Window Cleaners With Problems

The "Hot" system that never was.. Jordan Murray and Steven Gumbrell with the remains of their van.

Window cleaners fight Hove van fire: Two window cleaners had an eventful journey to work when their van burst into flames outside a school. Jordan Murray and Steven Gumbrell stopped outside Cardinal Newman School in Hove yesterday morning (December 17) when they smelt burning coming from the heater. Soon flames began shooting through the heater ducts and into the cab. The two window cleaners tried to battle the blaze with buckets of water from the back of their van but had to step back as the fire spread out of control. Shocked children on their way to school watched as the front of the van was consumed by flame. Mr Murray said: “We were quite shocked to say the least. “We tried to fight it because we’re window cleaners and we had plenty of water, but we gave up after a while. “We’re just lucky the fire didn’t spread to the engine or it could have been a lot worse.” Firefighters soon extinguished the blaze but the van was completely destroyed. 

Watchdog: A communication breakdown for one local business owner - Ever want someone to growl on your behalf? The Watchdog wants to know about your consumer dilemmas and civic complaints. Each week she’ll select one of your issues, take a bite through the red tape of bureaucracy, and bark up the trees of local government, institutions and businesses. Where there’s a remedy, reason or recourse, there’s The ’Dog.

This week: Technology is supposed to make life easier. Except when it does the opposite. One local business owner questioned whether linking his window cleaning operation to a Verizon Wireless smartphone was such a smart idea after all. Charlie Olson, owner of Malibu Window Cleaning, said he thought ditching his business landline would save money. And it did.

“It looked like a good business decision with one major exception,” Olson wrote in an email to the ‘Dog. “If you call us from a business line whether from a commercial or residential location, no problem. If you use a residential phone that is a bundle or FiOS, no problem.” And if you call the business from a cellphone, that also works. “However, if you call us from a Verizon residential landline, problem. This number is not in service,” Olson said. “Huge problem if your bread and butter is residential window cleaning.”

Olson said he received a handwritten note from one customer saying she was frustrated she sees his van everywhere, but can’t get through by calling from her landline. Olson said he feels like a helpless minnow swimming in a sea of Verizon bureaucracy. The ‘Dog barked up the tree of Melanie Ortel, a spokeswoman for Verizon Wireless. She said Monday morning that Verizon Wireless representatives contacted Olson on Friday to see if they could figure out what was happening. Indeed, the customer service representative called Olson via a landline and was able to reach him, Ortel said.

Though the communication breakdown seems to be resolved, Ortel said the company is still trying to figure out what triggered it. She said Olson provided phone numbers of customers who had a problem reaching him, and the company will continue to investigate. To report a problem with your Verizon Wireless account, go here. The Watchdog would also direct cellphone customers who are having ongoing problems with their providers to contact the Federal Communications Commission. While the commission encourages consumers to try to solve the problem with their provider first, it will step in as a last resort. Complaints can be made online here.

Verizon Scares the crap out of NJ with “Accidental” Emergency Text: Take shelter NOW….”Whats that?” Surprisingly people didn’t end up at the door of the local FEMA camp (Football stadium) for “protection”. A mass text message warning New Jersey cell phone users of a “civil emergency” was sent out by Verizon Wireless earlier today as part of a “test emergency notification,” the telecommunications company said. In a response statement issued about two hours after the mass text was sent out, alarming some Garden State residents, Verizon Wireless apologized to its customers. “This test message was not clearly identified as a test,” company spokesman David Samberg said in an e-mailed statement to The Star-Ledger. “We apologize for any inconvenience or concern this message may have caused.” The emergency alert was sent out to New Jersey phone users in Monmouth, Ocean and Middlesex counties earlier this afternoon, citing a “civil emergency in this area until 1:24 p.m.” and telling residents to “take shelter now.” Local police departments and county authorities said they received a high volume of 911 calls from residents concerned about the alerts and asking whether there was an actual emergency.