David says:

You guys need to start reporting on the failures of Verizon's DVR service.

I am on my 5th (yes 5) set-top box. Finally after taking your suggestion, I sent a letter to the president of Verizon. Their executive cust service person called me and acknowledged tons of problems and said that they are planning a software/firmware update, but it wont fix many of the current problems:

The 1st Gen box doesn't erase programs on the box. So the % used fills up and you cannot record more unless you power cycle the unit
The boxes [fail to] record programs
The boxes crash often (3 times during the NY Giant game yesterday)
The remote barely works unless you are 4 feet directly in front of the box

I've never had a worse experience. I yearn for a new Tivo.

How about a questionnaire to see if people are as fed up with Verizon as I am. I'm hoping your reporting on it will place more emphasis on fixing the problems and less on advertising that stupid commercial.

Your wish has been granted.

Leave your thoughts on FiOS' DVR in the comments or tell us about your experience at tips@consumerist.com, put "fios dvr" in the subject.

(Photo:ianphilipmiller)

A very pissed off consumer writes:

I get these direct mail pieces from Verizon several times a week. I know...everyone hates junk mail, but here's the thing: Verizon doesn't provide FiOS TV at my address (the address they sent this piece of mail to). Furthermore, they will not offer the same deal on their non-premium [read: inferior] services.

In other words, there is no way - none whatsoever - to get TV, internet, and phone from verizon for $79.99 per month (for the first 6 months) - and yet these ads have been clogging my mailbox in the month since I moved here. When I went online to look into this deal, the first thing the website prompted me to do was to enter my address (the address printed on the other side of that piece of mail). Based upon that information, the website was able to tell me that I could not take advantage of this deal. Does Verizon not have an internet connection? Couldn't they do this themselves before wasting paper, ink, and another previous piece of my sanity?

This is unacceptable, not only from the perspective of the consumer, but for environmental reasons as well. How many thousands (millions?) of these heavy card-stock, two-page brochures are being sent to households where Verizon cannot provide this service? Get your sh*t together, Verizon. All you've managed to do is alienate me so that I will no longer consider FiOS...if it is ever available to me.

You know, I doubt this was the effect Verizon was going for.

Last week, I called Verizon to set up a landline for my mother, who had gotten out of the hospital and had to move to a new apartment. I told the Verizon rep that my mother doesn't have a PC right now, so I was only calling for a landline. The Verizon rep offered a bundle including DSL, and would throw in a free netbook. The cost of this package was only $20/month more than the landline itself, and I thought this would be a great deal and signed up for it. I was told that a voucher would be issued, I'd have to fill it out online for her, and she's have the computer pretty quickly.

My mother, of course, was thrilled.

Except, of course, the deal isn't that good. After my mother had the landline installed, I called Verizon back to see about the status of the voucher. Turns out that you don't get the voucher for at least 60 days after internet installation (which isn't scheduled for another 10 days), and she'd have to pay for 2-3 months of internet service before being eligible for the netbook offer. In addition, there's a substantial shipping and handling fee for the netbook (I've heard $45). And of course, you must pay all bills on time.

So it's going to cost about $80 or so for this "free" netbook. I don't have a problem with the shipping fee, but paying for two months of service that she can't use unless I find another PC is galling. Unfortunately, Verizon is sticking to their guns. I talked to the customer service supervisor's manager for NJ, Gerri Maclosky, and she confirmed everything. Despite the sales rep's assurances, my mother's not getting a netbook from Verizon for 90 days.

I haven't decided if I'm going to cancel the service for my mother yet.

What do you think? Does Ray have a legitimate complaint, or should he have known better than to take a sales rep's word at face value? Or, to flip it around, is it actually okay to mislead customers or misrepresent a deal to close a sale? Even if it was ignorance rather than intentional dishonesty on the sales rep part, shouldn't that be Verizon's issue instead of Ray's?

FiOs Bundles [Verizon]

(Photo: warrenski)

Lelah writes:"Dear:

Mr. Ivan G. Seidenberg

Mr. Robert E. Ingalls Jr.

Mr. William Barr

As President of my own company, I have to say, this is the first time in my career that I have gone so far as to send a letter to the top of the food chain regarding the unbelievable service I have received from Verizon. Let me say that if I had this type of service in my company, I would have fired the lot of them and held my head in shame as their leader. Verizon has taken customer no-service to a whole new level. Allow me to share with you my story. I am sure you will be as appalled as I am once you read through the nightmare.

THE VERIZON MELTDOWN:

Saturday, May 30, 2009:

2 door to door salesman wearing Verizon shirts arrived at my door on the morning of Saturday, May 30, 2009. The main salesman, Vadim Kushnirov announced that he was with Verizon and wanted to discuss the possibility of switching my Comcast service to Verizon. The other young man was in training. I didn't get his name however he was very inquisitive. A regular Q & A session that was so out there I had to really question who the heck interviewed him for this job in the first place. "So are you still married, he asked?" "Boyfriend?" "Your daughter is cute, almost as cute as her Mom." "Why did you get a divorce?" "Do you still love him?" "Does he pay child support?" "What do you do for a living?" "Do you make lots of money?"….HUH?" Ok…a little weird. Most would have asked him to leave, however, past the questions, he seemed like a nice kid. After Vadim offered a better deal than Comcast, (so I thought), I decided to switch services. I asked both inside my home for iced tea while Vadim proceeded to contact an office somewhere in the Midwest to get the set up started. While he was in the process of arguing with a gal over her misunderstanding of what needed to be done to get the order in place, the intern went to the couch in my living room, picked up my guitar and started playing it…a little singing went along with it. By the end of the very long session I was ready to smash the guitar over his head just to make him stop. Rude and annoying. Over at the counter, Vadim, obviously frustrated with the new gal on the other end of the line, went through several people to try to get the service set up. When the new gal got back on the line, she repeated the order back to me. It was incorrect and we started the process over and over again. This entire order entry took over 3 hours. I was patient but extremely annoyed that my Saturday was now completely shot due to incompetent customer service. When the order was finally placed, I was told by Vadim that the service would be installed on Friday, June 12. 2009. He left me his number to call if I had questions or problems. (503) xxx-xxxx. I must say, of all of the people in this entire process, he is the only one that really had enough integrity to get anything done. He did his job well, however, most of what you are about to read was completely out of his control.

Between May 30 and June 8, 2009, 3 different contractors (that I knew of) showed up at my home, unannounced, without appointments and to my knowledge, began a pre-set up for the Fios.

Monday, June 8: At approximately 10AM, a gentleman contracted by Verizon showed up at my home, unannounced. without an appointment, and knocked at the door. As no one answered the door, he proceeded to begin a set-up function that was connected with the Fios install. I happened to be at home (prior to going to my work appointment) and noticed someone in the yard. After about 10 minutes, I went outside and asked him what he was doing. He said he was with Verizon and doing some pre-set up. I went back inside and was trying to answer a few emails on my computer. Suddenly, the internet access was unavailable. I figured it was temporary but proceeded to contact Comcast as I thought the problem might be with them. The phone was dead also. I went to the neighbors home where their Comcast service was working fine. I contacted Vadim and mentioned that I thought whoever was here from Verizon, must have knocked out the Comcast Service. He asked me to turn on the TV to see if it worked. It was down also. I told him that I needed the service back up immediately. We have several users in the house and having the service down was not an option. I cancelled my appointment and stayed home from work as I thought someone would be back to connect the service. No one called or showed up until 4:00PM in the afternoon. It was someone from Comcast checking the lines. They asked me when Verizon was at the house, I told them that morning. He proceeded to tell me that whoever was there, cut all of the Comcast lines, left wires lying everywhere exposed and I wanted Comcast to reconnect, I would be charged to reset everything and re-install the lines. He was unable to do anything that evening but said he could come back the next morning and start the re-install. I told him I would call Vadim to see if we could move up the install date with Verizon. That afternoon at 4:35PM, I received a call from someone named Kirt (503) xxx-xxxx who scheduled the installs for Verizon. He told me he would have the install team at my home at 8AM sharp the next morning. Someone over 18 had to be there and it would take about 5 hours. I agreed and took Tuesday, June 9 off from work.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009:

…9AM, 10AM, 11AM….I call Vadim… "What's up, I ask?" "Where's the Network?" He's on it…. I get a call about 3PM…they are coming in the next few hours, (my thought is hurry up and wait)!

