john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon) (12/16/89)
What on earth can be done? Last week, an associate ordered a simple
8KHz audio circuit from Pac*Bell, who promised an install date of
12/19. Today we learn that because the far end terminates in GTE
territory (and GTE has expressed a total non-willingness to perform on
this according to our Pac*Bell rep) we won't have the circuit until
January 4.
My experience with GTE in the past is that this is probably the first
of many missed due dates to come. We all talk about whether GTE has
this latest equipment or that, or that one-line residence POTS
customers seem to be satisfied with their simple service, but it's the
GTE *attitude* that is the major problem here. The impression here is
that the people associated with GTE genuinely don't give a damn
whether they provide useful service or not. When I checked into GTE
rates, I was given a third degree regarding the purpose of my inquiry,
whereas Pac*Bell cheerfully sent me a detailed brochure.
It is truly amazing that GTE can screw up virtually everything it is
involved with, and yet defenders seem to come out of the woodwork. I
am convinced that even more than Pac*Bell (and I've certainly made no
secret of how I feel about them), GTE has got to be the real ball and
chain on the legs of telephonic progress in California.
John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395
john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !macy@hal.cwru.edu (12/17/89)
In article <2186@accuvax.nwu.edu> John Higdon <john@zygot.ati.com> writes: >X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 9, Issue 575, message 4 of 13 >....[details of poor due dates from GTE deleted]... >My experience with GTE in the past is that this is probably the first >of many missed due dates to come. We all talk about whether GTE has >this latest equipment or that, or that one-line residence POTS >customers seem to be satisfied with their simple service, but it's the >GTE *attitude* that is the major problem here. The impression here is >that the people associated with GTE genuinely don't give a damn >whether they provide useful service or not. >It is truly amazing that GTE can screw up virtually everything it is >involved with, and yet defenders seem to come out of the woodwork. I >am convinced that even more than Pac*Bell (and I've certainly made no >secret of how I feel about them), GTE has got to be the real ball and >chain on the legs of telephonic progress in California. [Well, since I've recently flamed John about his attitude, I guess I'd better act as an equal opportunity troublemaker...] Mr. Chairman, I heartily second gentleman's motion. GTE can and will screw up most anything, it would seem. GTE's personnel appear to be less qualified and less diligent in their efforts to serve the lowly ratepayers. In addition, they seems determined to hang on to monopoistic attitudes more suited to the 1950's than the next century. To be fair, anytime a service order affects more than one telco and/or carrier things slow down...and the mean time to repair goes up, too. I have seen the same problem John described occur time and time again when telco boundries are crossed...be they BOC, GTE, United, Contel, Centel, or other independant telco. What seems to set GTE apart, in my mind, is their attitude. All attempts to escalate problems, be they repair, missed due dates or any other matter, are met with stalling, bumbling, and excuses. The poor morale of many GTE employees seems to be part of the problem. I have another axe to grind with GTE, since I compete with them in equipment sales. They barrage the customer with "we are the phone co., buy from us 'cuz we can do it better" and then go out of their way to provide exceptional services as part of the sales (from both the regulated and deregulated services)....and neglect us normal ratepayers... I still have an off premise station from my office to house that cannot be used for data (even 1200 bps!) due to noise bursts. GTE cannot find the problem...they say they have replaced everything! This on a 6000' metellic circuit with only a repeater in the CO ! I first reported the problem in May after a thunderstorm...and I pay $64.00 per month for this? And they tell my customers that they will have less problems if they buy from the phone co? I still have to explain proper procedures on line polarity, identification and location routinely to GTE installers. GTE personnel WILL NOT mark or identify circuits/lines on their demarcation jacks 90% of the time! Its been how many years since FCC type-acceptance...and GTE personnel still do not know how to properly set up demarcation jacks? The only field people who do decent work for GTE, IMHO, are the contractors! All other decent GTE line personnel seem to leave, quit, get promoted to elsewhere or transfer! Now GTE knows how to perform...look at Mobilnet...they should give lessons to the rest of GTE. The sharpest GTE central office field engineer I know transferred from GTE Ohio telco operations to Mobilnet because his supervisors at the telco were only concerned with paperwork and procedures, not service to the customers. He was constantly in trouble for fixing things in the GTD-5 CO's that regional said weren't broken. Mobilnet actually encourages his efforts.......the effects of honest competition might just help the telcos, I think. I have literally dozens of stories in this same vein about GTE. I have far less horror stories about Ohio Bell, and I have more systems installed in OBT territory than GTE. This is more than just sour grapes from a competitor, really.... (I tend to get carried away on this subject...I even worked for GTE for two years...and quit in utter frustration) Then, again, there's Alltel (Mid-Continent Telephone)..and United Telephone of Ohio...IMHO, they are little better than GTE most of the time. I'm no fan of Ohio Bell, but if I judge by results, they are the most consistiently reliable and easy to deal with. Now lets talk about long distance carriers...and attitude... Macy M. Hallock, Jr. macy@NCoast.ORG uunet!aablue!fmsystm!macy F M Systems, Inc. {uunet!backbone}!cwjcc.cwru.edu!ncoast!fmsystm!macy 150 Highland Drive Voice: +1 216 723-3000 Ext 251 Fax: +1 216 723-3223 Medina, Ohio 44256 USA Cleveland:273-3000 Akron:239-4994 (Dial 251 at tone) (Insert favorite disclaimer here) (What if I gave a .sig and nobody cared?)