Excuse my rant, but I am very angry.
Three words that would describe Verizon are crooked, backward and not helpful (okay, that’s a phrase). Here’s the story:
I live in a small town with no “options” for services. Land lines are only available through Verizon and as far as I know, the same goes for DSL. So I had just a basic, local-only phone line and semi-slow DSL, but was satisfied enough.
Then I moved. Well, back up a little. I was about to move and called to arrange a service transfer. The woman was helpful and I thought we had everything set up. We needed satellite service, so I decided to bundle the three and get more services for a good deal. Sounds great.
Then I moved. Phone works at my new place. Great. Satellite hooked up and working at my new place. Great. Internet does not work at my new place. Why? After calling tech support, I learned that Verizon had upgraded my connection speed as planned, but hadn’t changed my service address. Frustrating. Why on earth would I want to change the service address for my phone line but not my internet connection? My connection comes through my phone line, kinda necessary to have both at the same address I would think. Whatever. Now I’m told the Saturday shift can’t help me so I need to call X number on Monday. Like I don’t have things to do on Monday.
So like a good girl I say okay and call the stupid number on Monday. After waiting on hold, being cut off, holding again, getting cut off again and then told I need to call a different number, I finally talk to the internet sales and order department. I’m pretty sure I could have talked to this department on Saturday (because when it comes to making a sale, Verizon is always open, but getting tech support is a Monday thru Friday issue) if the no-nothing Turkish man from Saturday understood what I was trying to tell him.
Moving on. The woman in S&O pulled up my info and was also perplexed as to why they hadn’t ordered an address change. She calls her supervisor over and gets things set up, but then discovers that the reason my service address wasn’t changed was because DSL isn’t available at my new address. If you are from Blythe or talked to anyone in Blythe, you’ve probably heard of this. They have a limited number of slots available for DSL and until someone moves, cancels service or Verizon gets their act together and updates their technology, you’re SOL. Apparently my new neighborhood is full and I am SOL.
Verizon is so focused on building their wireless customer base and expanding coverage (which I appreciate as I use that service) that they don’t care about their original market—residential services. I get that. I’m sure they make a lot more money on their millions of cell users, but if you only want to do that then sell your auxiliaries to someone who would actually provide a service. I don’t think my area even has caller ID for crying out loud.
This is where the crooked part comes in. When I called originally to change my service the lady said we were all set. Now call me stupid, but I assumed that meant I would actually get the service I was paying for.
So all this brings me to my current dilemma. What do I do? I don’t need all the bells and whistles that are part my new, unlimited phone line. I’m perfectly happy with local only—in fact I’d survive without one. I do need satellite because I’m married to Troy. I do want internet!! I guess I need to do some research and find out if I can get internet through anyone else and see if my satellite contract is through DirecTV or Verizon. If I can deal only with DirecTV and cut Verizon out of my life completely, I will.
Enough said.
Showing posts with label Just Plain Angry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Just Plain Angry. Show all posts
Monday, November 30, 2009
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Dear California DMV: I hate you
It's true. It has now been 37 days since I brought my car into this state and I still do not have license plates. I drove into California on the late afternoon of December 29 and visited your office the first of many times the morning of December 30. I have since spent hours in your office, on the phone and performing other endlessly maddening tasks to jump through your hoops.
Perhaps my mistake was that I paid you too soon. Within 24 hours of bringing my new-to-me, never-registered-in-my-name car into your budget-crunched state, I had written you a check for nearly $1,500 dollars to cover sales tax for a car purchased in another state and registration fees. Perhaps if I held out you would be workable.
You claimed I needed a smog check although my car's specifications clearly state it passes the California emissions standards. Then I bring you the paperwork (again, within 24 hours of bringing my car into the state) and instead of entering the information, your dolt of an employee prints off a temporary registration stating I still need a smog check and scribbles that out in pencil. So I guess for those 3 seconds he knows I've taken care of my "responsibility," but that doesn't help the next time I call or visit your not-so-helpful department.
