Marketing Practices

[DoUHearMeNow]

Received a promotion via the My Fios App on May 31 inviting us to "UPGRADE YOUR SPEED" for $0 for the equipment and $0 addl monthly charges.  We accepted the offer the same day, received the new router via UPS on June 04, installed it and sent back the old router, which was acknowledged by Verizon on June 14.

I called Verizon on June 18 to upgrade our service to the Gigabit Connection. The representative wanted to review my account and check if our router was compatible. I said it was brand new, only two weeks old at most, so I hoped it would work. I logged onto my account as well and that was when I noticed a reference to a monthly rental fee for a router, which I had never seen before and was surprised because the promotion we responded to said the router was free.

The representative said I have never been charged for a router, so I needn’t be concerned. But it bothered me that the account description stated otherwise. Only after I pressed, did she find something on her end that said I would be charged starting in July 2019.  She said she would open a ticket and stated, “after it was researched, it would be fixed.” That was a little too nebulous for me, so I asked to speak with a supervisor.

The supervisor had more access, I suppose and said she could trace the promotion we responded to and she tried to assure me this would be corrected before we are ever billed.  I called again today, June 19, just to confirm everything was in order and to find about the Gigabit upgrade I originally wanted.

I was unable to speak with the original representative or supervisor I spoke with yesterday. So, I had to start again. When I asked about the router, first I was told I would be charged a monthly rental because "the offer was for new customers only…" Clearly that was not applicable to this promotion since the offer was to upgrade an existing router and a new customer would not have a Verizon router to upgrade, nor would they be using the My Fios app to receive the promotion in the first place. I mentioned this to the representative, but after telling me she understood, she repeated the same excuse. I then asked to speak with a supervisor. The representative put me on hold. She then picked up the line again and disconnected me.  

When I called back, the office was closed, so I started a chat instead of waiting till tomorrow.  I told the chat representative I was concerned about "a router issue."

Verizon, does this sound good to you?  I have screenshots of my chat and the promotion, as well as a recordi of every call. I also have the names and location of each representative I have spoken with, including the one who disconnected me earlier today. Happy to provide any and all of it here or elsewhere.

As an aside, but a significant one at that, I have been a loyal customer since 1979 and have increased my service and commitment through the divestiture, and every merger, acquisition, name change and new service offering, including dial up, mobile (now wireless), long distance, high speed internet, television and fiber optics. The only premium service I don't currently have is the gigabit connection, (which, as I said at the start, I actually tried to add, until I noticed the issue with the router) - but I have the top of the line on all other FIOS services and have for 40+ years.  

How dare Verizon play this game with me.  As I post this message here on the Verizon forum, I'm also going to contact every state and federal regulatory agency that applies, every news organizations that wants to listen and every social media outlet I can post to because I am sure this didn't just happen to me.

I'm also looking at all of the TV, phone, internet, wireless provider options at my disposal because I think it may be time for a change…

Hey Verizon, do you hear me now?

[LawrenceC]

Hi DoUHearMeNow,

Your issue has been escalated to a Verizon agent. Please check your Private Message Inbox for a message from Verizon_Support. You can find your Inbox by clicking on your username at the top right corner of this page. Please direct all correspondence concerning your issue to the agents who will be assisting you privately.