(Host) Two and a half months after taking over landline telephone and Internet service from Verizon, Fairpoint Communications says customer service is improving.
A deluge of complaints from unhappy customers has prompted state regulators to put the company on notice.
VPR’s Steve Zind has more.
(Zind) In recent weeks Fairpoint officials have been grilled and admonished by regulators in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
Fairpoint Executive Vice President Jeff Allen acknowledges there have been serious problems, including long waits on hold for the company’s call center, problems processing orders and delays and errors in billing.
But Allen says the situation is improving.
(Allen) "The volume of calls, for example last week was less than half of what it was during its peak in March. The average wait time, which is the period of time customers are waiting to talk to us, had gotten to very unacceptable levels certainly in the month of March. For this week, the last several days, the average wait time has been less than two minutes and on many days it’s been less than a minute."
(Zind) There are also concerns that a loss of customers, combined with the amount of debt the company has taken on and a 94 percent plunge in its stock price since September threaten the Charlotte, North Carolina-based company’s future and hamper its ability to make improvements. Allen disputes that.
(Allen) "I wouldn’t characterize our position as a shaky financial position. As part of the business plan, the amount of debt has been defined in that since the very beginning, so there really hasn’t been any change in that. The stock price was a function, primarily of suspending the dividend that we had."
(Zind) Vermont Public Service Commissioner David O’Brien says he’s concerned about the company’s financial viability – and O’Brien says he’s seen no indication yet that Fairpoint’s performance is getting better.
(O’Brien) "I haven’t seen data or communication from my team here that indicates there’s any sort of dramatic improvement in the areas where they have struggled of late."
(Zind) The Public Service Department says Fairpoint has to make substantial improvements in its service by June 1st.
The department suggests that if Fairpoint can’t, then company managers should be fired.
For VPR News, I’m Steve Zind.