Verizon works to resolve internet issues for Coachella Valley businesses

Victor Eisenhut, the store manager at Pet Oasis in Rancho Mirage says the pet store has been kicked off line since Friday morning and it’s not the first time. Other businesses in the Monterey Marketplace were knocked off a couple weeks ago.

“We can’t process anything electronically. I don’t care what it is, debit card, gift card, credit card you name it,” said Eisenhut.

Southwest Plumbing and Desert Reprographics in the Thousand Palms Business Park are having better luck after facing similar internet issues this month. We made a few calls and emailed Verizon representatives Friday. The following morning after we reported the outage, the problem was solved.

“The internet was working,” said Southwest Plumbing Vice President Jeff May. “To my surprise I had two Verizon vehicles parked in front of my office. That was really encouraging to have them here.”

Verizon discovered too much online traffic between the neighboring businesses was stalling internet service and speed.

Southwest Plumbing said Monday they’re not only back online, but their internet is two to three times faster.

“Hadn’t had any shutdowns and increased in speed and efficiency. That’s the answer we’re looking for all along,” said May. “To have you come out and bring exposure to it, it got a lot of people’s attention. It would’ve been nice to have that service to begin with.”

As for Pet Oasis, Verizon representative Jarryd Gonzales said the pet store is dealing with an isolated issue and Verizon technicians are working to fix it.