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Refunds due to thousands of customers who lost service
April 2, 2009
AUGUSTA – Thousands of FairPoint Communications customers in Maine who lost e-mail service during the transition between telecom providers will now see credit rebates, say local State Reps. Lisa Miller and Wendy Pieh.
FairPoint officials agreed to the refunds at a March 12 meeting of the Legislature’s Utilities and Energy Committee.
Rep. Herb Adams of Portland, who is the longest serving member of the Utilities Committee, proposed the rebate as a goodwill gesture after thousands of Maine customers experienced e-mail troubles during the switch-over from Verizon to FairPoint services during January and February 2009. About 20,000 customers – some 7 percent of FairPoint’s total customer base – may have experienced problems in the e-mail migration between companies, said company officials.
Customers who lost service for a week or more will get one month’s credit on their next billing. Customers who lost service for a week or less will get a $10 credit. The refunds will apply to both commercial and residential accounts, and FairPoint agreed to accept customers’ word on the outages if they file a complaint with the company, said Adams.
“There have been many frustrated customers in my district,” said Miller. “FairPoint is making a good faith effort to reach out to them, and I applaud them for doing that.”
The transfer of service from Verizon to FairPoint is the largest conversion of its kind in Maine history and the first to involve virtually every kind of telecommunication service, from e-mail to land lines. High call volumes and long waits on hold plagued FairPoint’s customer service lines during several weeks of the e-mail transfer, forcing FairPoint to open extra technical assistance lines for several weeks. FairPoint posted a net loss of $76 million in the last quarter reporting.
“At the end of April, Verizon will stop forwarding e-mail to FairPoint business customers,” said Pieh. “After the trouble experienced during the first change over, we have been promised that the next transfer will be closely monitored.”
Customers can report e-mail outages for refunds at FairPoint’s customer service line at 1-800-400-5568 or can call Miller at 1-800-423-2900 or 549-7171 for assistance.
Contact:
Rep. Lisa Miller, 549-7171
Rep. Wendy Pieh, 529-5747
Kyle Leighton, communications director, 287-1433