Re: Complaint about Customer Service
janescolorsblue
Enthusiast - Level 2

After only 2 months of having high speed internet ...(which I loved due to the speed &  the small modem ) now it has been running slow since before 8/25/11 and it can no longer run netflix or youtube etc. I spoke with their tech service a few times and not only did we get nowhere but I was subjected to service reps that were difficult to understand due to phone lines  with a lot of static..Come on Verizon your a phone company you could do better!!! I asked for billing and had to repeat this several times until the person understood. They were trying to help me but we seemed to go no where on three  long over seas calls .  On the forth call they put through to a special worker with a static free line... Without the static I picked up on his rudeness right away. He  tried to give me all day repair appointments where I'd have to be home from 9-5 pm on a weekday or 9-5 pm on the Saturday Labor day weekend! And that was it , he said no other options due to a strike at Verizon. When I wasn't happy with the "wait home all day and miss work" etc options the rep hung up on me! I know about this little trick and that's why I got his name at the start of the call. The name is probably made up anyway..I've worked at call centers before. I'm thinking of going back to cable vision due to the great customer service and I will be looking into ATT as well. Citibank used to have customer service like this and now they've done a 360 because I guess  they found it was not good for business especially when we the public has other options.

Re: Complaint about Customer Service
aocko
Newbie

Oh my god, Verizon was the worst customer service of any company I had ever dealt with. I ordered High Speed Internet at the beginning of August, thinking I'd set it up myself. UPS lost my package. That wasn't Verizons fault, but I for days I couldn't get through to anyone due to the strike. When I finally reached them and received a second package containing my Modem, I was having problems setting it up and realized I had to have someone come out to my house and take a look at it. I thought it would be simple, someone would come out within a day or two. Nope. I spent about 7 hours total, over a month, just on the phone being transfered to different people who could barely speak english. All I wanted to know was when a repairman was coming because I need internet for work and school. They would say they would call me back. No one would call back.I would call and talk for 45 minutes (most of it on hold) when they would say I had the PC line and I needed the Mac department. It had nothing to do with computers, I just needed to know when someone was coming. They gave me two seperate days when someone would come and no one came. I called on a saturday and they said they couldn't help me and I had to call back on sunday. This made no sense. On Sunday I was told someone would come on Thursday between 8am and noon. I waited and waited and no one showed. After being put on hold for another hour I was told that someone would be there before 5pm. Around 630pm a repair man called and said he was at my house but couldn't help me becaues my "service had been discontinued" and I had to call verizon. So I called verizon and they assured me it was a mistake and my service had not been discontinued and that the repairman would come back before 9pm. At 745 I called the repairmans number who had called me earlier to make sure he was coming. He said that he had just been at my house and rang the doorbell twice and left. I insisted that I had been waiting since 8am and that was ridiculous for him to leave, I never heard the bell, and he had to come back. He said he was going home and wouldn't come back. He said they quit work at 8. There was no communication between any departments at this terrible company. They would assure me that they would cover a month of service and that someone would come the next day, but no one would ever come. So I switched to Comcast. I ordered it last night and they say they are coming in three days. I won't have to wait more then a month this time. I never even started service with Verizon and it was the worst experience, I can't even imagine what it would have been like had I waited any longer.

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Re: Complaint about Customer Service
theTITANPRINCE7

This is our only option i fell that MAYwake someone up at this company. We are all having the same problems day in and day out and all they want is the money.

My problem started after i already had their service up and runing. I ordered local phone service and highspeed internet bundle. After a short time i then called and told the rep i wanted to ADD long distance to my service. A few days later i got an email stateing my bundle was now ready. Knowing that i had only added long distance i was wondering why i got the email. A few days later i realized that my speed was quite slow so i contacted verizon and was told that i was only paying for 1.5Mbps when i have all the emails confirming what i signed up for (from verizon) which was 7 to 15Mbps, and the two installers that came out to hookup the service tested the wall jack right there in front of me and verified that my line supported the speeds. So now i have 3 emails from verizon and their service technician saying that i will have no problem getting the speeds i signedup for but i'm still only getting 1.5Mbps. After being passed aroung to 6 people and being on the phone / on hold for close to 2 hours the best they could comeup with is to tell me "my line does not support anything faster than 1.5Mbps" altho in their system it shows that i was getting 10Mbps for wich the rep told me "she doe's not know how that could have happened". Funny ha especially because i have all the emails from them stating that they have "remote tested" my line and it meets their standards for the higher speeds. They even tried to tell me that the person that signed me up for the bundle did not know the difference between 1.5Mbps and 15Mbps. Absolutely amazing.