5:18PM, another lost day at work, the first of the Network makes an entrance. He has no service order and being Union, can't get started until the order comes in. "What do you want done, he asks." I explain the 6 rooms of cable connections, 2 phone lines and 300 channels of digital. He seemed annoyed and less than impressed considering it is now 5:30PM, he hasn't eaten all day and he is now on overtime. The rest of the Network shows closer to 6PM, about 5-6 of them. Still no service orders from Verizon. They all beam in on me and start discussing charges I don't remember ever hearing about. (connections, installation charges, etc). I call Vadim again as I feel like I have a bunch of guys coming up with their own set of rules and charges…Vadim shows up armed with electronic leash, headset and already patched into headquarters…He's on it, making the adjustments while arguing 2 hours in my driveway about the install charges with the Network. On with the install! 9:35PM…. I am trying out the new Fios! Wow…this is super fast…only 45 seconds to get Google launched. Who would have thought you could go faster than dial up? (I am kidding…considering I had a perfectly good high speed connection with Comcast prior to this install)! I called in the roommate to show off the new system! She was as impressed as I was! We immediately called in the Network to praise the fine work that was less than acceptable! We were told it wasn't the Fios, the awesome no-speed was due to the computer having issues? Hummm, funny how it worked just fine when it was on Comcast prior to 10AM, and since I switched back to Comcast, we are back to full speed. I made a note on Brian's (the technician) paperwork that stated the internet was less than acceptable. He left, he was on overtime, never heard back! Dennis, the phone guy is going on 4+ hours of OT…phones are not cooperating…no dial tone. "Perhaps a little CPR would help, is it dead, I asked?" He's done…no dial tone, it's time to go home…did I mention no dial tone….???? "I'll be back at 8 in the morning to get the line working, said Dennis." I suppose if I needed to call 911 for any reason, the neighbors are just 3 minutes away! In the mean time, I was supposed to be enjoying my new phone service with jimmied lines and splitters everywhere! Nice!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009:

Wednesday morning I noticed the trampling of some of my outdoor plants…basically where the lines went through the property. Not happy. I took the day off from work as I had to be at home for the set up at 8AM. Still no phone service and no technician to fix the problem… it's 9am….going on 3:41 PM…no sign of life from the Network and still no dial tone. Phone wires are lying all around my den. I call Vadim again…Vad, this is now out of your control…I need a Supervisor to call me right away. WAITING! 7:15PM, I get a 3-way call from Vadim and a Supervisor in Tech Support named James, no last name, no phone number. James assured me that someone would be out at 8AM on Thursday to set up the phone lines and make sure everything else was working correctly. It seems to me we have already had the 8AM conversation 3 times now. I told him I was done. I no longer wanted the service, Verizon or any part of the Fios experience. I would contact Comcast and have them re-connect the service in the morning which would in fact, cost me another day off at work to deal with the mess Verizon created. I also didn't want them to install because apparently, Comcast still held the phone numbers that were to be transferred to Verizon. Officially, these numbers were not going to be released until Friday, the original install date. I would have had my service reinstalled right away as I was still paying for service with Comcast. After 17 minutes and 27 seconds of conversation and making sure everyone understood that I didn't want Verizon service, guess what happened on Thursday morning?

Thursday, June 11, 2009:

Thursday morning my phone lines were full speed…guess who connected? (Verizon…after I specifically told them not to connect). Not only were the lines connected, they all went to the same phone number and gave anyone who called a fax signal! How special! Half the time the dial tone didn't work, other times people calling in would get a message that said the line was not in working order. Working order???? Was it ever? Another day off from work to deal with the nightmare. I called Comcast. They said unfortunately since Verizon took control of the numbers, It would take up to 2 weeks to get the numbers back. I was livid. Now I had to wait until June 18 to get normal phone service back. I had been using a cell phone throughout the week to contact Verizon…on hold most of the time or shifted from person to person. No one at Verizon seems to be able to make a decision, no less fix anything.

Friday, June 12, 2009:

I spent most of the day trying to figure out how to get everything back on track. It didn't happen. The phone lines were still recovery after the surgical mess left on both the inside and outside of my home.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN:

Many Calls between: Friday, June 19, 2009- June 28th!

I called the 888 customer service line early in the morning to make certain my Verizon Service was cancelled. To cancel the service, the entire process took 57 minutes, 42 seconds (I have a timer). Let me engage you in the cancellation process. It begins with prompts that send you to new prompts, that offer additional choices that make absolutely no sense considering all you want to do is cancel service. I eventually got to someone named Karen in Damage and Claims, told her the whole story. This went on for about 8 minutes. Guess what, I was transferred, surprise…. Repeat conversation…see above! 9:10AM…new supervisor, no luck, another transfer! Now I have someone named Mamour over in Dallas, the supervisor's Manager. A few order numbers thrown at me ON9xxxxxx and ORDROxxxxx…what this means is beyond me? They are all convinced that insulting me with an offer of a $25 performance guarantee reimbursement should do the trick… WOW…I'm impressed! That's some offer! Please…. It cost me more to write you this letter! I asked Mamour what I should do with the equipment that Verizon still has at the house. He informed me I would have to take them to a drop off station for credit. Hummm…Verizon left it here, now I am expected to drive it somewhere to get credit? One thing I found very interesting, I was told to call 2 numbers to get the closest drop off location. Ok, here we go 800-209-4455 (We're sorry, we can not continue to process your call, please hang up and try again)! I gave #2 a try, 800-436-1300…It's the HOME SHOPPING NETWORK… Am I now on the hook to sell this stuff at a discount? Frustration sets in as I do not want another 57 minute phone conversation with a Verizon female computer voice recorder that actually has attitude built into the voice when you don't give her the answers she wants.

One day a gentleman named Adam Brooks showed up on my doorstep. I opened the door. He was with Verizon. He wanted to know if I was pleased with the install? Does Verizon not communicate? For a communications company, I am a bit surprised that no one there does! Back to the story, one more time. He makes notes and tells me someone will be calling me. Actually, Adam was a really nice guy and seemed to have compassion for the situation. I have to give him credit for being very professional and following through. (503) xxx-xxxx. He said he would have the contractor that installed the lines contact me. I got a call from the contractor a week later, however, it appears that the cut lines were caused by Verizon when they installed the boxes on the wall. The contractor came out and showed me where everything took place and where the problems occurred. The contractor gave me a check for $43 to compensate for damaged plants on the property. I was told that someone named Dan Ferguson would contact me from Consumer Relations with Verizon, however, I never received a phone call from him.

Well now that everything was cancelled, I was told there would be no charges! Oh look, on June 25th, I was sent a bill in the amount of $157.50. Swell! Here we go, more phone calls.

July 16, 2009: I still have a balance of 157.50 on my billing. I contact Verizon again to have the charges removed. I spoke with Chris I think (not sure, a little confusion, see July 22 notes) who after 15 minutes of repeating the story again so that I could be compensated, she informs me her computer is down (it happened the day before as well-seems to be the norm there…If I can't get working internet service from a company who provides and charges for it, why should their customer service have access to working internet)? Go Figure! She said she would call me back…never did.

On Tuesday , July 21, 2009, 9:50AM. I contacted Customer Service and was connected to someone by the name of Neil 888-xxx-xxxx. Nice guy and he seemed to have it together. He read his notes and said that I talked to Angela on Thursday, she sits close by so he will talk to her and get the scoop on the billing problem and call me back. Angela? Well ok Angela, Chris… I've been through so many people at this point, I guess it doesn't matter because no one there can make decisions that make sense anyway. I get a call from Chris…she very firmly advised me that she was right and I was wrong in a very righteous way repeating statements from her notes that she perceived to be things that I said (considering her computer went down and she had to re-construct the conversation, I suppose anything goes…She also informed me (very directly I might add) that she left a message on my voice mail stating that the charges were reversed. I suppose if I had a message on my voice mail it makes all the sense in the world for me to call customer service and find out why no one called me to inform me of a credit…If I knew I had one, would I be calling??? I really have nothing better to do with my time. I am told that as far as additional compensation I could receive the really great performance guarantee check of $25…seems everyone there has the magic check to hand out. (I lost 5 days at work and about 11 days of phone service along with trampled plants in my yard. Did I mention Comcast has to rerun all of the lines again and bury them due to the cutting of the cables)? Ok, so the $25 again is a slap in the face. Chris tells me her supervisor will give me a call…she can't give me his number but assures me he'll call…Waiting…I talked to Chris around 10AM… Matt the Supervisor calls me at 11AM. Matt is not willing to work with me…he too wants to offer the $25 slap in the face and says he can not accommodate my 5 days of work missed due to Verizon not showing up when scheduled…although it's a different compensation when I was expected to wait for contractors that didn't show up as scheduled. I explained to Matt that if I didn't show up for the appointment, I am sure that Verizon would charge me…or would that be Frontier Communications that is taking over Verizon in the NW? By the way, no one ever informed me that my service provider would be Frontier Communications…I found this out from one of the Comcast contractors.

Now let me throw out a few more one liners that were fascinating to me:

Matt: I asked him for a supervisor. He was quick to tell me she was unavailable (how did he know that without even taking a breath to ask her, does he man the Supervisor calendar)?

Matt: I asked him for the supervisor's name, Kim he replied. I asked for a last name…He refused to give me the last name, stating that for security reasons, he is not allowed to give out last names.

Matt: I asked for Kim's phone number, he stated she didn't have one! (I am becoming amused)!

Matt: He also told me Kim would not be able to give me any answers that were different from his… Why have a Supervisor if her subordinate can always make instant decisions and answer for her? Glad we cleared that one up!

Matt: I asked him where the corporate office was. He said St Petersburg FL

Matt: I asked for the Corporate phone number: Classic response, "They don't have one!"

I am seriously amused at this point!

My response: "Wow Matt, A communications company that provides phone service all over the country and they doesn't have a phone of their own?" "No wonder my phones never worked!" "They haven't figured out how to hook up the first one over at headquarters! "

Matt: "I can give you an address, you can write to them!" PO Box ya da ya da ya da! Thank you, so helpful.

Matt: I asked for a physical address, he wouldn't give me one.

Matt: I told him I wanted compensation for the 5 days I took off from work to accommodate Verizon's necessity for me to be home, although they didn't show up when promised. His response…The $25 performance guarantee. I told him I make no less than $65 an hour and that's what I expect as compensation….8 hrs x 5 days even though I have spend endless additional hours trying to get this mess straightened out. He told me that he can not just whip out a check. It's against Verizon guidelines. I asked him to send me a copy of the guidelines. He said he couldn't do that. He told me that it is against policy to compensate for work lost or send out a copy of the guidelines! I asked him for a copy of the policy… No, he can't do that either. He also told me, and I quote "It was against FCC rules." That's a new one!

