Share Your Ideas with Verizon

[#1]

I have had TV and internet service now for about a year and a half.  My experiences thus far have been very disappointing to say the least.  

I call this afternoon at 5PM during my JOB's working hours to ensure I got ahold of someone.  I understand Verizon operates under "banker's hours" and closes at 6PM.  Strange as other competitors don't offer that inconvenience.  I finally get a woman on the phone after 15 minutes of sitting on hold only to get nothing but attitude.  

She would not grant me access to my account.  Apparently, because I don't have my acct no# memorized or my home file cabinet here at work, providing my social security #, address, phone #'s, etc. just wasn't good enough.  With her "I could care less" attitude, I was FINALLY able to get her to help me after logging into my bank acct to tell her how much my last payment was.  Even after I did that, she said I was at the wrong dept and she couldn't help me!  She kept referring me to go online..Doesn't that take the service out of "customer service".  If online is where all the solutions to my problems are, then what's the point of even having anyone answer the phone at all??

Then, she transfers me.  Sitting on hold another 15 minutes, the next lady asks me if this is for service in NY...WHAT?  I asked her why as I reside in VA.  She said she was for NY accounts and therefore, she couldn't help me!  Mind you, this is after her giving me trouble to access my account.  A cable account shouldn't be harder to gain access to than my own bank account!  It's like Ft. Knox just to get access to some cable and internet usage.  Ridiculous... 

After she tells me she can't help me, she tells me that she's going to transfer me AGAIN and after expressing the circles I was doing to get my issue resolved, she tells me that she will transfer me, but there's no way of her knowing where or who I will be transferred to???  REALLY?  ARE YOU KIDDING?!?!?!  

I was so put off by the previous reps lack of regard or care for my situation, treating me as if she could care less if Verizon lost me as a customer or the fact that I was not happy with the current situation, I started to explain my dissatisfaction of how this was being handled thus far to her.  In mid-sentence, the customer rep cuts me off by putting me on hold!  Leaves me there listening to that annoying music for another 20 min only to get transferred to a very nice gentleman.  

After talking with him and feeling, "Okay, there's some hope here", he reveals that he's only tech support and after 20 min of filling me with hope, can't do anything for me at all!  Why o' why would three reps send me in circles??  Why, as a customer to have to take so much time out of my life??  When o' when is Verizon going to reciprocate and meet my needs and requests??

At that point, the gentleman sent me to another dept, stating that they could definitely help me get my issue straightened out.  The lady, luck of the draw, was just as sour as the first!  I work in customer service and I was so shocked by the lack of courtesy and genuine care Verizon was offering to me, to say the least, I couldn't pick my jaw up off the floor!  She was rude, talking over me when I tried to explain to her my situation and when I asked to speak to a Manager, she tells me that she won't let me unless I tell her why.  WHAT?  I mean, WHATT???  Verizon, please Verizon tell me that this isn't the way you do business and expect to keep customers, right?!?!   As a customer, I have a right to speak to a manager, right?  Do I have any rights here at all???

She then tells me that she can't help me because my account has been suspended.  Uh, duhhh, that's why I'm calling!  Soo, at 6:16PM, she tells me to call this #800.483.1807.  How nice of her, right?!  NO!  I guess she just wanted to get me off the phone at that point so she gave me some bogus hope that I would get my issue resolved.  Wow, I call the no# and oh look at that, the office is CLOSED!  This is EXACTLY why I called at 5PM, took time out of my workday and ate into my employer's time so I could ensure that I got a hold of someone in time.  At no fault of my own, being transferred in this cluster of call centers and depts, I missed it and by the time I got to them, they were closed!

I am frankly disgusted by the service or lack thereof.  No one seems to care, or, at least act like it (for god's sake- customer service 101!), and Verizon wouldn't even bat an eye if I were to cancel.  

After spending 30 minutes trying to remember my login info to get on here, I was finally successful in doing so.  A shame it is that I have to go online to get good service, if that's what you call it.  All I can do is shake my head to you Verizon and say "shame"...Shame on you for hiring people that have crappy attitudes and are not well equipped to take calls or customer grievances, etc.  Shame on the trainers who failed in training these customer reps in providing excellent customer service.  

Do you strive to be average Verizon?  With all the buzz in the early stages about how wonderfully great Fios is, how cutting edge, I thought average wouldn't be good enough for you; not even great.  Exceptional is the word I'm seeking and I'm not only saddened and disappointed, but angered and distraught by how I've been treated and how you have painfully failed to live up to people's expectation.  Truly sad... 

Since no one seems to care, my ideas for improving service and retaining more customers is as follows:

1.  Be available AFTER people get off work; not just while they are working.  We lead busy lives...It's YOUR responsibility Verizon to go out of your way for your customers; NOT your customers constantly having to go out of their way for you.

