As late fees continue to add up, county bemoans phone provider’s customer service

It’s not uncommon for customers to get frustrated with their phone provider’s customer service.

Even when the customer is a Pennsylvania county.

But this is the position Centre County and the county emergency communication office has found itself in with Verizon over some disputed billing. According to Verizon, the county owes about $30,000 in late fees.

The county, however, feels a smaller number is more accurate and a reasonable compromise can be reached.

The discussion regarding the fees arose during Tuesday’s meeting of the county commissioners. According to county solicitor Betsy Dupuis, the fault lies with both Verizon and the county.

The late fees are related to the administrative lines within the emergency communication office, 911 Director Dale Neff said, which are used for business calls or to transfer calls to other installations in the county, like state police barracks.

“The late fees are not tied to the 911 trunks,” Neff said, “only on the administrative lines.”

Neff wanted to assure the residents of the county that the public 911 service is in no danger of shutting down and no emergency calls will be missed because of this billing issue.

The issue started several years ago, he said, and the office can show where they allege Verizon made a mistake in billing — adding credits one month then taking them away the next then adding late fees on what they considered outstanding balances.

“We have it charted out,” he said. “The figures haven’t made any sense.”

A few months back, he said, Verizon agreed to a moratorium for three months and the accumulation of fees would stop.

But the fees have started piling up again, Dupuis told commissioners.

The problem, she said, is getting Verizon to respond to the county’s requests. County staff have only been able to reach the sales side of the company when discussions need to happen on an administrative legal scale.

“Not that Verizon is going to take legal action any time soon,” she said, “but we continue to amass late fees on top of late fees. It’s like how a credit card company works.”

Seeking direction from the board, Commissioner Steve Dershem recommended finding a different source of communication, suggesting the board can reach out to Verizon corporate if necessary.

“This is ridiculous,” Dershem said. “If you’re going to send me a bill and I can’t respond to it with someone in a position of authority, that makes no sense.”

This story was originally published September 6, 2016 at 5:54 PM with the headline "As late fees continue to add up, county bemoans phone provider’s customer service."