Well…he told me he would have Kim call me sometime between noon and 5PM! Nice… I wasn't sure how that would be possible considering Kim didn't have a phone! Am I missing something here?

1:30: Kim leaves a voice mail…with no return phone number! She must have borrowed a phone from AT & T! She said she would call me sometime the next day! So, do I wait for the call? Maybe sometime between 8AM-5PM!

Wednesday, July 23: Kim calls the other phone number that I rarely answer at 11:30AM. She is not willing to offer more than $25. As I mentioned to Matt, if I was going to hear the same song and dance each time I hear from another Manager, then send me to someone else. I told Kim the same thing. At least she didn't make any decisions for the next Manager in line. That would be James. He is supposed to call me sometime between now and 5:00PM. Hurry up and wait some more. I get the call from James at 3:30PM. Amazingly, he is one of the few at Verizon that is allowed to have a phone. I guess security isn't an issue for him and going against Verizon policy is ok, because he did give me his last name (Hobson) and a phone number where he could be reached. 636-xxx-xxxx. I did ask for an employee ID#, but he said he couldn't offer that as it was an internal number and policy not to give it out. (Lots of policies)! Of course I was offered the usual $25. I think if they keep offering the $25 dollars, I suppose it would add up each time and eventually I could collect a lot of checks for $25 until I got the compensation I deserve. I let James know that $25 is not acceptable and, like Matt, asked him if he would work for $25 a week. Of course he said no. I asked him why than should I be any different? As you can imagine, we wasted another 20 minutes on the phone going nowhere. I did ask for the Corporate number. He put me on hold for at least 5 minutes and came back with a "We can't seem to find it." He informed me that someone would call me within 24 hours with the number.

Well, as you can see, it is now Friday, July 24 at 9:35AM. No phone call from anyone, at Verizon Corporate if there is such a thing!

July 23, 2009: I received a call from Wendy Allen…somewhere in Texas. She proclaimed to be the Manager of the entire building, as she put it. She said she was in control of Texas, California and some other state (not mine). Twice she repeated these states, Oregon was never included. I asked her why she was calling me as she was not in my state. She corrected herself at that point and told me she had the west coast. Of course, $25 was her best offer and not acceptable to me. I am now frustrated. I told her I would locate someone on my own that could make decisions. Wendy's offered her number at 972-xxx-xxxx. So, I guess the policy doesn't work here either cause I got both last name and phone number. Different rules for different schools!

Next step? I will continue my quest and just keep adding to my list of notes from May 30 and send this letter out to anyone who will listen. My next step (consumer advocates who are receiving a blind copy of this letter), the FCC, government officials (I am well connected), who may have more contacts than I do. Eventually someone will listen but I would like to see Verizon do the right thing and just compensate me for the 5 days I missed from work. They expected me to be here, I lived up to my end of the bargain. It will be interesting to see what happens next!"

Matthew has such a story — of how Verizon mucked up his online and entertainment world when he upgraded to fiber-optic service (FIOS) — and how his follow-up complaint led to him getting three months of free premium-channel bliss... and more:

On July 1, FIOS accidentally cut my service instead of changing names on the account (cause those are equivalent, I guess?). Since then, they've managed to restore my phone service and partially restore my TV service. They still haven't fixed the internet, which is not only hampering my ability to do my job (I work from home a few days of the week out of necessity), but also to watch any OnDemand content or even have a channel guide on the TVs. I've spoken to some really great people at FIOS, especially a tech support guy named Mike, but no one seems to be able to help me. They've admitted more than a few times that the screw-up is on their end, and I just got off the phone with yet another tech, and he has decided they need to send me a new modem, which won't arrive until Wednesday. They won't have one dropped off tomorrow because they have to charge me for that (which is unacceptable and I won't agree to being charged for support at this point), and waiting until Wednesday is really not an option. I just sent an EECB to their executives listed on your site, and I left a voice mail on the telecom president's answering machine, but I was wondering if there is anything else I can do aside for bide my time (which is quite difficult without the internet). I've copied the letter I sent them below:

Dear Verizon,

My name is Matthew Z., and my family has been a Verizon customer for a long time—first with Verizon Wireless, and now with FIOS for a little over a year. Until this past Wednesday (July 1st), everything was great with our FIOS service. On July 1st, our service stopped working completely. Since then, tech support and billing have helped me restore our phone service as well as video (though the guides and on demand content do not work, due to the Internet issue), though the Internet is still not working. The phone number on the account is XXX-XXX-XXXX, and other account information can be provided to you if necessary.

This all started when the name on the account was supposed to change from "Michael Z." to "Amy Z." following the finalization of my parents' divorce. Instead, it seems a disconnect order went in for all non-voice services. When I called on Thursday, support was great, and got my voice service back up. By Sunday, TV and Internet were still not working. Sunday afternoon, I called tech support, and spoke to two wonderful people. The first was a billing Representative named Crystal who helped me sort out the account name issue, and the second was a tech named Mike, who stayed on the phone with me on and off for about 5 hours working through the problems. Mike eventually restored my TV service (again, without program guides or on demand), but alas, he was not able to fix my Internet.

Despite the friendly, professional, and knowledgeable representatives' efforts, they have not been able to help me through this issue. Mike and another tech I spoke with stated that my situation was escalated, but no one can tell me what the result of that escalation was. I was also told that my service would be fixed by noon today. When I got home from work at 10PM EST this evening, service was still not restored. After spending the last hour and a half on the phone with technical support, I am at my wit's end. The last tech that I spoke to said that he wanted to send out a replacement router (even though all previous techs have told me it was a problem on Verizon's end), which wouldn't arrive until Wednesday (which will make it a full week without service), and that's not even a guaranteed fix. He also stated they can't send out techs to my house without charging me, which at this point is absolutely unacceptable.

All I want is for my Internet to be repaired. I have been incredibly patient thus far, but I really cannot go on like this much longer. I love FIOS, I really do. Its absolutely the best Internet and TV package I have ever used. The speed blows cable out of the water, and the picture quality is far better than what we had previously. Until now, I have always been a huge proponent of FIOS, encouraging my friends and their families to make the switch from Time Warner, Comcast, or Cablevision to Verizon. After this experience, however, I feel really let down by what was previously a great service. So I plead with you, please help! I need my service restored! Any assistance that any of you are able to provide will make a huge difference, if only in encouraging me to stick with Verizon. Please call (XXX-XXX-XXXXX) or email me at any time, day or night, if you are able to provide assistance.

A few days later, Verizon fixed everything by rebooting his router from afar, gave him the free premium channels, upgraded the internet service and told him they'd get send him a netbook they're offering to new customers. We bet Matthew will be hoping for another service problem in exactly three months.

(Photo: 20 buckz)

Ivan Seidenberg [Charlie Rose]

Debbie writes:

Our phone was out of service beginning last Saturday. We checked the line into the house and it didn't work so we knew it was an outside line problem. I called Verizon customer service for repairs and I explained the situation. I also told customer service that this was 2nd time within a month that this line had not worked. I was told by Verizon that they are updating all of their lines and that their lines are old and are eaten through by squirrels and that they are in the process of updating their lines with FIOS - so if I wanted to be guaranteed having phone service I should call their business office and order FIOS. I asked the service person if what I was hearing was accurate that unless I upgraded to FIOS Verizon was telling me they could not say that I would have working phone service on a regular basis and she replied if I wanted to be sure to have a working phone I should upgrade to FIOS.

As I am well aware FIOS is an internet service based phone provider which runs off of electricity and since we lose power regularly where we live FIOS would be the worst type of service to have. It appears this is left out of Verizon's push to get unsuspecting consumers to change their phone service to FIOS if you want your phone to work.

We had no phone service all weekend and it was repaired on Monday afternoon. The repair man from Verizon was great and made no pitch that only FIOS would give us working service.

This is clearly an overzealous upsell, but it could be so much more. Squirrels eating through copper lines, destroying our national telecommunications infrastructure? Listen Verizon, this is viral scare-mongering ad gold, or at least a plausible B-film plot. Don't let it go to waste!

(Photo: jeffcl612)

The drama started when Adam moved and Comcast kept applying his payment to his old account. After a few months of this, they shut off his cable and told him he owed around $300, which he gladly paid over the phone — only to realize that he'd just paid Comcast twice for the same service and that his cable still wasn't back on.

His original email was understandably quite lengthy, but here's how he signed off:

The worst part of it all, LOST is on tonight and I am missing it.

Oh yeah, I am picking up a wireless signal from a neighbor since my internet is out. Be sure to also tell people to secure their networks since you never know who is on it.

The whole mess was eventually straightened out — but Adam decided he'd had enough of Comcast and switched to FiOS, which is where we join his story.

Adam writes:

As I have been updating you on my serious of issues with Comcast and their breaking of protocol, lying to a customer, and inability to handle even the simplest of requests the saga is finally over but not without one last instance of poor customer service.

On Friday 05/15/09 I had FIOS installed but my Comcast billing cycle went through Monday 05/18/09 and on Sunday 05/17/09 at 6:30pm I called Comcast to cancel my service and was unable to speak with a person regarding billing.

I called 2-3 times to try to speak with someone but kept getting taken to the same area on the phone system, and finally after selecting I was having trouble with service was I finally able to get a CSR on the phone. I told them I would like to cancel my service and when they asked why I said I was done with the level of service I got from Comcast and had FIOS installed.

The person said they were sorry to hear that but they were unable to complete my request and I needed to call back on Monday 05/18/09 during business hours because they only had technical support on the weekends. In my last statement to Comcast, I explained that this was exactly the reason I am canceling their service.