You required that a DMV employee (or some other inaccessible official) verify the VIN, odometer and who knows what else on my car. Again, on my immediate visit to my local field office, I am informed this cannot happen at a convenient time because you are short staffed. I guess I can understand that. I need to come back on Wednesday or Thursday between 2 and 4, but not this Wednesday because you're not doing them and not this Thursday because it's a holiday. Then you can only give me a temporary permit that's valid for two days because with the new year you are apparently switching to a new program. Thank goodness good old Utah has taken care of me by providing some kind of temporary license.
So a week and a half later you verify my VIN while having the same number of employees in the office as you did the first day I came. Thankfully I am granted a temporary permit until the end of February. Of course, rather than entering and updating the smog and verification, you just staple it all together and hand it back to me because you "wait until everything is taken care of before putting the info in the system." Whatever.
Now for the kicker. You need evidence of previous registration (I did not register the car in Utah because I live in California, duh) or the title. Hello, I don't own the car! No one in this "thing" obsessed state pays for anything with cash. There is no other option in everyone else mind but to finance, so why should it be any surprise that I did the same? I don't have the title because the car isn't officially mine. The bank owns the title, dimwit. So after talking to the fools in my field office, I call the state DMV to verify procedure. Of course first they tell my I need to get a smog check. I swallow my anger and proceed. I'm told that the lien holder has to send the original Utah title to California, where you create a CA title and send that back to the bank and I can finally get my plates. Stupid, but fine. So I call my credit union and they say okay, they'll send it to CA.
A week and a half later I call Sacramento to check the status of this mess. No, there's not evidence of a title, but I still need to get my smog check. Thanks for the tip. Then this guy tells me duh, I don't need a title. I financed it so of course I don't have one. THANK YOU! I go back to the DMV field office and have another pointless visit where they stand by what they've said.
Soon after I get a letter from the dealership saying the title clerk there has sent my title work to the local DMV field office. Oh, I guess a Utah title doesn't even exist in my name yet. Fine. I go the to DMV again and of course they haven't received it. So I call the dealership and learn she sent the title the same day she sent my letter. So either the DMV has lost it, or I now have a beef with the postal service. Either scenario is plausible. Of course the title woman didn't get the letter certified, so there's no way of knowing what happened to this title. Great.
I wait until the end of the week, still no title paperwork. After brainstorming with my Utah title friend, she decides to call the California DMV and figure out what is going on. Of course the local field office where she sent the paperwork only has an internal line (whatever that means), so she can't call them. Instead she talks to some rude woman (I guess you would call her the DMV stereotype) who doesn't know what's going on, is not interested in the problem, tells her there's no real point in the discussion because I still need to pass a smog check and she can't tell her anything anyway because she's not the registered owner or lien holder. Thank you. Very helpful.
Forget that she is, in fact a representative of the current, official legal owner because the title is still in the dealer's name. I can't legitimately register the car in Utah because I don't have a Utah address and therefore can't get the "alternate" verification from the Utah DMV stating I am the registered owner and who my lien holder is. And we can't get it titled in California because every blasted person I talk to says we need to do something different. Get your story straight!!! I visit your office one last time and after making it clear how upset I am, practically have to force your employee to enter the smog and verification information so I don't have to hear about again.
So for 37 days I have been trying to follow the law. You have your money, I've jumped through the hoops, and you have lost legal paperwork. Thank you. I could have been like many others and registered my car in another (cheaper) state and dealt with you when it came time to renew my registration. I'm just trying to get my safe, clean and fully operational car legal.
Perhaps I should not have purchased my car out of state, but I checked with your website (which is only slightly helpful) and thought I had my bases covered. Clearly I don't. Now we have to get a duplicate title and keep our fingers crossed that once I receive it and walk it into your office that you don't decide you want something else instead.
