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Ralph Nader > Special Features > Free Contest

Update: May 8, 2023

The amount of time spent on the line with customer service as of the announcement of the contest was 3 hours. Back in the 1950s and 1960s, it would have taken less than 10 minutes max—no bureaucratic switchings to other staff, no demand for drivers’ license, identification, etc. no voicemail, no music, no robots, just pleasant human beings.

Congratulations to Anthony Davis of Cleveland Ohio who came the closest with a guess of 13 hours. (Honorable mention to Twitter user @CampsNP who guessed correctly via tweet after the deadline.)

You can relate your own opinions and experiences with Verizon customer service by contacting their CEO Hans Vestberg, who gets paid $10,000 an hour.

Hans Vestberg
Verizon Corporate HQ
1095 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036
Tel. 212-395-1000


May 4, 2023

A long-time customer of Verizon (CEO Hans Vestberg—who makes over $10,000 an hour) away from her residence, discovered her telephone service was cut off due to late payment arrival of a monthly bill. She made numerous calls winding their way towards resolution for reconnecting the service. Still not reconnected.

The person who comes closest to estimating how many hours have been spent on the phone with customer service so far to get re-connected will receive a free copy of my book How the Rats Re-formed the Congress—an engrossing fable that provides a blueprint of success by the people taking control of Congress from the giant corporations and passing long overdue laws for a more productive, just and safer country.

Submissions must be submitted by emailing [email protected] by 5 PM on Friday with your name and mailing address. Only one prize for one winner. Winner will be announced Monday May 8th. The book will be sent priority mail to the designated address.

At that time more action will be described that may be useful for hundreds of millions of Americans having to lose much time due to the inefficiency and bureaucracy of these mega-corporations and their farcical self-described “customer service.”

Stay tuned.

See:

Washington Post: “Vanishing phone customer support is driving us all insane” by Helaine Olen, March 13, 2023