The Los Angeles Times du lieu suivant : Los Angeles, California • Page 39

LOS ANGELES TIMES THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2000 METRO NEWS Customer Service Under Suspicious Circumstances department, the matter usually is resolved. But corporate spokesmen often insist this is just a coincidence. This was CompuServe's claim concerning Arenson, who had gone six months without getting a $400 rebate that was supposed to come in eight to 10 weeks. She was told CompuServe jf tow. iiim mA AN EQUAL CHANCE Bentley also said the Lovolds had failed to buy the right CD-ROM to actually qualify for the rebate.

She said the Lovolds were told of the problem in a November letter, but the day before I called CompuServe had sent him a rebate check anyway. Bill Lovold provided me a copy of the letter. It said nothing about a CD-ROM problem, explaining vaguely, "Our records indicate that you did not register under the rebate program price plan. The program. eligible for the rebate is the CompuServe 2000 Premier program at $21.95 per month." Lovold said he was paying $21.95 a month and did not understand the letter's meaning.

By the time the couple contacted me, he said, he had made 12 calls and sent six e-mails to try to get the rebate. agreed with her when the column appeared. Particularly persuasive was an e-mail from Jonathan Mendel of Los Angeles. "As a Sprint PCS customer of 14 months, I'd like to say that I wish that you had given more space to the fact that Ms. Laine and her mother had so much trouble calling Sprint PCS's customer service line," he wrote.

"I have had to call this number on many occasions and it is an extremely frustrating experience. The wait time is usually at least half an hour, just to speak to someone. "Sprint PCS's customer service reps have repeatedly told me that they know about the long hold time and that they are in the process of hiring more people, but nothing seems to change. I can also attest that Sprint PCS supervisors may not call people back even after a request has been made that they do. "I can also confirm Ms.

Laine's story that the Sprint PCS Web site was not working when she called in. This has happened to me many, many times and I am a computer consultant. The main page will be working but when you try to access the customer service area it will say that it is unavailable." There was more from Mendel and from several others. The upshot of this is that I feel in this case I should not have been quite so upbeat. Recalling that columnists, no less than consumers, can be naive on occasion was helpful in dealing with the CompuServe case.

Ken Reich can be contacted with your accounts of true consumer adventures at (213) 237-7060 or by e-mail at ken.relchlatlmes.com. With some firms' customer-service departments, the aim seems to be not to serve the customer, but to keep him or her at bay. They seem set up primarily to insulate companies from their customers or to test customer persistence. Consumers tell me all the time that when they call customer service, they have a terrible time getting past tape recordings to human beings. Then, all too often, they get the runaround.

They are blocked from talking to supervisors and issues go unresolved for months. It can be even worse when a company assigns an outside firm to deal with the toughest complaints. Just last week, for example, I was able to verify an account by Culver City resident, Linda Arenson, about one such situation. Arenson said that a Colorado outfit, assigned by the computer company CompuServe to deal with complaints about rebates that had failed to arrive, would not even provide such basic information as their firm's name or corporate telephone numbers let alone make any meaningful response. This was certainly the case when I called.

They wouldn't give their name and, not only that, neither would Anne Bentley, a spokeswoman for CompuServe, which was purchased by America Online Inc. (the celebrated AOL) in 1998. Neither Bentley nor staff of the firm in Colorado would say clearly why the name need be such a secret, although Bentley said that it is only an offshoot of CompuServe for a special purpose and that 560,000 rebates had been sent out without problems and no customer need to contact it. When consumers do get my attention, and almost invariably as soon as I a columnist for a large newspaper contact the company's public relations KTNNFTH RFTfH had Stten her address she couldn't seem to get anyone at the mystery Colorado firm employed by CompuServe to correct the address and send her a check. Even Jim Hindi, the computer department manager at Circuit City's Culver City store, where Arenson purchased her computer, told me he called customer service five times to try to get her the rebate, without immediate result.

