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Repairs, Patience Stretched THIN
(Tampa Tribune (FL) (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Apr. 29--TAMPA -- Robert Pendleton was painting his kitchen in Lakeland in February when paint dripped down into the phone jack and went "zap," he said.
The phone went dead. Same with the phone in the bedroom. So he went out and bought a prepaid cell phone and called Verizon to set up a repair visit.
"That was a Friday, and they told me they could not get out until next Thursday, six days" Pendleton said. "That is ridiculous. I'm 81 years old, and I might need to make a phone call in an emergency. I pay a good price for that phone, and I think I deserve good service."
Pendleton's neighbor, Paul Sterling, was so mad about it that he called Verizon and warned that a lawsuit could be coming if anything happened to Pendleton while the phone was out. "Only then did they change their tune," Sterling said. "They said they'd be out Monday 8 a.m."
That's a customer frustration that Verizon hopes it has left behind.
Verizon, the area's communications giant, is working through a tension within itself, trying to simultaneously maintain its decades-old copper phone line system in the Bay area, while also racing to build its massive FiOS fiber optic network to deliver faster Internet and cable TV service.
On one side, Verizon has several million traditional telephone customers in West Central Florida who rely on the company's network of copper phone lines. The company employs hundreds of technicians to maintain those lines, install service for new customers and restore service after major storms.
On the other side, Verizon is spending more than $1 billion in the region to replace that copper system with a state-of-the-art, underground fiber optic network that can handle phone service, plus much faster Internet service and cable TV systems with hundreds of channels.
Beyond that, Verizon officials see their fiber optic system as the company's future platform to become a broad digital media and entertainment company, carrying services that haven't yet been invented.
Amid the evolution from copper to fiber, Verizon suffered some setbacks on the copper side of its business.
Demand was high for the fiber optic service, and Verizon had to meet new customer orders, the company said. So the company shifted many technicians to the fiber side of the company. That left a gap on the copper side and delays started to add up for customers who lost service or had other issues, such as static on the line.
Some parts of the Tampa Bay area saw teams of Verizon's traditional copper phone line technicians shrink from 20 people to fewer than 10, say officials with the IBEW labor union of phone workers.
Verizon spokesman Bob Elek has said the company suffered a "recent bump in the road with out of service customers, which is not the norm."
The effect of thin staff ranks did show up in the company's overall repair performance statistics. At some points during the first quarter of 2008, Verizon restored service within 24 hours less than 75 percent of the time, he said. Nine in 10 customers who lost service saw it repaired within 48 hours.
The normal pace, Elek said, is within 25 hours. Repair times should improve in the months ahead, Elek said.
Those problems should be gone, Verizon officials said, because they have back-filled technicians on the copper side, and the company has regained ground and is fixing service for most copper phone line customers within 24 hours, as they typically do.
Representatives with Verizon's largest union of technicians, the IBEW, say they have worked through delays and now restore service within 24 to 48 hours.
Florida has strict regulations for the quality and repair of traditional telephone service, in part to ensure all residents can dial 911 in an emergency. Any statistics about how far Verizon slipped month-to-month likely will take time to emerge in state data -- much less any penalties for repair faults.
TO COMPLAIN
Verizon customers will a have chance to air any complaints about the company Thursday at Tampa City Council. The council scheduled the meeting to look into complaints about the company's customer service. The public will have an opportunity to speak at the beginning of the 9 a.m. meeting at city hall, 315 E. Kennedy Blvd. Verizon officials will be on hand as well to answer questions.
Reporter Richard Mullins can be reached at rmullins@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7919.
To see more of the Tampa Tribune or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.tampatrib.com.
Copyright (c) 2008, Tampa Tribune, Fla.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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