Ungirding my loins

Fighting the power comes naturally to me – particularly when the power is being wielded by government or big corporations.

On the road for week after week, I get few opportunities to flex my fight-for-the-little-guy muscles. My best opportunity came at the Canadian border (see http://wanderingdave.blogspot.com/2007/04/good-fences.html) when I was given rough treatment by the border guards.

But I choked down all of my righteous indignation, deciding that I’d endure just about everything short of the ultimate border-crossing indignities (I’ll leave those up to your imagination) because I really did want to tour Canada…

Canadians are so darned nice (see http://wanderingdave.blogspot.com/2007/05/canadians-are-way-too-nice.html) that I’ve just had no way to build up angst while north of the border since the initial crossing.

No way, that is until I heard from the huge American corporation that has been connecting Wandering Dave to the world via cell phone and broadband internet.

I’ve been paying top dollar for service since the end of 2005 and had no cause for concern or complaint until a few days after I crossed the border. About a week into the first of two loops through Canada, I lost my internet connection.

A day after the signal disappeared, I got a call from a Verizon customer service rep who apologized for the loss of service. So far, so good.

But then she asked if I was aware that I had accumulated about $1,500 in “roaming” charges while using my broadband connection via laptop.

Since I had been assured several weeks earlier by another, equally anonymous, customer service person that everything was set up for unlimited online access as well as hundreds of minutes of cell phone time, I was not at all cautious; I continued making heavy use of the ‘net.

Needless to say, during the succeeding three or four weeks, I’ve not been using the Verizon connection for Internet access – and I’ve made far less use of my cell phone than usual.

I prepared for a battle, realizing that corporations tend to focus on the bottom line and that convincing Verizon to cancel charges of this magnitude might prove difficult.

When the charges finally appeared on my bill, I initiated contact – expecting a pitched battle that would likely involve hours of phone tag and waiting on hold.
To avoid some of that phone time, I decided to attempt to resolve the matter by email and filled out an online form that directed my concerns to what I expected to be one of a long series of bureaucrats who might eventually lead me to a decision-maker who would or would not take pity on me and adjust or cancel the charges.

Enter Michael. He works in customer service for the Verizon Wireless division. He called me less than 12 hours (overnight) after I sent the email.

I was pretty sure that Michael wouldn’t be able to solve my problem; but I was eager to gain his support. So I tried very hard to get him to empathize with my plight. I told him how hard it was for me to deal with a big company and how frustrating it was not to be able to talk to the same person twice.

When Michael (he never shared his last name with me) said he’d forward my request to a supervisor, I pleaded with him to attach a note or comment that would help that person understand that I am a good customer who became caught up in a complicated situation and shouldn’t be punished for a misunderstanding.

Oh, I was eloquent.

Well, miracle of miracles: it worked!!

I received a second call from that very same Michael – less than an hour later. He announced that $1,491.23 was being credited to my account.

As they say in the auto business, “your mileage may vary.” But, for me, Verizon has suddenly become my favorite phone and internet company. They may yet break my heart one day, but at this point in history I think they’re tops.

Michael, this one is for you!