2.  Better train call center reps so that they can at least "act" like they have a genuine interest in the customer's satisfaction and overall outlook on Verizon.  Acting like they care goes a LONNNG way.  If you want to retain customers at all, it is URGENT that this be addressed.  

3.  Get better organized.  When I call, I shouldn't have to give you my birth certificate # or some other crazy personal info to gain access to my account.  A simple phone #, SS# or 4 digit code, like what Comcast does, is sufficient.  Arguing with me that what I'm providing is not good enough and trying to convince me to go on the web site to address my issues is a LOSE/LOSE outcome for Verizon all around.  Ridiculous...(still shaking my head) 

4.  Shorter wait times or AT LEAST get XM radio as the on-hold music.  When I have to sit for 30 min to an hour+ on hold, that annoying whining music is dreadful.  If I have to wait that long, at least put on XM radio.

5.  Update the call centers so that each rep knows EXACTLY which #'s are to which depts and which extensions to transfer us customers to instead of sending us on a wild goose chase that we have no control of.  Sending to the wrong depts and then only to NOT be able to get assistance because your "closed" is not the right way to go about it at ALL!!

6.  Care...common sense (or not?) Care about your customers.  This is CRITICAL.  It's only a matter of time, if nothing changes, before you will be begging customers to come back once they've gotten tired of putting up with this lackluster service. 

7.  Don't "black list" me.  Just because my account is suspended doesn't mean you WILL NOT and CANNOT help me.  If I call to do my due diligence and pay my balance HELP ME!  What's so difficult about that, I don't know.  BUT, saying you can't help because I'm behind makes me feel like I'm outcasted or shunned.  Is that the way you, Verizon, intend to make your customers feel?  Tisk, tisk is all I can say about that... (still shaking my head)

8.  Do your due diligence... If I pay $404 to get my account caught up, why o' why do I have to wait 4-12 hours for service to be reinstated????  I did my part...you need to do yours.

I could keep going, but do you really want me to?  Is this falling on deaf ears or are you turning a blind eye?  It wouldn't surprise me at all at this point...after the experiences I've had, nothing would.  Needless to say, the nails have been driven in...one less customer for you to have to worry about Verizon after tomorrow.  

[#2]

AnnJ on 01-19-2012 11:29 PM

I agree with most of what you say.  The difference in my experience is that in my many, many hours of talking and holding and transferring, I've only had one person who wasn't courteous and didn't try to be helpful.  Even that person wasn't really rude, just somewhat condescending (like Lily Tomlin's Ernestine!). 

I could write a book about my experiences trying to get a phone line fixed by reporting it on another phone line.

It is very obvious that the company is trying to steer us towards automation.  When I've given up trying to solve problems myself, I've gone to live chat.  However, it is often not in service when I wish to use it.  I've gotten some good solutions with live chat, but not being able to save the chat or at least copy it onto a document is a disadvantage.  Once I decided to use the "print" option, but I was called away from the computer and when I got back, the whole chat had disappeared.  Another problem with live chat is that several times I've lost the connection in the middle.

I've tried sending my question by e-mail, but in every case I've received an answer about a day later saying that for my problem I should use In-Home Advisor or live chat.  So I believe that sending an e-mail is a waste of time.

For me, Verizon is better than my previous provider, Cablevision, my only other practical option.  The people I spoke to there were friendly, too, but almost never had as much knowledge as I already had from their pamphlets.  Luckily, my problems could be usually be solved by their "zapping" the box.   That's because Cablevision doesn't offer all the bells and whistles that Verizon does.  I've had FIOS for about a month, and I still have much to learn about how to use it.  I do feel that Verizon does try to give the customer a better experience.  The only changes that Cablevision ever made were to make fewer and fewer channels available without my paying extra fees.  I've heard only bad reports about service from other providers as well.

[#3]

I agree with most of what you say.  The difference in my experience is that in my many, many hours of talking and holding and transferring, I've only had one person who wasn't courteous and didn't try to be helpful.  Even that person wasn't really rude, just somewhat condescending (like Lily Tomlin's Ernestine!). 

I could write a book about my experiences trying to get a phone line fixed by reporting it on another phone line.

It is very obvious that the company is trying to steer us towards automation.  When I've given up trying to solve problems myself, I've gone to live chat.  However, it is often not in service when I wish to use it.  I've gotten some good solutions with live chat, but not being able to save the chat or at least copy it onto a document is a disadvantage.  Once I decided to use the "print" option, but I was called away from the computer and when I got back, the whole chat had disappeared.  Another problem with live chat is that several times I've lost the connection in the middle.

I've tried sending my question by e-mail, but in every case I've received an answer about a day later saying that for my problem I should use In-Home Advisor or live chat.  So I believe that sending an e-mail is a waste of time.

