Another inefficient corporation

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!

A progressive SuperPac?

Today we got a flyer "Take Down the Tea Party Ten: Credo Mobile fights Tea Party.  Does your phone company fund them?"

Credo has all kinds of teasers with 40% off for a year and contract buyout credit.

I visited www.credomobile.com/teaparty.  I found that Credo uses the Sprint network and has the usual rates.  I also found in the fine print "Brought to you by Working Assets".  If I remember correctly, Working Assets is a "socially responsible" investment company.

The big question is are your subscriber costs used for political contributions.  Or as a member of the network will you receive numerous appeals for donations?

If you are curious about this, I'll let you follow the links.  As for me, I'll stick with Verizon Wireless until such time as I think I can afford an iPhone with Sprint Virgin.  Big cost for the iPhone, really low cost for voice and data.

Convenience fee - what a misnomer!

You've probably seen the charge "convenience fee" when you order tickets online or pay some utility bills online. But the "convenience fee" is really for the company's benefit in two ways. First, they don't need so much staff to open envelopes and enter the data. Second, they cover the credit card/debit card costs. And you thought you saved a stamp and time addressing an envelope.

I was moved to write this entry by "Verizon Wireless to charge $2 for one-time payment - Verizon Wireless to charge $2 for one-time payments by credit card, online or by phone".

Here's a thought. Create jobs! Pay by check and mail!

More on corporate bureaucracies

I don't write these little nasties because I think all large corporations are bad.  I write them because there are too many commentators who think all government is bad and all private enterprise is efficient.

Sorry, folks there are also efficient governments and inefficient corporations.  The determinant is not the organizational type, but management.  There are plenty of good managers in both government and corporations, and there are plenty of bad managers in both government and corporations.

Anybody who thinks otherwise doesn't read "Dilbert".  Scott Adams bases his characters on real-life people in his various corporate jobs.  See http://www.dilbert.com/about/.  I couldn't find it on his website, but I understand that he gets many contributions from readers about crazy situations that they have encountered.  I do know that I've seen Wally, the slacker, as a co-worker many times in large corporations.

Wow, that was a long introduction to a single minor observation.

I just paid my Verizon Wireless bill online.  At the top of the page is a weather report for Two Harbors MN.  I live in Duluth, a larger city about 25 minutes down the shore with quite different weather.  Several months ago I sent a comment to Verizon Wireless about this, and I received some waffling comment that really didn't bring about any change.

Another example of corporate "efficiency"

Yesterday I tried to pay my Verizon Wireless bill online, something I've been doing for more than a couple of years.  It worked fine at the beginning of January.  Yesterday when I clicked the "Submit" button, nothing happened.  Well, the second time I tried, the button enlarged.

Today I tried again.  Same result.  I tried with Firefox instead of Safari.  Same result.

One of the "efficiencies" any well-run organization tries for is cash flow.  Don't let the checks pile up in a drawer, but get them to a bank PDQ and let the dollars work for you.  I don't know how many thousands or millions of dollars Verizon receives each day, but I would think it would review its software changes quickly to get that cash flow back up.

Getting rich by nibbling

Today I received an email that my Verizon Wireless online bill was ready. Before I paid it, I checked the details. There was a whopping 60 cents for text messages I never asked for from 8877 in early December. I think they were some notices from Verizon. That's like sending you a letter about something the company wants you to know but leaving the stamp off and having the recipient pay the postage due. At least the post office now returns unstamped mail.

I tried to follow the pages to block text messaging, but I got a server error. That means I have to try this again tomorrow, and maybe the day after, and the day after that, and... until I give up.

Meanwhile, 20 cents times a hundred is 20 dollars, times a thousand is 200, times a million is 200,000 dollars for doing nothing of benefit to the customers.