Hitch Up More Horses
Plain Facts & Common Sense
Hitch Up More Horses
by Joan C. Browning
Mountain Messenger, Saturday, October 31, 2009
An honest local headline could read: CRIME SPREE BANDIT STEALS FROM 500 HOMES, BUSINESSES and CHURCHES.
Verizon is the bandit. The plain fact is that Verizon is charging about 500 customers for telephone service that they did not deliver. Common sense calls this theft and fraud. If telephone bills average around $100 a month, those customers pay $50,000 a month to Verizon. This month, Verizon has stolen at least a fourth of that service, so Greenbrier County Verizon customers are being defrauded of at least $16,000.
The headline’s subtitle could be STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA GAVE BANDIT ADVANCE OKAY.
You’d think that the State of West Virginia would represent citizens versus the “regulated” utilities like Verizon. You’d be wrong. The legislature and governor of the State of West Virginia authorize Verizon – and Allegheny Electric, and Mountaineer Gas, and many other utilities– to steal from us.
The legislature and governor hide behind three appointed Public Service Commissioners.
Three can be a holy number. I learned as a child that Father, Son and Holy Ghost are three aspects of the inexplicable God. That trinity helps me understand the mysteries of my faith.
In human affairs, though, three-person groups are not holy. In West Virginia and in Greenbrier County, three-person government groups are decidedly malfunctioning.
Changing the Public Service Commission from three to five Commissioners, and electing those Commissioners, is a good firs step toward protecting citizens. Only the legislature can authorize that change.
Greenbrier County citizens have the power to change another unholy threesome – the Greenbrier County Commission.
It has been obvious for at least a decade that two of the three Greenbrier County Commissioners run the county. It is easy to believe that the problem lies in individual personalities. The solution, many thought, was to elect different individuals as County Commissioners. Election after election, the County Commission still malfunctioned.
The problem is not with individual elected County Commissioners. The problem lies in the fact that for the past decade, two of the three Commissioners have allied in ways that do not serve the public. Essentially, we have a two-person county commission.
Greenbrier County citizens can add two more Greenbrier County Commissioners.
The process is nonpartisan. Independents, Republicans, Democrats, Mountain Party, no party, everybody – all may participate. It starts with a petition to add two more Greenbrier County Commissioners. Then a courthouse cabal would take a conspiracy of at least three Commissioners.
Adding two more County Commissioners will not be easy. Here are the steps and a hurry-up calendar.
By December, about 2,500, or 10 percent of Greenbrier County’s about 25,000 registered voters sign the petition.
The Greenbrier County Commission verifies that the petition is signed by 10 percent of the legally registered Greenbrier County voters.
By January 23, 2010, the Greenbrier County Commission forwards the petition to the Clerk of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Delegates.
Before adjourning in March or April 2010, the legislature verifies that the petition meets constitutional requirements and passes a law authorizing the issue to be placed on Greenbrier County’s next General Election ballot.
November 2, 2010, a majority of Greenbrier Countians voting in the General Election approve the change.
Election cycle 2012, Greenbrier Countians elect more County Commissioners. They take office in January 2013.
At the request of dozens of readers, I will post a petition on my web site, www.joanbrowning.com.
The unholy trinity Greenbrier County Commission can be replaced with a five-person governing body. It is up to Greenbrier County voters.
Verizon Horror Stories
Plain Facts & Common Sense
Verizon Horror Stories
by Joan C. Browning
Mountain Messenger, Saturday, October 24, 2009
I’ve heard from many of the 500-600 telephone customers in southern Greenbrier County who were abandoned by Verizon. They related horror stories about Verizon’s callous contempt during a week-long telephone outage.
A 94-year old woman lives alone because her life-line devise connects to the telephone. If she needs help, the devise tells the telephone to call for help.
My life line batteries are good so I’m okay without the telephone; she told neighbors who checked on her. The neighbors did not have the heart to tell the elderly woman that without a functioning telephone, even good batteries made her lifeline useless.
Callers connected with Verizon meaningless mechanical voices. They got Verizon people who poke unintelligible English. Most Verizon staff were downright rude. None were helpful.
