Verizon continues to make false claims, and we're all paying more, and getting less...

Verizon continues to make absurd claims, as they take advantage of us all. Recently I read an article where a Verizon executive said that "residential prices have seen major drops in the past 15 years." I don't believe I've ever heard a more outrageous lie in my entire life! Here in western Massachusetts, 15 years ago you could have a basic telephone line for less than $20.00. Today, I have a basic telephone line with Caller ID, and it costs me over $40.00 per month! I don't understand how Verizon can get away with making false claims like these!

Phone line quality has only gotten worse for most of us rural residents. For example, here in Alford, MA, we experience numerous telephone outages on a regular basis, and they seem to occur most often after rain storms. There have been instances where numerous residents on East Road and West Road in Alford have had intermittent phone service or no service at all! So, here we are paying twice as much for a more problematic phone service then what we all had 15 years ago! On top of that, we have many elderly residents here in Alford, and some of them have even had to come down to the Town Hall to make phone calls when they had no service at their home! I wonder if Verizon could be sued if an elderly person had a heart attack or stroke here in town, and they could not call for help! Quality phone service is obviously crucial for all emergency services!

Also, for the past 15 years, I've been getting Verizon's newsletters with my phone bills, saying how "great" their DSL services are and that I should "sign up today." That would be all fine and dandy if we actually got DSL service here! I feel that all of the towns that currently do not have DSL should join together in a class-action lawsuit against Verizon for (a) false-advertising DSL service to our rural towns, and (b) not providing us with problem-free, quality phone services at affordable prices.

Did you know that phone companies in Massachusetts have not had to pay property taxes since the early 1900's? This makes me even more frustrated, as all of our other service providers, such as electric, have always had to pay property taxes! So personally, the three main reasons why I hate Verizon are: (1) Overcharging us for poor telephone services, (2) not providing rural residents with broadband Internet, and (3) not having to pay property taxes.

It has also been brought to my attention that Verizon charges Massachusetts residents extra taxes on their phone bills for which they are not obligated to pay themselves. In other words, they charge us for these extra taxes and fees, but they are not paying them into the state, etc. It's about time that Verizon had a full financial audit of everything that they are doing behind closed doors!

Verizon should be forced to pay for property taxes, and they should also be forced to lower our rates for telephone and broadband services at the same time. They should pay their dues and should not be allowed to force us to foot the bill for them! It's about time that Verizon gets what's coming to them. They have been ripping us off for too many years, and making money hand-over-fist at our expense!