But within four days of my talking to Bentley at CompuServe, Arenson got her rebate check, which came on Monday, made out for the full $400. And so, for that matter, on the same day, did Bill and Judy Lovold, South Bay residents, who had also failed to get a $400 rebate for six months and whose case I had also brought to Bentley's attention. Bentley maintained that the checks had gone out before I called her. She said Arenson's check had been sent out Jan. 4.

Why it did not arrive until Feb. 7, she could not say. Obviously, I suspect that the rebate checks did not actually go out until after I called Bentley last Thursday. After all, four days is about the proper time to elapse for most transcontinental mail. But maybe I'm particularly suspicious this week, because several persons took me to task for last week's column, reporting with enthusiasm that Sprint PCS had made "progress with their customer service" in handling a complaint by Dana Laine of Westchester on behalf of her mother.

It had offered Laine a chance to learn its decision on her complaint by contacting a Sprint Web site. Even before the column appeared, a copy editor here at The Times, Elizabeth Troy, suggested I modify the laudatory lead. After all, she reasoned, Laine and her mother had spent hours talking to customer service before getting any satisfaction at all. I rejected Troy's suggestion, but several readers Secrecy Envelops Tillman Proceedings under limited circumstances, such as plea negotiations, discussions of investigations and reports of witness intimidation or jury tampering. Tillman, the 1984 Olympic heavyweight boxing gold medalist, is charged with murder and attempted murder in connection with a Jan.

10, 1996 shooting outside the Townhouse nightclub near Los Angeles International Airport. According to witnesses, a large man walked over to the victims' parked Lincoln Continental, fired a revolver, then chased the car as it sped away, firing a second burst of bullets. The driver, Leon Milton, was shot in the chest but recovered. His passenger, Kevin Anderson, was shot in the eye and died from a stroke two days after the shooting. Two eyewitnesses have recanted earlier statements, denying on the witness stand that they heard shots or saw Tillman at a Westchester nightclub on the night of the shooting.

A third witness, who had recanted at a preliminary hearing, changed her testimony and identified Tillman as the shooter. This week, as prosecutors neared the end of their case, jurors have spent more time outside the courtroom than hearing testimony. Suzukawa said the delays were necessary. The judge and lawyers have talked in private extensively, even when the jurors are not in the courtroom. Attorney Douglas E.

Mirell, who specializes in media access issues, said current case law dictates that lawyers and judges should publicly discuss "anything substantive." In July, the California Supreme Court determined that the press and public should be denied access to courtroom proceedings only after a hearing to decide whether closure is justified. Trial: No testimony heard in murder case as judge, lawyers hold discussions in private. By ANN W. O'NEILL TIMES STAFF WRITER No testimony was heard in the murder trial of Henry Tillman on Wednesday as developments in the case were shrouded in secrecy and conducted behind the closed doors of the judge's chambers. Lawyers spent most of the morning and part of the afternoon huddled in the chambers of Judge Steven C.

Suzukawa, who postponed the trial until Monday. No reason was given and the judge told lawyers not to make any statements. Legal analyst Laurie Levenson, an associate dean at Loyola Law School, said off-the-record conferences in chambers usually are held mil, t. iWkwMiWttiiaaittMM LORI SHEPLER Los Angeles Times Janeil Engelstad and Miguel Garcia display Garcia's contribution to the billboard campaign. Young Artists Take Highly Visible Stand Deploring Violence, Guns SCHOOLS: Environmental Studies Billboards: Project sends a message that commuters in six neighborhoods will find difficult to miss.

i i 'I sponse, the oversight committee urged a 60-day cooling off period to work at improving the relationship between district officials and its program managers. The committee did not specify what a cooling off period would entail. Soboroff had previously criticized Cortines' decision to fire Robinson and the other 3D-IO'Brien Kreitzberg employees. At the time, Cortines said Robinson had threatened Lynn Roberts, who until this week was the district's facilities director. Robinson denies doing so.

