Agreed. If you're having problems (and who in GTE land isn't) it is much
easier to have another company to hit the telco with their stick when
necessary. The question would then become whether the company is good at
that, or willing to do so.
>Plus, a good 3rd party 'agent' has more of a chance to know the right
>'sales buzzword' to ask to get good rates... That could save you LOTS
>in the long run, even if the 3rd party takes a percentage.
Agreed. Sales Agents never charge the customer more for service anyway, the
commissions come out of the telco's budget.
This is probably a good time for me to make it clear that I have no problems
with sales agents, and in fact have had such an arrangement with Pacific
Bell in the past. It's nice to make a $500 spiff on a T-1 you were going to
have installed anyway...that's why we became involved in the program (which
came to an end when the Texans took over Pac Bell <g>! Hi Jake!).
Anyone who does not have an existing relationship with a sales agent in
their area (and thus a better financial arrangement than offerred through
Livingston...i.e. the revenue is split between you and the sales agent
rather than you, the sales agent and Livingston) would be well advised to
take advantage of the Livingston offer. If you order more than a few
digital circuits a year, you'll probably find bigger financial rewards by
locating a sales agent in your area and negotiating your own deal (look in
your yellow pages for telecom consultants, etc.).
This whole thread started because, in my opinion, Livingston's web site gave
the false appearance that Livingston staff would be placing these orders on
our behalf. Since most of us have a high regard for the people who comprise
Livingston Enterprises, I was concerned that since these orders and support
actually come from some other un-named company, that performance might not
be what we would expect from Livingston themselves.
If Livingston closed their internal tech support department and outsourced
support to some third-party tech support company, wouldn't you want to be
aware of that fact? That's where I was coming from.
Damien
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