This is a call between a customer and Verizon. It’s incredible.
found by Rick Salsman
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They don’t see the difference because their managers told them not to.
no..It’s because they are idiots and I blame the school system.
Wow…. the results of our fine American education system.
Thanks John, my co-workers and I are having a great day now after viewing your video. Sorry it had to happen to you but sadly they do. At least they didn’t hang up on you…wait, that would have been a good thing actually 🙂
“I’m not a mathematician”
LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!
Brightest, urbane, vital, sensitive, intelligent people I know are all products of the American college system – they all just don’t live in America any more.
The guy actually ended up getting a full refund. You can read about it here: http://verizonmath.blogspot.com/
I thought the guys tutorial comparing one dollar to one cent, half a dollar to half a cent was really quite good. Made sense to me.
As he said, there is a 100 Fold difference in the amount being expected–so I wonder what the rate was supposed to be and how many people understood it the same way Verizon meant it versus what was billed and paid?
If “everyone” expected cents and got dollars, the phone should be off the hook.
Course, I’m not a mathematician either.
How much is this caller’s time worth?
.002 cents?
Definitely a problem with “no child left behind” 🙂
$0.002 is two tenths of a cent.
0.002 cents is two _thousandths_ of a cent.
I’m guessing he’s got a rate card that says the latter figure applies to data usage, and was billed at the first one. Likely a marketing goof, but it is kind of funny that the Verizon folks he talked to didn’t understand.
Hell, it’s kind of surprising that the blogger understood it. (The “cents” figure is also kind of low – that should have established the perception that the low rate was wrong.)
Regards
Regards,
It is very simple really.
If the customer uses 35,432 KiloBytes of data, they charge at $0.002
If the supplier want to refund the customer, is it 35,432 KiloBytes of data at 0.002c
wheres the problem with ingenuity in the market?
This is typical for most call centers. Mind numbing jobs attract people who don’t like to think.
Speaking of which, the editors are doing a better job this week than most. Now, where are the stories of outrage around the stimulus bill?
OMG! But, John is right. The public school system isn’t worth a plug nickel.
“Do you recognize that there is a difference between a dollar and a cent?”
“Definitely.”
“Do you recognize there is a difference between half a dollar and half a cent?”
“Definitely.”
“Do you therefore recognize that there is a difference between .002 dollars and .002 cents?”
“. . . No.”
Transitive property fail lol.
I loved the part where the female representative said she understood he had a different “opinion” on the math.
One comment at the link of post #7 was quite good:
take .002 apples times the kilobytes used ((why no confusion re kilobits?)) and it comes out to 71 apples. Now explain apples are “cents” and the answer would be “but the bill says 71 Dollars.
LOL>
I would of suggested…
OK..
PUT a DOLLAR on the table..
Value of .002 of THAT DOLLAR
Put a CENT(penny) on the table..
VALUE of .002 of THAT CENT..
mindboggling. especially the part about it being a difference of opinion.
this all took place in 2006. I wonder what it’s like now
I wonder what these Verizon employee’s think they are getting paid by Verizon.
“Sir, please stop teaching my employees/slaves math. They might find out that they’ve been bamboozled.”
These people can’t figure out the difference between a penny and a dollar. No wonder the pols think they can steal with impunity.
Math is hard.
In contrast to some of the other responses, I don’t blame the school system. I had an excellent public school education. We learned the difference between dollars and cents in second grade. I blame Verizon for hiring these nitwits in the first place.
# 23 David said, “I blame Verizon for hiring these nitwits in the first place.”
Umm, who let these “nitwits” graduate, in the 1st place?
Paddy-O, graduate what? They’re working in a customer service call center. Not exactly a career requiring a heavy educational background.
Google “.002 cents * 35893” no quotes
# 25 David said, “Paddy-O, graduate what? They’re working in a customer service call center. ”
I would $ that the manager that came on the phone has a H.S. degree.
#24, Cow-Paddy,
Umm, who let these “nitwits” graduate, in the 1st place?
At your say so, at least they graduated.
In fairness to the call center, the question by the caller was not in the big book of “Responses” given to each rep. Since they can only respond in the manner Verizon wants them to, they had to deny there was a problem to begin with.
Gotta love the internet… Guy calls and hassles some people just doing their job, and you guys lionize him.
wtg… um… I guess
Re: #21,
Politicians don’t see the difference in the other extreme. To them .2 billion dollars is the same as .2 trillion dollars. Why you ask? Because both equal $100,000 dollars campaign donations.
Any reason why this link isn’t available anymore?