IN every major industry in this country there is at least one corporation with a slogan that insinuates, and often states outright, that theirs is the best, most stabile, longest-lasting product you can buy?. Companies build their empires on guarantees of reliability. As I recently discovered, however, ad campaigns and slogans can only take a product so far. Verizon Wireless, "America's Most Reliable Wireless," is cashing in on the cache of reliability. And instead of the durable, solid phone service it advertises, it has left a lot to be desired for this customer.
I arrived in Charlottesville a few days before move-in day this year and set about the horribly droll list of errands I wanted to complete before the semester started. Several? times throughout the next few days, and into the first week or two of the semester, I tried to place a call on my "most reliable" phone and was notified that, "all circuits were busy." The first time that message was played, I almost laughed. Coming from New Jersey, where Verizon is far and away the majority provider, I was completely unaware that their widespread presence and technological prominence was a local thing. Apparently Verizon likes to assert its superior service without actually offering it, because for about three weeks in September, calling anyone anywhere around Grounds here in Charlottesville was a crapshoot. So much for that army of technicians and helicopters that purportedly come with every Verizon contract; the company seems to be more concerned with making sure their image is a solid one, rather than the service it depicts.?.
The trouble did not end after the hustle and congestion of move-in had passed, either. I soon realized Verizon phones will neither send nor receive picture messages in the Charlottesville area. To be honest, picture messages are not all that important to me, but I can personally say there are few things more frustrating than getting an alert that someone has sent you a picture, rather than getting the picture itself. Even more infuriating, whenever a call is placed, the caller is greeted with a weird clicking noise that lasts until the call is picked up or it goes to voicemail. This probably seems like a more trivial issue than even the lack of picture messages, but it adds to the frustration in a uniquely irritating way?. If you've ever had the misfortune of sitting next to someone in lecture who can't resist bouncing his knee with an absurd consistency, you know why: This clicking that plagues every dialed call is kind of like that, but worse. You can stop sitting next to the caffeine-loaded freak in class, but the clicking is there day or night regardless. This issue could be overlooked if the service Verizon provided was decent, but its coverage of Charlottesville and the surrounding area is spotty at best.
As a transfer student, I spent all of last year in Vermont. I mean real, authentic, maple-syrup backcountry Vermont. Still, the service was fine. Reliability entails more than just good service in some remote areas -- if Verizon wants to be "America's Most Reliable Wireless," it has to offer the service to match everywhere. Admittedly, Charlottesville is somewhat rural, but come on -- Verizon claims to be the best in America, and Charlottesville is planted firmly within the boundaries of this country. It is a sizeable city in an accessible area, and the service Verizon provides should reflect that. Reliability in service cannot be a hit-or-miss proposition. That is simply contrary to the meaning of the term.
"We're not free to invest in the network that is currently providing the service," claimed Verizon spokesperson John Johnson. In a Cavalier Daily article published earlier this semester, Johnson explained that previous licensing issues bar the company from direct control over the towers that serve its customers. Though that may be the cause of the immediate technological? issues regarding the debacles Verizon customers are constantly subject to here in Charlottesville, the true problem lies with the company's inconsistent advertising. They want all the benefits of being known as the most reliable provider without any of the obligations and responsibilities that the title necessarily imputes. The "most reliable" action would be to find a way to guarantee its customers better service, but Verizon seems comfortable in allowing the problem to persist.
Reliability sways people when they need to make a decision about a product, but companies must deliver on their promises. I see two solutions for Verizon: It can update its network, overcome the obstacles blocking the company from providing consistent service in Charlottesville and earn back the trust of its customers. Or, it can become "America's Somewhat Reliable Wireless," and hope most people don't notice the contradiction?.
Either way, the company will have alleviated the inconsistency of its advertising and restored integrity to the concept of reliability it has marred. Instead of misleading its customers down a road of dubious service and irritating detriments, it will offer a product that more truly adheres to the image they represent.
Dave Infante is a Cavalier Daily Viewpoint Writer. He is a second-year student in the College of Arts & Sciences.
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