I called to handle an issue with them, and it should not matter what day or what time I called, because if I have a billing problem I should be able to speak with a person immediately, but that area is not open on Sundays and there was no one that could help me. I bet if I wanted to start service or purchase additional items like movie channels, pay per views, etc.. someone would have happily done that for me.

I went to the Comcast billing office this morning to return my equipment and cancel my service, and upon telling the person what I wanted to do she did not seem to care or ask any questions, just accepted the items and gave me a return receipt.

Adios Comcast, it has been an unpleasant 6 months with their service. If I can be just 1 person who stands up to them and refuses to accept substandard levels of service, then hopefully I can inspire others to do the same thing.

Thanks again for all your help while I was trying to remedy my situation with Comcast. If i had not had The Consumerist, I would probably still be trying to figure out where my money is and just calling the general help line and never being able to get to the executive level, even though they were just as inept, at least I have it on the official record with them. Now let's just hope that check is actually in the mail to me.

One last piece of advice, Adam. Hang on to that receipt.

(Photo:mojojornjorn)

Dave framed his complaint as a fan letter to the Verizon guy, begging for FiOS. He writes to TWC and Verizon:

Dear FIOS guy-

I'm in dire straights and desperately need your help. I live in Edgewater, NJ (07020) and I have a full-blown Time Warner Cable inflicted football emergency.

In my time with Time Warner Cable I have suffered through a TV picture that looks like it's made of Legos. I have been booted off of my internet network (and subsequent fragfest/video game session) innumerable times. I have had technicians come over to my home to fix a problem, only to introduce a new one that's not readily apparent until after they've left. All the while, I've patiently waited for Verizon to roll FIOS out in my neighborhood. However, I can no longer sit idly by and suffer the injustice and indignity of Time Warner Cable's craptastic service.

For the past three weeks FOX HD has gone blank on me right around the start of Sunday's NFL action. I have had their technicians out and had the cable box replaced, all to no avail. Their customer service reps literally have no clue. The first woman that I spoke to this Sunday insisted to me that the game was blacked out — despite the fact that the NY Giants have not been blacked out in the local area (I live 20 minutes from the home stadium)-um-EVAH or the fact that the game was transmitted in HD to Cablevision and Direct TV customers in NJ or the fact that the game was available on non-HD FOX. Apparently, this blackout only applied to people with good television sets, which makes sense because one can only fully realize just how bad the picture is on Time Warner Cable until you get a good TV.

I have even had two different TWC CSRs insist to me that the reason I lost FOX HD is because FOX has stopped transmitting an HD signal. I kid you not. They are claiming that the flagship affiliate for FOX in NYC, home to the Super Bowl champion NY Giants who are in the midst of an 11-1 season, in the biggest football TV audience in the country just decided to cut its HD broadcast. Needless to say the SVP of Communications for Fox Sports and the VP of Engineering and Operations at FOX 5 NY were extremely surprised to hear this (and none to pleased that TWC's reps were lying about the problem and placing the blame with FOX.)

Normally I never attribute someone's actions to malice when sheer incompetence will do (especially where Time Warner Cable is concerned), but I have another theory. I think there's a rogue Eagles fan over at Time Warner Cable. In what will likely be a non-playoff season for Philly a little resentment of the success that the NY Giants have experienced thus far this year and last has to be expected. A little schadenfreude goes a long way these days.

The NFL season is now ¾ over. The playoffs are quickly approaching. I know you guys are close; the main office is in the next town over. I NEED you to fast-track my development (of over 500 units) for FIOS installation. Please, help me FIOS Guy, you're my only hope.

Well, Dave, the Eagles did make the playoffs, but never mind that. It's still a better theory than "FOX doesn't broadcast HD in New York." TWC responded to his email, but his cable woes didn't end.

Dave writes to TWC:

I just wanted to touch base with you to let you know that TWC's services continue to be an EPIC FAILURE. While the problem detailed in my previous email has been resolved (no, FOX 5 NY had not stopped transmitting an HD signal, as I was told by multiple TWC CSRs...rather, it was faulty wiring/installation on TWC's part), your services continue to disappoint.

Your TV service is horrible. HD channels constantly pixelate, freeze and cut audio. Sometimes to the point where it becomes unwatchable. This is not a problem with any of the wiring or equipment in my home, as verified by your own technical staff. This is a known problem with your feed from NY (again, as relayed to me by your technical staff.) I have this problem, my neighbor in my development has the same problem. Even my buddy who lives in Manhattan and uses a cable card on your service has this problem (so, clearly, the problem does not even lie with the cable boxes; it is all your bad signal.) Yeah, HD is free on TWC...and apparently, you get what you pay for.

Your internet service is equally as bad. I can be surfing online and watch as my signal drops from 54Mbps, down to the 40's, 30's, 20's, 10's and finally disconnect. Then it starts to cycle back up. I am sick and tired of having streaming video freeze and getting kicked off of online game sessions because of your sub-standard product. Once again, your technicians have been over every inch of wiring in my home. The problem does NOT originate in my home.

You should also know that TWC was not the only one to reply to my original email about your craptastic services and products. Verizon contacted me about my interest in bringing FIOS to my development of 600 units. Guess what? It turns out that they had fiber running right across the front of my development. I have since put them in direct contact with my management office. A site survey of the property has already been completed and efforts are underway to finish the final paperwork for the fiber upgrade.

Prepare yourselves to loose a whole bunch of customers this spring and summer...all due to TWC's incompetence and inability to provide decent products and services to their paying customers.

After that TWC replied with an entirely blank email, after which Dave gave up and forwarded the whole chain to us.

Well, it's good to see that TWC Executive Customer Service is just as incompetent as your 1st Level Customer Service. You people can't even reply to an email correctly.

You had no problem clicking 'reply' and no problem clicking 'send', but you forgot about the little buttons on your keyboard with all of the letters on them. You see, letters make words, words make sentences and sentences make paragraphs, which convey meaning. Unfortunately, your reply to me was completely devoid of any of those things.

Thanks, Dave. Good luck with your forthcoming FiOS installation. Keep your fire extinguisher handy.

Sam writes:

Yesterday I had Fios internet installed at my house and the installer accidentally drilled a hole into my wife's wedding dress.

When the installer was mounting the box on the outside of the house, he meant to drill a hole from the outside into the laundry room. Instead, he drilled a hole from the outside into my wife's closet (about 4 feet away) and into her not-cheap-at-all wedding dress.

I asked the technician "so, what's this about drilling through my wife's wedding dress?" and he explained that he thought he was drilling into the laundry room. I said, "but the laundry room is over here (pointing about 4 feet over)". He apologized and continued working.

Before he left he apologized again and said he "made a note" in his installation report and that Verizon would contact me. So far no word from them.

It's a sign of just how successful Comcast's Frank Eliason has been at turning around that company's customer service image that our first thought was, "Too bad this wasn't a Comcast tech or we know Frank would be all over it." So here's your chance, John Czwartacki, the Verizon FiOS guy on Twitter: can you get someone at Verizon to contact Sam and make things right again?

(Sam, go on Twitter and send a direct message to http://twitter.com/CZ with your story and see what happens.)

Beth says:

I'm moving, so I'm signing up for new Verizon Fios service. I noticed that the title of one of the order pages was highly accurate — "Upsell"

Hey, we love transparency.

"Time Warner Cable Expands Metered Billing" [DSLReports] (Thanks to pezhore!)
(Photo: Willrad)

Back in March of last year, we noticed a very large amount of complaints about Verizon failing to deliver on a promised "Free LCD TV" for new FiOS customers. We suggested that people complain to their state's attorney general. It appears that of the states, NJ chose to listen.

The New Jersey Department of Consumer Affairs says:

The state alleges that Verizon failed to provide advertised promotional gifts such as flat-screen televisions when consumers signed up for FiOS service. The State also alleges that Verizon charged consumers higher prices for service than prices quoted in door-to-door solicitations and advertisements and also charged activation fees after consumers were told that such would be waived.

"FiOS is touted for its clearer picture but Verizon obscured the truth from potential customers in its advertising and sales pitches," Attorney General Anne Milgram said. "Deception and misrepresentations have no place in the marketplace and we will hold businesses accountable when they violate the public's trust."

Here are a few of the problems New Jersey has with Verizon.

New Jersey alleges that Verizon engaged in the following conduct:

• Quoting one price for FiOS Service in door-to-door solicitations, direct mail advertising and otherwise, then billed consumers at a higher price;
• Charging consumers an activation fee, after the salesperson in the door-to-door solicitation waived the fee;
• Charging consumers for services, such as movie packages, that were never ordered;
• Representing that movie packages were free, then billing consumers for such services;
• Advertising promotional gifts, yet failing to provide consumers with the opportunity to contract for the types of FiOS service necessary to obtain the promotional gifts;
• Failing to provide consumers with the rewards letter or other instructions necessary to receive their promotional gifts;
• Failing to provide consumers with a copy of their signed contract;
• Representing that consumers are entitled to receive promotional gifts, but failing to provide promotional gifts;
• Billing consumers at a price other than that initially quoted;
• Failing to honor a consumer's request to cancel the FiOS service; and
• Making it very difficult (i.e. long delays, varied telephone numbers) for consumers to reach a customer service representative in order to address or resolve issues as to promotional gifts, services and/or billing.

Verizon's spokesperson called the allegations "just over-the-top, and in many cases just plain wrong.'' They claimed that they are looking forward to "sitting down with the (Attorney General's office) shortly to try and set the record straight because right now, we believe, many of her allegations are flawed."

