Clark Howard

Clark Howard on cell phone companies here:

http://clarkhoward.com/shownotes/category/155/156/298/

Not-A-Happy-Camper

Fickle Verizon? :

http://daveychambers.blogspot.com/2009/04/f-verizon.html

For Math Junkies

Gotta love engineers:

http://www.shawnhogan.com/2007/02/verizon-pisses-off-engineer.html

Not A Fan

Apparently, not a huge fan of Verizon (if I'm reading this right):

http://www.logicalriot.net/2009/03/06/why-im-not-a-fan-of-verizon/

Piss On Bank of America

Apparently Bank of America sucks as well (...ok, so that's NOT exactly news):

http://www.bankofamericasucks.com/

If you have multiple credit cards you probably ought shred any Bank of America cards.

Verizon Math

Congratulations Verizon, you made it into ScienceBlogs:

http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2009/02/more_verizon_wireless_math.php

(it started here: http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2009/02/verizon_morons.php )

Shocking News!

Florida discussing fining Verizon over service issues! Here. Worth reading the 'comments' section as well.

But Seriously...

Today's frustrated Verizon client... here.

Have I Mentioned Lately...

Blah, blah, blah.

Open Letter To Monsieur Seidenberg

Here. (Believe it or not, something to do with customer service.)

'nuther Letter From 'nuther VZ Customer

Here.

Examining Verizon Ads?

Even their ads draw complaints... Here.

Consumer Retorts

It's pretty common knowledge that the cell phone industry ranks somewhere between used car salesmen and prostitution in the regard to which the public holds it (...and I've probably offended used car salesmen in saying that; less certain about prostitutes) --- one of the most complaint-ridden industries in existence. Maybe that helps to explain the incredible findings of the latest Consumer Reports issue which rates Verizon significantly better than four other major competitors (one of which, Alltel, is soon to be taken over by VZ). Verizon was rated "above-average" on 5 of 7 "service attributes" (LOL, but keep in mind that "average" in the cell industry is considerably less than stellar).
Of course several smaller cell phone companies were not included in the study, and only 23 metropolitan areas were covered, but it is still scary to have Verizon bubble to the top of such a list --- it says a lot about what consumers are putting up with. Consumer Reports does a lot of fine work; they also do surveys that are weak or unrepresentative; I'd be taking THIS "survey" with a huge grain of salt. Before signing up with VZ, be sure and survey your own locals for their cell phone experiences and grievances.

Nothing to Fear...

...but deflation itself. So the Fed is essentially printing up money out of thin air at this point in an effort to create looser, expanded, more liquid credit... oh yeah, loose, expanded, liquid credit is exactly what got us into this mess to begin with... go figure. Happy Holiday y'all; thankfully, Jan. 20 is less than 2 months away.

Verizon Cutting Managers

Verizon slashing lower management positions right after Thanksgiving; more cuts to follow later.

Hate To Be Redundant, But...

'nuther person, same ol' story here.

...all in unison now, Verizon Suuuucks.

Not Nice... but, Not Surprising

Presidential phone-peeping here or here.

Private Letter To CFO of Verizon...

Dear Kindest, Most Beloved Sir:

Through the internets it has come to my attention that you are a trusted and revered soul of wise judgment, who may be able to assist me in a financial transaction with the strictest confidence. I am the second cousin (twice-removed) of the son of a father who's second uncle's maternal grandfather by a third marriage recently passed away unexpectedly from cardiac arrest while disputing a 2-year contract with a Nigerian telecommunications company. Upon his death his grieving family's devoutest wish is to resolve all outstanding bills promptly. His estate of 15,213,578 U.S. dollars and 22 cents will require at least 18 weeks for probation/resolution. In the meantime the specific bill in question, for $59.86 is rapidly accruing interest and penalties. We will gladly reimburse you with 22% of the final estate settlement, if you would merely forward to us now $7100 (U.S. dollars) for immediate dispensation of all upcoming debts and claims against the estate. This would greatly relieve our immediate stress and burden, and would be most kindly received. Please contact me (with your bank account # and pin number, to verify who you are) at your earliest convenience to make arrangements for transfer of said funds, and thank you in advance, so very sincerest much. You are an angel, may God bless....

'nuther Dimwitted Move By Verizon?

Choosing Microsoft over Google (...WHAT be they thinking; or NOT thinking).

Smelly Verizon?

Sound familiar...?

An Issue That Won't End Anytime Soon

A recent posting on cell phone dangers here. And here a blog on cell phone/cancer connections.

Gotta Story To Tell?...

a few email addresses of places that sometimes like a good (David & Goliath) feature story:

NY Times: managing-editor@nytimes.com

Los Angeles Times: alice.short@latimes.com

Chicago Tribune: JHirt@tribune.com

The Boston Globe: letter@globe.com

The Washington Post: business@washpost.com

Miami Herald: HeraldEd@MiamiHerald.com

Portland Oregonian: pbhatia@news.oregonian.com

Long Island Press: bfortune@longislandpress.com

The Boston Phoenix: letters@phx.com

also, Mother Jones Magazine: http://www.motherjones.com/

or check out "alternative" newsweeklies; there may be one in your area: http://www.awn.org/publist.html

...of course there be many, many more (and check your local listings as well).

