Attn frustrated customers: PSC audit of Verizon
I thought this article in Today's Newsday was very timely considering my recent battles with Verizon. Many of you have experienced service problems as well and I thought you'd be happy to know that the PSC is now going to audit them.
P.S. - My phone is now working - Finally!
Newsday: PSC Orders Audit of Verizon
PSC Orders Audit of Verizon
Suspends company’s right to raise prices after missed service targets
By Mark Harrington
STAFF WRITER
June 19, 2003
Expressing 'serious concerns' about Verizon's service levels, the state Public Service Commission yesterday ordered an independent audit to determine why the company's efforts to improve have failed to measure up.
Yesterday, the commission voted to suspend Verizon's right to raise prices following its failure to meet two of five major service requirements over the most recent quarter.
Dave Flanagan, a commission spokesman, said the PSC wants to move quickly to hire an outside auditor and complete the review, though it's operating under no set time frame.
Verizon spokesman Daniel Diaz Zapata said suspension of Verizon's ability to raise prices was not unexpected, since it was 'all part of the Verizon incentive plan' in place for more than a year. While conceding that the company experienced two months this year that 'weren't as good as we would have liked,' he insisted that the company's service quality is 'very good' and that New York has 'one of the toughest public service standards in the country.'
The audit, to be done by an outside firm, will look at the company's budget for capital projects aimed at improvements, whether it keeps adequate records 'to locate and correct deficient equipment,' whether its work force is large enough and whether it is meeting industry productivity standards.
The commission's decision comes none too soon for residents like Walter DeTour of Cold Spring Harbor whose line went dead Friday. Initially, DeTour, said, he was told the company couldn't respond for six days. Then Verizon was supposed to fix the line Monday, he said, but when his wife, Ellen, stayed home from work to meet the repair crew, they never showed.
DeTour was forced to hold a telephone conference with Brazilian clients via his Verizon cellphone. To make matters worse, 'I had to go a mile away to the harbor to get good reception,' he said. Diaz Zapata was unable to provide information on DeTour's service complaint at presstime.
Verizon in the first quarter fell short on the PSC's requirement that it return a certain number of customers affected by an outage back to service within 24 hours. It also missed a target requiring it to show how many of its local and regional reporting entities fail to meet PSC service quality targets.
The developments come as Verizon begins collective bargaining with unions representing its 75,000 workers, whose leaders have for the past year been decrying the company's elimination of thousands of workers. Some predict a strike by the time a contract expires at midnight Aug. 2.
Yesterday, the Communications Workers of America held a rally outside the Manhattan office in which the PSC delivered its rulings.
'We want to keep pressure on the PSC to keep looking at the service standards,' said George Welker, president of CWA local 1108 in Patchogue.
Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc.
P.S. - My phone is now working - Finally!
Newsday: PSC Orders Audit of Verizon
PSC Orders Audit of Verizon
Suspends company’s right to raise prices after missed service targets
By Mark Harrington
STAFF WRITER
June 19, 2003
Expressing 'serious concerns' about Verizon's service levels, the state Public Service Commission yesterday ordered an independent audit to determine why the company's efforts to improve have failed to measure up.
Yesterday, the commission voted to suspend Verizon's right to raise prices following its failure to meet two of five major service requirements over the most recent quarter.
Dave Flanagan, a commission spokesman, said the PSC wants to move quickly to hire an outside auditor and complete the review, though it's operating under no set time frame.
Verizon spokesman Daniel Diaz Zapata said suspension of Verizon's ability to raise prices was not unexpected, since it was 'all part of the Verizon incentive plan' in place for more than a year. While conceding that the company experienced two months this year that 'weren't as good as we would have liked,' he insisted that the company's service quality is 'very good' and that New York has 'one of the toughest public service standards in the country.'
The audit, to be done by an outside firm, will look at the company's budget for capital projects aimed at improvements, whether it keeps adequate records 'to locate and correct deficient equipment,' whether its work force is large enough and whether it is meeting industry productivity standards.
The commission's decision comes none too soon for residents like Walter DeTour of Cold Spring Harbor whose line went dead Friday. Initially, DeTour, said, he was told the company couldn't respond for six days. Then Verizon was supposed to fix the line Monday, he said, but when his wife, Ellen, stayed home from work to meet the repair crew, they never showed.
DeTour was forced to hold a telephone conference with Brazilian clients via his Verizon cellphone. To make matters worse, 'I had to go a mile away to the harbor to get good reception,' he said. Diaz Zapata was unable to provide information on DeTour's service complaint at presstime.
Verizon in the first quarter fell short on the PSC's requirement that it return a certain number of customers affected by an outage back to service within 24 hours. It also missed a target requiring it to show how many of its local and regional reporting entities fail to meet PSC service quality targets.
The developments come as Verizon begins collective bargaining with unions representing its 75,000 workers, whose leaders have for the past year been decrying the company's elimination of thousands of workers. Some predict a strike by the time a contract expires at midnight Aug. 2.
Yesterday, the Communications Workers of America held a rally outside the Manhattan office in which the PSC delivered its rulings.
'We want to keep pressure on the PSC to keep looking at the service standards,' said George Welker, president of CWA local 1108 in Patchogue.
Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc.
