Good luck. It's funny you mentioned that because I was just trying to call Verizon because I was unable to connect to the Internet but while I was on hold for about 17 minutes, I resolved the problem on my own after enough experience with troubleshooting these various issues. My LAN had limited or no connectivity. I clicked on the icon which said to click on "repair" because it wasn't recognized my ISP address. That couldn't be completed and then it said to call my provider. But while I was on hold for Verizon, I turned my router off and on again and that solved the problem. I could work for customer service myself being that I've learned how to navigate my own way through these problems.
When I was having problems with the new TV Guide display, not one rep that I spoke to was willing to work with me to tell me that my problem was with having an analog and that I needed a flatscreen. I only came to that conclusion on my own by coming here.
Sometimes though, you're better off ending the call and speaking to someone else who knows better, or even a supervisor, and you don't have to go through the entire automated system. When you select the catergory of your problem (TV, phone, or Internet), you can hit "zero" and get directed to a live person.
Another thing too is that I have indeed had some productive live chats, email correspondences, and phone discussions with other techs who were actually pretty good and right on point with everything. The tool that allows the techs navigate your computer system with you is often very helpful. So I wouldn't say that all of Verizon's customer service is the worst.
I'm not convinced that any of these corporate giants have the best communication but good luck with your new provider. I just think you're going to have a mixed bag with a lot of them unfortunately.
Usually 0 works for other auto machine but not this one (or at least the Verizon numbers that I have tried). So you HAVE to go through their super well organized automated machine to reach a human being.