Since the lengthy delay activating my home DSL service, Verizon has been showering me with reminders that I’m getting my first two months of service free. I think I’ve received a half-dozen brief form letters stating this fact. I wasn’t getting this much attention during that two-month span between ordering my DSL service and getting my DSL service. Maybe Verizon could cut its junk mail budget and fold some of that money into its wretched human-based customer service or its apparently too-small blue-collar workforce.
Today I received a Hallmark Business Expressions card in a pale violet envelope.
Inside, a scripty typeface thanks me for choosing Verizon Online DSL and that the company looks forward to serving me, by which I take to mean “sending me more misty-eyed notes.” A small single-sided card inserted into the thank-you card reminds me for the umpteenth time that “Due to the overwhelming demand for our high-speed internet, you experienced a delay in your DSL service installation” and that, once again, they’re sorry and are crediting my account two months.
This repetition is irksome. Maybe they think by blanketing me with thanks, my view of the company will shift and instead of badmouthing their poky service and terrible support at every opportunity, I’ll say with a far-away look in my eye, “Those Verizon guys aren’t so bad. They can admit it when they’ve made a mistake.” No deal, Verizon. I still hate you. There’s no apology for a two month delay in any service these days. What is this, Communist-era Soviet Union, where it takes a year for me to receive my refrigerator after I order it?