Verizon Maths - $0.002 versus 0.002 cents

I read an article in Jeff Milners blog a while ago and it made me crack up. It also made me quite worried that people could still be so bad at maths. The post revolved around a guy who had called up Verizon (a telco company in the US) to complain that he was being charged incorrectly for his internet or something. He kept being quoted that is was 0.002 cents per kilobyte. But they had charged him 0.002 per kilobyte, a 100 times greater amount that he was quoted. Go to Jeff's post for a link to the original file and transcript. Have a listen, it will totally crack you up and also make you so frustrated at the stupidity of the service staff.

In a follow up to that guy's problem, someone else has done some research on whether Verizon have improved their service. Again, the operators make so many mistakes it's hilarious. It's probably not so hilarious if you are trying to argue your point with them. Again Jeff has posted about it. If I was Verizon's customer, I would want to see contracts before signing up for everything. For heaven's sake, haven't these people done primary school maths.

Here is a video of the phone conversations. Go to the research website to get the full story about it.