FRIDAY afternoon, 3pm ======
Ring! Ring!
Jon: Hi, I just installed an underground conduit for my phone line. I need it transferred from overhead to my new underground conduit.
Verizon: Sure, we're here to help...we can schedule you for next Tuesday...now, it's a 2" conduit, correct?
Jon: No, it's a 3/4" conduit. That's exactly the size that fits into your network box on the side of my house.
Verizon: We can't install your underground phone line in a 3/4" conduit. It has to be 2" in diameter. If you had called us we would have told you that before you started.
Jon: Your cable will fit in a 3/4" conduit! Five cables would fit! My conduit already has a pull string in it. It'll work fine.
Verizon: No, you'll have to install a 2" conduit.
Jon: I already dug the 90 foot trench and buried it. I'm not putting in a 2" conduit. You must have a waiver process, correct?
Verizon: Yes, we do.
Jon: Well, get me into that process, please.
Verizon: OK, I'll have our engineering group call you back next week.
Jon: That's fine. Meanwhile, please cancel the appointment you just scheduled for Tuesday until we get this straightened out.
Verizon: OK, it's cancelled.
The very next day, SATURDAY morning, 7am ========
Two huge Verizon bucket trucks roll up to our house. I throw on my clothes and rush out. "Hey, I cancelled my appointment to move my phone line to underground. I need a waiver for my 3/4" conduit. Why are you here?" The linemen said, "Our orders say to move an overhead phone line to an underground conduit. We're here to do it. What's the problem with a 3/4" conduit?" (So, at their $90 per hour, I facilitated the whole process and it was done in an hour. Worked fine.)
SUNDAY ==============
A welcome day of rest from Verizon!
MONDAY 9am ==========
Ring! Ring!
Jon: Your linemen showed up on Saturday morning and did the whole job, 3/4" conduit and all.
Verizon: They did???
Jon: So, you can cancel the waiver process.
Verizon: OK. Thanks for calling and letting us know.
TUESDAY 1pm =========
A small, ill-equipped Verizon van with no bucket or ladder shows up to move my cable from overhead to underground. "Do you ever wonder about your company?" I said. "All the time," he replied.
Another example...
Ring! Ring!
Jon: My Verizon cellphone asks me to key in my password when I check my voicemail from my own cellphone. Would you turn that off, please? My old CellularOne service allowed me to turn that "feature" off.
Verizon: No, we can't turn off the password. That's there for your security.
Jon: But, I'm the customer. Shouldn't I be able to have the level of security I want? When I travel to San Jose I don't want to be keying in the password while driving on their six-lane highways at 9am!
Verizon: No, can't turn it off.
...months later I asked the same question...and the very helpful customer service rep provided the following...
Verizon: No, we can't turn it off, but you know how I do it? In my phone I program my "1" button for my voicemail phone number, and also add two 2-second pauses, plus my password. Works great! (And it does. Why didn't someone at Verizon suggest that long ago???)
(It irks me to admit that I have Verizon cellphones, but they do work all over the country.)
The above conversations were all amiable, never hostile. Their people aren't the issue here. It's that Verizon is a huge company whose business plan is moving away from servicing rural America. They are clearly targeting country-wide cellular service and fiber optic service in large metropolitan areas (and revealing that business plan as they try to sell off huge sections of rural America to other telecom providers, just as they've recently done by attempting to sell off their rural Vermont territory to Fairpoint Communnications.) It's unable to get out of it's own way. So, whether for land line, DSL service, cellular service, or anything else, if dealing with Verizon you do it their way and on their schedule. From a number of experiences, both residential and business, it seems there is absolutely no way to light a fire under Verizon.
My suggestions for Verizon advertising...