Verizon Lowered My Provisioned Speed/ Keeps Selling Upgrade Then Cancelling
jmk1981
Enthusiast - Level 2

Hi- I've got a very annoying problem...   I have Verizon HSI DSL.   I've had it for 5 years.   About a year or two ago I upgraded to package that allowed me 7Mbps, which was perfect.  The package was has HSI Advanced.

When I got the email about only having a month left to make changes to my account without home phone service I decided to call Verizon to check if another upgrade was available.

I was told no, but that I was being overcharged and the rep would adjust my bill.   Without my permission she switched me to HSI Enhanced, and I now have 1.1- 3Mbps.  Less than half the speed as before, for $1.50 less per month.   To top it off, my old plan is no longer available.

Here's the kicker: Verizon says my line is provisioned for 3Mbps and no more, and they will not budge.  But, I signed onto their site on Monday and noticed a new tier-ed pricing option that would get me 10Mbps.   I made the selection and placed the order.   I called to follow-up because the service ready date was a few days away, and I wanted it faster and they cancelled the order and told me that I can only get 3Mpbs.

On Wednesday the option to upgrade appeared again!   This time I called Verizon and a customer service rep gladly upgraded me to 10Mpbs.    In the meantime the tiered pricing has disappeared from the site and the upgrade is cancelled once again.

I have a feeling that Verizon took away my service, and will offer it back to me when I'm forced to get a home phone line.   Just wondering if anyone is aware of how I file a complaint with government agencies, consumer protection bureaus, etc. in the meantime as I'm just beginning my research on the matter.

Verizon is absolutely incorrect here- they keep insisting that my line is provisioned for 3Mbps and then admitting that I started the month with 7Mbps.     Something is fishy and I need help!    

Re: Verizon Lowered My Provisioned Speed/ Keeps Selling Upgrade Then Cancelling
brb1972
Enthusiast - Level 1

i tried to kudo your post and it wouldnt let me. lol. verizon is wack.

Re: Verizon Lowered My Provisioned Speed/ Keeps Selling Upgrade Then Cancelling
smith6612
Community Leader
Community Leader

The FCC will be your best bet if Verizon is not able to resolve this issue for you. Oh, and to point out HSI Advanced and HSI Enhanced are the same exact package, as only two exist (HSI and then there's HSI Enhanced). HSI Enhanced is anything from 1.1Mbps to 15Mbps downstream, and 384kbps-1Mbps upstream, so it leaves for some very murky waters.

Hopefully a Verizon Rep on this forum can set you at 7.1Mbps again or 10Mbps. It sould be doable on the spot for anyone with that level of access. I certainly hope your CO hasn't been marked as "Stop sell for >3Mbps" though! Going to take a lot of fighting to get that fixed. Don't let them get to you either saying higher speeds can only be achieved with a phone line. As much as I prefer having a landline, higher speeds can be gotten just fine on a dry loop, and for a matter of fact no voice line allows for higher upstream rates than 1.2Mbps if Verizon was willing to go that far (due to technical limits on copper, nope).

Re: Verizon Lowered My Provisioned Speed/ Keeps Selling Upgrade Then Cancelling
jmk1981
Enthusiast - Level 2

Thank you for your reply!   Do you know how I find out if my CO has been marked at 3.0?    Sorry I'm new to this- and I'm preparing for another week of battle.   

Luckily- I have written down the names and the times of every single Verizon rep. I've spoken to.    I've also noticed that these tiered prices I found on the site a couple of times have vanished.   I work in advertising, and my intuition is that Verizon built web pages and design to support a pricing structure that will go live in the near term- and that somehow those plans were published on the site by accident.

Do you know if there's a phone number outside of the usual "Customer Service/ Tech Support in India" transfer cycle I keep going through?   The sales department says "We don't handle that, tech support does" (I should add that every Verizon rep I've spoken to has sounded genuinely frustrated and apologetic to me) and then tech support says "No, it is set by your local office".

It sucks because I can't get Fios where I live, and I can't choose a competitor because their services run on Verizon's lines and the 3mps lifestyle Verizon chose for me applies to them as well.

Do you know why Verizon would set my speed lower after I had 7mps for so long?    What would the motivation be?   Sorry, I'm thankfully very new to this and just trying to figure it out.

Appreciate all of your help- Verizon oughta be paying you.

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Re: Verizon Lowered My Provisioned Speed/ Keeps Selling Upgrade Then Cancelling
smith6612
Community Leader
Community Leader

If DSLReports were online I'd show you a few example threads of what might be part of the problem here. Unfortunately they can only serve results up to 2010 right now due to some critical database issues they are having, so the threads I'm looking for won't be accessible.

