Friday, August 25, 2006

A Warranty Replacement, Verizon-Style A pattern seems to be emerging in the gripes I'm hearing about Verizon. A few weeks ago (see Verizon Never Stops Lying to You) a cell phone customer had promised free minutes snatched away when he needed them. Now we hear from a Verizon broadband customer whose troubles began when a DSL modem went bad while under warranty. See if you can spot the common thread. "In the summer of 2004 we signed up for Verizon DSL in our computer shop," the reader wrote. "We received a new DSL modem as part of the package we purchased, paying higher rates of course for the DSL service because we had a 'business' account. We had trouble with the modem from time to time, and eventually contacted Verizon while their modem was still under warranty. Verizon kept insisting the problem was with the DSL line or service, and even sent a technician to our place of business to check the lines. This runaround went on for several months, during which the modem went out of warranty. Eventually Verizon admitted that the modem was defective, and agreed to send us a new one for no charge even though it was out of warranty, because we had reported the problem within the warranty period." In December 2005 the reader received the new modem along with an invoice specifying that there was zero charge for the modem under warranty. "The new modem worked fine, and we felt vindicated since we had maintained all along that this was a modem problem, and not a line problem. Our problem was solved...end of story." Not. "Three months later, in March of 2006 we received an addition to our regular Verizon bill for $99 for a new modem," the reader wrote. "I called Verizon and they stated that after a careful review, they were charging us for the modem because it was out of warranty. I was aghast, and pointed out to them that the modem WAS replaced under warranty, and that we even had it in writing stating so. I spoke to several Verizon representatives and even a 'supervisor' over the next few days trying to resolve the issue, without success. They insisted we pay the bill, or it would be turned over to collections, with of course the implied threat of service termination. We had to pay the extra charge or face loss of all phone service, a death knell for any business." All Verizon would offer was a $30 rebate to knock the price of the modem down to $70, so the reader decided to return Verizon's modem and buy a generic one instead. "Now get this," the reader wrote. "Verizon stated they could NOT take back the modem because we had kept it for more than 30 days. But we had thought it was a free replacement because Verizon did not bill us for 90 days. In other words, they waited until their self-imposed return period was up to inform us that we now had to pay for it. Is this a scam or what?" The ridiculous turned to the sublime when the reader tried to complain about this treatment. "We were furious, and asked to speak to customer relations," the reader wrote. "They gave us an address in Arizona to write to, but we wanted to call instead since phone calls are harder to ignore. The Verizon representative said 'they don't have phones in that office.' Come again? Verizon, a phone company, has customer service offices without phones? The representative repeated this preposterous claim several times, so we finally drafted an angry letter and sent it off to Arizona last March. And we all know what happened next. Nothing. Nada. NO reply of any kind and it is now five months later. Verizon was right, letters of complaint are a lot easier to ignore than phone calls. And the thing that gets me is we still have the invoice sent with the replacement modem stating in black and white that there was no charge for it." The moral of this story of course is the same as the previous tale about Verizon. Whatever part of the company you may be dealing with, the deal you have with Verizon today may be taken away tomorrow. Or 90 days from tomorrow. That's a pattern anyone who has a choice may want to consider before signing up with Verizon. 1:15:52 AM

Reader Voices: The WGA Blues Our on-going discussion about problems with Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage program has revealed many readers to be in a sour mood. But the focus of their frustration actually seems not so much Microsoft as it is customers who only complain about what Redmond is up to rather than finding an alternative. "Microsoft has their business plan in place, and they are executing it brilliantly," wrote one reader. "They are one of the largest and most successful companies in the United States. There may have been a time when Microsoft had a monopoly, but that is certainly not true today. If your business plan does not match up with Microsoft's, for heaven's sake, stop doing business with them. There are all kinds of choices: For server software, Novell has file and print services, directory services, and other products that would knock your socks off if you took a couple of days to look at them rather than spending time dealing with the WGA issues. Linux offers magnificent server products, and they are generally no or low cost. For the desktop, Apple has some terrific products, and Linux is really getting very friendly for non-techies to use; have you seriously given Ubuntu a look? It is really quite nice, and very easy to install. At least give something besides Microsoft a try. Intuitive is whatever you are used to. If all you ever deal with is Microsoft products, how will you know what else is out there, and just how easy it is to work with? Do not expect a VERY successful company to change their business model to match yours, however. Right now Microsoft is apparently succeeding in increasing profits by spending all their efforts in fighting what they call piracy. They seem to be willing to sacrifice some customer satisfaction in order to meet their goal. Microsoft is not going to change until the market drives them to change." Another reader suggests that the best target for customer ire over WGA is the computer vendors. "If my license of Windows is judged by Microsoft as invalid, then the entity that I bought the computer from has committed fraud on me and theft from Microsoft, plain and simple. What the supplier claims in their defense makes no difference, regardless of who they are. The real target ought to be the suppliers and they ought to be sued for this over and over again until they learn their lesson. It may be possible that Microsoft has made an error in declaring a valid license as invalid, but that is not MY problem. If we go against the suppliers, they will have to battle Microsoft, not us. If I buy a computer from CompUSA or Hewlett-Packard or Dell or PC Club or anyone else that has a fraudulent Windows license associated with it, then because the amount of theft from me is over $100, I can lodge a complaint with my local police department and my state attorney general. If enough of us do this, especially in the larger metropolitan areas, those complaints add up and put pressure on local law enforcement to go against these slugs. The pressure on the local store managers from local law enforcement ought to mount up to something worthwhile. This non-valid license nonsense needs to be nipped right at the bud." Some readers think a lot is riding on how people respond to the WGA fiasco. "Within the next year or so, the Western world will make a big decision, one which may even determine whether it remains the main innovative power or passes the torch to the Far East," another reader wrote. "We have seen here many people having increasing difficulty managing Microsoft's complex extortion regime -- er, protection racket, no, I mean licensing system -- and their various XP and W2K boxen. A lot of them are not just grumbling, but committing to switch to Linux and other open source. The decision we'll have collectively made will be readable in 2008 or thereabouts by doing a census of computers and seeing what percentage now run Linux, versus Vista. The decision whether to break the grip of proprietary operating systems will have been made then. With Vista no doubt to be ratcheted tighter with every service pack, there will be no escaping lock-in -- all your data are belong to Microsoft if you go that route. You won't be able to get your documents into OpenOffice or whatever. If enough of the Western economy changes to being based on Vista computers, MS will be able to hold the whole western hemisphere hostage at any time. They will be the defacto rulers, along with their pals in Hollywood and the RIAA and various other cartels of big businesses. And there will be no escape. There are plenty of allegories in myth; the One Ring to bind them all, the number of the beast without which you cannot buy or sell, etc. Or, we can collectively choose freedom, and migrate our important data to open formats while we still can, before gratuitous DRM features and the DMCA make it illegal to do so." Read and post comments about this story here. 1:09:13 AM