I fell that someone maybe me or maybe someone else should start a business like BILL McGOWEN founder of MCI did to ATT he humble them. Verizon in my opion needs to be humbled.

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Re: Complaint about Customer Service
steinein
Enthusiast - Level 1

ll I certainly hope all these complaints are the few and not the many. I just had FIOS installed today because I couldn't take the craptastic non-service from TimeWarner any longer.

In my last experience with them, it took 7 calls to fourteen different people (in several countries), including three managers and their "office of the CEO" (who never returned my call) to get a simple task done -- I bought a new modem and needed the MAC address keyed in.

Tech support at several levels were useless, but some dude in billing took care of it in ten seconds. (I'm in New York, he was in Wisconsin, but I got him through my local number, go figure).

And that ten seconds should have been all the time I spent on the phone.

In the end I got what I wanted and this past/last month of service free by going the route I should have before even picking up the phone.

The reality is, most large companies like this have crappy customer service and tech support. That is the nature of the beast, just because they can get away with it. Outsourcing is a scourge, but labor is cheap "over there" and it isn't coming back to the USA any time soon, if ever.

The moral of my tale is that I can pretty much guarantee the grass is brown everywhere these days.

Re: Complaint about Customer Service
STDbob
Enthusiast - Level 3

I'm with ya buddy.

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Re: Complaint about Customer Service
SusanE731
Newbie

My 81 year old father's phone has been out of service since last week (at least Thursday).  He had the same problem a month ago.  He was told someone would come to repair it this Wednesday between 8 and 12 am and he would need to be home.  But he has to see the eye doctor at that time, so I called to change his appointment, since he can't hear well on the cell phone he was forced to buy (he's partially deaf). 

When I called customer service to change his appointment, I ended up with a most unpleasant woman named Veronica.  She told me that his appointment had been changed to today, Monday, and he did not need to be home, since they had received several other complaints of the same problem since he called.  When I tried to ask questions about why he was not notified of this, and how they expected to contact him since HIS PHONE IS DEAD, she rambled on about the different types of service calls possible and would not let me talk until she had finished her explanation.  Really, who cares?  I never did get an explanation as to why he needed to wait a week for his phone to be repaired. 

My experience is that if the "customer service" people at Verizon are not selling you something, they have no interest in actually satisfying their customers.  Today's experience with Veronica just reinforced that for me. 

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Re: Complaint about Customer Service
oldfashioned
Specialist - Level 2

Have you heard the recent voice greeting that seems to beg you over and over again for a "brief description" of the problem?  LOL!!  I don't mean any disrespect but it really is a laugh if you ask me.

During the few times when my parents have had to call Cablevision for help resolving certain issues, it was always a very similar runaround.  I think all of these corporate giants need to be humbled with some more competition.  There is no question.  They could also learn a thing or two from non-profit organizations, i.e. taking the time to explain things instead of being in such a rush to get the customer off the phone every time with the ending catch phrase, "Is there anything else I can help you with?"  Several reps are so good at using that as an excuse to avoid answering a further question or to just end it like they don't want to be bothered anymore.  I just keep in mind that I'm not likely to speak to that same person again in the future.  Sometimes it's better if I call back and speak to someone else.   

The way I deal with it is that my goal is just to resolve the problem even if I have to be persistent.  If it gets resolved, then I can move on.  But I definitely agree that it's aggravating and irritating at times.  Dealing with customer service from my health insurance company is even worse and believe me, I never call that department unless I really need to because it so wastes times just to get an answer to a simple legitimate question.  A lot of them really don't care and I know how infuriating it can sometimes get when you're dealing with someone who has a poor manner.  It's definitely unfortunate.

It's all about profits in the end and I don't think any of them care about the long run.  And then when something happens they wonder why.  Did Bank of America really expect to keep customers by charging fees just for using their debit cards?  Actually B of As customer service is better than it used to be years ago and I do find, believe it or not, that it's a lot clearer and more user friendly now-a-days but in general, I think everybody knows that it's all about the money and nothing else no matter which corporation you're talking about.   

What I really think makes it more difficult is that in the case of a cable or Fios provider, it's a lot more time and expense involved just to switch to another one, more or so I think than just switching banks.  With bigger corporations taking over, the choices really are fewer than they used to be.

At least we're not dealing with AT&T which has outsourced all of its customer service to India.  I hate calling overseas like that and having to deal with that many more language barriers just to resolve something.

It stinks no matter what. 

Re: Complaint about Customer Service
fishingeddie
Enthusiast - Level 3

I recently signed my parents up for a FIOS Bundle deal. One of the promotions was a 300 Visa card. I had to use the Verizon Chat service because the website to sign up had bugs and I couldn't select the options my parents wanted. 

