The problem with Verizon

[shansen]

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the problem with Verizon is their IT strategy and their lack of communications.  None of their systems can talk to each other. 

That's why when a FIOS tech comes to your house and doesn't know what your order was supposed to be, its because the system that generated the order originally, isnt the same system that the tech looks at before he/she goes to your house. 

On top of that, the customer was lied to from the very beginning by a door-to-door outsourced salesperson that doesn't know what specials the company is having and just makes anything up to make the sale.  They're paid their commission, then they end up getting fired or quit in less than a month or so. The poor Verizon FIOS tech that visits the customer ends up bearing the brunt of the customer's frustration because the customer was told that they wouldn't have to pay for any of the extras that they want and that they can cancel at any time when the FiOs tech knows that they can't make that deal.  

To add to this problem, whenever there is a problem with your order, the tech has to call into a phone number where they are put on hold in the same manner that customers are and made to wait (sometimes hours) for the customer service or dispatch rep to figure out that the order was put in the order.  Then they try to figure out why the tech was at the customer's house for so long...hmmm, I wonder.

Then, when the customer finally gets the service and tries to pay their bill, the bill has numerous excessive charges for which the they weren't aware.  They call the customer service line and get put on hold 5 times and have to re-explain their situation every time a new person picks up.  The customer service rep agrees to remove the charge from the bill.  Two months later when the charge is still appearing on their bill, they have to continue to call again until they get so frustrated that they cancel their service....and the cycle repeats when a new special is offered and the customer agrees to give them a second chance.  I wonder how much this is costing the company???

Why do I know all this?  My boyfriend is a Verizon FiOs. tech.  And I am a Verizon customer.  I've been trying to pay my bill online for 2 months and the website keeps telling me that "They are experiencing a problem and I should try back later." Should a multi-BILLION dollar company take more than a few minutes or hours to correct this problem?   TWO MONTHS!!!???  

Seriously, these Verizon IT executives should be embarassed.  They are to blame for not only the technical issues that the technicians experience every day on the job, but also the customer service problems because their ERP system doesn't talk to their CRM or Order management system.   It doesn't take a genius to figure out that they need a web-based, real-time solution to fix this problem.