But it turns out that Waitsfield-Champlain Valley Telecom can rest on its long local laurels in this instance.
Recently, a Warren resident wrote to The Valley Reporter to
complain about a telephone outage. In response, the company issued a
simple, factual one-paragraph explanation of what went wrong technically
on that weekday evening.
And that might have been the end of it had so many other people in The
Valley not had such strong opinions about this particular local company.
Many others wrote in to defend the company and take the first letter
writer to task for his impatience and his comparison of the local
company and its service to his former Pennsylvania provider.
People praised the customer service of the company, its local ownership,
its long, long history in The Valley, the jobs the company provides,
its very active role in the community and the fact that someone actually
answers the phone there!
Now everybody generally loves to bash local utilities, whether phone or
electric companies. It's like shooting fish in a barrel - except in this
case. Beware attacking a local company and beware launching an attack
that is mean and personal. There is no need to carry the water for this
local phone company. Its reputation and history speak for themselves.
The accolades are deserved and so far outweigh one man's unhappiness.
But it is always interesting to observe what gets people riled up in The Valley and what elicits a response from readers of The Valley Reporter.
Valley-ites debated for months over snowboards versus skiing at Mad
River Glen and have endlessly debated the Israel/Palestine question as
well as trickle-down economics and taxation policies.
Clearly taking a potshot - whether deserved or not - at the local phone
company is going to get a strong reaction - so much so that the old
adage that "there's no such thing as bad PR" is true again.
{loadnavigation}