For example, one customer finally yelled “agent, agent” at the mechanical voice long enough to get a live human. The Verizon human didn’t understand the problem. “It appears your phone line is out,” the human said. “There is a problem with your line. I will dispatch a technician. The first available technician will be there eleven days from now.”
Verizon does not have enough repair people in the whole state of West Virginia to repair one telephone pole. They would have to bring in people from Texas. A Verizon truck that finally parked on Maplewood Avenue was labeled “Durham, North Carolina.”
Sometimes Verizon suggested that customers route their phone calls to cell phones. One customer did, and it cost her $50 in additional cell phone minutes
Some callers discovered that Verizon does have a West Virginia Customer Care Center. That telephone number is 304-351-4000. The Verizon people there were, one caller said, plain—well, in a family newspaper, let’s use the word rude.
Tricia Cunningham is the best source I heard about for helping customers not pay Verizon for telephone service they did not receive. Call her at 800-483-7988 between 9 am and 5 pm. Ask for Option # 3. Or write Verizon Customer Relations, Attn. Tricia Cunningham, PO Box 1804, Marion, Ohio 43302.
What did government do about these horror stories from Verizon customers? Verizon is, after all, a publicly regulated company.
West Virginia government was no help. The West Virginia Attorney General sent citizens to the Public Service Commission.
The Public Service Commission was lacking either the will or the authority, or both, to force Verizon to treat customers with respect. The PSC Commission staff could only send complaints to Verizon. PSC regulations gave Verizon thirty days to respond.
Why, many of us asked, wouldn’t the PSC require Verizon to automatically issue credits to everybody whose telephone went dead? We can’t do that, the PSC staffers told us. The legislature does not allow the PSC to protect citizens against defrauding utilities.
The West Virginia Public Service Commission will serve the West Virginia public only when the Commissioners increase from three to at least five.
And the Public Service Commissioners must be accountable to us, the public, instead of to the Governor and the utilities. We must elect Public Service Commissioners.
We have had enough of these horror stories. Let’s turn our righteous anger into determination to make our government work for us. Let’s support those Delegates who are trying to reform the Public Service Commission. See last week’s Plain Facts & Common Sense commentary for their names.
Don’t Pay Verizon for Nothing
Plain Facts & Common Sense
Don’t Pay Verizon for Nothing
by Joan C. Browning
Mountain Messenger, Saturday, October 17, 2009
Last week, I reported on Verizon and the West Virginia Public Service Commission responses to inquiries about the area-wide Verizon telephone outage.
This week, I tried to find a human at Verizon who could tell me that Verizon would not charge me for the week without service. Machine voices and a couple of human beings didn’t know.
Since this was not an individual telephone problem but rather one that affected a whole area, wouldn’t Verizon just automatically reduce everybody’s next bill?
Finally, on late Thursday afternoon, a Verizon person called and said that my next Verizon bill would show a credit for nine (9) days without service.
Fine, I said. And is that true for my neighbors? All 400-500 of them?
Well, no, the Verizon person said. Each person needs to have called the Verizon 1-800 line as soon as they discovered that they had no dial tone.
(This person finally said that the “major area outage” was caused by damage to 1,200 pairs of cables. He suggested that I call my “local manger” at the “repair center.” I asked for a name and phone number, which he didn’t have!)
So once again I turned to the West Virginia Public Service Commission. Although presumably the “public” service commission exists to serve all of us in the “public,” in 1981, the West Virginia legislature authorized Public Service Commission to set up the Consumer Advocate Division to advocate “ primarily on behalf of residential customers, striving to obtain the lowest possible rates for gas, water, telephone, and electric services.”
What, I asked Mr. Byron L. Harris, Director of the PSC’s Consumer Advocate Division, will the PSC do to assure that Verizon does not bill customers for a week of no service?
Mr. Harris wrote back: “Verizon submits Abnormal Service reports to the Public Service Commission. I believe this may be the report for your area. Location: Lewisburg’ Exchange: 645; Date & Time of Initial Report: 10/3/09 @ 5:00A’ Nature of Event: Auto Accident; Approximate Number of Customers: 517/236; RESTORAL: 10/11/09 @ 10:57A.”
Mr. Harris wrote: “Verizon will provide credits on customer bills for extended service outages, but I believe the customer has to request the credit, it doesn’t happen automatically.”
