OPINION: In my two years of authoring this weblog I've had only one request to "slam" anyone or anything. Smear campaigns are not what this "community gathering place" is about! However, I do have one serious neighborhood complaint and it begins with a "V", as in verizon cable.
Any neighbor or councilmember in Redmond knows the "V" word. With veritable, verifiable, veracity, residents identify this cable company as Verizon, the "Orange Menace". However, when laying cable, Verizon 'buries' their name behind "U.C.C." contractor trucks. (Utility Construction Corporation). *U.C.C. of Bright, Indiana, a 1-horse town, appears but a "shell" operation.
Ground Chuck, the neighborhood Verizon (alias "U.C.C") supervisor blamed their mess-ups and delays on "their utility locator" contractor...the guys that stake the little flags and paint colors to identify the gas, phone, cable and electric lines. "Darn it", Ground Chuck said, "those locators messed up on marking a 3-phase electric line and set our operation way back. " Yeh, you can always blame those locator companies...most always.
Ground Chuck couldn't explain why for over two long years their contractors began sticking their little flags in our lawns - even our back yards - and painting yellow, red, orange and white on our beddings and city sidewalks. We lived with this "V"-graffiti for months on end while we waited and waited for the "V-men" to come. The initial Verizon installation two years ago never took off. In fact, the V-men deployed their locators twice in two years for the same job! And we had to live with it. After numerous ombudsman complaints, Mr. Bill Campbell from Public Works announced on RCTV that we could remove the flags 4-5 days after they were staked. Our street was cleared the next day.
That helped a little, until the fresh graffiti and equipment finally arrived to my doorstep more than a year later. The hammering starts at 7:30am. "Was that an earth tremor!?" The noisy, dusty drilling, sucking, vibrating, jack-hammering, pressure washing, traffic stopping, driveway blocking, car dinging, lawn digging, banging & clanging of the "V"-truck brigade; and ongoing gripes with the "V"-people seemed to go on forever. Just when I thought the V-people had moved to the next community, back they came, and then back again! Verizon has worked hard with city Public Works to re-sod easement damage, filter stormwater, and pour fresh concrete sidewalks. Yet for me, two V-managers could hardly are less about accelerating the cracking to my expensive walkways.I'm a Comcast user and have been for years. When Verizon - or was it U.C.C.? - finally gets their infrastructure in place they will probably offer the customary "full service value package" and "exciting 6-month introductory offer". Ahaa! A gift card for digital phone would seal the deal!
They pray we will have forgotten; many will not. The cable media business is a monopolistic - oligopoly. Within a year or so the prices will stabilize and equilibrate and new residents will have to choose similar services at similar (& *probably higher) prices. Who is more likely to get the nod by the consumer in Redmond's neighborhoods? hmmm.....If you're not sure, ask a neighbor.
*Side note: U.C.C. (Utility Construction Corporation) Internet presence is a map. No website. Their phone number is: 812-637-1675. Ask for June but don't expect a callback.
I worked for Squibb Diagnostics for 13 years selling expensive radiographic media injectables to hospitals. We had only two competitors; it was an oligopoly. These injectables were the most expensive dollar volume product in hospital pharmacies. Squibb was "the chosen" price leader and prices never fell. Added-value programs, service, new product lines and packaging drove market share. The market was "regulated" only by patent expiration. Should we expect the same from Comcast and Verizon cable?
UCC is just a Verizon subcontractor, there is hardly any need to hide anything. It is the same as highway and road construction: You may have noticed that WSDOT and the City of Redmond do not build roads: the construction work is subcontracted.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes cable is regulated. The franchise regulatory authority is listed on every one of our comcast bills. However as you may have noticed in recent TV advertising, the arrival of Verizon FIOS has made Comcast react, and I think resulted in the recent increase in their top-end download speeds. Fine with me, thanks V! I doubt this would have happened had it not been for the arrival of the Orange Menace.
And thank you for the background on the painting and flags, I have had the same peev.
