Verizon and Me ..... 1987

[CaptainSS]

It wasn't called Verizon back then - it was known to us in a Fortune 50 (Big Three) Insurance Company Home Office as - "the Bag Lady". It was Bell and I forget her name but, She always brought the latest greatest offering, usually on a Friday. Hell, what did we care. Sales Managers with Big expense accounts and little to account for Plus - the "Car Phone" was a company expense didn't even have to be entered on our weekly inflated expense accounts.
BooYah bring it on. Car phone, Bag phone, Panasonic StarTac..... Good Times..... and then things changed.
Not sure when but they did.... I still own an Insurance Co. 35 years later.
Does Verizon care? Not based on my experience, Hell I sent an email to Lowell two days ago. Last time I did that several years ago I got a call almost immediately from his (snooty) Personal Assistant (impressed) this time.....Crickets.
Big Red doesn't give a Flip, probably never did - they just did a fair job at pretending back when the Bag Lady and the assistant called.
I even sent the Transcript of the CHAT (last Saturday) and still got no response.
The Chat outlined a "Deal" on a new Google Pixel2XL a phone that will be replaced in a few short months on a phone that the chat Rep referred to as "a Piece of Crap" my Droid Turbo. She/He swore up and down my phone was 4 Years old. It is 6 months old.
I finally succumbed to the Sales pressure embedded by VZW and agreed to get a Z2 ... it was ok. I called back after I had negotiated the Saturday deal asking Why I had Not gotten any update on my incoming Pixel to replace the "ok" Z2.... I was not only told "There is NO Deal and further more - You have until days end to return the Z2 or "You are Obligated" Despite other personal and business obligations I left work to drive an hour home to get the box and charger so I could meet the deadline "NO Negotiations on that front" went to the store. Affable enough until they read the secret Chat notes or whatever - Mood and demeanor changes.
Bottom Line - VZW SUCKS.
The days of the Bag Lady are over and I get that.
I pay for SIX(6) Lines a month to them. Buy How many phones ..... since 1987! Jeezus Do the Math.
What a racket.
Anyway.... keep paying the monthly Bill and VZW will abuse You ALL they want.......Great American Almost Monopoly. This is what happens when Choices are Limited.

 

[lloydstrans]

I, too, have been there. My original provider was LA Cellular. A certain percentage of my bill went towards new equipment. Basically a new phone of my choice every 4-5 months. AT&T for a grueling 20 years, service everywhere except where I'm at most, home or work. Verizon, same-o same-o except with service. What do you do. Just play their stupid games. The last phone I bought from VZW was my Turbo, I've bought 3 since then, all Turbos, all new. Love the phone. I still have a new one waiting to go online. But I think I have the itch for a different form factor. Time will tell.

 

[me just sayin]

I guess everyone has a horror story about their service provider.

 

[lloydstrans]

It's just weird growing up with a industry. My diaper bag phone cost in excess of a grand, and only had a 10 number memory. Monthly phone bill was typically 300 bucks, 45 cents a minute on plan, 90 cents after you burned through your minute allotment of your plan. IIRC 800 minutes was $199.99. That was a nice car payment at the time. But the cellular companies treated us nice. Then came subsidized phones. You see the trend. Even though we are getting more our dependency grew to the point that the major players can treat us like dog poo.

 

[CaptainSS]

All good points. The "Pushers" pushed the Drug.... Everyone got "hooked" Totally Dependent and B00M! the net fell and we were ALL trapped.... Now it's just manage the addicts.
It's why I get a knot in my stomach everytime I have to call into Verizon. Then they usually say, "Give me a minute while I read the Notes in your File" like the Seinfeld episode where Elaine notices the Doctor writes down everything she says and she tries to steal the File (Her File) and they "catch her" at the elevator.
Saturday was the brek for me. To have a "Chat" lasted almost an hour - Finalized everything. Then Monday to have the next Rep say, 'Nope. No Deal AND you have until the end of the day or else...." Hardline, No Exception. Wow.... Great service!.
What a racket. Where is the oversight? There is NOT enough competition in this space for the Consumer to be treated fairly/equitably.
Verizon has the coverage map.... They know who they can bend over and who they can't.
That alone is reason for oversight.
Most people will put up with a lot, being manipulated is not one of them..... and to Pay for it! Jeezus.
I WISH there were 6-10 different REAL providers to choose from.

 

[me just sayin]

never thought of it that way, but it's true.

 

[prime]

When my service provider gives me static I just rotate out to a MVNO, cheaper but of course data is much slower.

Loyalty doesn't exist in today's market, signing new customers is all that matters. I was with Alltel forever, then Verizon but why be loyal to a company places no value in it.

 

[CaptainSS]

When my service provider gives me static I just rotate out to a MVNO, cheaper but of course data is much slower.

Loyalty doesn't exist in today's market, signing new customers is all that matters. I was with Alltel forever, then Verizon but why be loyal to a company places no value in it.

Sad but True.

 

[me just sayin]

When my service provider gives me static I just rotate out to a MVNO, cheaper but of course data is much slower.

Loyalty doesn't exist in today's market, signing new customers is all that matters. I was with Alltel forever, then Verizon but why be loyal to a company places no value in it.

thats for sure. not such thing as loyalty anymore. even the company I worked for dumped smaller customers they had for decades because they were small. But now it is beginning to backfire and they could really use those customers now.

the same could happen to Verizon

 

[CaptainSS]

If I were to guess....I'd wager Sears never saw what was coming. Corporate Ego is like human ego - in proper balance it can be healthy.
Too much causes blindness and eventual ...Death.

 

[me just sayin]

If I were to guess....I'd wager Sears never saw what was coming. Corporate Ego is like human ego - in proper balance it can be healthy.
Too much causes blindness and eventual ...Death.

I think sears saw it coming. they just pretended it wasn't so for years until they sold themselves to K-mart.

 

[lloydstrans]

Sears, Montgomery Wards and the ilk. Could sustain themselves and the printed media companies forever. Every Thursday through Sunday the paper was stuffed with ads and circulars. With their demise came the slow extinction of the daily papers.

 

[CaptainSS]

Verizon exhibits the same behavioral trend IMO. Large corporations (like Sears, IBM,etc) Banks, Malls, Newspapers..... DoDo birds.

There is still plenty of time to become responsive and make the process pleasant - only time will tell.

 

[me just sayin]

Wonder how many fees Verizon and others will add over the next year or so.