:

Verizon is the land line telephone service provider at Thistle Cove Farm and, most of the time, things work well. That is to say, things work well until they don't and then it's a SNAFU...to use an old Army term...of enormous magnitude.

Last Wednesday we had a huge thunder storm here and our phone lines went out. Out as in completely and totally so Dave used his cell phone to report the problem. We live in an extremely rural area, in a deep, long valley and have almost no cell phone service. We have no television nor radio service either before we opted to purchase television satellite and XM radio. Our cell phone service is obtained by either standing, face pressed against the sun room window or standing in the side yard just outside the sun room window facing in a southerly direction. If it's overcast, extremely cloudy or inclement weather there's no cell service at all.

Except for our names, for this story, I'll omit Verizon employee names although we have them. Oh yes, we have them because the Verizon employees gave us their names..

Dave called Verizon last Wednesday evening to report the storm. The Verizon employee took the information and proceeded to tell Dave what he needed to do to ascertain the problem. Dave told the Verizon employee he had checked and it was the line that was malfunctioning, not our telephones but, in any case, we do pay the monthly premium for "inside service line repair" as per Verizon's dictate. The Verizon employee seemed none too impressed and said, "A Verizon repair employee would be at the house sometime between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 23. Ummm...that's 6...SIX...days hence. When Dave asked if there could be an earlier repair date, the Verizon employee said, "No, that's the earliest we can be there."

Okay. Dave told the Verizon employee we're not paying for these 6...SIX...days of no phone service which may, or may not have ruffled the Verizon employee's feathers.

Dave was a bit, understandbly, upset so he placed a message on our incoming answer phone service that said, "The clowns at Verizon won't fix our phones for another week so if you'd like to leave us a message, we'll try to check our answer machine messages."

A Verizon employee called and left a phone message that said, "This is xxxxx, a Verizon clown and we're moving your service repair call to July 1."

Dave called Verizon and the Verizon employee with whom he spoke said, "Verizon employees cannot leave a message stating your repair call will be moved to a later date. The Verizon repair person must stay with the original date and will still be at your house on June 23 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m."

All the above took place prior to today, June 23rd.

However, today, June 23rd brought some interesting changes. Dave called Verizon to ascertain if we were still on the repair list for today, June 23rd between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. The Verizon employee said, "yes". Dave replied, "We have to go to a wake tonight. Are you SURE the repair person will be here by 7 p.m. and not show up at 7:15, after we've left for the funeral home?"

The Verizon employee said, "Well, he might be a little bit late." Dave said, "that's not what the repair order states. It states the Verizon repair person will be here BETWEEN 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Now you're saying "he may be a few minutes late". Does that mean we'll get pushed to the end of the line for Verizon repair service?"

The Verizon employee vaccillated and never really gave a definite answer so we're in limbo. It's now 4:06 p.m. and the Verizon repair person has a bit less than three hours to show...if indeed s/he's going to show at all.

Oh...almost forgot to mention this...when Dave checked our phone answer machine messages, he found his message has been removed and, indeed, there's no response at all. So now if you should happen to call us, you'll get Nothing. Nada. Zip. No automated Verizon message stating the phone line is broken, no Dave message stating, "The Verizon clowns...etc."

So, Verizon...we're also not paying for the answer machine "service" since Verizon, apparently, deleted it. At least, when we checked our messages this morning, we got them but this afternoon...POOF!...all gone.

Dave has been doing some research on Verizon and find they have The Absolute Worst track record for customer relations. People hate them. With A Passion. Dave told me to type in "Verizon sucks" and see what happens. What happens is 184,000 hits! Amazing! All those people, and more, are writing their own accounts of how Verizon has rolled them and taken them for the proverbial ride. Along with their money. Lots and Lots of lovely lolly.

From that bit of research, it doesn't appear Verizon's track record is very good. I know for sure it's not that good with us. Not now. Their attitude is, "we're the telephone company and we don't give a rip." Verizon, probably others as well, know they have the customer over a barrel and there's not much, really, we can do about lousy service. Except I'm calling Congressman Boucher and Senator Puckett to complain, especially if the Verizon service repair person doesn't show up by 7 p.m.

Anyone have better ideas? My ears are wide open.

One more thing...if you're still reading -smile-...last week, June 19th, in northern VA, an elderly man was in a confrontation with a Verizon employee. There's always, at least, two sides to every story but, unfortunately, we'll always and forever, only have one side to this story...the Verizon employee's story. The 79 year old man is dead.

