From: john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: GTE Thinks I live in 213
Date: 23 Aug 92 08:02:00 GMT
Reply-To: John Higdon <john@zygot.ati.com>
Organization: Green Hills and Cows
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 656, Message 1 of 10

Steven H. Lichter   GTE Calif. COEI writes:

> It seems that Mr. Higdon only has negative things to say about GTE.  I
> had thought that the GTE Bashing things was put to an end.

As far as I am concerned, I hope it is never allowed to end until GTE
at least gives lip service to cleaning up its act. To date, there has
been no evidence that I can see anywhere that this is the case.

> I don't think that GTE always misses or loses things.

No, maybe not ALWAYS. But it seems to ALWAYS lose the first report of
trouble. In the past five years I have yet to have anything repaired
as a result of the first call, or even the second.

> My job with GTE California is to install Hi-Caps. I have yet to miss
> a date because of a GTE problem. We have had problems when the
> customer was not ready with the building or one of his contractors did
> not do his job.

There is that blaming someone else again. You obviously do not work in
any areas of northern or southern California in which I am forced to
deal with GTE. Long Beach will soon be history, thank God.

> I install for LA Cellular, PacBell Cellular, MCI, AT&T, Sprint, and
> government agencies including the 15th Air Force at March AFB.  I have
> many commendations as do others on our crews.  I have worked with
> people in other areas and see the same commitment to getting the job
> done and done right the first time. 

You take my criticisms of GTE personally. Obviously you know not of
mine, my associates', and my clients' very numerous miserable dealings
with GTE. No company is perfect and I understand that. But GTE goes
beyond all reason in its crummy performance. As I said, you apparently
were not on any of the hundreds of jobs that have been botched
super-royally by GTE. Be thankful that I have not asked PAT to devote
several digests to a detailed list of GTE screwups in just the past
couple of years!

> I sometime ago had Mr. Higdon contacted by our Thousand Oaks Corporate
> Office and was told that the problems he had been having were all in
> the past and there was no current problems.

Well, that turned out to be a big horse laugh. If anything, it has all
gotten worse. It got so bad that our Long Beach client had to move or
throw in the towel. When a city starts losing its commerce because of
excrementally bad telephone service, I would hardly call that "no
current problems".

> All big companies have their problems. I can think of a couple of
> time where PacBell has caused us to miss or almost miss a due date.

Yes, Pac*Bell has missed dates and screwed up orders. No company is
perfect. But there are two major differences: 1) Pac*Bell readily
admits it error and offers "deals" to compensate (GTE always denies
any culpability and blames everything on everyone else); 2) Pac*Bell
has more successes than failures by a wide margin (GTE almost always
turns the simplist job into a major pig fornication).

> In fact I have seen Mr. Higdon bash PacBell on a lot of subjects
> including wanting to appeal the PUC order on CID.

I have major disagreements with the corporate practices of Pacific
Telesis. I will do whatever I can to keep that corporation from
ripping us all off. I have made no secret of that. But regular readers
will also tell you that I have very high praise for the men and women
who provide my Pac*Bell service. They are professional, responsive,
and treat me as a valued customer. GTE treats me, and most everyone
else like garbage. Pac*Bell goes to major effort to provide service
properly and timely. GTE does not appear to give a bowel movement
about anything except bill collection.

> He claims he has been in the business for 25 years. I believe he 
> has. I'm sure he knows, but I wonder has he ever missed a date?

I not only claim it, I can prove it. Have I missed a date? Many times.
Have I copped to it with the client? You bet. Nothing enhances
credibility like straight talk and a forthright manner. I have never
lost a client admitting to mistakes. But I have seen plenty of others
in this business get sacked trying to sweep things under the rug or
trying to divert blame.

> I would like to see some other comments on this from other GTE people
> who I know are out there, but stay out of the threads as I have for a
> few weeks because I really don't want to argue to try to defend GTE
> with him since it will do no good.

No, because actions speak much louder than words. I am sure there are
many GTE people who would like to punch out my lights and defend their
company. That does not change the truth of the matter. The best way to
change my mind about GTE (and say nice things about the company) would
be for the service to do an about face and have the company act like a
real telephone company for a change. I can guarantee you that pleasant
experiences from GTE would send me to the keyboard just as fast as
pleasant experiences from Pac*Bell. And I am on record praising
Pac*Bell when it was warranted.

> We have a Smart Park in Moreno Valley and another in Rancho,
> California and from what I have heard every customer is very happy with
> his service.

As I have said before, somehow, somewhere there are a few people that
like GTE -- for whatever reason. If "every customer" is happy with his
service, then the credibility score is low. No telco provides that
level of service. It may say something about the "telecom
knowledgeability" of the customers.


        John Higdon         |   P. O. Box 7648   |   +1 408 264 4115
    john@zygot.ati.com      | San Jose, CA 95150 |       M o o !