I know it is frustrating and time-consuming, but keep hammering on them. You're right, there is no technical reason why they can't give you what you want.
I had Freedom Essentials and in June bought a house 1 mile away and wanted to keep the old number. Verizon originally said sure, no problem, and transferred service. But when the new service was activated I had a new number. I called to complain and they said I couldn't keep the old number on copper but could keep it if I got FIOS. So I got the triple play installed and guess what, the new number was still there. I called to complain and they gave me the old number back. (I'm leaving out the hours of time talking to every department about the copper issue and then having no home phone service at all for 2 weeks while waiting for FIOS installation after they put the message directing callers to my cell phone on the new phone number, which of course nobody would even know.)
I spoke to Customer Service on July 18th and was told that I will be able to convert from Freedom Essentials to Digital Voice on or about August 1st. I won't hold my breath.
Larry
I'm having the same problem with trying to switch to digital voice. I started calling last month to try and switch and was told different information depending on which csr I spoke with. Some said it wasn't a problem, while other csr's said it was not possible. I was left a the end of June with a senior csr telling me that by mid July I would be able to switch my freedom essentials to digital voice. It's past mid July and I've called a couple of times and still no luck. Anyone have any information. Oh , and dv is available in my area as well, some of my neighbors have it with new customer install.
Thank You
i have freedom essentials. whats the benfit of digital voice? better call quality? less money? less taxes? i'm afraid that switching will somehow screw up mt billing with the quad play. any little change can set it off.
Less taxes, some more features. However there are also a few things that are not available with Digital voice.
Hi,
I spoke to 2 different CSRs within the last 2 weeks. They told me they can transfer my Freedom Essentials to Digital Voice. However, they need me to sign up for a bundle deal (triple play, double whatever). And the prices they gave me are higer than the deals on the internet. For example, I am able to get a triple play deal with multi-room dvr free for life for 2 TVs (standard set-top box) for $89.99 on the internet. But the CSR told me $99.99 for the same bundle. It's $10 more a month - probably about the same as my tax savings for converting to Digital Voice.
Since my original contract was up, does anybody know if I would be able to just cancel my Fios service altogether and start as a new customer?
Thanks,
im so glad i found this site as im as frustrated as any one person could possibly be about this same issue. my original inquiry came as a result of a bill change where i am now being charged $20 more per month for my package, (i had a promotion that ended). was advised by two CSR's that my package was no longer available and i would have to switch out of my plan to a new one in order to take advantage of any new bundles. The first CSR said i would have to be in a bundle that was $109 per month in order to get faster internet as every other package that was being offered had slower service than what i have now. the second CSR told me that there is a package for $104 which is essentially what i am paying now, but my internet will be faster. not sure where the $5 difference comes from, but whatever. So, after my tale of woe about how i feel like Verizon doesnt care about existing customers, because new customers can get a better price than an existing, loyal, good paying customers can, i finally agreed to the $104 package with digital voice. next thing you know im on hold for 20 minutes because of this digital voice ban on existing customers. there appeared to have been some debate between CSR's as to whether or not i could get it.
Well the long and the short of it is, i cant, and neither can any of you, AND verizion has no idea when an existing customer will be able to get it.
this is infuriating! its bad enough i have to pay more than a new customer, but now im paying more for an inferior product!!. and this makes sense how exactly??
where's the loyalty verizon???
some knucklehead with a spreadsheet in corporate is calling the shots, throwing around percentages and using terms like "customer retention". what they are really saying is "we'll do what we want, and most people are too lazy to switch" "we DARE you to switch, and we're willing to bet you wont"
well verizon, consider that dare accepted.
im on long island, cable is offering $79.90 for the triple play for anyone interested in exploring other options. Cable treats their clientele like crap also, but they roll out the red carpet for you when you switch from fios, which is what fios did when i switched to them almost 3 years ago. i fully expect to get the run around from them also in 2 years from now.
what all of these companies fail to understand is that we are not numbers on a spreadsheet, we are human beings, we are customers, and we wont accept being treated poorly.
Verizon, if you are not loyal to me, why should i be loyal to you? i am not lazy, and i will switch, and i encourage anyone else who feels the same to do exactly that.
I received an email today from Verizon's customer service saying that the digital voice is not available at my address, which is not true. I know Digital Voice is indeed available in my area. And I'd be able to get it if I signed up as a new customer.
The most frustrating thing is that all the CSRs I have corresponded with in the last few days all said something inconsistent.
If Verizon is not willing to accomodate my request to swtich over to Digital Voice, I am going to start shopping for a new Internet / VoIP provider.
Any suggestions on a good VoIP provider?
Well here is my experience with trying to transfer from Freedom Essentials to Digital Voice. My parents just got FIOS last week and I was astounded at the number of features they have that I don't have with FE, not to mention how nice the on-line interface wtih DV is and the amount of features that can be controlled on line from any location. We all know that Call Assistant that comes with FE is virtually useless.
In calling to request a transfer to Digital , I was told that it is not available in my area. When I mentioned that my neighbor two doors down and with the same exchange that I have, just got it, SUDDENLY, it changed to being available in my area, but is being given ONLY to NEW FIOS customers.
I said that this seems very unfair to the loyal, long term FIOS customers. I was told repeatedly that this is a business decision that was made by Verizon management and that the CSRs are not informed as to the reasoning behind this decision. I asked if this switch would require different wiring at my home and she said no wiring changes would be needed. It would involve moving my service from the Central Office to a virtual arrangement and that it could be done, but that Verizon has made the decision not to extend this service to existing customers.
She then got kind of snippy and said "does your current service not work??". I said it works fine, but if there is a service that provides significantly more functionality to me, I should not be prevented from getting that at the expense of new customers just because I made the decision to get FIOS as soon as it was available to me 3 years ago.
Verizon mentions repeatedly how many people are dropping their landlines completely. Here we are that would just like to have the same functionality as NEW customers and are kicked to the curb by Verizon.
I am so glad I found this thread. I was also an early adopter of FIOS Internet and have talked many neighbors into switching. I have spent over 2 months trying to add FIOS Phone (Digital Voice). Everyone says I should be able to get it since neighbors on both sides of me have it. I dropped Verizon voice service years ago for Vonyage and have been happy. I finally caved to the savings I could get by bundling television and voice with my current Internet plan. 2 months and still getting every wacky explaination possible and all the CSRs telling me to "just wait until we figure this out".
I have been a happy FIOS Internet customer for years. I'm checking out Comcast after I post this message. You blew it Verizon.
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