For me, Verizon is better than my previous provider, Cablevision, my only other practical option.  The people I spoke to there were friendly, too, but almost never had as much knowledge as I already had from their pamphlets.  Luckily, my problems could be usually be solved by their "zapping" the box.   That's because Cablevision doesn't offer all the bells and whistles that Verizon does.  I've had FIOS for about a month, and I still have much to learn about how to use it.  I do feel that Verizon does try to give the customer a better experience.  The only changes that Cablevision ever made were to make fewer and fewer channels available without my paying extra fees.  I've heard only bad reports about service from other providers as well.

[#4]

Wow Elizabeths, sounds like the nightmare I experienced with Verizon when I noticed a $5.00 charge showing up on my bill. I signed up for the Verizon Online Caller I.D. which was touted as being free. Low and behold, I started getting a $5.00 charge on my bill. I called and after navigating that annoying automated help service which is anything but helpful, I finally got a rep who acknowledged that the $5.00 fee was for 3-way calling. I informed her that my Verizon Freedom Plan included 3-way calling which she confirmed and indicated I shouldn't be getting charged. She credited my account and promised the problem had been fixed. Long story short, the charge appeared for the next 2 months and each time I had to go through the same maze of endless questions before getting the charge reversed. I was almost at a point where I wanted to disconnect my service. The only reason I keep a landline is because of my security alarm system.  After four months I demanded that they remove the online caller ID service because I believed that was the reason I was incurring the $5.00 fee. They finally managed to get my bill straightened out after four months of aggravation. I also had a similar experience with a $20.00 charge showing up on my bill for - get this - online faxing. I called and the Verizon rep said it was a third-party billing and that there was nothing she could do about it. I asked why, if I never authorized it? She said they were having a lot of problems with third party billers tricking customers into adding services to their accounts through websites and that I could place a block on my account to prevent this. I asked her if they knew this was a problem, why not just add this to all accounts automatically to keep people from being ripped off? Of couse, she couldn't add the feature at the time because the system was down! I had to call the third-party biller to have the feature removed and my account credited, which to my surprise they did without a problem. I then had to call Verizon on a different day to get the block feature added.  Needless to say, this is what you can expect when there are fewer choices in the marketplace for services and companies want to save money by centralizing their call centers. The only thing they manage to do efficiently is charge you every month!

[#5]

I agree 100% that Verizon Customer service is about as bad as it gets. If Comcast is an option for you I highly recommend them. Quick synopsis of why: I was transferring from Comcast to Verizon, but I had to carry my Comcast service for over a month because Verizon couldn't get the phone service right (yes tons of calls, holds, transfers and lousy attitudes). When Verizon finally got the problem fixed I called Comcast, explained I was leaving and that my departure should have actually happened the month prior. The Comcast CSR response ( whom I got right off the bat no waiting) "I understand, sorry to see you go, DO NOT pay the last months bill, I will give you full credit for that month considering what you've been through" Unbelievable!!! They had no obligation to do that..None of this was their fault and they are taking the high road! I told the woman "if my decision was based on customer service I would never leave Comcast" She said "Thank you, we try our best".

She gave me a credit in excess of $150 dollars, by comparison when I told the Verizon rep I was still carrying Comcast said she could give me a $25.00 credit. Sad state of affairs.

[#6]

Comcast is better?  I don't know too much about Comcast but one of my co-workers has Comcast and she told me that the repair techs from Comcast are outsourced from a third party, which I think is an important factor to consider.  When one of the techs from Comcast came to her house to fix a problem, he was rushing and didn't have very good knowledge about the product and how to fix the problem and how to explain what was going on because he was not a Comcast employee and didn't really care.  Verizon always hires its own techs for problems like that and even though I myself can't stand calling customer service, I've never had a problem with Verizon's techs.  They have always been down to earth and pretty friendly for the most part and have done their jobs well.  In fact when all 3 of my services were down this week because of an outage, the tech working on the problem called me twice on my cell phone and left voice mail messages explaining that it was a damaged wire that had to be replaced, which I definitely appreciated a lot more than having to deal with Verizon's CSRs who didn't know anything.  He said he had to call construction so that the wire wold be replaced by the next day and I wasn't the only customer in my vicinity being affected by this.  He was very straightforward and followed through on what he said he would do and by the next day which was yesterday, all my services were up and running again.

We just need to be careful of what we wish for.  I could switch to Comcast if I wanted to but knowing what this co-worker told me about the outsourcing of techs for Comcast, I think that would be worse having a provider that is less dependable for fixing problems with the service.

And according to my co-worker's story, Comcast is just as guilty as Verizon for only giving customers an all day appointment for repair techs.

