According to reader Greg, Verizon reps are still confused about the difference between .002 dollars and .002 cents.

I recently updated my phone and went with a treo 700w. I decided to go with the pay-as-you-go data plan since I don’t really plan on using the interwebs too much on the phone. So, when I was setting up data over the phone with the verizon woman, I asked her what the data rate was. She said “.015 cents/kb”. I said “Are you sure? Are you sure it’s not .015 dollars/kb? I read and interesting article about the discrepancy.” She said, yes yes we’ve all heard about it, I assure you this is correct” [or something like that]. So, I went about my way figuring this was going to be an issue soon. The bill comes, and sure enough it’s 100x more than expected.

Back in December another customer, George, took Verizon to task for quoting .002 cents and charging .002 dollars. It was a huge story and Verizon said they had it all figured out and were going to retrain their customer service staff. Apparently, those efforts failed. Verizon, you’re stupid. Teach your people basic math, or better yet, making it a hiring prerequisite. — BEN POPKEN

(Photo: stopnlook)

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