“Just before Poodleman filed a motion to seize Verizon’s property, he received a check from the company….Perhaps it was better for everyone involved that Verizon paid Poodleman, as it might have been a bit difficult for the sheriff to arrest an entire company.”
verizon
Verizon Keeps Making Up Contract law To Prevent Customers From Cancelling Without Penalty
By 5.7.07
Michael tried to cancel Verizon without early termination fee because they raised the basic text messaging rate from .10-.15 dollars. Two customer service reps approved the disconnect without fee, but then it got rejected by the disconnect department. Their reason was that 1) 60 days had passed since the notice of the change was sent out and 2) Since Michael hadn’t used “enough” of the text messages, the change wasn’t materially adverse.
Verizon: That'll Be $2 For Not Making Long Distance Calls, Please
By 5.3.07
“Even though I don’t have a plan with them, they say I still have the ability to make a long-distance call if I ever need to, so I have to pay them $2 a month?” Bius said. “What am I supposed to do? Am I supposed to pay them $2 for no reason?”
Verizon, Cingular, and Travelocity "Accidentally" Advertise On Adware
By 4.27.07
Earlier this year, AT&T’s Cingular division and Travelocity both pledged not to advertise anymore via adware–programs that slip onto PCs and inject ads into a user’s browser. Verizon took a stance against computer invaders when it became a sponsor of an antispyware initiative. Yet, in March, ads from all three companies were being distributed through adware.
Vonage: Consumerist! Save Us From Verizon!
By 4.26.07
One of Vonage’s friendly PR guys IM’d us the other day to let us know that Vonage was starting a website with the intention of saving themselves from the tyranny of evil known as Verizon. (Dare we speak its name!) We’ve been following this story for what seems like 12 years at this point, so we figured we’d go ahead and link their site.
Cellphone 911 Is Crappy At Locating You
By 4.23.07
If you’re calling 911 from your house, use your land-line. If you don’t have one, be prepared to give your address or location to the 911 operator. Why? From USA Today:
Owing to limitations in Emergency-911 technology, the dispatcher probably won’t be able to pinpoint your location. Unless you can get to a pay phone — not an option in this case — you’ll probably have to give the dispatcher detailed information about your location so emergency personnel can find you.
Illinois: We Want To Cancel With No ETF If Our Phone Breaks 3 Times
By 4.23.07
According to the Chicago Tribune, Rep. Susana Mendoza, a Chicago Democrat is fed up with her lemon cell phone. That’s why she’s sponsoring legislation in Illinois that would :
allow the state’s 8.5 million wireless customers to cancel their contracts without paying early termination fees if a phone must be replaced or repaired at least three times within a contract period.
Verizon Makes Timely Repairs Only 35% Of The Time, NY AG Blasts
By 4.19.07
NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo lambasted Verizon for taking too long to fulfill customer repair requests. Current standards mandate Verizon perform fixes 80% of phone lines within 24 hours of getting a customer call. The AG said that Verizon is letting copper telephone lines stagnate, shunting those resources instead for laying down more fiber-optic.
Increased Call Volume Following Virginia Tech Tragedy Caused Wireless Outage
By 4.18.07
The inability of students and others at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., to make cell phone calls during the April 16 shooting tragedy added to the chaos surrounding the events of the day, students and others have reported in media interviews.
According to the article, Verizon is the only wireless carrier admitting to call blocking during the emergency. Cingular claims to have experienced higher volumes but no service interruptions.
Verizon STILL Doesn't Know Dollars From Cents
By 4.17.07
According to reader Greg, Verizon reps are still confused about the difference between .002 dollars and .002 cents.
Vonage CEO Quits, Company Will Cut Jobs, Marketing
By 4.12.07
Bye-bye, Mike. Vonage CEO Michael Snyder “resigned from the board effective Thursday, and Chairman Jeffrey Citron will be interim CEO until the company finds a replacement,” according to CNNMoney. Vonage will “reduce its general administrative expenses by $30 million through the rest of 2007 by cutting its workforce and consolidating operations.
Florida Customers To Receive $63,000 In Refunds From Verizon
By 4.11.07
During the evaluation, staff discovered that Verizon didn’t automatically issue rebates to customers who experienced more than 24 hours of interrupted service. Human error and programming glitches were part of the problem.—MEGHANN MARCO
Want To Cancel Your Internet? Here's Your Early Termination Fee
By 4.10.07
Not all ISPs charge ETFs. Here’s a list of different providers and their fees:
Never Mind, Vonage Can Still Sign Up New Customers
By 4.9.07
Vonage caught a break and can continue to sign up new customers after being found guilty of infringing patents belonging to Verizon. According to Marketwatch: “A federal court of appeals issued a stay that allows Holmdel, N.J.-based Vonage to continue to do business as usual until an appeal is heard. Vonage is seeking to make the stay permanent.” So, to amuse ourselves whilst we await the outcome of the appeal, here’s some intelligent analysis of the infringing patents.
No New Customers: Judge Bars Vonage From Serving New Accounts
By 4.6.07
Roger Warin, a lawyer for Vonage, told the court the choice between a partial stay and a total prohibition on using the Verizon technology amounted to “cutting off oxygen or a bullet to the head” for Vonage.
Verizon Beats Cingular/AT&T To Become Nation's Largest Wireless Carrier
By 4.5.07
“Verizon became the new market leader in terms of total direct retail subscribers/customers, with a total of 56.8 million, against 56.3 million for Cingular,” said IDC’s Julien Blin in a statement.
Meanwhile, Sprint is losing customers due to its general ineptitude. —MEGHANN MARCO
Verizon "Unlimited Access" Plan Is Extremely Limited
By 4.5.07
(iii) intranet access (including access to corporate intranets, email, and individual productivity applications like customer relationship management, sales force, and field service automation). The Unlimited Data Plans and Features MAY NOT be used for any other purpose.
More TOS fun inside!
Verizon Takes 6 Months To Install FiOS
By 4.4.07
RFJason documented the 6-month ordeal it took to get Verizon FiOS installed.