And that is not say that I am minimizing being put on hold several times in a row and transferred and having so much time wasted and going nowhere because I find that annoying every time.  The most important thing is that my problem gets resolved in the end.  Once the problem is resolved, Verizon won't get another call from me any time soon but the process at times is like a big game and going around needlessly in circles. 

I'm not crazy about any of these providers but I don't want to make things worse for myself.

[#7]

I also am very disapointed with Verizion " Customer Non Service"  I have often gotten an attitude from  reps.  

( Especially the women ) the only personable respponse I received was from a gentleman in tech services. he acctually sounded interested in my problem, even though it definately wasn't in his realm of expertise.

Verizion!  You really need to get your people in line and have them realise they need us ( customers ), more than we need them.  There are other companies out there with better service.  Even though in some parts we are prisoners of the phone land lines in some areas..  Wirless will and can set us free!.

[#8]

Boy, I can identify with a lot of the poor customer service from Verizon! After reading the 1st reply comment, I was shocked that the customer had only 1 rude rep. Reading further, I saw why: they'd only been with Verizon for ONE MONTH!

That original post has good suggestions, and I've been a customer for years. It's my experience that Verizon is so large & disorganized that usually the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing.

Aside from being put on hold today by 3 different reps for a total of 28 minutes WITH NO REP checking back with me for up to 12 minutes, the same problems persist, no matter how often I bring them to Verizon's attention. Is is good customer service to leave someone on hold for 12 uninterrupted minutes? Well, I thought I'd fallen into a black hole, thus hung up & called again.

Their IVR can take you in circles and send you to places other than the ones you specify. On my first call today, I complied, giving all my information as requested, then negotiated the IVR menus, only to be sent to DSL. I've had FIOS for several years now, and I indicated that I wanted FIOS service.

It seems whenever I try to call Verizon, I end up with additional frustrating issues unrelated to the reason I called in the 1st place.

I haven't even mentioned the issue about which I called today. And I'll only mention an issue I just now encountered (again). The month before last I tried to pay online with a debit/credit card. Though I specified my due date about a week ahead of time, the system showed another (greyed out) calendar with the current day's date on it. When I called about this, the agent condescendingly told me that I only had to specify the future date ONCE for it to automatically set that date. Last month I paid on my due date. This month, I went to the menu, put in my due date (a few days from today), then went ahead & paid, taking the word of the rep from month before last. Sure enough, after I submitted payment, the receipt showed that it IMMEDIATELY took my payment, disregarding my specifying it for several days hence.

It's no skin off the nose of the rep who gave me wrong information, but hurts me when I need to wait another day to deposit a check to cover my payment.

PLEASE fix your system so we can specify payment in advance, just like my other utilities & merchants do. And take some of the customer service suggestions others have made seriously or speaking for myself, you'll have one less customer to worry about.

P.S. Your Rich Text formatting on these posts doesn't work so well, either. And I don't have the time to cull through the html option (which I suspect may not work so well either) to try to fix it.

[#9]

Disregard and disrespect. That's what Verizon offers! 

...AND, that's not going to change unless they (Verizon) are, somehow, forced to do so. We are complaining in the WRONG PLACES. We all need to get together to begin with.

Anyone out there to start a website to handle this...please include me.

[#10]

…and me as well!

Verizon brags about their responsiveness to these posts. I think they still have a LONG WAY to go to prove that sentiment true! Perhaps they need a larger staff to accommodate the myriad requests.

I really don't wish to be forced into the extreme measure of switching to a competitor to get appreciated as a customer.

[#11]

I'm so sorry you had such a terrible experience. If you still have a problem that has yet to be resolved, please create a post on the forums (forums.verizon.com) to see if one of your peers can help you. If they can't, one of our support techs may be able to. Good luck!

[#12]

Verizon is ridiculous in the way they treat customers.  I just joined the chat forum to air my complaints because they don't really care about hearing what I have to say.  It's almost impossible to navigate the website to pay my bill, to talk to a live person, to use the chat feature, to resolve a problem or to even complain. 

They hold us hostage to keep our "bundle" even though the last thing I care about is a home phone. 

Maybe its time to complain to the states attorney about their practices.  I can't wait to post this so I can get a canned response from them that says:

"I'm so sorry you had such a terrible experience. If you still have a problem that has yet to be resolved, please create a post on the forums (forums.verizon.com) to see if one of your peers can help you. If they can't, one of our support techs may be able to. Good luck!"

HAH! What a joke!

[#13]

"I'm so sorry you had such a terrible experience. If you still have a problem that has yet to be resolved, please create a post on the forums (forums.verizon.com) to see if one of your peers can help you. If they can't, one of our support techs may be able to. Good luck!"

[#14]

HAH! What a joke!