When I bought my iPhone in September, I cancelled my Verizon Wireless account in favor of Virgin Mobile. I was told at the time by the Best Buy representative that I would have a cancellation fee of around $80 from Verizon.
When Verizon notified me in early October that I had an online statement, I thought I would pay that cancellation fee. Ha! Even though the statement showed an outstanding balance of $89.46, in the "Pay Bill" section, the amount was $0! The site wouldn't even let me pay the true balance online with my debit card. The site did say I would get a paper statement.
The due date was October 23, and so I had plenty of time to get the paper bill and write a check. And the paper bill did not come, and it did not come. Finally, about October 22, I looked up the phone number for "Contact Us". The woman that responded said that I could pay at such and such URL.
Surprise, at that URL I could pay, and I could pay with a debit card. I did and the payment has cleared my bank.
Yesterday, October 29, six days after the payment had been due, I received the paper bill. The paper bill states that I owe $89.46!
From my posts about Netflix, you know the Postal Service can provide next day service. If the sending post office is not within a day's drive of Duluth, Netflix states a DVD will be delivered within 3-5 days. If memory serves me right, the actual delivery is 2-3 days.
The Verizon bill was dated September 28. The only mail that takes over a week to arrive is mail that gets mis-delivered, stuck in a crevice somewhere, or is never sent promptly by the sender. I will go with the last. Is this a deceptive practice to hit me with a late payment fee or is this extreme inefficiency. I think the latter. Of course, if I were actually late with a regular payment, Verizon or many other vendors would promptly charge me with a late payment charge.
Thank you to Netflix, Best Buy, and many others for giving me counter-examples that show corporations can provide efficient customer service. It just goes to show that the management/ownership form of any organization doesn't predict its efficiency or effectiveness; the real guide is the kind of people in the organization – from top to bottom!
