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| Changes in staff, services at telecommunications firm |
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| Written by Jonathan Partridge | Patterson Irrigator | |
| Wednesday, 21 May 2008 | |
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Frontier Communications Solutions has endured several bumps since it took control of Patterson’s telecommunications services late last year. Some customers’ bills have appeared higher than usual, and many people have waited for long periods of time to get answers from customer service representatives. As a result, Terry Haupt, Frontier’s vice president of field operations, issued a letter of apology May 9 to local customers. “As a result of our recent conversion from the Global Valley Networks billing system to the Frontier billing system, we experienced a higher-than anticipated call volume,” the letter stated. “Consequently, many customers had unreasonably long wait times when they telephoned with questions. “We are sorry. Please accept our sincere apologies.” Frontier, part of Delaware-based Citizens Communications Co., purchased Patterson-based telecommunications company Global Valley Networks for $62 million, completing the buyout in November. Denise Sperle, general manager for Frontier’s Capay Valley/Livingston/Patterson service area, said this week that most problems with billing appear to have stemmed from changes in procedure. Frontier bills customers for regular phone service one month in advance, while Global Valley Networks would bill customers afterward. As a result, many people appeared to be double-billed when that was not really the case, she said. Still, she admitted that a few people were double-billed, as accidents occurred while the billing was done manually. “I can’t say it didn’t happen,” she said. Though the company eliminated eight local positions in March, Sperle said that had nothing to do with recent customer service delays, saying the functions of those positions are being duplicated elsewhere. In an attempt to decrease waiting times for customer service, the phone company has routed customer service calls to other representatives in its Western region during peak times, she said. Sperle said she recommended that Haupt write the apology letter after receiving several calls from customers. Sperle stressed that the company values its customers and wants them to know the avenues available to address issues. “We wanted to let them know that this is not normal,” she said. Problems appear to have decreased since that time, Sperle said, noting that the company has only received about 10 to 15 calls since the letter came out. Meanwhile, Frontier is focusing on offering new services, including DISH satellite television, a personal computer maintenance service and bundled Internet, television and phone billing. In addition, it is working on increasing bandwidth in several areas, Sperle said. The apology letter stated that anyone who needs issues resolved, has questions or has suggestions is free to contact Sperle at her office. For information: 892-0221. To reach Jonathan Partridge at the Irrigator, call 892-6187 or e-mail him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .
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