Either way, in the past few months at DSLReports I saw a bunch of threads prop up where people had 7-15Mbps speeds on an upgraded CO, had absolutely no problem but when they went to make any change to the account, or even just something overnight with no speed change, they found their line speed significantly slower (from 10Mbps for example to 3Mbps. Huge drop). The members posting those threads have had mixed luck in getting the speed restored. Some have had it restored only to have it go back to 3Mbps over time. Some have been unable to do so because their "upgraded" CO had run out of capacity and a stop-sell was placed on anything above 3Mbps. Those who had it, kept it, but any change to any line would result in a downgrade. This all comes at a time where FiOS is being pushed harder to transition people from DSL to FiOS (I can't fault them on this, but I'm still waiting for them to complete their buildout where I am!) and where the DSL network is also seeing it's limits in capacity after adequite upgrades and foresight have been neglected. I've always wondered if Verizon made a mistake in trying to offer higher speeds and are trying to turn back on it or if they really don't care about how the DSL service operates as long as it works and people continue to use it. Without seeing their corporate policies for this topic verbatem I wouldn't know of any more exact answer for you than the above.

That's the short and sweet version of those missing threads. So, right now I don't know of any alternate phone numbers, but if you play around with the phone menu a bit you might be able to get into different queues. Technical Support and Billing will point the finger at each other saying the other team needs to adjust provisioning. In reality, Billing does have the ability to put tickets in for speed adjustments, but if you're going from 3Mbps to 15Mbps or vice versa, you should never, ever, require a package change or price change as it's the same darn package, no matter how old your package is unless you're on grandfathered pricing or some sort of protection plan. Technical support also has the ability to put in speed adjustment tickets, mainly those for downgrades in speeds if they think speed is a problem, but they should also have the ability to put in upgrade requests as well if they cannot do the change themselves. It's going to take some effort. You could try Live Chat though as I've heard of some success through that.

Re: Verizon Lowered My Provisioned Speed/ Keeps Selling Upgrade Then Cancelling
jmk1981
Enthusiast - Level 2

Here's a quick update.   I checked My Verizon again today and the option to upgrade is there again!   With the tiered pricing plan based on data speed.

This time I was smart enough to take a screen shot as proof.   Take a look- here comes HSI pricing based on speed:

Month to Month Pricing

2 Year Agreement Pricing

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Re: Verizon Lowered My Provisioned Speed/ Keeps Selling Upgrade Then Cancelling
smith6612
Community Leader
Community Leader

Now isn't that fun. $50 for 7.1Mbps DSL for a price protection agreement, lol. There's no point trying to bring up the upgrade paths for my account as the highest is 3Mbps as I know for a fact, since I come out of a remote. Verizon doesn't provision more than 3Mbps off of remotes.

Either way, I'm not sure what the pricing on their website is saying as far as the price after one year, but the plans 1.1Mbps to 15Mbps are all inclusive and are all the same price. What gets layered in on top is another story. So, there shouldn't be a decrease in price unless they set you up with a contract on a lower priced package (which, why would it be lower priced when they're clearly the same?).

Billing and marketing at it's finest!

Re: Verizon Lowered My Provisioned Speed/ Keeps Selling Upgrade Then Cancelling
FlavorBaum
Newbie

I'm in the same boat.  I had a DSL data line.  Verizon upped my pricing and then told me I could get better pricing if I just added a phone line.

So I agreed, seemed like a good idea, right. BIGGEST MISTAKE I'VE EVER MADE.  They put in the order on Feb 13th, 2013 I've had no service since then. Today is the 19th and they are telling me I have to wait another 48 hrs for them to figure out what the problem is.

The clincher is that I called Tech support on my second call and got India.  Spent 30 minutes on the phone with them, got frustrated and asked to speak to someone in the US.  They made we wait another 20 minutes  when someone finally came on saying that they in the US.  The funny part is that the guy still sounded Indian , said he was from Cali but was talking so quietly almost like he was trying to hide it from his manager in India. He told me my phone line had been cancelled. I freaked and hung up.  Free advise DO NOT go to tech support, always pass through customer service and you'll get the a US based agent.  Press two for Tech Support and you stuck in Mumbi.

In all fairness, I was pretty rude after two calls and an hour and a half of useless dialogue with people who don't know ANYTHING.  The Funny part is when the guy pretending to be from the states came on , I was like "THANK GOD , INDIA SUCKS"..... hahaha. 

Come on Verizon.  Your going to ask someone a world away, who is all "please and thank you" but has zero sincerity, to manage my account? I'm already having a problem when calling, why would you compound it with customer service/tech support that I can't understand, and who is for the most part ineffective.

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Re: Verizon Lowered My Provisioned Speed/ Keeps Selling Upgrade Then Cancelling
AnnieS1
Contributor - Level 3

Hi FlavorBaum,

Please go to your profile page for the forum by clicking on your name, and look down the middle towards the bottom where you will find an area titled "My Private Support Cases".

There you will find a link to the private board where you and the agent may exchange information. This should be checked on a frequent basis as the agent may be waiting for information from you before they can proceed with any actions.

AnnieS

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Re: Verizon Lowered My Provisioned Speed/ Keeps Selling Upgrade Then Cancelling
Anthony_VZ
Master - Level 3

FlavorBaum,

Since we haven't heard back from you or have received a form submission as requested in your private support case, it appears assistance is no longer required. If you need any future help with your Verizon service, please make a post here on the forums so we can assist.

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