Misleading Reps, Dishonest Service - Final attempt
CLaY722
Newbie

After several conversations with various Verizon reps regarding a problem that was caused solely by Verizon, resulting in me losing money and an offered service, I’ve decided to make this my last attempt before contacting the media to further express my dissatisfaction. This was a very bad experience, which could have probably been avoided if everyone on the job was both competent at their position and honest in their intentions.

At 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 12, 2015, a Verizon representative arrived at my door with news that FiOS was now available in my neighborhood and that many other residents have recently signed up for it. Even though I had not been thinking of switching over from Comcast, I still entertained the sales rep because I knew people with FiOS, and they all spoke highly of its quality for the price, when compared to other cable/phone/internet providers. He also kept emphasizing the $300 Visa Prepaid Card which I would receive after 90 days of on-time payments. Needless to say, I agreed to sign up for the Triple Play package with Preferred HD and 75/75 Internet. Before signing, I asked if there were any other local promotions offering a better deal, and he assured me that this was all he knew of. Installation was scheduled for Sunday, May 24.

On Monday, May 18, all the FiOS equipment was delivered. Coincidently, I also received a Verizon flyer in the mail advertising an online-only deal, which would give me a “FiOS Custom TV, FiOS 25/25 Mbps Internet, and FiOS Digital Voice” bundle with DVR (free for one year), and a $300 Visa Prepaid Card. Since the installation date was close to a week away, I decided that I would simply cancel the order and sign-up online so I could take advantage of this deal.

On Thursday, May 21, I contacted Verizon, via phone, to cancel my current order because “I received a better offer in the mail.” After explaining the details of the offer to the Verizon rep, she told me that she could apply all the necessary updates to my order so it reflects the online-only price, while still maintaining the free DVR service for a year and the $300 Visa Prepaid Card. That was perfect! She made all the necessary changes to my account and sent me a revised billing estimate reflecting my new services and discounts. The only upgrade was that my Internet was changed to 50/50 Mbps (which reflected on the billing estimate). I wasn’t sure if the current set-top box that was delivered with the original order was capable of the DVR service, but she told me that I would just need to call Verizon back and switch it out, if it wasn’t compatible. At this point, everything was good.

On Sunday, May 24 (Installation day), the Verizon technician effortlessly installed all the FiOS equipment, but informed me that the current set-top box could not be programmed for the DVR service. He reiterated what the phone rep told me, and said that I would just need to call Verizon back and request another set-top box (and return the current one shortly after).

On Thursday, May 28, I called Verizon to request the DVR set-top box as well as instructions on how to return the current box. The Verizon rep told me that she did not know how to add the DVR service to my billing estimate (even though it was already present on my previous estimates), so she said, “I will just apply a Valued Customer credit of $15 for 12 months to cancel out the $15 cost of the DVR service for a year.” At this point, I did not know, nor was I told, that adding the Valued Customer credit would eliminate my eligibility for the $300 Visa Prepaid Card. This wasn’t realized until I happened to log into my account to make my first payment, and read a message telling me that the prepaid card was suspended, with no explanation of why. What’s really bad is that this was only the beginning of my problematic experience.

I made several calls to Verizon customer support, to the Verizon promotions department, and even visited the FiOS store to figure out, not why the Visa Prepaid Card was suspended, but why it can’t be corrected since my account was manipulated, mismanaged, and screwed up by Verizon. One thing that every single Verizon rep was good for was admitting that this was Verizon’s fault and apologizing for the inconvenience. Yet not one person offered a feasible solution to remedy this display of incompetence or Verizon’s blatant misrepresentation of services; nor did anyone request copies of the confirmation emails (and mail ads) which indicate that this error was not done on my part. They rather remind me of a monthly Valued Customer credit of $15 (which only cancelled out the cost of a $15 DVR service that I was supposed to have for FREE anyway). So on Friday, June 26, I requested to turn the DVR Service off to see some kind of benefit.

All I’m seeking from this complaint is to receive the offer that was promised to me, and applied to my account, on Thursday, May 21, which was the free DVR service for a year and the $300 Visa Prepaid Card, which would’ve came in handy when having to pay $250 to break my contract with Comcast (when I probably never should’ve left). I could care less about a customer credit that doesn’t even equate to that of the prepaid card, while also losing another service in the process. I should not be able to think of more solutions than a company whose core values include providing quality customer service to ALL their customers. Another reason I left Comcast was because I was tired of dealing with their poor customer service; however in this case, I didn’t even get past the first month of service before things turned sour.

I hope that someone with the proper authority can understand the reasons for my complaint, and can take the appropriate actions to correct them. I will allow some time for a response, or lack of, before escalating this matter to my local “Channel 7 On Your Side” news team as a means to exposing these misleading tactics and to prevent anyone else from reliving this experience. And even if this doesn’t force you to do better, maybe it’ll at least prevent someone else from reliving the same experience by finding a company that actually values them.

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Re: Misleading Reps, Dishonest Service - Final attempt
ElizabethS
Moderator Emeritus

Your issue has been escalated to a Verizon agent. Before the agent can begin assisting you, they will need to collect further information from you.

Please go to your profile page for the forum, and look in the middle, right at the top where you will find an area titled "My Support Cases". You can reach your profile page by clicking on your name beside your post, or at the top left of this page underneath the title of the board.

Under “My Support Cases” you will find a link to the private board where you and the agent may exchange information. This should be checked on a frequent basis as the agent may be waiting for information from you before they can proceed with any actions.

To ensure you know when they have responded to you, at the top of your support case there is a drop down menu for support case options. Open that and choose "subscribe".

Please keep all correspondence regarding your issue in the private support portal.

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