Blessings ~ we haven't had any medical emergencies that would require using our Verizon telephone ~ no one in our families...we hope...have had any medical emergencies that would rquire calling us on our...non-existent...Verizon telephone line ~ no one has been killed or injured by a Verizon employee ~

8 comments:

  1. We had a similar problem with Direct TV! I'm going to type in Direct Sucks and see what happens!

    ReplyDelete
  2. We also have Verizon, and tho we have not had the problems you are having, we most certainly have spent our fair share of time working things out with them. Grrr.
    However, to their credit, they have the best coverage we have been able to find, and we can get a signal nearly everywhere.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Howdy from Kansas.
    I sure love modern techie stuff when all is working right, but it's such a headache when things go awol.
    Once upon a time we lived in a town where we had the worst reception we'd ever had with static so loud you couldn't hear people talking.
    Continually, we were told it was squarrel chew on the landline. Who'd have thunk it.
    We still have landline service, but have added good ole trac phones to our handbags. Pay as you go service.
    Blessings and I sure hope this all get straightened out for you.
    ~D~

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sandra...had to come back and tell you it was the same! Hundreds of hits talking about how Direct Tv sucks! LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Well...I debated long and hard over using the word SxxKS but it does bring out the comments!

    Hi Carol - I think we've got Direct TV and they advertise with Verizon for customers to purchase a "bundle package". NOT! OH MY GOSH. I simply cannot imagine the hassles that would arise if the only company one could deal with was Verizon!

    Hi Farmgirl Cyn - I'm talking about a landline and they are the only game in town since they purchased GTE a few years back. As to cell coverage...that's almost non-existent and even when we can make a cell call, it's patchy...at best. About 50 per cent or more of the conversation is dropped.

    Hi Deanna - you bet, when it works, it works fine -smile-. I did find out someone down the road about 10 or 12 miles had their phone go out in the same storm. Verizon fixed their phone the next day.

    ReplyDelete
  6. We don't get cell phone reception at our place, and fortunately,our phone company has been great. It is owned and operated though by a company on the east coast and business hours are 4 hours shorter for us on the west coast...not a major problem though.

    I use the trac phones too. Pay as I go. I know how you feel dealing with the Bozos at Verizon. The sad thing is, it doesn't appear to bother them that they have such a bad reputation. Wonder if a class-action suit could be a good idea?

    Good thing you and yours are not in need of medical assistance.

    Hey, don't the folks at Verizon know you're a local celebrity? ( Country magazine)Seems that should count for something!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I've just started reading your page, and I came across this post. My husband works for Frontier phone company, who is buying the landline side of the Verizon Company. I do not know the situation where you live, as I'm in another state. However, I do know the life of a phone man, and it's not an easy one. My husband is missing watching our daughter grow up because of the hours he puts in at work. He'll go several days without seeing her at all. She's an early riser, and he's still gone before she's out of bed, and he gets home so late she's already asleep. I know his company refuses to hire anyone else at this point, so it puts them in an even greater bind. I know the company side of things, the dispatching people who you have to speak with, can make it really hard on you and the employees both. Hopefully things will work out for you soon, but do try to see the other side of things.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hello 'ThankfulMommy',

    Thank you for your kind post and I do see the other side of things. If you'll re-read the post, you'll see that no where did I say anything about the technician...that's for an update post...my comments were totally regarding the people at the "service center". It's they who were rude, lied to me, etc. and I stand by what I wrote.

    Our technician is a lovely man, he's been here a few times and has a standing invitation to come by for coffee or ice tea (depending upon the season) or just to get warm if it's freezing weather. I am aware of the hours he puts in, the lack of a second technician (due to another technician retiring and not being replaced) and the, possible, anger he encounters by other customers.

    However, he's never, Never, received anything other than appreciation, gratitude and thanks for me or Dave. In an upcoming, updated Verizon post, he'll be given the accolades he deserves.

    So, "ThankfulMommy" have patience; all will be revealed in due time. I do know jobs are hard to come by and your husband is fortunate to have a good job. It's unfortunate though his work takes him away so much from his family; I am sorry.

    Good success in learning crochet, knitting, etc. and I hope God blesses you with another child.

    Thanks for visiting Thistle Cove Farm and thanks for your comments; both are welcome.

    Sandra

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting Thistle Cove Farm; may God bless you, yours and the work of your hands and heart. My goal is to respond, here, to your comments although it may take a while.
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