Disconnected
Supervisor Jimmy Smith said he, too, has been frustrated by the company’s response, citing his recent experience of being transferred from one call center to another in a two-day effort to find someone to address possible solutions. Clendenen announced at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting that he’ll meet with a Verizon supervisor this week. In an e-mail to the Journal he said, “The best sense I have so far is that the rural equipment is old, and needs to be replaced or repaired.”
Verizon representatives won’t address the age of their equipment but say they’re planning to begin a network upgrade in the first quarter of 2010. On Monday, Verizon California Vice President Margaret Serjak told the Journal that the company is aware of customer concerns. “There have been occasions when our service has fallen short,” she acknowledged, “and that’s absolutely unacceptable to us.” But she could not explain or validate any specific complaints. “Techs have literally placed hundreds of calls in the area …” she said. “They’ve been absolutely unable to duplicate [customers’] experience of dropped calls.”
Though it disavows any widespread service problems, the company nonetheless promises to resolve them. “We are working very hard to address every customer’s concerns,” Serjak said on Monday. She also called the planned network upgrade “a reinforcement of our commitment to our customers.” The following day, however,Verizon spokesman Jon Davies reiterated that there have been only two brief outages this year. “Not to disrespect the people you’ve spoken to,” he said, “but we believe we know our network better than anyone.”
Regardless, their SoHum customers remain dissatisfied and are vowing to hold Verizon accountable. “All of us at one point or another have said to these people that someone could DIE or lose their home or neighborhood to fire because we can’t report it,” Thompson wrote in her e-mail. “It will be their liability if something happens.”
Davies invited Verizon customers still experiencing problems to call 923-3216. Of course, they might have to drive to Redway to do so.
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on the cover
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Today
44th Annual Kinetic Grand Championship Race
STAFF PICK / events, art, outdoors, sports, for kids, free / 9 a.m.-6 p.m. A 3-day, 42-mile kinetic sculpture race over land, sand, mud and water! LeMans start at the Noon Whistle on the Arcata Plaza. Follow the race through Manila, Eureka and into Ferndale on Memorial Day for the Glorious Finish. kineticgrandchampionship.com. 889-3024.
Flow 2012 Fashion Show
STAFF PICK / events / 8 p.m. Arcata Theatre Lounge, 1036 G St. Student designed and produced clothing. Fundraiser for Arcata Arts Institute. $35/$25 students. artsinstitute.net. 822-1220.
Woodside Preschool's Rummage/Bake Sale
events / 8 a.m.-noon. Woodside Preschool, 900 Hodgson St, Eureka. www.woodsidepreschool.com. 445-9132.
Lanphere Dunes Restoration
STAFF PICK / outdoors / 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Meet at Pacific Union School. Help remove non-native invasives at the Lanphere Dunes Unit of the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Tools and gloves provided, wear work clothes and bring water. Carpool to the protected site. 444-1397.
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