[StBernard] Phone Service Woes

[Westley Annis]

Does anybody have any idea how we can light a fire under Bellsouth? This is
absolutely ridiculous! I have called their customer service line probably
every week for months. First they had no idea that new lines even needed to
be run. Then they told me that they have no inkling  whether I will have
phone service within even 5 years, that damage was too bad and will take 10+
years to recover. Then they told me that I will have service June 30th. That
apparently was a lie and now they say they can't give me even a ballpark
date. What have they been doing in all this time? I realize that they needed
to rerun an entire grid spread throughout many parishes, but I don't see any
progress. I have only seen their service trucks working at polls twice in 4
months. The repair center phone line couldn't even tell me whether or not
there were any crews working at all in the parish, not to mention where they
might be working. I refuse to believe that the crews are running around
whilly nilly and no one at corporate has any information on where they have
been, where they are, and where they will be next. It stands to reason that
someone has this information. Why haven't they shared it with us? At the
very least, it will keep us informed and in the know, instead of asking
endless unanswered questions. And we're basically stuck with them too,
unless you feel like changing the phone number you've had for 30 years.  I
get the feeling that they're just biding their time and trying to get away
with as little progress as possible, that they may be waiting for that large
influx of returning residents. Apparently they've overlooked the fact that
many many people will not return before there is adequate services and that
includes phone. I feel like that woman in central city who was told her
service won't be up until July 2007. Of course if this had happened in an
important area of the country, you wouldn't be seeing such delays. They
would have pooled all their available resources and worked on getting
service back ASAP. We, on the other hand, are the ugly stepsisters. Who
cares how long we have to endure without service. Is there any way that the
council can put a little pressure on Bellsouth to at least inform us of
their progress. Or is too much to ask of poor beleaguered Bellsouth to try a
little customer service. 

Melissa