Hello? Can you hear me now? State agency calls up Verizon on poor response to out-of-service complaints
Virginia’s utility regulatory agency announced it plans to hold a courtroom-style hearing on Verizon Corp.’s poor handling of telephone service complaints, which have plagued many of its customers in the southern portion of Rappahannock County.
The State Corporation Commission has set a hearing in Richmond on Sept. 25 at which Verizon must show why it should not be penalized for violating the agency’s rule governing the handling of out-of-service complaints by its customers. Verizon requested an evidentiary hearing to defend itself against SCC staff findings that the company is failing to resolve out-of-service complaints in a timely manner.
For months, many customers in Slate Mills and F.T. Valley areas of Rappahannock County have found their phone service unreliable or inoperable, sometimes for a week or more at a time. The service problems have continued despite Verizon’s promises to fix them.
An SCC spokesman said the agency’s action was prompted by widespread complaints across Verizon’s Virginia service area that phone-service outages were not being repaired in a timely manner. “This has been an on-going problem for a year and a half,” said SCC spokesman Ken Schrad, prompting an SCC staff investigation and a “show cause” order issued that requires Verizon to show why it should not be penalized. Schrad said the SCC is authorized to fine the phone company up to $10,000 per violation.
The agency has a rule that requires Verizon to clear no less than 80 percent of the out-of-service reports the company receives from customers within 24 hours. The rule requires that 95 percent of such trouble reports be cleared within 48 hours.
According to the SCC press release, on May 10, the SCC’s staff filed a motion for a “rule to show cause.” The motion asserts “a demonstrable concern relating to Verizon’s performance with regard to the rule. Although staff received a corrective action plan from Verizon last October, the company failed to comply with its plan.”
The evidentiary hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Tuesday, September 25, 2007, in Courtroom “B” located on the second floor of the Tyler Building, 1300 East Main Street in downtown Richmond. The hearing is open to the public, but Schrad said it is not designed to take testimony from the public. Each side, the SCC and Verizon, may call witnesses to testify.
The audio of the hearing will be webcast via the Internet. Instructions for monitoring the webcast can be found on the SCC website at: http://www.scc.virginia.gov/caseinfo.htm The case number is PUC-2007-00040.
-- James P. Gannon
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