My woes began in December, when I first switched to Verizon Fios. My phone number was not ported correctly, so instead of getting a Triple Play rate, I got a Double Play together with an extremely expensive land line rate. After the shock of the first month's bill in January, I called Verizon and spoke to multiple representatives - at least 20 - over the course of the next month, to have my package fixed so that I can get the Triple Play I signed up for. Some were nice and ineffective, some nasty and ineffective. They all said I couldn't get Triple Play because my phone number was not ported over to Verizon. Meanwhile, I am getting billed for this same number that was "not ported over"!!
In February, due to some good karma, I got Renee, from the Suffolk County Office. We were on the phone for almost two hours as she tried different ways to get the system to accept the correct information. She was incredibly knowledgeable about the different parts of Verizon's internal systems, very helpful and sympathetic. I think this was probably the first time I encountered true empathy from a staff member and it really made me feel like a person, rather than an annoying buzzing insect. Renee worked on my problem over the course of at least a week, as she had to get another tech department to work with her. Miraculously, she got it fixed, and I was able to get my correct plan rate! Renee deserves a Medal for heroic effort and has my heartfelt thanks!
Of course, fixing the plan doesn't mean they fixed the payments retroactively. I had been paying the non-plan land line rate, and I felt I deserved adjustments for incorrect billing, so refused to pay the bill of $397 for long distance calls (2 months' worth). After speaking (again) to various reps from billing which did zippo, it was sent to a collection agency (of course). Today, (July 1st) I lucked out again, and happened to talk to Terry in New York and she was actually able to adjust my bill retroactively to give me the discounts I was entitled to. We were on the phone for more than an hour, and it was actually much more pleasant than I had any reason to expect. Thank you so much, Terry!
My problem took 6 months and many, many persistent phone calls to resolve, and I am sure there are countless numbers of Verizon customers with a horror story. I guess this is primarily a thank you letter to the representatives out there who are doing their jobs well, but it is also a note of encouragement to all you customers out there who are struggling with your services to not give up!! There is a 1 in 25 chance (from my personal statistics of calling a couple times a week over the course of 3 - 4 months!) that you will finally luck out and get the person who can help you.
Best of luck!!
Yes, you are absolutely correct. Fantastic true professional Customer Service
Representatives are rare. When you encounter one, you just want to hug them
for being so patient & courteous.
Verizon corporate office need to give them a huge bonus for saving the business!
I'm glad your problem was solved and kudos to Renee and Terry. Unfortunately, they are the rare exception with Verizon and they should be the norm. If there were more like them I wouldn't be leaving Verizon. Who has that much time to devote to resolving problems not caused by one's own actions? Not me. I'm going through it for a second time now and it will be my last.
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