"Without due process, it has been alleged I've done something I've not," Robinson said. Despite Robinson's and Krusi's protests, Miller said he and other district officials remain concerned about how much the outside program manager and 10 project managers in the Proposition BB program are charging. Soboroff repeated his past assertion that the private firms are charging an appropriate amount-about $63.7 million out of $635 million spent on Proposition BB projects so far. Miller, who has disputed Sobor-off's numbers, said the district's chief investigator Don Mullinax will ultimately determine what has been paid and whether the amounts involved are appropriate. Continued from Bl establish a strong working relationship," he said.

Howard Miller, the district's chief operating officer, said later that Cortines would not rescind Friday's order that directed 3D-IO'Brien Kreitzberg to reduce its staff and replace program manager Rob Robinson. "There will be no change in his position," a spokeswoman for Cortines added. Both the Proposition BB rebuilding effort and the district's quest to pick sites for new schools have led to recriminations between the district and other agencies about who is at fault for repeated problems. Both Krusi and Coler pointed the finger at the district's staff. "We are not the impediment," Coler repeated several times, rejecting suggestions that the toxic substances control agency had worked too slowly.

The agency, she said, has a responsibility "to ensure that schools are safe for kids." District consultants had not checked agency records for pollution problems nor included aerial photos or fire insurance data on properties they had proposed for schools, she said. Because many of the parcels are residential and are not owned by the district, actual inspections of the properties did not occur, she noted, adding that contamination with lead-based paints, asbestos and pesticides is possible. William Panos, the district's environmental health and safety director, denied that the record on the initial reviews was embarrassing, but said the district has hired major consulting firms to assist in such assessments. David Abel, a member of the oversight panel, expressed concern about the district's ability to compete for state school construction funds by a June 30 deadline without a clear standard for what is environmentally acceptable. "I'm beginning to doubt we can get over the bar," he said.

Coler agreed that the district's goal of building 150 new schools in the next six years is "questionable." Coler also said the state has "pretty much stopped" its assessment of hydrogen sulfide and methane gas contamination at the proposed Belmont Learning Complex site, which the school board has voted to close down. "I think it could be made safe," Coler said, but it would require "many millions of dollars." In addition, she said she would have continuing concerns about the operation and maintenance of systems to mitigate the site's environmental problems. Steven Soborof the chairman of the oversight committee and a candidate for mayor of Los Angeles, said the district faces "a crisis" in its school facilities program. In re KEN LUBAS Los Angeles Times Disraely Ramirez, 17, holds a rendering of his billboard, which is in Woodland Hills at Roscoe Boulevard and Canoga Avenue. By ANN KIM TIMES STAFF WRITER Chances are your daily routine includes getting stuck in traffic or idling at a red light, all somewhere within sight of a billboard.

And that's exactly what Silver Lake artist Janeil Engelstad is banking on. Through her project, "Visualizing Violence," she's hoping motorists in six locations throughout Los Angeles will look up and focus on billboard art that decries how easy it is for young people to acquire guns. The six new billboards, unveiled last week, were created by student artists and feature anti-violence images and slogans on commuting routes in downtown and West Los Angeles, Woodland Hills, Pico-Union and South Central. One, for instance, is a stark picture of a firearm against a white background and over giant red words: "Life. Gun.

Death." "Hopefully this one step will lead to some discussion," said Engelstad, adding that she wanted to get people talking about solutions to gun violence. She also said the billboard program is intended to give a voice to teenagers unfiltered by the media or political rhetoric. Engelstad recruited four of the student artists through Heart of Los Angeles Youth, or HOLA, a center in the Rampart-Koreatown area that provides after-school arts, athletics and tutoring to about 900 students a year. Engelstad also included two student artists from a summer enrichment course she taught at UCLA. The six students, chosen for their talent and dedication, were easily sold on having 10-by-25-foot renderings of their work posted for the month of February in prominent spots such as the intersection of Olympic Boulevard and Hill Street.

