Verizon to meet with residents

By WAYNE QUESENBERRY/Staff

Residents of four Bland County communities are hopeful their telephone service problems will soon be solved. They will meet with Verizon representatives Friday, Aug. 8, at 7 p.m. at the Hollybrook Community Center to hear about a project to improve quality of service.
Verizon customers in the Hollybrook, No Business, Pinch Creek and Pumpkin Center areas have experienced interruptions in service since late last year. Their constant complaints to the telephone company – with what they said were few results – led the local residents to forward a petition to the Virginia State Corporation Commission, which regulates utilities.
“People are suspicious of the government,” noted Kimberling resident Stan Morehead, “but if it hadn’t been for the SCC we would never have gotten this far. Our complaints fell on deaf ears with Verizon.”
According to him, residents of the four communities signed and sent a petition to the SCC in January after their calls to Verizon produced no satisfaction. They requested the SCC to investigate the poor telephone service provided by Verizon.
In a release from the SCC, dated July 31, the commission verified the claims. It stated, “The State Corporation Commission is aware of significant ongoing service problems that have been, and are continuing to be, experienced by customers of Verizon South Inc.’s Rocky Gap Exchange.”
According to the SCC, the problems and the petition received by the commission from citizens of the Kimberling area of Bland County in the Rocky Gap Exchange prompted an investigation by the Commission’s Division of Communications.
As part of the SCC requirement, Verizon submitted an Action Plan to correct the continuing outages being experienced by customers in the Rocky Gap Exchange. The telephone company also was required to meet with customers in the affected areas to explain the actions already taken and future plans.
Last week Verizon area manager Jim Griffith reported the latest phase of the plan includes placing fiber optic cable from the company’s Rocky Gap call switching office to a new remote terminal center serving customers in the affected communities. The new remote equipment, he said, will replace four separate remote terminals currently serving these areas.
“While our initial efforts improved service somewhat,” Griffith stated, “customers have told us and we have found that there is more work to be done. We anticipate that this phase of the work will be completed before the end of the year.”
The company is taking additional measures to resolve customers’ concerns between now and the completion of the $380,000 project. Beginning Aug. 1, Verizon customers in the Rocky Gap Exchange can call the new toll-free number, 1-888-884-6470, to report their repair requests.
“We will make every effort to resolve out-of-service complaints within one day of receiving a report,” Griffith said.
While Morehead said he appreciates Verizon’s meeting, he is concerned that it’s scheduled during the Bland County Fair. He had hoped for another evening.
“I do encourage everyone in these areas to come to the meeting Friday night,” Morehead commented. “It’s very important that we have a tremendous turnout and to show a united front with the representatives of Verizon and the Communication Division of the State Corporation Commission. People can come to the meeting and go to the fair after the meeting.”
Hollybrook resident Robert Chewning plans to attend.
“If they’ll listen to us and I hope they will,” he stated. “These are problems that really need to be addressed.”
Chewning said he counted 17 days during the month of July that he and his wife had no telephone service. The Chewnings have no cellular phones.
“There are a lot elderly people in the area,” he pointed out. “They can’t call the police or rescue squad or the fire department if they need to when the phones are out.”
Gay Dalton, also of Hollybrook, added, “I haven’t had a lot of the problems some people have but I hear people at church talking about the trouble they have with their phone service.”
Wayne Quesenberry can be reached at 1-800-655-1406 or .