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Glitches Being Fixed, Verizon Tells City
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Published: May 2, 2008
TAMPA - Verizon officials unveiled a few of their internal missteps to city of Tampa officials Thursday, by way of explaining that they're aware of customer service glitches and are improving.
One example: Accidentally charging some customers rental fees for cable TV set-top boxes even if customers disconnected service and turned those boxes back into Verizon offices months ago.
"We think we're getting our arms around it," said Cronan O'Connell, Verizon's national director of franchise management.
O'Connell was in town Thursday to address the Tampa City Council, which had called in Verizon officials to address customer service problems in the city - such as bills that were too confusing and a shortage of free TVs they offered for new customer enrollment.
Verizon noticed the problem with set-top boxes and diagnosed it as a glitch in their billing software. Company officials said they did not have information about how many customers had that particular problem.
O'Connell said Verizon decided to freeze part of its billing system until the glitch could be fixed, which should happen sometime this month.
Verizon is also working to address shortages of the free HDTVs it offered for customers signing up for special bundled service packages. O'Connell said Verizon was calling every customer who was eligible for a free TV to explain the shortage and to promise that a TV would arrive by June 1.
She said Verizon also had high hopes for a new, redesigned monthly bill format that more clearly lays out charges for services.
Public turnout at Thursday's council meeting was light: Two people showed up at the 9 a.m. meeting to describe their problems with the company.
Allan Martin of Tampa said his Verizon bill has been wrong several times, despite several visits to Verizon retail outlets.
Ed White of Tampa said, "I have personally been abused by - let's call it their lack-of-service department."
At least one council member appeared sympathetic. District 7 Councilman Joseph Caetano said Verizon service technicians showed up at his house one morning recently to install FiOS service, but he said he never asked for it.
"I must have had to make 10 calls last month," he said, because Verizon had charged him for services he never requested.
Verizon spokesman Bob Elek said the company would look into those customer issues and noted that Thursday was the first time the company heard about Caetano's issues.
"We'll certainly look into it," he said.
Verizon officials have acknowledged some hiccups amid strong demand for its newer services. But they note they have overhauled many aspects of customer service, including adding personal account managers to serve as a single point of contact for customers of its high-end FiOS phone, Internet or cable TV service.
Reporter Richard Mullins can be reached at (813) 259-7919 or rmullins@tampatrib.com.
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