Perhaps my mistake was that I paid you too soon. Within 24 hours of bringing my new-to-me, never-registered-in-my-name car into your budget-crunched state, I had written you a check for nearly $1,500 dollars to cover sales tax for a car purchased in another state and registration fees. Perhaps if I held out you would be workable.
You claimed I needed a smog check although my car's specifications clearly state it passes the California emissions standards. Then I bring you the paperwork (again, within 24 hours of bringing my car into the state) and instead of entering the information, your dolt of an employee prints off a temporary registration stating I still need a smog check and scribbles that out in pencil. So I guess for those 3 seconds he knows I've taken care of my "responsibility," but that doesn't help the next time I call or visit your not-so-helpful department.
You required that a DMV employee (or some other inaccessible official) verify the VIN, odometer and who knows what else on my car. Again, on my immediate visit to my local field office, I am informed this cannot happen at a convenient time because you are short staffed. I guess I can understand that. I need to come back on Wednesday or Thursday between 2 and 4, but not this Wednesday because you're not doing them and not this Thursday because it's a holiday. Then you can only give me a temporary permit that's valid for two days because with the new year you are apparently switching to a new program. Thank goodness good old Utah has taken care of me by providing some kind of temporary license.
So a week and a half later you verify my VIN while having the same number of employees in the office as you did the first day I came. Thankfully I am granted a temporary permit until the end of February. Of course, rather than entering and updating the smog and verification, you just staple it all together and hand it back to me because you "wait until everything is taken care of before putting the info in the system." Whatever.
Now for the kicker. You need evidence of previous registration (I did not register the car in Utah because I live in California, duh) or the title. Hello, I don't own the car! No one in this "thing" obsessed state pays for anything with cash. There is no other option in everyone else mind but to finance, so why should it be any surprise that I did the same? I don't have the title because the car isn't officially mine. The bank owns the title, dimwit. So after talking to the fools in my field office, I call the state DMV to verify procedure. Of course first they tell my I need to get a smog check. I swallow my anger and proceed. I'm told that the lien holder has to send the original Utah title to California, where you create a CA title and send that back to the bank and I can finally get my plates. Stupid, but fine. So I call my credit union and they say okay, they'll send it to CA.
A week and a half later I call Sacramento to check the status of this mess. No, there's not evidence of a title, but I still need to get my smog check. Thanks for the tip. Then this guy tells me duh, I don't need a title. I financed it so of course I don't have one. THANK YOU! I go back to the DMV field office and have another pointless visit where they stand by what they've said.
Soon after I get a letter from the dealership saying the title clerk there has sent my title work to the local DMV field office. Oh, I guess a Utah title doesn't even exist in my name yet. Fine. I go the to DMV again and of course they haven't received it. So I call the dealership and learn she sent the title the same day she sent my letter. So either the DMV has lost it, or I now have a beef with the postal service. Either scenario is plausible. Of course the title woman didn't get the letter certified, so there's no way of knowing what happened to this title. Great.
I wait until the end of the week, still no title paperwork. After brainstorming with my Utah title friend, she decides to call the California DMV and figure out what is going on. Of course the local field office where she sent the paperwork only has an internal line (whatever that means), so she can't call them. Instead she talks to some rude woman (I guess you would call her the DMV stereotype) who doesn't know what's going on, is not interested in the problem, tells her there's no real point in the discussion because I still need to pass a smog check and she can't tell her anything anyway because she's not the registered owner or lien holder. Thank you. Very helpful.
Forget that she is, in fact a representative of the current, official legal owner because the title is still in the dealer's name. I can't legitimately register the car in Utah because I don't have a Utah address and therefore can't get the "alternate" verification from the Utah DMV stating I am the registered owner and who my lien holder is. And we can't get it titled in California because every blasted person I talk to says we need to do something different. Get your story straight!!! I visit your office one last time and after making it clear how upset I am, practically have to force your employee to enter the smog and verification information so I don't have to hear about again.
So for 37 days I have been trying to follow the law. You have your money, I've jumped through the hoops, and you have lost legal paperwork. Thank you. I could have been like many others and registered my car in another (cheaper) state and dealt with you when it came time to renew my registration. I'm just trying to get my safe, clean and fully operational car legal.
