Warning - IDT Phone Service - Verizon - Unhealthy, Inexcusable Repair Delays

First let me tell you that for the past 5 or so years, my mother has had IDT telephone service in New Jersey, mostly without a problem. She is 88 years old and has a medical alert system connected to her phone.
On Friday, October, 30 2010, her service went dead, when callers called they got a busy signal, when she tried to call, all that was heard was a very loud buzzing noise. I called IDT, which is located in Newark, NJ., but believe I was talking to someone in India as they did not speak very good English. On Monday, November 2, 2010 I received a call back from IDT explaining how they can not do anything about the problem since they only lease the lines from Verizon, who is responsible for the repairs, and that a service was scheduled for the next day.
On Tuesday, a technician came to the house and determined that it was indeed an outside problem with the wiring and would schedule a bucket truck to repair it, which was scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 5. I must remind you that this woman of 88, with a Medical Alert System tied to her phone, lives alone and is mostly deaf.
I contacted Verizon several times to no avail, because Mom is an IDT customer, they would not even talk to me. At this point, I continually tried contacting IDT and they kept ignoring my request and ultimately stopped receiving my and my brothers calls.
Verizon did not show up on Thursday after Scheduling the repair with me on Wednesday, no calls from them to expect delay, or re-schedule.
Sunday, November 8, 2010 I called Comcast for telephone service, explaining the entire situation to them. They immediately dispatched a truck to Mom's house, installed a new phone line and number. They were terrific and I applaud them for understanding.
Today, November 10, Verizon showed up to repair the line, which they did, explaining that it was a simple grounding issue and should not have taken so long.
IDT and Verizon have just lost a lifelong customer and I caution all of you that have either service to reconsider as it could be the matter of life or death if you have a problem with your phone lines.
I might add that I also contacted the New Jersey Public Service Commission who advised me that my only recourse was to call the BBB.