Hello anonymous - I'll hold back my response until a few others have their say. However, I will agree wthin your Verizon-Comcast oligopoly market it's the company with the best service and added-values that wins the greater share; but, generally the price will move up in lockstep to pay for these added-values. I just don't think Verizon's "launch" in Redmond will be easily forgotten by the neighborhoods OR the city. Signed, Bob Yoder
ReplyDeleteAnd let's not forget that Verizon/UCC puts up those annoying little signs (illegal to boot) when they are doing these projects. All of this disruption and I still can't get Fios at my house.
ReplyDeleteFor my part, I kind of welcome seeing UCC trucks in my neighborhood. Their disruption will all be worth it if I can ditch Comcast.
ReplyDeleteSomewhere between their junction box (which is in my yard) and my house, my signal from Comcast goes from "strong" to "weak", but because it doesn't break entirely, they refuse to fix the problem. So, I regularly have a variety of issues with Comcast.
...but that's just my problem with them.
Section 20D.100 Noise Standards of the Redmond Community Development Guide establishes the regulations and authorized hours of work for the developer.
ReplyDeleteMondays through Friday: 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Saturdays: 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Sunday or Legal Holiday: Prohibited
If the developer violates the noise ordinance we can issue a Stop Work Order for the site.
Per the Redmond Municipal Code section 1.14.150 Violation a stop work order shall be a gross misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $5,000 and/or imprisonment for not more than one year. Each day or part thereof during which any violation is committed or permitted shall constitute a separate offense. (Ord. 1935 § 12, 1997).
Our neighborhood sidewalks will likely never be the same with all of the little patches made. I am happy with Comcast, so I am not sure why Verizon needed to dig up the sidewalks and streets to install another cable. I don't use the Verizon phone service anymore.
ReplyDeleteIf someone is looking for a really awesome internet phone service, go to http://magicjack.com (this service requires a broadband connection like, Comcast or Verizon FiOS).
Bob, they did the same thing in my neighborhood--they marked the utilities, and then got pulled away (for 6 months or more) to work in another neighborhood (never got an explanation for this), and they had to come back and remark all of the utilities before continuing.
ReplyDeleteFunny story with the utility marking--I'm not exactly sure where the underground power wires go through my yard, as each time they mark them, they are in a different place! The difference in locations at one corner of my yard was about 15' between two consecutive markings--that's a significant difference.
Another note about switching over to FIOS. Verizon will permanently disable your copper-pair phone connection so it can never be used again, once you sign up and connect the fiber to your house. You may think 'no big deal,' but in an emergency, there is a BIG difference betweeen POTS (plain old telephone service) and any of the newer phone systems (TV cable or fiber-optic-based).
The old telephone system has a huge bank of DC batteries at each central switching office (such as the one just North of Grasslawn Park) which will power the phone system for days (they have backup generators there also). On the new systems, using FIOS as an example, you have a tiny sealed lead-acid battery installed at your house somewhere which will only keep your telephone service active (NOT the internet or digital TV, only the phone service) for a few short hours. Do some reasearch on the Internet and you will find this to be true.
So in the December 2006 storm in which some people in Redmond were without power for a whole week, their analog telephone lines were still operational (in most cases, with some exceptions due to overhead wiring being downed by trees). The FIOS telephone would have only been operational for hours.
At my house, power was only out for 24 hours, and the ONLY thing that still worked was the telephone (I have one in the bedroom which does not require AC power). Cell phones cannot necessarily be relied upon in an emergency, as the cell system can easily be overloaded if too many callers try to use the system simultaneously, and each cell site requires power as well (and I assume that they do have backup power of some sort).
Not only is "V" a nuisancs in terms of the messy graphity, but they also cut some major cables in my area (I live near Rockwell Elementary), forcing me to run down to the Tully's at Bella Botega for several hours to finish my work day. I lost money due to downtime.
ReplyDeleteAnd the worst part? The "V" rep on the phone when I called to report the problem was so rude (cutting me off and terse with her tone) that she had the nerve to accuse me of being the problem (i.e., "it must be an internal problem, maaaam"). I have nothing but hatred for the Orange Menace right now. The least they could do is be smart enough to flag construction with their call center staff, so they aware that construction was going on the area and the first sign of an outage they should get their butts out their immediate rather than accuse the customer.