Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

Verizon Won't Go Quietly Into That Good Night

So, yesterday, I spoke to the Verizon folks, and they couldn't do better on the price for "triple play." I told them I was leaving for Optimum, and reconfirmed my install date of next week. While I had them on the phone, I also confirmed, not once, not twice, but three times to keep my phone service intact until next week when my number would be ported.

The best laid plans, and some things in life are inevitable, etc, etc. Anyway, the home phone was disconnected today. When I called the house number, I just got the message "this number not in service," and that terrible sinking feeling. I called up Verizon, and they told me they didn't do it, they no longer had anything to do with it, and it was the fault of my new telephone provider. They suggested that I contact Optimum. Something didn't sound so Kosher with that, but I figured I'd call cable anyway.

I got in touch with Optimum. They explained that they had no control of the number until the port date, which is next week, and so far they had only requested the number, that's it. I also confirmed that they would send a real Optimum installer, and not subcontract it out. They also confirmed that the number would be unpublished, and the date/time of the install. The person I spoke too also told me that "this happens all the time," and this exact same thing happened to her. Her theory is that "Verizon doesn't want to lose you," and they'll make it difficult to leave. I was starting to think that this was too much fingerpointing, and no answers.

Then, I called Verizon back. When I spoke to them, I reminded them that I was with them from before they were Verizon, before they were NYNEX, (one of the "baby bells") when they were NY Telephone decades ago. I also told them it was vitally important to get my phone back on pronto, and before I started to tell them that this would be all over the internet, they told me it would be back on within six hours.

Thankfully, I'm happy to report that my history lesson paid off, and I was reconnected about two hours later. Hence the title of this piece, those copper lines must make them a fortune, and they're not gonna let you leave without a hassle. Geez, all of this because my DSL modem died, and they tried to shake me down for a new one.

Jonas
Soon to be a VoIP Champion