The Attorney General's statement also noted that, to date, the Division has received 266 consumer complaints related to FiOS marketing and sales.

A FiOS complaint form and survey can be filled out on the Division's web site. Consumers also can file complaints with the Division by calling 1-800-242-5846 (within N.J.) or 1-973-504-6200.

If you didn't get your TV, or any of the other promotional gifts that have been promised to new FiOS customers, let these people know about it.

State Sues Verizon Over Deceptive FiOS Sales and Marketing Practices [NJDCA]
(Photo:Ben Popken)

Verizon doesn't offer a WiFi service associated with FiOS, which is why cable companies are exploring the option as a way to retain customers, said Doug Williams, an analyst at Forrester Research, a Massachusetts-based technology research firm.

"Certainly, where Verizon has deployed its FiOS, cable companies are looking to step up their game and compete at a higher level," Williams said.

Is free Wi-Fi a decent enough perk to keep you from switching?

Comcast, Cablevision turn to WiFi in effort to retain customers [Star-Ledger]
(Photo:diaper)

More than 250 of Verizon's high-definition programming channels or other choices - out of a total of 1,057 - aren't real entertainment but program fillers on blow-drying hair, kissing, grilling a hamburger, folding a pillowcase, chopping garlic, and other mundane topics, Comcast says.

Verizon countered that "how to" programming is popular with their customers, claiming that Comcast is desperate because they offer 104 HD channels and Comcast only offers 37.

Verizon spokesman Harry Mitchell said yesterday that the how-to programs were popular with customers and "this has the whiff of desperation about it. Verizon solidly beats Comcast in the number of HD channels."

The Philadelphia cable giant's jabs come as Verizon is seeking a 15-year agreement to offer its FiOS pay-TV services in Philadelphia. Mayor Nutter's administration disclosed the proposed Verizon agreement Nov. 13.

About a week later, Nov. 19, Verizon said in a news release that it would expand HD channels and choices to offer Philadelphia-area customers "far more HD content than Comcast."

Comcast says not true and has released comparative data on HD programming.

The data state that Comcast offers 1,304 HD choices overall and Verizon 1,057. In HD categories, Comcast says it has 224 HD movies, compared with 112 for Verizon; 423 HD music clips, compared with 197 for Verizon; 288 HD television shows, compared with 144 for Verizon, and so on.

Then there is the category listed as "HD Empty How To Choices." Comcast said it had zero and Verizon 268.

Not listed in the data are HD channels, in which Verizon is a clear leader. It has 104 to Comcast's 37. "We kick them in the teeth," Mitchell said.

Comcast snorts that 20 of the Verizon HD channels are so marginal that they're not rated by Nielsen.

Know what? Neither of them have NFL Sunday Ticket. Just Sayin'.

Comcast attacks Verizon's HD claims [Philadelphia Inquirer]

David has been chronicling his ordeal on his website, and here's today's update:

Update Friday 10/31/08 (Day 35):
No surprise updates today, another day of the same BS. I get a call back from the above person I’ve been dealing with (Barbara Bell), telling me that the main problem was the original people did not actual close the service from the previous owners. They took care of this, and literally once it propagates into the system, it will automatically put mine in and everything will start working.

Then around 3:30, I receive a call from dispatch saying they have a tech coming to the house to fix the video part of the order. I was confused, Barbara told me that everything would just start working. I felt like there were two separate stories going on, so I asked the dispatch lady to call Barbara and ensure they are on the same page before I waste my team by leaving work and potentially waste a tech’s time coming to my house.

Dispatch calls back and says that Barbara agreed to send the tech out. Ok. I go home and wait. The tech comes, goes downstairs, looks at the yellow light on the router, and turns to me saying “this won’t work”. Ahhh, of course not. He said that the order flowed through the system, but on the last step there were errors, so it didn’t actually go through all the way. He goes back and forth between the house and truck a few times, and the last time he just says “I have no idea what to do, your orders are just completely jacked up”. Of course they are, they only told me on the phone that everything had been cleared up. Apparently people had been ordering and canceling and ordering and canceling and changing names, etc that everything was just a huge mess.

So I get on the phone with the HOA Verizon group, who can’t do anything because everybody is home. Even though they are open until 8pm, they apparently can’t actually do anything. The tech was just amazed at how ridiculous the situation was. So after being on the phone for another 45 minutes of getting nowhere, I just told the rep I would call Barbara in the morning since she told me to. I call her around 9am, she’s on the line with somebody else and will call me right back as soon as she’s off. It’s over an hour later, still no call back yet.

I can’t wait to see what happens today.

David has already sent an EECB — which clearly didn't work. We wish we could tell you to cancel, David. Maybe you should consider small claims court? Or sending an EECB every week like that guy in the Shawshank Redemption?

Is The Verizon Fios IT Team Completely Incompetent? [DP]
(Photo: TeachingThomas )

Here's the EECB (Executive Email Carpet Bomb) Bill sent to Verizon:

I am trying to sign up for FIOS service and now have to place a 3rd order in a week. I am particularly furious because it was supposed to be installed today and only found out my order had been canceled when I went to www.verizon.net/whatsnext and it showed canceled. I received no phone call.

Let me reiterate. I was supposed to be installed today. I took off of work today. I took the whole day off because the only time that could be given to me was 8am to 5pm. I only found out that my order was canceled because I happened to check the website again.

As of yesterday, 10/15/08, the order was still showing on the website for an install today on 10/16/08. I am now currently holding on my 9th phone call to get service.

I originally signed up with a door to door sales person [redacted] on 10/8/08 in the evening. I had a question the next morning whether the premier package for TV, that had I originally signed for, was considered essentials or extreme in the new setup. So I tried to call to find out.

Below is my log of phone calls.

10/9/08 - 9:05am
called 888-281-1511 - given to me by verizon person on phone during original order
-can't find my order. finds out I ordered from a door to door person. gives me a new number (866-326-7937) and tries to transfer me. answered by another person on the same number i originally called
10/9/08 - 9:08am
called 866-326-7937 - given to me by the previous call
-told me i need to call my local office and gives me 410-954-6260

10/9/08 - 9:10am
called 410-954-6260
-went through 4 separate menus. eventually hung up on by the system

10/9/08 - 9:15am
called 888-553-1555 - from bottom of sales order form
-10 minutes before phone is answered. told they have to put me through to a fios representative and gives me a new number (410-265-0577) and transfers me

10/9/08 - 9:26am
-Transferred to 410-265-0577
-hung up on by system

10/9/08 - 9:26am
-called 410-265-0577
-Connie [Redacted]
-Premier = Essentials TV Plan
-10/mo extra for Extreme TV
-can't find the order in the system to make the upgrade to extreme tv package
-says the 12.99/mo for 3 boxes is only good till the end of the year when the sales person says it is 12.99/mo for 1 year and that's what's on my paper
-can't cancel the order because they can't find the order
-takes my number and promises to call me back the following morning

10/10/08 - 12:00pm
called 410-265-0577 after not receiving the promised callback
Miss [redacted]
still can't find the original order
Doing a new order
$109.99/mo
Extreme HD w/sports package
20/5 internet
verizon freedom essentials
free HM DVR for 12 months
3 STB for 12.99/mo for 12 months
hbo/cinemax free for 1 month
-read back the above to the operator to confirm pricing and package details
-hang up at 12:35 with promise to call back once she gets her supervisor to check the order because it's not going through

10/10/08 - 2:05pm
Miss [redacted] called back
-install on the 16th
-Confirmation for TV and Internet [redacted] - double bundle until phone is brought over
-will receive 4 e-mails. 1st email is bundle terms, 2nd email is security and backup bundle, 3rd games on demand, 4th starz play - THESE ARE NOT ON BY DEFAULT I HAVE TO ACCEPT IT TO BE TURNED ON
-confirmed 20/5 internet and extreme TV
-cancel free hbo/cinemax by Nov 13th
-free install - 1 time activation for internet 29.99 - broken up into 3 month payments

-Confirmation for Phone [redacted]
-transfers on the 20th
-bringing over on copper first then switching over to fiber later
-freedom essentials package
-no activation charges for phone since it's a package
-1-800-688-2880 (8am-8pm)
-1-888-553-1555 (24 hrs)

10/16/08 - 10:55am
went to verizon.net/whatsnext to look at my install time again and it says Our records indicate that your order was canceled on 10/10/2008. If you believe this order was canceled in error or want to place a new order please call 1-888-553-1555.
Called 410-265-0577
Veronica
-Order [redacted] was canceled because of 2 duplicate orders
- [redacted] was original order that nobody could find originally. We now have to cancel this order so I can place a 3RD order which will be a duplicate of the 2nd order.
-I am being promised a 16/mo credit for 1 year because of the inconvenience
-I am being told i will be able to have an install on 10/20/08 for the new order which was the date of the original order
-11:25am
-Veronica is waiting for the old order to clear out of the system.
-we go over what the 2nd order had on 10/10/08 in order to duplicate that order
-it is taking a long time to clear out of the system so Veronica promises to call me back after it happens. She expects it should clear out by 1pm
-she takes my e-mail and e-mails me so I will have a point of contact in case she doesn't call back

I don't know what the installation expectation is for verizon, but I hope this isn't it.

I would like for someone to please ensure that my now 3rd order is processed correctly, that I receive my installation on 10/20/08, and that my 16/mo credit actually appears on my bill when it comes.

Bill CC'd the EECB to Consumerist and followed up with his success story:

I wrote earlier on 10/16/08 about my horrible verizon installation experience and CC you in an EECB that I sent to verizon.

It worked. Fifteen minutes after I sent the e-mail I received a phone call telling me they would see to it that I was installed that day.