Perhaps I should not have purchased my car out of state, but I checked with your website (which is only slightly helpful) and thought I had my bases covered. Clearly I don't. Now we have to get a duplicate title and keep our fingers crossed that once I receive it and walk it into your office that you don't decide you want something else instead.
Friday, August 15, 2008
I am so FRUSTRATED!
So for some reason today I asked Troy what he didn't like about me. At the time we were trying to decide if we should be good and stay in for dinner or be bad and go out. I refused to make the decision, so Troy told me he didn't like that I won't make decisions. Big or small. It's so true.
Perfect example. I don't know what to do with my life. I'm considering getting my teaching credential because the yearly schedule is better and in just the first year I'd make twice what I do now. Sometimes I like the idea of being a teacher but others I'm not so sure. Then I have to decide what I would teach. I have two majors and neither of them are broad enough to help me pass a subject test. Then there's the issue of waiting for a spot to open up in my chosen subject (again assuming I can pass the test). I've thought about English, but holy cow! The test looks hard and it's VERY broad. I may get asked about stage lighting for crying out loud. Then I thought I could try social science, but my political science major covers less than 1/5 of the test. I am not an expert in ancient world history, thank you very much. Oh what to do. I'll have to take teaching classes, which I can accept, but I really don't want to take courses for ANOTHER major. I really should just find a buried treasure so I can stay home and clean my house all day.
If it sounds like I'm whining, I am.
Perfect example. I don't know what to do with my life. I'm considering getting my teaching credential because the yearly schedule is better and in just the first year I'd make twice what I do now. Sometimes I like the idea of being a teacher but others I'm not so sure. Then I have to decide what I would teach. I have two majors and neither of them are broad enough to help me pass a subject test. Then there's the issue of waiting for a spot to open up in my chosen subject (again assuming I can pass the test). I've thought about English, but holy cow! The test looks hard and it's VERY broad. I may get asked about stage lighting for crying out loud. Then I thought I could try social science, but my political science major covers less than 1/5 of the test. I am not an expert in ancient world history, thank you very much. Oh what to do. I'll have to take teaching classes, which I can accept, but I really don't want to take courses for ANOTHER major. I really should just find a buried treasure so I can stay home and clean my house all day.
If it sounds like I'm whining, I am.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Here's a Good Rant for You
Oh my goodness, where to begin. Good things first. Troy's team won yesterday. They're now 3-5, but I believe that's the best record in the boy's basketball program right now, so we're happy.
Now on to the real reason I'm posting. I'll begin by saying I'm not in a good mood. Between stupid kids asking me stupid questions, students and teachers expecting and demanding the world and the internet deciding to take it slow just as I'm trying to notify parents their little dears have books to return, I've had a long day. Add to that this little adventure,
and I'm more than a little frustrated. That's right, that is the carpet and pad in my living room pulled up because it is soaked. When I push my finger into the pad water squirts out. The neighbors (with whom we share a wall) are remodeling and apparently have a leaking something in the bathroom. So what do I get as a thank you for letting them know they have a problem? Yes, you are correct, all their water. Okay, I only knew they had a problem after I discovered my carpet was wet, but who cares about a timeline?
Anyway, I wasn't too upset about it last night because, after all, these things do happen and I'm not the one paying for repairs (the joy of renting), but after listening to fans night and day, rearranging the filthy pad and carpet backing to get optimal air flow and enduring the smell that has taken over our house, I am quickly losing my patience. In one way I'm counting the seconds until I get to leave this mess behind but in another I realize this needs to get taken care of in less than 48 hours because if it's not, nothing will happen for two weeks--other than, of course, a dirty, musty stink penetrating every single thing I own.
One final little rant: who pays for the electricity to run those stupid fans 24/7 as we try to salvage worn, stinky carpet? Oh yeah, that would be me. Have a nice day!
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