Saturday, August 27, 2005
An open letter to Verizon
Hey there folks. i'm gonna take a break from the politics for this post to have a word with the 'good' folks over at Verizon about their DSL high speed internet connection. You see, in my real world life, i'm much less a politico, and more of your IT administrator kind of guy.
The question i have come to dread coming from people i have just met is usually started with a varient of 'So, i hear you know something about computers...', followed by a 'how do I' or 'Can you help me to'. I'm a nice guy however, so right after i cringe, i proceed to try and help people out with their computer related issues. Often its a PEBKAC thing (Probelm Exists Between Keyboard And Chair), or a spyware/virus related thing, and often these day a wireless networking thing. I'm more than happy to help, even tho the nine hours a day i do help such people professionally can be quite draining.
But i would like to announce my grievence with Verizon. Verizon... How do i say this without offending anyone... ummm... your DSL service sucks. I am getting complaints from everyone i know who has Verizon DSL, and you need to do something about it like yesterday. I am getting calls from people complaining about their service, who have called your wonderful folks in your customer service department, only to be told that there is nothing that Verizon cares to do about their problem. They are often told that the problem is not Verizons fault, and can't be helped. Often times, the solution to these problems is as simple as cycling the DSL modem, making sure the connections are secure, or that they have the right IP configuration. These are all simple things that i would expect would be part of any support response from an ISP to their customer. but nooooooooooooooooo.....
You really, REALLY, need to fix your customer service. I am fixing your problems over the goddamn phone and your reps can't do the same? Have you though about hiring any customer service reps who actually know something about DSL configuration issues, istead of just trained apes who know how to work a phone? How long does it take to train an ape to mindlessly repeat things like 'Its not our problem', and 'you need to have your computer serviced'?
Please Verizon, can you start taking care of your own customers so my time off does not include troubleshooting more computers that i have to?
Thanks.
tomkitty.
The question i have come to dread coming from people i have just met is usually started with a varient of 'So, i hear you know something about computers...', followed by a 'how do I' or 'Can you help me to'. I'm a nice guy however, so right after i cringe, i proceed to try and help people out with their computer related issues. Often its a PEBKAC thing (Probelm Exists Between Keyboard And Chair), or a spyware/virus related thing, and often these day a wireless networking thing. I'm more than happy to help, even tho the nine hours a day i do help such people professionally can be quite draining.
But i would like to announce my grievence with Verizon. Verizon... How do i say this without offending anyone... ummm... your DSL service sucks. I am getting complaints from everyone i know who has Verizon DSL, and you need to do something about it like yesterday. I am getting calls from people complaining about their service, who have called your wonderful folks in your customer service department, only to be told that there is nothing that Verizon cares to do about their problem. They are often told that the problem is not Verizons fault, and can't be helped. Often times, the solution to these problems is as simple as cycling the DSL modem, making sure the connections are secure, or that they have the right IP configuration. These are all simple things that i would expect would be part of any support response from an ISP to their customer. but nooooooooooooooooo.....
You really, REALLY, need to fix your customer service. I am fixing your problems over the goddamn phone and your reps can't do the same? Have you though about hiring any customer service reps who actually know something about DSL configuration issues, istead of just trained apes who know how to work a phone? How long does it take to train an ape to mindlessly repeat things like 'Its not our problem', and 'you need to have your computer serviced'?
Please Verizon, can you start taking care of your own customers so my time off does not include troubleshooting more computers that i have to?
Thanks.
tomkitty.
