Hello? He’s Dead.

This is one for Janet over at I Shop and Tell. Although it takes place in Florida, it shows that poor customer service is universal – at least when it comes to phone and cable providers. (You listening Rogers?)

It seems that a grieving daughter had difficulty disconnecting her deceased father’s phone service from Verizon because she didn’t know his PIN number. When she called to cancel the service, the response from the Customer Service Rep was Rogers-ese.

"Well, there's nothing else I can do for you," the representative said before laughing and hanging up the phone.

Losing a loved is difficult enough, but having this added aggravation is nothing to laugh at. If she doesn’t have the PIN, would she have to produce a death certificate?

It is, of course, a reminder to let loved ones know where vital information on bank accounts, retirement funds, insurance policies and other important information is kept. Organ donation – as morbid as that sounds - is a typical example. But still, laughing at a grieving daughter? I’m not sure Rogers would go that low. Wait a minute – yeah, they would.

You can read the entire story here. What’s really interesting is some of the comments that follow. Here are two examples. I have a feeling these are indicative of what takes place here.

Wow, Verizon did the same to us when my dad died last May. My sister was Executor of the will, so Verizon went after her repeatedly. She explained he had died so many times, and the Verizon rep told her, "Well then tell him it is going to collections against him" so she was not even listening, nor had any reps before her. My sister said, ok, as soon as I die and see him, I will relay the message. Over 6 months for them to correct. Maybe ALL their reps need retraining

I believe it. I used to work for Verizon in the retention department. Anytime someone calls to disconnect, the rep's job is to try to save the line, regardless of the reason. If they can't, they make the customer jump through hoops to do it. Every line that the rep disconnects, costs the rep money out of his or her monthly performance-based bonus. It was the suckiest job in the world.