They followed through. Not only did they follow through they exceeded expectations in being able to get my home number ported that same day as well.

I think, perhaps unrelated, my TV service stopped working a few hours later, but they are supposed to fix that tomorrow 10/17/08. We shall see.

Hopefully i won't have to do another EECB for my billing when i get my first bill!

Bill

Congratulations, Bill. Logging your phone calls was a smart move.

For more information about launching your own EECB, click here.

(Photo: cayusa )

Jacob says:

I signed up for FIOS in March and was promised a $200 Circuit City giftcard, and have been given the runaround for months now. I thought I was an isolated case, but when the rep last week told me the promotion had never existed, that was the last straw.

Jacob pointed us to a website filled with angry Verizon customers who haven't received their gift cards. Of course, this isn't the first time Verizon has failed to deliver on a FiOS promotion. Remember the disastrous "Free LCD" giveaway earlier this year?

If you believe that you were eligible for a free gift card from Verizon and have not received it, you should contact your state's attorney general and file a formal complaint. If enough customers do this, the AG will investigate.

Rob writes (to Verizon):

Mr. Seidenberg,

I've been a loyal Verizon FiOS internet customer for more than a year, but am considering canceling my account [redacted] because of ridiculous and unacceptable billing practices.

Before I start, I'd like to point out that I don't get a bill for my account - neither paper nor electronic. The money is simply deducted from my bank account each month. During the six to eight phone calls I have made to Verizon over the last several months, I always request some kind of bill, and every time I am told I will receive a bill. I have never gotten one official piece of paperwork from Verizon about FiOS.

My current problem started in July, when I moved to a new apartment. I was told my FiOS account would be transferred to the new apartment with zero fees. I was very specific in asking about this and was assured there would be no fees. After my account was transferred, I was billed $158.32 as a cancellation fee. I was told that my account was cancelled and then re-activated. I called and was told that the account would be credited, and I wouldn't pay anything until that fee was paid off.

The next month, I was charged $21.33. I called again, and was given a complicated explanation about credits to my account. I was assured the problem would be resolved, and foolishly I believed that.

The next month, I was charged $58.00. Confused as to exactly what constitutes an account credit, I called again (this morning, in fact). Once again, I was told about various amounts being deducted from my bill, and what was being taken out up front. I once again requested a paper bill so I could review these issues. I also learned something incredibly shocking: My monthly rate had been increased.

When I got FiOS, my monthly rate was $39.99. It's suddenly $47.99, a charge I was neither notified of, nor accepted.

I asked the customer service representative to tell me why this had been raised without my consent. She responded by transferring to me a completely different department. That department sent me back to a new rep in billing, and after giving all of my information again, was given the following explanation: The increase should have been noted on my bill, even though people who only have a data plan with Verizon don't get a paper bill.

I wasn't getting electronic bills, either, because the Verizon system listed various incarnations of my e-mail address.

For July, August and September, I have been charged $237.65 for my Verizon FiOS internet. At the rate I should be paying, $39.99 a month, I would only have to pay $119.97, which means in the last three months I've been overcharged $117.68.

This is completely and totally unacceptable. I've copied The Consumerist, a consumer advocacy Web site, on this issue, so that your customers can be encouraged to double-check their bills and ensure they aren't being overcharged, as I have been.

I've also sent this e-mail to other members of the Verizon team, in the hopes of expediting this matter. I'm considering a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and the New York State Attorney General for what essentially constitutes deceptive and misleading billing practices. I doubt that raising my rate with no notification, despite repeated attempts for notification, is going to bear out as appropriate.

Every time I call Verizon for help, I have to deal with an automated system that bounces between several departments before I get explanations that would spin the head of an economics expert. Your customer service representatives are, for the most part, accommodating and polite, and this is not an indictment of them. The situation, as you can imagine, is incredibly frustrating.

When I relayed this to the customer service representative this morning, the response was that I should simply accept the increase and the overall situation. That is not good enough. I would appreciate a refund of $117.68 - the money that I was overcharged - as well as a monthly paper bill so I can review my charges.

I would also like to pay the monthly rate of $39.99, the one I agreed to when I signed up. I will be more than happy to entertain an increase in my monthly rate at some point in the future, on the condition that I am notified of said change.

Regards,

Rob

We think you should go ahead with your plan to report them to the NY AG and the BBB. Why not?

(Photo: Ben Popken )

PSC staff said FiOS "may form an electrically conductive path" and could create an electrical hazard. PSC spokesman James Dean called the public safety risk "minimal - however, there is a potential risk."

Under a plan submitted to the PSC last month, Verizon would review all of its fiber-optic installations to ensure connections are properly grounded and correct violations.

The company also said it would issue credits of up to $20 to customers for installations after Aug. 18 unless it meets standards at least 95 percent of the time. The credits would "compensate such customers for the inconvenience of the inspection (and, where applicable, remediation) process," according to documents filed with the PSC.

Verizon added that they take the Public Service Commission's concerns "very seriously."

Verizon offers plan to inspect FiOS wiring [Albany Times Union]
Violations cited in LI FiOS installations [Newsday]
(Photo: Getty)

August 8th. 3pm. My Verizon cable service is disconnected. Both set top boxes are non-responsive, but my internet service is booming along. I reboot the Verizon equipment a few times over the next 3 hours, but it never comes back on. I call Verizon's "Fibre Solutions Center" and deal with some rather incompetent customer service. They blame me for rewiring my apartment. They say that they don't see any issues. They deactivate and reactive my cable boxes. They tell me there is no problem. They tell me that the cable boxes are broken. None of what they do works. Every call is ended with the representative telling me that my service "will be back within the hour". It never is. They send me 2 new cable boxes. They don't work. I called ever day from Friday to Monday. They refused to send out a technician because they didn't see the issue on their end. Finally after going up the chain I am told they can have someone out by Wednesday evening. This was not really that acceptable considering all of the Olympics I missed, but if they were sending someone out I should be happy.

In speaking with comcast today I am told that I shouldn't have received a bill for the month of September since my Comcast service was physically disconnected the evening of Aug 8. The rep gives me a little background and says that until they physically sever the connection, my service with Comcast continues. At that point I was no longer receiving Comcast signals over my coax. I was 100% Verizon.

On Wednesday, August 13th a Verizon technician arrives at my apartment. He is happy to say that he already found the problem. Someone with access to the LOCKED network closet disconnected me from the Verizon lines. That someone was not from Verizon I was told. That someone severed the lines without permission. Now I find out that that somone was a Comcast technician.

Where do I stand on this? What can I do? How do I get anything from Comcast on this? What should I do with Verizon. I am still going through executive customer service within both companies but I'm not sure what the exact implications of this happen to be.

We think you should call your local government and find out which department regulates cable in your area. File an official complaint against Comcast for disconnecting your cable and continuing to bill you after you had already switched to Verizon.

As far as getting compensation from your old cable company, we're not sure that you'll have much luck since you've severed your business relationship with Comcast. We're sure they'd love for you to switch back, but we suspect that you're not going to want to do that.

We'd concentrate on asking Verizon for a credit to compensate you for the service interruption rather than get into a bunch of "he said, she said" nonsense with the cable companies.

Has this happened to any of you? How did you handle it?

(Photo: Tyler Durden's Imaginary Friend )

UPDATE: Comcast says they're sending someone out to Stephen's house to investigate.

We don't play World of Warcraft, but if we did, it looks like we'd have to cancel Time Warner Cable and install FIOS in order to guarantee a connection to Blizzard's servers. That's what some East Coast WoW players are saying—they've been suffering disconnections and game-killing lags for months now, and Time Warner Cable seems unable to solve the problem. They swear they're not doing anything to disrupt or throttle gamers, and say that "customers who are having problems on the local level should contact customer service." Based on the 24-page thread on Blizzard's forums, TWC's customer service has yet to resolve the issue.

One Wow player wrote,

Everyone here is extremely frustrated because we want to play but can't get a connection to do so. Blizzard does what they can to help but the problem is the path to the servers not the servers themselves so we are sent to TWC. I'm sure everyone that has called has been asked to check thier connection, their router, their modem and their underwear color. The "techs" are outsourced and don't listen or don't understand English very well. How many of you have told the "tech" that you have tried their suggestions 100 times only to have them send you to http://speedtest.nyc.rr.com/ and say "See .. no problem with your connection"?

Maybe you should unplug your router for a few moments to reset it. LOOKIT ME I'M A TIME WARNER CABLE CSR.

Update: An alleged Time Warner Cable employee wrote to us this morning:

Without going into detail, I am an employee of Time Warner Cable. At this time, we are not aware of any issues with this. If possible, please urge anyone having this issue to contact us immediately using an online form. If we have account information, we can investigate the issue, but we do not block packets/servers/etc. that should be causing the issue. If anything, a recent system upgrade should be delivering faster speeds. Please, if possible, direct those with the issue here:

http://www.timewarnercable.com/nynj/customer/contactus/

"TWC Blamed for Internet Interference" [New York Post]
(Photo: thms.nl)

1) When possible, Verizon buries the "drop line" (single fiber that leads to your house) - smart, right? No. Usually they're only buried 6 inches underground, and typically with no conduit or protection beyond the insulation around the fiber itself. Dig and break the fiber? Whoops, that might cost you a few thousand dollars to reconnect if the junction is too far away! Did we install your fiber connection over the top of the lid to your septic system and you can't have it pumped out? Better call us and pay out the ass (ho ho!) to have it moved.

