Anon | reply to Zyanite
Re: Zyan is pure evil
For the most part I agree with your synopsis of the DSL environment, particularly the issue stating that Zyan is not evil. But many of their business practices are HIGHLY QUESTIONABLE. I was one of the top producing sales people at Zyan, (so perhaps I suffer from your bias also). I saw some red-flag warning signs which gave me enough time to bail out months before the Black Monday layoff. There is no question the industry is in an economic downturn. However, I disagree with Zyan's maltreatment of their CUSTOMERS and EMPLOYEES (both existing and former)!
1) CUSTOMERS: Many customers I signed up were based on the RESELLER relationships I built in the 2 years I was with Zyan, I am proud to say many resellers became friends and as friends we shared in the expectation of providing profitable broadband services to their customers. So what went wrong, you ask? There were many contributing factors so here are just a few:
(a) Billing – Zyan attempted to graduate from the elementary Quickbooks over-the-counter shrink-wrap to the elaborate Great Plains Accounting Software (not only a huge capital investment, but also an implementation debacle). The accounting software took 3 months to implement and in the mean time many resellers did not receive bills, then when they did one quarter later they were dumped with a huge lump sum full of errors, including; non-repaired disconnection fees, discounts not applied, etc. All in all, Zyan has never recovered from this initial Accounting Department disaster and it’s been uphill (wrong!) ever since. These repetitive incorrect monthly bills created tension with many resellers – and Zyan arrogantly still maintained no errors or wrongdoing. I know firsthand that several resellers were getting billed for gear despite “Free” equipment clauses per their contract over several months. Yet, Management/Accounting chose to ignore my complaints! Even, though I come from the school that says you should always pay your bill, this philosophy is difficult if your bill is continuously wrong. If resellers don’t pay their bills, Zyan cannot pay Covad/Npoint, thus the vicious cycle.
(b) Technical Support (English as a second language) – If you have 18,000 or so customers one would believe that Management would ramp up that department to support the demand, did this happen? Uh- uh! Resellers were given a hotline, yet their hold times were longer than the general public’s. As I sat in a meeting with a Reseller I cringed when we called Zyan’s Tech Support only to wait 1 hour (the length of the whole meeting) on hold. Again, I complained to management only to be told that I was probably exaggerating? The audacity and arrogance should become apparent to you now. Which is to say that reseller fired Zyan (me) as a vendor (big shocker?)
2) EMPLOYEES – the lifeblood of any company. I’ve been silent about this issue for quite some time, but let me say that certain Zyan managers looked me and other employees in the eye and blatantly lied to us. We were told that we could no longer provision Covad circuits because we had a backlog of orders. The truth was because Covad actually cut Zyan off. We were told we would be reimbursed for travel expenses. Yet, many former Zyanites now have to file post bankruptcy petitions to recover any owed monies.
Why would Zyan treat their customers and employees this way? I have no idea, don’t get me wrong I’m not bitter, instead I am rather grateful to Zyan for giving me the opportunity to earn a six-figure income and to gain experience in the tech/telecom space, but when I started to question the company’s motives and integrity I knew it was time to leave for a far greener pasture. I just feel bad for my many friends, former co-workers and customers that were put behind the Zyan 8-ball.
Also, as a former Wall Street employee, I’ve learned many lessons --- Wall St. has no mercy. Wall St. is not mangling this industry as you put it. Poor execution is hurting this space. Every industry is cyclical. Analysts base their projections on leading indicators, earnings estimates, and profitability. If Zyan can’t provide a quality service at a profit, then Zyan deserves to go bankrupt. Now I’ve heard that certain executives are selling their homes and Chapter 11 will be replaced by Chapter 7 (total liquidation). Good Luck and Sorry for being the Grinch, but reality sometimes hurts…
Bud Fox
PS. Gekko says short sell COVD, it can only go to ZERO! |