So there you have it.
If you did not telephone Verizon to report your telephone outage last week, Verizon will not reduce your next bill.
And in the legislature’s wisdom, the West Virginia Public Service Commission, even its Consumer Advocate Division, will not help you.
This is outrage piled on top of outrage. .
If your do not want to pay Verizon for a week when your telephone was dead, register a complaint with the West Virginia Public Service Commission. Call 1-800-642-8544, or write to the West Virginia Public Service Commission, 723 Kanawha Boulevard, East, Union Building, Suite 700, Charleston, West Virginia 25301.
All this dealing with Verizon and the Public Service Commission is a lot of work. It demonstrates the need to change the Public Service from a government agency of three utility persons appointed by the governor back to its original purpose of serving the public.
Members of the West Virginia House of Delegates who are trying to make the PSC serve the public are: Delegates Linda Sumner (R-Raleigh), Robert Beach (D-Monongalia), Stan Shaver (D-Preston), Barbara Evans Fleischauer (D-Monongalia), Linda Longstreth (D-Marion), Tim Manchin (D-Marion), Mike Caputo (D-Marion) and Larry Williams (D-Preston), and Joe Talbott (D-Webster). Let these Delegates know you support them.
Outrageous Telephone Outrage
Plain Facts & Common Sense
Outrageous telephone Outrage
by Joan C. Browning
Mountain Messenger, Saturday, October 10, 2009
Plain Facts. Common Sense. In this commentary I try to apply common sense to relevant facts.
Can’t do that this week. I don’t have the facts. What I also do not have is telephone service. My telephone is part of an area-wide “outage.” Without facts, what I have is a heap of outrage.
I telephoned my answering machine to pick up messages. Worked as usual, until late Saturday. Then the phone rang and rang but the machine never answered.
So I telephoned my neighbor. Ring, ring, ring…. no answer.
I assumed that for the first time in thirty years, my telephone and/or answering machine went awry. Maybe my neighbors were visiting or had an emergency.
Back home, I checked every telephone connection. Even those shamefully dusty ones were well connected. There was no dial tone where the phone line comes in the house.
Verizon’s human-like voice said that service is out in my “area.” It will be restored by Tuesday.
It’s not just the telephone. My internet connection is still horse-and-buggy “dial up.” No dial tone, no internet. It could be even worse. Some folks live alone with telephone-operated monitors.
Still no dial tone on Wednesday. Verizon finally allowed me to speak to a person. He didn’t get it. Your maintenance account is up to date, he said. In fact, the price is going down. He said he would put in a repair order.
Another Verizon human seemed to understand that the problem was regional. She said that repairs were underway and they “hope” to have service restored by Friday.
I still do not know what broke the telephone system. Someone told me that the police chased a vehicle that smacked a telephone pole.
I also do not see that Verizon is taking the matter seriously. Have they called in extra repair crews? Are they working day and night? If so, how could it take so long to repair those poles, or whatever is broken?
Remember the ice storms in past years that disrupted utilities? Remember how extra crews worked around the clock? My electricity was off once for ten days. I could make plans because local newspapers told us what was happening.
Is it unreasonable to believe that Verizon has a positive duty to inform us – at least through the local media?
I called the West Virginia Public Service Commission at 1-800-642-8544. No, Verizon had not informed the PSC that they would have dial tone outage for a week or weeks. No, Verizon does not tell customers about outages. “They have too many outages to do that,” Shannon said. She sent my complaint to Verizon. Verizon has thirty days to responds. “You’ll probably hear from Verizon sooner than that,” she said.
Actually, the PSC complaint got at least a call to my cell phone. Verizon gave me the same outage number that I had been calling. They said that “local management” will be made aware of outage and will report to me within 48 hours.
Absent facts, I can only guess. I guess that Verizon does not give a tinker’s $%^&* about customers, at least those south of Red Oaks Shopping Center. I guess that Verizon is too arrogant to consider that their customers need telephones.
West Virginians complain too much to Verizon the company says. Rather than improve service and customer relations, Verizon’s trying getting sell all its West Virginia land lines. Frontier has another year to complete the purchase.
I hope the sale goes through. Goodbye, Verizon, and good riddance. Frontier, we expect you to deliver better service.