2) We are only supposed to support setting up a wireless router if it has line of sight to your computer. That's right, within the same room. My trainer said their are exceptions you have to make, such as if your install tech stuck the thing up in a cupboard or strapped it to the optical box we install, but otherwise out of luck.

So, PRO TIP: if you want help with wireless, "yes, my router is in the same room as the computer" or "but the Verizon tech installed it that way" will be required verbiage for help from us if you're a normal person that wants to use wireless IN OTHER ROOMS!

3) If we determine you have an in-house wiring fault causing your home phone to not work (only fiber up to our optical box, you still have copper wiring in your house) our repair techs cost $90 just to show up - just to roll up to your house! and then $180 an hour. So if we talk about calling "copper repair" and you don't have a wiring service plan, hang the hell up and find a local guy.

4) One good thing is that FiOS agents have no barrier to the DRC, the people that control dispatches. In DSL, if your truck tech just up and left, or knocked and ran, you're screwed. FiOS agents can call directly and find out if your tech left to do an off-premises repair or get a tool and when he'll be back, or turn a "no access" dispatch around if a lazy tech didn't knock hard enough.

(Photo: davidbivins )

Chris writes:

We had the triple play installed back on Jan 11th, 2008 and have yet to receive any paperwork. I have called and emailed every other week since originally accepting their Terms of Service online the night it was installed and received nothing. Here are some of the things I have been told:
—-—-—-—-—
1/18/08 via email:

RESPONSE: Thank you for contacting the Verizon eCenter. I have received your email dated Jan 17, 2008 regarding the LCD TV. My name is Albert, and I will be happy to assist you.

Two to three weeks after all your bundle components are installed and working you will receive a letter in the U.S. Mail. The letter will include a username and password for a website address to redeem the promotion. A toll-free number, (866)279-0438, is available if you are unable to access the url or do not receive the information. Please allow four to ten weeks to receive your gift award after the date you go through the reward claims process.

Although additional follow-up may be needed, it has been my goal today to address your concerns. I hope I have succeeded in meeting that goal. In the meantime, if you have any other questions, please let us know. We look forward to serving you.
—-—-—-—-—
2/21/08 via email:

To Verizon: It has been almost 6 weeks to date from the installation of our FIOS bundled package and we still have NOT received any paperwork concerning the LCD tv redemption. This is really getting frustrating as we feel we have been more than patient waiting for the paperwork through the mail. Can someone not get this resolved for us, and not with the canned response of "please allow another4 - 6 weeks"? The whole reason we decided to go with Verizon's bundled package and not someone else was because of the tv offer. Can a supervisor authorize for the information to be emailed to me concerning the promotion?

RESPONSE: Thank you for responding to my last email. You had additional questions about the TV promotion.

If you have not received the information, contact the office at (866) 279-0438 and they will check the status and make sure that the package has or will be sent.

Thank you for using Verizon. We appreciate your business.

Sincerely,
Albert
Verizon eCenter

—-—-—-—-—
2/23/08 telephone call to Verizon -
Called @ 4:45 spoke to Brian - told me to check back 1 week if no paperwork via snail mail.

—-—-—-—-—
2/29/08 telephone call to Verizon -
Called @ 3:06 pm to follow up to Verizon installation 7 weeks ago - still have received nothing concerning tv promo/$200 best buy card. 3:27 pm Spoke to ??? and she is submitting request for rebate to her supervisor.

—-—-—-—-—

3/24/08 telephone call to Verizon -
Called 4:47 pm on hold until 5:05 - requested to be transfered to supervisor - Melinda... letter never went out from installation... Referred to billing - 5:15 Melinda transferred to billing - on hold until 5:36 spoke w/jessica and transferred to FIOS...on hold until we hung up at 6:31 pm!!!!!!!!!

already talked to rebate dept multiple times. Billing records are not indicating/flagging us as eligible for 19" LCDHDTV rebate- what is keeping it from the rebate dept... Installation date was 1/11/08 and we have never received any paperwork to begin the rebate process even though I have emailed and spoke with various people. Now 10 weeks and still no info or anything else...
—-—-—-—-—
3/25/08 telephone call to Verizon

called general billing 1-800-483-3000 9:06 automated voice mail 6 min wait for next avail assoc. Frank - 9:15 - shooting email to supervisor to ask her to over ride and cause letter to be generated - does not appear to him that we accepted TOS online - but I did within 48 hours of installation - actually that evening. Informed that we are considering canceling the WHOLE verizon acct over this.

RESPONSE via email: Dear Verizon FiOS Customer,

On MAR 25, 2008 you ordered Verizon FiOS Triple Freedom (24-month option) that provides discounts off the standard monthly rates for your Verizon Freedom Essentials, FiOS Internet and FiOS TV Premier services. We are delighted to have you as a Verizon FiOS Triple Freedom customer, but in order for you to receive the discounted rates, you must go to the following website at....
—-—-—-—-—
4/24/08 telephone call to Verizon

[ed— same story as 3/25]
—-—-—-—-—
5/12/08 email to Verizon

Still trying to get resolution on 19" LCD HDTV/BestBuy gift card promotional rebate from January 2008. Installation date 1/11/2008. Am not able to follow up by phone today as my son is not feeling well. I have called MULTIPLE times trying to get this resolved with no results. I am now to the point of being very angry as this was to be my son's birthday present May 1st, 2008!!! I am about ready to contact the local television stations and let them publicly try and resolve this with Verizon as I have been MORE THAN PATIENT up to this point and time. Below are a few of the conversations I have documented and one of the original emails. Please have someone reply accordingly within the next 48 hours as to the status of our rabate. My wife, Christine [redacted], will be the cotact person via telephone calls at this time as I am at work and not able to personally resolve this over the phone.
—-—-—-—-—
5/14/08 email to Verizon
no response from Verizon. Never received " confirmation email with a tracking number shortly. " Emailing through their contacted site again with the following:

We will be contacting the Public Service Commission within the next 30 days concerning there being no resolution on 19" LCD HDTV/BestBuy gift card promotional rebate from January 2008. Our Installation date 1/11/2008; on that same day we accepted the TOS online as directed but to this day have never received the appropriate paperwork to claim our rebate. We have made MULTIPLE attempts via telephone and email regarding this with no results. Please have someone review this immediately and respond to us as we have BEEN MORE THAN PATIENT. Please note that copies of all email communications and conversations will also be released to the local tv stations to alert future customers of the hassles that might befall them. Four months is not acceptable - Verizon would not wait 4 months plus for a dispute resolution with one of their accounts.

EMAIL RESPONSE: Dear verizon.com customer,

Thank you for contacting our customer support team at the Verizon
eCenter. An account associate is reviewing your inquiry and will
respond via email within one business day. Please keep the subject
line unchanged if you wish to reply to this email.
—-—-—-—-—
5/14/08 LIVE CHAT online w/Verizon

Welcome to Verizon Live Chat. You have selected to chat about:
TN: 7273799152
Subject: None of the categories apply to my question or comment (No subcategory)
Question: We have never received ANY paperwork since our package installation 1/11/08 on the 19' LCD HDTV/BestBuy gift card promotional rebate despite MULTIPLE CALLS to the billing and rewards depts. We are seriously considering contacting the Public Service Commission about this.
16:07:12 A Verizon eCenter Representative will be with you shortly. Thank you.
...
Angela: I apologize for the delay in receiving the letter for the 19 inch TV or $200 Best Buy promo offer.
Angela: I will be glad to send an inquiry over to fulfillment to check the status.
Angela: May I get your email address for follow up? You will receive an email response within 2 business days.
Chris: The tv was to have been a birthday present for our son...whose birthday was May 1st. Not angry at you - just at the system as we have been patient and keep getting the run around. [redacted]
Angela: I have sent the inquiry over to fulfillment for the status on the TV.
Chris: Thank you
Angela: Is there anything else I can help you with?
Chris: If I do not hear back within 2 days I will attempt further contact again.
Chris: No thank you...this is my only problem with Verizon at this time.
Angela: Thank you for using Verizon's chat service. If you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact us again.

Online Support and information for all our Verizon products and services can also be found at: http://help.verizon.com
Verizon Live Chat

It was a pleasure to assist you. Your chat session has ended. Thank You.

—-—-—-—-—
5/20/2008 As of this time I have NOT received ANY sort of response from Verizon as promised.

We've been advising readers to file complaints with their state's attorney general, and that's just what Chris did. Here's his update:

I filed a complaint with the Florida State Attorney after writing your email yesterday...funny thing...I got a call from Verizon about my "complaint" that afternoon, then another call from a rep who "investigated" my account a couple hours later. Too bad he didn't even have the right installation date. Obviously the response was not because of my emails, otherwise he would have had the correct installation date right in front of him. Supposedly things should be straightened out and rectified in 10-14 days per the 2nd rep who called yesterday afternoon! We shall see what happens!

Thanks!

Chris

Will Chris ever get his TV as Verizon has repeatedly promised? We hope so, but if this is happening to you, don't wait — report Verizon to your state's attorney general.

(Photo: Ben Popken )

Judging from the number of comments, I get the feeling that this will be welcome news for baseball fans that are, or are considering becoming, FiOS TV subscribers.

We are currently working with MLB Extra Innings and we’re optimistic that we’ll begin offering the package soon. It won’t be everywhere, all at once unfortunately, but we are working hard to get MLB EI on FiOS TV for as many fans as we can as soon as possible.

Though Verizon didn't actually announce anything in the post, it was picked up by a few blogs and websites and more than a few Verizon customers and potential Verizon customers took the post's headline to heart, signing up for FiOS with the belief that Extra Innings would be available by the start of the 2008 season.

