My Corner of the Interweb

I just don't get it.

Mood: Ornery.
Music: Scent of a Robot, Pete Miser
Game: World of Warcraft (60 Rogue, 15 Priest, 9 Warrior (PvP))
Book: Art of War, Sun Tzu (Giles translation, Clavell Edit).
Muffin: Strawberry-Peach.
Punchline: "Get this away from me."

OK, so I just got off the phone with Verizon. You know Verizon, right? They're the company that everyone talks about when they're talking about a monolithic telecom conglomerate that basically owns everything that has to do with voice and data in New York, so that you have no choice (in spite of the fact that they say you do) and they provide service (or lack of same) as if they could care less what you think, because, frankly, they couldn't care less.

Anyway, in December, I cancelled my DSL service with Verizon, because it sucked. Latency, dropout, and so on. I know a little about such things, and it just wasn't suitable for online gaming. Probably was OK for surfing and light use, but for the money they wanted, I was able to go with Roadrunner Elite or some such, which gives me excellent service, no complaints. So I dumped Verizon DSL.

Now, when I was initially installing Verizon DSL, the DSL modem they sent me was fucked. Didn't work, wouldn't handshake, whatever. Wouldn't work. So they diagnosed it with me, and sent me a new modem.

Now, they didn't say anything about sending back the defective modem, and they didn't include a shipping label or anything with the new one. So I cancel my service, and a few days afterward, I get a postcard from Verizon saying I owe them money (About $90) for not returning the defective modem. Right.

So I call them up, and they say just wait for the label for the working modem, and put 'em both in the same box, and no problem. Forget the postcard.

OK...so a few weeks go by, and no label...but I DO get another postcard. Hm. I call them back mid-Feb at this point, and I say "Look, I haven't gotten any label, but I did get another postcard. I just want to send these things back to you, and call it a day, OK?" The nice lady assures me not to worry about the postcards, and she offers to send me another shipping label and to make sure I get these modems back in the next 30 days, and it'll all be fine. I say no problem...and wait for the shipping label.

OK. It's 14 March, and still no shipping label. I call Verizon. I explain the situation, and I tell them that I haven't received the label yet, and what's going on. She assures me that they've been sent, but she's ordering another label for me. If I don't get this one by Tuesday, I should call back.

This is ridiculous. I've spent literally 3 hours on the phone to Verizon trying to return equipment to them, or they're going to bill me for two modems, one that doesn't work at all, and one that works according to spec, which means it doesn't work, either.

I just want to be free of these hunks of worthless plastic without being billed my weekly food budget for them. You'd think that Verizon would care more about recovering their equipment, regardless of how shoddy it is.

Oh, and don't EVEN tell me that these modems are $80 apiece. You can buy them just about anywhere for half that. Thieves.

I'll let you know what happens next week. I'm sure you're thrilled. Call it a cliffhanger. "Will Glenn be able to return his modems? Will Verizon send large men with bats to collect money he doesn't even owe them? Stay tuned!"

Posted by Glenn at March 14, 2005 10:48 AM