On October 21, a single rate went into effect for France telecom users, [...]]]>

About two weeks ago, France Telecom (www.francetelecom.com) moved out of a rate-zone pricing scheme and into flat-rate pricing, with landline calls made between any points within mainland France costing the same. As goes France, so will the rest of the world?

On October 21, a single rate went into effect for France telecom users, affecting seven million residential customers under the general pricing scheme.  Prices for those customers went down around 25 percent for connection charges, 58 percent on per minute rates at peak calling time and a whopping 69 percent for off-peak rates.

Call rates from an FT landline to Internet telephone number — defined as beginning with 09 7 – are now also charged as local calls.  

FT customers living in overseas areas – defined as French Guyana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and St Martin-St Barthelemy –are also reaping savings, with reductions of about 20 percent on calls to mobiles in mainland France and proportional reductions in line with the FT reductions.

Will other phone companies follow FT’s lead into simplified pricing?  When the company introduced AMR-WB and mobile HD voice service last year, it didn’t take long for other European carriers to start talking about their plans for wideband voice.

Turns out they only need a couple of shovels.

Around the corner, the lead Verizon tech of the day found damage that apparently had come from/around work done on the cable company box — a [...]]]>

At one point this morning, there were two Verizon trucks plus a contractor’s pickup with backhoe at the ready.

Turns out they only need a couple of shovels.

Around the corner, the lead Verizon tech of the day found damage that apparently had come from/around work done on the cable company box — a finding that will, no doubt, be something Verizon takes up with Cox and the VA SCC.

My copper has been spliced/fixed, the temp line has been restored, so all is happy in the world for now.

But still, why was I quoted up to seven days for someone to look at the initial problem? Why is Verizon having to haul techs up from Richmond to work through a backlog of repair tickets in Northern Virginia? Would I still be waiting for someone to look at my line today if I hadn’t dropped a dime (well, clicked a link) to the VA SCC?

I spent 10 minutes on the phone going over the repair status of my Verizon landline with a Verizon supervisor.  I currently have dial-tone through a temporary jury-rig (hmm, reminds me, must take pictures) between my NIC and my neighbor’s.

The sup was concerned that I didn’t [...]]]>

Verizon supervisors work on Sundays, it appears.

I spent 10 minutes on the phone going over the repair status of my Verizon landline with a Verizon supervisor.  I currently have dial-tone through a temporary jury-rig (hmm, reminds me, must take pictures) between my NIC and my neighbor’s.

The sup was concerned that I didn’t get phone calls from either one of the techs who came out on Friday and Saturday.  I told them I wasn’t as torked off about that so much as the call center person who told me that my line was fix on Saturday, go unplug-and-replug your phones in.  The supervisor noted that, well, the quality of call center people in the technical industry these days…

ANYway, after telling him for my great-great love when I did talk to the techs and how I didn’t understand how Verizon could tell me it could be up to 7 days for someone to even look at the problem, he said I should see a dig crew out on Monday, presuming Miss Utility can get out here and mark the other lines (cable, electrical).

1) The copper is dead between my house and the distribution point, there are no alternatives, Verizon is going to have to [...]]]>

At 11:40 AM, a Verizon supervisor — the second tier guys who actually know what the f*** is going on — called me back and clarified the status of the phone repair–

1) The copper is dead between my house and the distribution point, there are no alternatives, Verizon is going to have to dig and put in new copper.

2) This process may take up to 7 days (worst case), since it is now a weekend, Miss Utility has to be called to mark the lines and then Verizon’s contractor has to come out to dig-dig-dig… *sigh*

3) “Bob” the supervisor noted that if the first-line person who had taken the call had scrolled down the record a bit more, she should have seen that A) Phone line was dead, Jim and B) There was another work order generated for replacing the copper from this morning’s tech assessment.  So, she should have not told me that I had service restored and go through the rote ritual of “unplug the phones, wait 5 minutes, try again, that doesn’t work, call back.”

The supervisor — who I bet installed his share of network when he was younger — did not think kindly of the first line response person. Ya gotta love a guy who doesn’t sugar coat things

*sigh*

The moral of this story should NOT be “I hate Verizon.”   I love the line guys and techs who don’t try to B.S. me, they just tell me what’s going on, like the guy yesterday up from Richmond working through the backlog of repairs.  These are people who care about the customer and have pride in their work and they know that they can make a person’s day because they’ve dealt with some of the back office crap and it doesn’t make them any happier.

I really wish Ivan and the rest of the Verizon senior leadership would stop and take a moment to reassess and repair Verizon’s customer service organization on the landline side.

P.S. Shoutout to Andy Abramson — happy to make you smile!

My Verizon landline died sometime yesterday. I placed a service call last night and was told the latest someone would show up would be July 13 – seven days from the [...]]]>

If you want to know one of the supporting reasons why Verizon continues to lose landlines, it boils down to one word: service.

My Verizon landline died sometime yesterday. I placed a service call last night and was told the latest someone would show up would be July 13 – seven days from the time I placed the call.

Seriously, WTF?

A test from the CO indicated that yes, indeedie, there was a problem, so a truck roll was scheduled. Iif a dispatcher could get someone out there earlier,  Verizon might be able to get someone out there; could I please provide two (2) other phone numbers to reach someone at the household.  So they have a “work” number (which, BTW, is a Cox phone line working fine) and a mobile number.

Other highlights of my call: “Did I check the dial tone access on the box outside?” No.  When did checking dial tone on the box outside become standard operating procedure?   “Work on the inside of the house is covered, you pay for maintenance…” Yes, we do,  but this apparently doesn’t get a truck roll out to me any sooner despite paying the extra $3 and change.

All this gives me flashbacks to when I moved about 3 years ago and tried to get service to my new house. It was almost literally a move across the street — no change in CO, no restart in billing, should have been a piece of cake.

Instead, it was a NIGHTMARE.

One phone number was supposed to be transferred over the weekend, but the house owners left their service on.   I called service, took time out of my day on a Friday, and was PROMISED that would be out that day.  10 AM rolled into noon, and I called Verizon again. “Someone will be out by 3 PM”… 3 PM rolled into 4, called again … “Someone will be out by 6 PM”… 6 PM came and went. “We can’t send someone out today, we’ll send someone out tomorrow.”

Saturday came and went, nobody showed up.

Monday rolls around, the dial tone from the previous owners ends and STILL no truck roll.  I call again, am told that because the previous owners didn’t have service turned off, they have rescheduled the truck roll — because they just CAN’T turn up service without a truck roll once the line is turned off — for two weeks later, thank you very much.

Since I live in a cell phone “dead zone” and have a small child, I am not f***ing pleased. I ask for a supervisor and tell her I had a live phone line in the house until yesterday, could she PLEASE try to do something in the switch?

And… 5 minutes later late on Monday I have one of two phone lines turned on. Lot of apologies about how Verizon was switching to a new dispatch/service system…. and that’s it.  No service credit, no paper…

Line number two came up after a truck roll about two weeks later.

A month or two after that, I called up Cox and moved line number two off Verizon.   The cable company gave me a TWO HOUR window when the tech would be out and it took them less than an hour to:

1) Find the right cable

2) Install the equipment on the side of the house

3) Switch the phone number out of Verizon’s CO over to their CO.

It would have been MUCH LESS than an hour, but the installer was training a new guy, so he was taking his time showing the rookie how to do things right, including nicely cutting the cable guys. In addition,  there was about 5-10 minutes on hold with the service center because it was lunch time.

Now, which would you prefer, a two hour service window, or a seven day service window? Cable may have gotten a bad rap for customer service in the past, but they’re kicking Verizon’s rear in my neighborhood today.