The good news is that this time Verizon did not start the blaze, unlike on so many other occasions that we have chronicled here in excruciating detail.
The bad news, at least for the burned-out-of-house-and-home in-laws of Network World columnist James Gaskin, is that this is a telephone company that continues to have trouble grasping the finer points of smoke and flame.
Gaskin tells the tale on his private blog, Technology is Broken. Forced out by the fire, his in-laws asked Verizon to transfer their phone number to their temporary quarters. Answer: No can do. The highlight of the post comes when the in-laws are told that the best Verizon can do is to have their calls forwarded from their long-time number -- the one whose associated physical telephones were lying in charred ruins -- to their temporary phone. There would be one catch with Plan B, though, which Gaskin explains:
We can't do (the forwarding), said the Verizon reps; only you can do it. Get this: They were told to call from their old phone to request the forwarding service. Yes, the phone in a house that burned down. Yes, calling on phones that had turned into lumps of melted plastic with metal bits sticking out.
See what I mean about not grasping the finer points.
(Update: Coincidentally, Verizon recently commissioned a survey that found 83 percent of consumers intend to keep their landlines indefinitely, whether or not they have a cell phone, and whether or not that cell phone has been melted into an unidentifiable lump of plastic in a house fire. "Ninety-four percent of the respondents cited reliability and 91 percent cited safety as the key factors for retaining landline service," according to Verizon. It was not clear how many, if any, cited number portability.)
(Update 2: You think the in-laws with the fried phone had problems with Verizon? You think you have had problems with Verizon? Tell it to Dr. Herman I. Libshitz of the West Philadelphia Libshitzs. Now Dr. Libshitz, he's had trouble with Verizon ... and all because he won't change the spelling of his name.)
Welcome regulars and passersby. Here are a few more recent Buzzblog items. And, if you'd like to receive Buzzblog via e-mail newsletter, here's where to sign up.
Airline charging for ALL drinks ... even water and coffee.
Doing the Laptop Drive of Shame.
Bank of America to support Firefox, finally.
What does Cisco have against Quebec? (Answer: silly contest rules.)
Attrition.org nails another nitwit ... this time with Monty Python's Holy Grail.
"I have a lost laptop horror story for you."
Kellogg's and LEGO team up to teach kids to choke.
The REAL sticking point between Microsoft and Yahoo!
This Year's 25 Geekiest 25th Anniversaries.
Top 10 Buzzblog posts for '07: Verizon's there, of course, along with Gates, Wikipedia and the guy who lost a girlfriend to Blackberry's blackout.
When not blogging, I am a Network World news editor and write the 'Net Buzz column.
The opinions expressed in this Weblog are those of the writer and may not represent the opinions of Network World.
|
|
Bad info.
The Verizon rep had some bad info, or perhaps it might be Gaskin's local Verizon office.
Verizon can forward the number. Verizon can also offer a temporary service at no charge. Both of those offers were made to our neighbors when their home burned. And Verizon wasn't even the cause of the fire.
Gaskin needs to kick this up the chain of irresponsibility until he interuppts someones golf game. Then he might get some action!
golf
Very true. Most phone
Very true. Most phone companies have some sort of online customr services where a person could set up forwarding over the internet. Otherwise most people in the phone company can enable forwarding.
The important part is the number you forward to will ring and needs to be answered to confirm the forwarding. Not very difficult.
Dump Verizon and get an IP phone
You can forward those and check your voicemail from anywhere you can get online. Try Vonage ?
IP Phone??
Read before you submit a useless bit of advice. Mr. Libshitz was attempting to purchase DSL internet service from Verizon, not a phone.
Phone/DSL
Read before you submit a useless bit of advice. This article was about someone whose home was burned down and they were trying to transfer or forward their telephone service. The linked article is the one about Mr. Libshitz and DSL service.
Pay attention, they are
Pay attention, they are referring to the first story of the Gaskins home burning down, not the Libshitz improper name story.
did the wires burn too?
It's been a long time since the "phone" has been a hunk of plastic.
I'm thinking the "phone" in this case is the wires running into the house. I'm pretty sure those wires are still able to be connected to at some point.
The phone techs hook up to the phone from the outside of the house to test the connection. The phone line of the house.
If it is such a problem, hire a service tech, see if they can patch into the wires and make a one-time call.
Handsets are like $5, or at garage sales for $1. If there is a plug somewhere that is still active after the fire [you never know] get one and give it a try.
I agree the policy is a bit strict, but you wouldn't want someone else forwarding your phone - would you? Security is not that insane.
As someone who worked for
As someone who worked for the Canadian equivalent of Verizon, it is completely possible for the proper tech staff (not the frontline responders) to make the changes remotely and directly on the switch equipment via their terminal systems.
The phone rep you spoke to was lazy or ignorant.
CLI
lol you chide the guy who suggested voip saying he was off base....just because you refuse to get with the current technology.
If you had of asked someone with an asterisk voip server or most other kinds of voip ATA's they could have faked the CLI made the call and had you forwarded within 5 minutes.
Listen, learn and then speak.
Cheers,
Dean
Post new comment