Market Volatility

At end of day, stock market bounced off a near-term low today, but given other shoes yet to drop (retail collapse, credit collapses, higher unemployment and crime rates, more bailouts/giveaways, auto company woes, and continued housing foreclosures) over the next 2 months, while Paulson flails about, those lows will be revisited well before Obama takes office, and has a real economic team on board in place of Bush flunkies. For patient, long-term investors with a distant horizon though, some stocks (NOT telecom, which will be facing their own major customer defaults next year) are approaching buying values as 4th quarter financials will be catastrophic and a worldwide depression remains more viable than anyone openly admits. Are we having fun yet?

Sprint Irked At Verizon

Not too surprisingly, Sprint isn't too happy with Verizon either:

http://sprintconnection.kansascity.com/?q=node/856

Starting The Week

Today's internet Verizon rant offering (strong language) here:

http://fredtk.livejournal.com/15036.html

They Keep On Comin'

Still more Verizon complaints recorded here.

The Weekend Stats

It's Saturday, so time once again to check up on those Verizon Google stats (oh boy, oh boy):

"verizon +complaints" = 1,960,000 hits (up by over a million additional hits from last weekend)

"verizon +sucks" = 233,000 hits (essentially unchanged from last week)

Have I Mentioned Lately...

Obama... GOOD!

Verizon... Suuuucks!!

The Day After

The torch is passed...

Election Eve

Weekly Update

It's the weekend so of course time for the weekly Google count review:

At only 900,000 hits for "verizon +complaints" that's almost a 60% decline from last week!... hey, WAAAY to go Verizon; does this mean perhaps, perchance, possibly, incredibly, just maybe, you're finally listening now??? ...or, just a statistical fluke?
Meanwhile, at 230,000, the google count for "verizon +sucks" hasn't changed much in the ensuing week.

Happy Halloween

Tonight I'm dressing up as a Verizon sales agent... oo-ooo-ooooh, Veri Zcar-rr-rry!!! And I'll be giving out LOTS of tricks... (If you see me, please don't spew a streak of 4-letter words at me; it's all in good fun).

Lo and Behold, Another

Geeze, another Verizon complaint board here. No telling how many of these are scattered around the Web...

From The Archives

'nuther unpleasant Verizon story...

Amen

Making note of the horrendous travails that will face the next U.S. President, thanks to the current wretched Administration, commentator Hal Crowther closes out a recent column, stating simply, "God help Barack Obama if he wins the election. God help us all if he loses."

Old News

Here.

Kevin Phillips on Bush's Financial Disaster

Here.


(...and as to the approaching election this says it all:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/withinreason/2969549497/ )

More Links

Here.

A Blip Up

Another faux rally on Wall Street today as certain interested powers manipulate the market in an attempt to impact the Presidential election.
As to Verizon, video here on their recent earnings.

Facebook Group

Do you have somewhat less-than-loving-and-pristinely-delightful feelings towards Verizon... there's now a Facebook group just for you:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=29860808873&ref=mf

Creative Bookkeeping ????

Verizon claims a 31% increase in profits for 3rd quarter...
Hmmm... maybe some of us need to re-double our efforts. . . .

Another Person's Experience...

Here.
Bashing Verizon is almost TOOOO easy...

To Whomever It May Concern

"FRAUD" --- definition from Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary:

1: deceit , trickery ; specifically : intentional perversion of truth in order to induce another to part with something of value or to surrender a legal right b: an act of deceiving or misrepresenting : trick
2: a person who is not what he or she pretends to be : impostor ; also : one who defrauds : cheat b: one that is not what it seems or is represented to be.

Ravi Batra

Ravi Batra's latest book here. And his general website here.

The Weekly Count

This weekend the Google counts for "verizon +complaints" and "verizon +sucks" are holding fairly steady at around 2,120,000 and 224,000, respectively, not greatly changed from last weekend's counts.

Just Another Posting

from the endless supply that are out there on the Web:

http://fabulousfinancials.com/2008/10/no-internet-access.html

Customa Soivice

Someone here finds it necessary to blog about poor customer service (...and lo and behold Verizon's name gets mentioned).

Expect... the Expected

Possible freefall in American stocks today following overnight drop overseas. Stocks still overpriced given current conditions and news that is already baked into the financial system for the next 6 months. Meanwhile, Greenspan pleads ignorance (...borrowing Bush's excuse I s'pose). Expect further rate cut from the dawdling Fed. McCain opposes wealth re-distribution, while supporting uncapped salaries, outrageous golden parachutes, and off-shore accounts to evade paying taxes... and then asks 'Joe the plumber' to vote for him 8-] And Sarah ('my country appearance first') just goes shopping...

Verizon on the iPhone

Here... Of course Steve Jobs possesses more smarts in his littlest pinkie than the entire Verizon management has in all their collective craniums. But still Verizon will futilely attempt to do battle with the iPhone (before joining them).

No Idea Who This Chap Is

...but I'm a-guessin it ain't Ivan Seidenberg (with what he makes he'd likely have a much more professional-lookin' sign):