IDEARC AND VERIZON NEED WOLLEY SEGAP ! (extra entry)

“But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’  For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.”  (Matthew 5:37 New King James Version)

I guess I’m showing my age of over 50 by mentioning Wolley Segap.  Wolley was a happy and friendly cartoon character/logo who advertised the Telephone Company’s “Yellow Pages” directories back in the early 1960s.  I remember Wolley Segap from my childhood.  When I was a little bit older I figured our that Wolley Segap was just Yellow Pages spelled backwards!  “Find it fast in the yellow pages,” was also a  common slogan of theirs well into the 1970s as I recall.

Today there are all sorts of independent telephone directories in addition to the “real” one, and the “real” one technically isn’t owned by the local telephone company anymore.  I want to be so careful how I write this piece, because in the past when I’ve criticized businesses people have felt it showed no class, was beneath me as a pastor, and was petty.  I disagree.  I think pieces where I express frustration or displeasure with a business just show that I’m human.  You can find several places in Scripture where the Apostle Paul did that- the last few verses of Acts chapter sixteen is just one good example.

I want to also give the following disclaimers and clarifications:
1.  I am a stockholder of both Verizon and Idearc.
2.  I generally like Verizon as a company.  Verizon Wireless overall is a VERY good mobile phone company.  For traditional landline phones, I also think Verizon is typically a better company than most.  I generally prefer the Verizon (and now Idearc) telephone directories to the independent phone books.

Now, I want to tell you a story and I’d LOVE to get your comments:
Today, Tuesday, April 17, I stopped by our church’s post office box to check the mail.  There was only one item in the box.  It was a slip indicating there was a certified letter for “Baril” that had to be picked up.  I was surprised because MOST of the mail that comes to our church post office box is addressed to “First Assembly of God” and not to “Bob Baril”.  I was really curious about who was sending me this letter.  The downtown Framingham post office was very busy.  I waited at least ten minutes in line to get the certified letter.  Finally, I had to fill out several items at the window JUST to get the letter.  I was startled when the paperwork said it was from “Kilbride” because I do not know any “Kilbride”.  The postal employee produced a white business sized envelope addressed to “Pastor Bob Baril”.  It was handwritten in what I call very “girly” handwriting.  The return address was from “Courtney Kilbride”.  I was almost embarrassed.  A personal letter to me from a woman with girly handwriting.  It could almost look as though I were having an affair or something.

Upon closer examination, there WAS a printed business logo and address below Courtney’s handwritten name.  It was from Idearc Media in Middleton, MA.  (Idearc was recently spun-off by Verizon as a new corporation.  Idearc now handles all the telephone directory publishing that used to be done by Verizon.)  Inside the envelope was a long, formal, detailed, legal letter.  The “bottom line” was that the new local phone directory that’s coming out in July will encompass a larger geographic area.  For that reason, the church’s small ad will be about 20% more expensive than it has been (and believe me, it AIN’T cheap).  I was not particularly happy about the increase.  I was even more unhappy to read that unless I notified Idearc by Friday, April 13, 2007, our church would be committed the the ad.  The letter was POSTMARKED April 16 and I actually received it on April 17.  

I left several messages on Courtney’s voice mail and have yet to hear from her.  Coincidentally, tonight we had our monthly church Board meeting.  I have to be careful because I’m not supposed to take information out of the Board meetings to share in public.  I will say that the Board was quite unimpressed with the letter from Idearc and it’s likely that any future Idearc/Verizon yellow pages ad will either be tiny or nonexistent.

It boggles my mind that the certified letter was addressed in handwriting.  As one Board member said, it looked like it was written by an elementary school student who was saying something like, “Pastor our class is doing a project and we’d like your help with it.”  That’s not an exaggeration.  It really DID look like that!  It should have been typewritten - or somehow computer addressed.  It should have been written to “First Assembly of God” and marked “ATTN:  Pastor Bob Baril”.  Imagine if I had left and the church had a new pastor.  He’d have never even bothered checking at the window of the post office for that letter.

Initially, I was very angry about this letter and how UNPROFESSIONALLY Idearc and Verizon have handled this situation.  It is not surprising if they are losing directory customers.  Our church JUST set up a website as some of my readers know.  (It’s at www.agframingham.org)  Today, most people look for their information on-line.  The yellow pages are becoming less and less important, anyway.  If Idearc and Verizon want to keep yellow pages advertisers, this is not the way to do it.

What do you think Donald Trump would say to them?  I think he’d say with a scowl and a pointed finger, “You’re FIRED!”

I’d be interested in readers opinions about this piece:

Should churches continue to advertise in the yellow pages or is it a waste?

Do you agree with me that Idearc/Verizon have been very unprofessional in how this situation (with me and our church) has been handled?

Do you think our church Board and I have a good reason to be unhappy and disappointed about this situation?

You can post comments here or e-mail me at RevRBaril@aol.com    or  AGframingham@aol.com