"I thought it would look good on my college application," said Samantha Page, 17, who designed the "Life-Gun-Death" billboard. COMPTON: 4 Suspended Over Protest at Meeting "But once I started doing it and getting into it, I was really proud to think that my image was going up on something that would hopefully make a difference for somebody." Another of the artists, 15-year-old George Gonzalez, said he found the inspiration for his billboard in magazine articles about the Columbine High School shooting, in which 15 people were killed last spring. He read that one in three American homes contains guns. He painted three identical homes, one with bullet holes in the walls, with the message: "Who gets the next bullet?" To prepare for their billboard assignments, each student was paired with a professional artist brought to the project through Engelstad. 'You Can't Miss Billboards' They then learned about billboard communication during tours of Eller Media, a national advertising firm that donated $5,500 worth of unused billboard space around town.

Neiman Marcus and L.A. Eyeworks assisted with other costs. "Billboard ads have become increasingly popular," said Dash Stolarz, a representative of Eller Media. "You can't escape traffic, so you can't miss billboards." For the HOLA art students, who generally come from poor, immigrant families, having their work blown up to billboard scale caused a heady rush. "I'm very proud of myself, and I want to keep working," said Miguel Garcia, 19, a junior at Leway High School who has been taking classes at HOLA for a year.

He said painting helped pull him out of a severe depression, caused by loneliness after he left Mexico five years ago to join his parents in Los Angeles. A converted toolshed behind his family's South Central home on 102nd Street serves as Garcia's bedroom, where he fills his sketchbook, reads philosophy and is painting a mural on his slanted, sheet metal ceiling. Garcia said he based his billboard idea on memories of playing with toy guns as a child. His billboard shows a young boy in cowboy regalia with two thought bubbles near his head. One shows a gun-toting teenager, the other a bookworm.

The message below asks in both English and Spanish, "What will your little cowboy be when he grows up?" "You're a child and you're just playing," Garcia said. "But then when you grow up, the guns, the violence, they're in your mind. You think guns are cool." Engelstad plans to repeat her "Visualizing Violence" project with teenagers in Chicago later this year. Images of the billboards and their locations can be found at http:wimv.worldstudio.org. Tuesday to a "few dissident members who seem to have a vendetta against the mayor." Bradley, meanwhile, used Wednesday's news conference to criticize police for their inability to stem Compton's crime rate.

"It's a shame that while our detectives were here last night, there were people being killed," he said. "If you ask the citizens if there is too much crime in Compton, they will say to a man and a woman, yes. Police should be busy trying to solve crimes, rather than play politics." Bradley, who is the target of a recall effort, said he's been subject to numerous threats, including police officers' shouting abuses at him while he was driving, cutting him off and telling members of his family that "they were going to get me." Aguirre expressed doubt about those allegations. "If that was true, those officers would be on administrative leave," he said. Continued from Bl sible for the disruption, and that they had ignored the mayor's demands to withdraw.

He also said the men in the audience were not bodyguards but simply Bradley's private supporters. "There are no personal bodyguards paid for by the city or anyone else," Wheaton said. "The mayor had personal supporters that may have appeared to be bodyguards." Wheaton said that Bradley has been the target of numerous personal threats by police officers, and that the city is in fact considering the possibility of paid bodyguards. When asked exactly what violation the suspended officers had committed, Wheaton said, "Any kind of disruption in a City Council meeting is prohibited Bradley asked the officers to withdraw once the confrontation started they did not." Once the meeting was disrupted, acting Police Chief Ramon Allen ordered the officers out of the room. According to Aguirre, several of the men he believed to be bodyguards fled when squad cars pulled up outside.

"People took off running," he said. "The only time people run is when they have drugs, they have guns, or they have warrants." Wheaton said that six or seven of the police officers who attended the meeting had been identified, and that four were being placed on administrative leave, pending an investigation. He attributed the police action.