As one of the premiere I Hate Verizon Fan Club members, I get a lot of e-mail from people sharing their experiences with the Big Red V. Today I woke up to find three e-mails from irate Verizon Wireless customers who got off to a bad start this morning thanks to some sloppy math on the part of their cell phone provider.

Apparently Verizon Wireless decided to celebrate the end of Daylight Saving Time a couple of days early. Instead of waiting until Sunday at 2am like most of the United States, Verizon Wireless adjusted some of its customers’ cell phone clocks on Friday morning. Countless tens of people who use their Verizon cell phone as an alarm clock were surprised when they showed up to work an hour late today. Thanks to the geniuses at Verizon Timekeeping Headquarters, some cell phones were adjusted remotely to show 7am when it was really 8am—an hour later!

To quote reader Michelle who wrote in to tell us about the calamity:

I usually set my Verizon alarm clock for 6:30, and that’s when it went off this morning. Only it was really 7:30 and I now had only 30 minutes to get ready and go to work.

We can only imagine that Michelle was fired and possibly executed for her tardiness. Way to go, Verizon. And let this be a lesson to all of you who rely on their cell phones as alarm clocks: do you really want to use a clock that can be adjusted remotely “by accident?”

Seriously, cell phone clock tampering is just a terrorist attack waiting to happen. Imagine what would happen to the U.S. economy if everyone showed up to work an hour late for just a single day. Chaos and pandemonium.

So buy yourself a real alarm clock—one with a battery backup—set it yourself, and never be late for sitting in traffic on the Beltway again.

EDIT: A discussion on FatWallet confirms Verizon’s Daylight Saving snafu. At least one customer is reporting success calling customer service and getting a $20 credit for his complaint.