I was trying to get a final price using the FIOS web pages to do a comparison with their current provider - Com{please keep your posts courteous}. Once I got the final price from the Chat representative, I wanted to know when the $300 Visa promotion expired. I was told by the chat representative that it was TODAY (November 30th). I reiterated - "Is the last day of the promotion today". The chat representative replied "YES". Well, that was a flat out LIE to get me to sign up that instant. I am very upset that Verizon for using such practices. I almost canceled my parents order when I found out the promotion was still available. I kept the chat log and may pursue more actions with verizon on  this issue.

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Re: Complaint about Customer Service
TBS1
Newbie

Ah, yes, the debit card bonus that isn't. When I signed up for a bundle about a year ago they were offering a reduced monthly price locked in for two years and a $100 debit card for people who signed up for a bundle on Verizon's web site. I went to purchase the bundle but before I checked out I noticed it had added a piece of equipment I didn't want to my order (a set top box that I didn't want because I have my own Tivo hardware) -- and I couldn't remove it. I did the chat thing too and the agent who responded was very nice and said that I'd have to go ahead and finish the order WITH the unwanted hardware, after which he / she would be able to modify my order to remove it once I gave them the order number. I went ahead and completed the checkout, gave the agent the confirmation / order number, and they said that the extra box had been removed. Problem solved, right? Not so fast.

About half an hour later, my FIOS internet service went out completely for the first time ever, which I correctly guessed was not a coincidence. Sure enough, when I called Verizon support, they said that whoever had modified my order had messed it up and to make a long story short, my internet service wound up being restored within a reasonably short time (I think it was less than a day or maybe a day). Problem was, my order was still messed up and ultimately (after multiple phone calls) one of the representatives declared that the only way to fix the order was for them to cancel it and recreate it, which they did. Sure enough, the order went through and I my service got activated, though I ultimately DID receive and had to return in person the unwanted set top box that created the problem in the first place.

Anyway, what does all this have to do with the debit cards? Well, a couple of months later I realized that I had never received the debit card that was part of the promotion I signed up for, so I called Verizon to find out when I'd be receiving it. It was explained to me that I didn't qualify for the debit card because my bundle order hadn't been placed on the web site but by an agent I was talking to on the phone. This was technically true, of course, but ONLY because Verizon screwed up my order in the first place and a phone rep had to cancel the one I created through their web site and recreate it.

In fairness, when I pointed out what had happened Verizon did ultimately make good by crediting my account for an amount equivalent to the debit card I never received, but the moral of the story is to beware the fine print and the circumstances of your order. In any case, all this took multiple phone calls and a lot more time than should have ever been required, and I'm still struggling with the consequences of ordering that bundle, but that's another (much longer) story.

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Re: Complaint about Customer Service
sucky
Enthusiast - Level 1

I have been a Verizon customer for FIOS, Internet and wireless for many years. I must say that their customer service is the worst!!! Recently my computer has been getting slower and slower, so I called "CS" to ask they send a tech out to check my lines, etc. First I was told if the tech did not find anything wrong, I would be charged for a service call. This was nothing more than a scare tactic. You can request a tech for anything and they must send one to your home. When the tech arrived, he checked my computer and said I have over 130 virsuses on it. I stated to him that I have Verizon security and this should not be happening. He checked and said there is no program on my computer for this. I said I have been paying for this service since 2008. He said I need to contact customer service which sent a chill through me. I was on hold for over an hour before I got to speak with a rep. After I explained it all, the rep said there was nothing she can do. I asked for a supervisor which took another 40 minutes on hold. The idiot said they sent me an e-mail to activate the program back in 2008, but I told them I never received it. I asked them to send me a copy of this e-mail, but to date i still have not received it. All they say is they have it.  I told them they owe me over $400 for all the years I paid for this service which I never received. They told me to write a letter to their "escalation dept" and gave me the wrong address because I got the letter back "undeliverable".

Now I am in the process of taking Verizon to court and sue them for the poorest customer service, a program they never sent me, refund the money they owe me and to clean up my computer since the virsuses got into it due to Verizon's negligence in making sure the customer received the program and how to activate it.

Once this is all taken care of, I will sever my ties with Verizon and will never pay their fee for breaking their contract.

Verizon is THE worst company to deal with. The customer service reps are extremely rude, arrogant and down right mean.  

All of Verizon customers who have had dealings with their customer service should band together and put in a class action suit against Verizon...If there are any attorneies out there who would be willing to handle such a case should contact Verizon customers to get their feedback. 

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