[Hidden-tech] AZ doing poll on problems relating to wireless service - extremely serious ramifications to global trade and YOU

[Amy Zuckerman]

Hi all,

I have just suffered from a tremendous issue with a major wireless carrier
that involved them turning off both my land line AND cell service yesterday
based on a mistake they made in my account. After two full hours of working
through this problem -- two because they kept disconnecting me and I had to
start ALL OVER three or four times -- a kindly customer service person
managed to trace the problem to a mistake in my account dating back to APRIL
2, 2009!! Worse, I had to call the Amherst PD to track down Julia and have
her call my mine functioning line (Vonage VOIP service) so she would know
where to meet me and what time for a pickup.

I am hearing horror stories like this with customers of ALL major carriers.
I intend to do a story and put this out to national newspapers, magazines
and blogs once I determine the extent of the problem. I have already talked
to key editors in transport about this issue as truck drivers are using cell
phones not only to call home, but to do their work. If this situation is
endemic it could have serious ramincations for global trade, not to mention
business people like us.

Please write back to me ASAP about any problems you are having with any
carrier. I am not picking on them, but hoping to provide useful information
that will help improve their service. I have sent this note out to all
editors I work with regularly in transportation (and some publishers), top
industry and government officials in transportation, plus three of my team
of senior editors/journalist. Between us we have outreach to ALL media
globally.

Again, I am not interested in beating up on wireless carriers. Many of their
top execs and PR people are very decent, though probably disconnected
(pardon the pun) from their customer base AND their own workers. I
particularly want to thank Jeffrey Nelson and Brenda Rainey of Verizon
Wireless for dropping everything yesterday to help reinstate my service. The
fact that I have not received proper payment or credit for Verizon's error
is not their perview. I have asked to talk to the CEO, president or at least
an investigator of Verizon Wireless and Verizon Corporate (for my land line)
to outline four months of misery and lost work time in exchange for clearing
up the money they owe me. Brenda is on the case. She's a great lady and a
real pro.

Please write to me any/all experiences you have had good or bad in the last
year -- July 2008 - July 2009. I request you make these succinct and try to
provide dates/times of incidents as much as possible. I want all of you to
avoid this trauma. I nearly lost a major client yesterday because they
thought I was out of business!! And this at a time when my income is so low
I am taking out a home equity line to pay off all credit card debt. Thank
goodness I do not have a mortgage.

For government/corporate people and media - This note has also gone out to
Hidden Tech, the organization of 2,000 virtual company owners that I founded
in 2002. I often poll them for information. You can join for free at
www.hidden-tech.net and weigh in on the discussion list any time.

INVESTMENT NOTE TO MAKE UP FOR LOST REVENUES DUE TO PHONE PROBLEMS: If you
want to make some decent change on the stock market I recommend buying Ford,
Quixote Traffic, Roper Industries, Verizon, AT & T, Intel, Wal-Mart (they
are going "green," and GE. I am not a stockbroker, as you all know, so this
is NOT inside trading info. It comes from being in DC not long ago and
knowing where federal recovery funding is landing, plus reading the New York
Times, Economist and others about what companies are bracing for a strong
come back while doing good things. These are all blue chip stocks and many
are so underpriced as to be amazing bargains. Imagine getting 260 shares of
Ford for $1,000. I just made $800 in a month - a near 50 percent increase. I
made $18 on $3,000 in a local bank account in two months!! As all know --
you buy low and sell high. There isn't much risk in an investment of $1,000
that could be worth 20 times that in a year or so.

best,

Amy Zuckerman
Principal, A - Z International Associates
Amherst, Ma.

413-253-4124 (when it works)

413-374-6257 (when it works) (cell)

413-303-9487 (Vonage - only works when Internet is up. DO NOT leave messages
on this line, please. Carrier pigeons are good.)
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