My sister’s DSL modem broke down and I called Verizon DSL Tech Support on Saturday. I waited about 15 minutes on the phone and finally a lady took my call. She made me go through the usual procedure of testing the modem. I had already tested it on the modem on two different outlets and confirmed that the modem was dead. But anyway, I understood that it was business procedure for her to run the tests on the modem so I followed her instructions. Fifteen minutes later, we came to an agreement that the modem was dead because none of the modem lights would turn on. Long story short, she said that I would have to call the Verizon DSL Billing Department on Monday to order a new modem. Now that was something I could not reason out. Why did I have to pay a new modem if I’m already paying the monthly subscription? I could order a new DSL service and get the modem for free. I just didn’t get it. If your cable box broke, the cable company would send you a new one. The lady was somewhat understanding, but she told me to talk to Billing Department because there was nothing that she could do.

I called the Verizon DSL Billing Department this Monday and had to wait 45 minutes to get to a customer service representative. I hate waiting. A lady finally picked up and she answered with an I-don’t-care-about-you cocky attitude. I told her the issue with my modem and asked if I could get a replacement. She said that my modem was out of warranty and that I would need to buy a new modem. The new modem would cost around $60 and since I’m a customer I would get a discount and only need to pay $40. I explained her that it doesn’t make sense how I would have to pay a modem that should be included in the service. She replied with an attitude, ignored my point totally, and told me that my warrant expired and I would need to buy a new router.  And to make matters worse, during the entire conversation, she complained that she couldn’t hear me, despite that I was speaking clearly and closely to the handset on a land line. I had to repeat myself a dozen times and raise my voice while I was in the office. I got really annoyed and tired of repeating myself so I told her that I’ll call her back. Of course, I never called her back. I didn’t think there were any problems on my phone or hers. I could hear her crystal clear on the phone, plus I made phone calls before and after the call, and everyone else could hear me with no problems.

I wasted a good 2 hours with Verizon and I still have not fixed the problem. Mind you, $40 is not a lot of money to me, but I don’t believe I should pay for the modem, especially when I could work around the modem fees. I could either subscribe to a new service to get a new modem for free or I can buy a modem from someone else for much cheaper. As a matter of fact, I have two unused Verizon modems sitting at my place and I’m not using them. I’m going to see if I can replace my sister’s dead modem with my old modems.

I understand technical issues can bring down time to Internet services, but I am really disappointed with Verizon’s customer service. I was agitated by their representatives. I expected much better customer service from a company of that size and reputation. I have been using their Verizon’s DSL service for more than 10 years, and this is how they treat a loyal customer. I would really like the management to know about this and for them to do something about it. If I could, I would drive the stock down 25% in one day to get the senior management’s attention. And I would tell them, “Based on my evaluation of your customer service department, your current stock should be priced at $2.20.”

Customer Service Rating: 0 out of 5 (I would want to give a negative rating but I don’t like to take things to heart.)

Mr. Credit Card posted a review of the American Express Centurion Card.

Everyone on Wall Street has heard of the name J.P. Morgan, but few knew how he had achieved his success. This DVD goes into his life and tells you the story of the super ambitious man.

J.P. Morgan became a millionaire at a young age and could have retired but his dreams were bigger than that. He was good at interacting with people and a highly skilled business man with vision. He saved the U.S. from bankruptcy two times and became a man with extraordinary power. Because of the government’s dependency on him, Theodore Roosevelt knew something had to be done. Thus, Roosevelt created the Federal Reserve.

Aside from business, J.P. Morgan was a fine art collector. His art collection was so huge, he opened a private art gallery to store his paintings, which later became an art museum.

The DVD covers the biography of his life and not much about his business strategies and ways of thinking. I see it more like a summary. If you’re interested in learning about J.P. Morgan’s life, then rent this DVD.

Wall Street is about a bright, young stock broker, Bud Fox trying to make it to rich and fame. On his way he finds a shortcut, and his whole life gets affected by it.

The story begins with a normal work day for Bud. He walks to his office and finds his little tiny desk space and starts making cold calls, all day. He gets rejected more times than he can count, but that is the life of a stock broker.

He realizes he would need to take an order from a whale (a.k.a. someone loaded with money) to make big bucks. But he is at the bottom of the workforce, how can he talk to the big money man? Through his wits, he figures out a clever way to meet with him in person. And that one meeting changes his life. He goes from the bottom of the class to the top.

Then he realizes things aren’t so easy at the top. Sometimes the business even gets “dirty.” Eventually he realizes he isn’t happy about what he is doing, despite earning more money. Consequences of his previous actions catches on. And things start to fall apart in his life.

He finally sees the whole picture and realizes his mistakes. He decides to turn everything around. At the end, he does what is right.

I thought the movie was really good. It reminded me of Boiler Room, which was actually based off this movie. For those interested in taking short cuts to big bucks, I recommend watching Boiler Room and Wall Street.