The "announcement" (or lack thereof) turned out to be premature and for months a steady stream of enraged baseball fans have been leaving vicious comments on Verizon's post. Here are a few:

Thanks for getting us jacked up for nothing.

Well, since the season starts tomorrow morning, I signed up for MLB EI through Cablevision this season. By draging your heals, Fios has lost out on this willing subscriber for another 7 months. I'll check in with you again next winter - hopefully the landscape will have settled somewhat by then. I can only switch if I can be sure I will be able to get MLB EI. It seems silly to give up customers like me who will pay tons of money for extra services, but so be it.

I too have left and contacted Directv as the seasons starts tomorrow. you've lost another customer not so much becuase you didnt get the deal done but becuase you've mislead us. i would have just signed up for mlb.tv if it werent for your misleading statements.

Wow, Red Sox kicked off the season today and I'm sitting here in Portland, OR with no Extra Innings even though I was told the package would be offered when I agreed to leave Comcast.....If I knew it was going to be like this I would have never left as now I have NO Red Sox games probably for the season!

Please send information about MLB Extra Innings. My husband almost divorced me last year because I switched our TV service to you guys and then I couldn't get extra innings. If you don't get it this year, I will be forced to discontinue service with you and start up with our cable company that does offer extra innings.

Very disappointing Eric. Why would you EVER make an announcement like this and then go to ground and ignore us. I have bounced around among a number of cable companies over the years as I move from place to place and each one is more disappointing than the next. But, this takes the cake. You started this thread - you owe us an explanation IMMEDIATELY!

Why would you even announce that last month unless a deal was imminent. That was a reckless act by whoever authorized it. I'm guessing the reason why we haven't heard from Eric again, is b/c he's been fired. The only legitimate reason for announcing the potential deal that I've read on this blog, was to keep people around for at least one more month. What a terrible way to do business.

What really makes me angry is that back in January, the salesman that sold me Fios told me that Fios would be getting EI. Had I known, I would not have switched.

No salesman should ever promise something like that just to make a sale, that is just bad business...I should have known better as he also said that Fios would be getting Sunday ticket in '09. I am not holding my breath on that one either.

You'd think at some point Verizon would decide enough is enough and treat their subscriber's interests as a priority. While they're debating how they'll split up millions, the baseball season is now well under way. You guys had all winter to hammer this out and you didn't. When I signed up for Verizon I was specifically told they'd have the EI package, so I left Comcast and signed up, thinking I was sacrificing nothing. Baseball is an important part of cable for a lot of viewers, and we're willing to pay hundreds of dollars a year to watch these games. Wake up, Verizon. We're sitting here willing to give you our money. Wait much longer, and I, like a lot of others, will just walk away. This is one of the most despicable things I've ever seen a cable company do, promise their customers over and over a service is coming yet never delivering it.

This was a total scam on your part and you should be ashamed of yourself. I live in the Boston area and if you don't have EI by May, I am going back to Comcast.

The last update on Verizon's blog instructed the angry customers to order MLB.TV (Major League Baseball's internet service) in lieu of Extra Innings. FiOS customers could then "see games with the broadband speed and clarity that FiOS makes," whatever that means.

Did a Verizon CSR promise you Extra Innings when you switched to FiOS?

MLB Coming to FiOS, Mom and Apple Pie Rejoice! [Verizon Policy Blog]

So I had an issue with FIOS - my router just seemed to go bad. I called in Friday night and spoke with "Eric" who confirmed that and set up a dispatch to get me a new router. "Eric" told me someone would be there between 8 and noon on Saturday. I got an automated call from Verizon around 9am asking me to call them regarding my "cannot connect" issue. I called back and got James at the Fiber Solutions Center. He wasn't sure why that call came in, but he took a look at my ticket and suggested I wait for the tech as it was still early in the window. His first act of awesome customer service happened when I asked about ordering new services. He said that department was closed, but he would have someone give me a call in about an hour, when they opened.

An hour later, phone rings, and it's James. He greets me by name and has someone from the orders department on the phone. He introduces us and then drops off. I was already amazed by that level of personal service.

Around 12:15p I started thinking about calling Verizon back, since it was now after my scheduled window. About five minutes later, the phone rings. It's James again. Again, he greets me by name. He tells me he was looking at my ticket again and noticed that the dispatch was not set up correctly. He apologizes profusely (even though he didn't set it up) and tells me they will have someone out there that day. He asks for my cell phone because he doesn't want to inconvenience me any more than necessary and tells me that we can leave the house if we need to - he'll have the tech call when he's 20-30 minutes out.

James amazes me again! About five minutes after I hang up with James, I get a call from a cell phone. It's the repair tech. He asks if we are home and tells me that he can be at my house within 15 minutes. He shows up about 10 minutes later, switches out the power adapter for the router, and we're in business! All in all, that level of customer service was amazing! Unfortunately, it's few and far between, but James certainly went the extra mile several times. He could have easily left it as the first call, and I probably would not have thought bad about him. After all that effort though, that man deserves a raise.. or at least a cold beer!

- Jeff

Verizon spokesman Eric Rabe told Dow Jones: "The ad is the one in which they have their snarly looking homeowner and Time Warner customer responding to the overly eager Verizon salesman." Verizon has asked TWC to take the ad down, but the cable company refused and is standing by it.

"We feel the suit is without merit and we look forward to defending against it in the appropriate venue," said spokesman Alex Dudley.

The ad in question pokes fun at FiOS's NYC availability issues, such as the company's lack of a video franchise agreement with the city, says Dow Jones.

UPDATE: Verizon Sues Time Warner Cable Over Its TV Ads [CNNMoney] (Thanks, Josh!)

CSRs who work for Verizon say that they are pressured by managers to make calls as short as possible and to spend most of the time trying to sell Verizon products. CSRs who refuse to pressure customers into purchasing more services are disciplined. Even people who work at Verizon have to spend their free time calling the company to complain about their own inaccurate bills.

Dawn Livingston, a shop steward with the IBEW local union at Verizon, said she has won trips, including one to the Mall of America near Minneapolis. "It was very cool," she said. "Verizon got us a hotel room right there so we could drop off our shopping bags and rest."

"But that stuff is only for people who get great sales," not for fixing customer problems, she said. "I could have 15 customers in a row say 'She's doing a great job,' and not get a trip anywhere."

The company is also clear about disciplining workers who don't sell enough.

For example, employees said customer calls are timed and count toward an employee's average call handling time, regardless of the customer's issues. Employees said they need to average no more than 11 minutes with a customer. Managers dispatch "coaches" to stand behind poor-selling workers and issue disciplinary "Work Sheets."

Girit said managers disciplined him 13 times in 7 months for not trying to sell a long list of Verizon products.

"I once got written up for not trying to sell TV to an 80-something-year-old woman who called to change her phone number," Girit said. "And she was in a nursing home, moving from one room to another, and couldn't even get our TV. I'm not going to offer something like that."

Even more frustrating, he said, is that he can't get his own Verizon bill fixed. "I'm a FiOS customer myself, and I have to call every month because the bill is wrong. I'm on the phone with these people for an hour every time I call - and I am 'these people.'"

Frank Leonetti, an 8-month employee at Verizon, said that "even if people are calling, trying to lower their bills, I get in trouble for not trying to sell them more things and make their bill higher. People call me crying with problems they couldn't get fixed in six, seven months. ... Then managers will sit down next to you, plug into your line to listen, and say, 'Why aren't you offering them this, that?'"

Kevin Bailey, a two-year call center employee, said, "Even if people call with a $1,500 messed-up bill trying to cancel, I have to try selling them more things. If I don't, I can get fired."

Verizon Workers Caught Between Sales, Service [Tampa Tribune](Thanks, David!)
(Photo:Ben Popken)

"Verizon is not letting us do our jobs, and not letting us take care of the customer," said Doug Sellers, president of the union that represents Verizon call center and repair workers, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 824. "Customers are waiting up to 10 days to get their phone lines fixed ... If you have something as simple as static on your line, that could be out 10 to 15 days.

Union Protests Verizon's Neglect Of Copper: Focusing resources on FiOS comes with a cost [DSL Reports]
(Photo: Getty)

To file amongst other I hate Verizon articles. Typing and summarizing while on hold with Verizon for approximately the 8th time...

Approximately 2 months ago, our apartment building alerted us that Verizon would be installing FIOS. Hooray, I thought...I can finally access the internet at what the Japanese and Europeans consider "broadband" speed.

A month after install, FIOS finally became available in our unit. I suppose before then, the fiber optic cable in my closet didn't really exist. I scheduled an install 2 weeks out, between 8 am - 7 pm. A customer-friendly 11 hour window.

2 days before, I get robo-called and am forced to submit to a voice-prompt menu to confirm my install date.
Verizon 1 | Dignity 0

The techs arrived, and said the original techs didn't connect the fiber correctly in the garage, and that type of tech would have to come again. They would call and let us know when they would come so we could open garage.

No call.

4 days later we get buzzed by a Verizon tech who is at our door, looking for garage access. We let him in. Repairs are supposedly made to the garage. We get rescheduled for a 3/20 between 1-3 pm to install FIOS.

3/19...Verizon robo-caller forces me to listen to computer to confirm the install appointment again.
Verizon 2. Dignity 0.

3/20 Verizon doesn't show. Doesn't call.

3/21 In attempting to call home, the call won't go through. Arriving at home, I discover no dial tone. Phone is dead.

3/21-3/23 Out of town.

3/23 evening, I return home and decide to call Verizon about still dead phone. Can't get to phone service via robo-menu. Forced into FIOS tech support. I explain that I don't have FIOS (yet) and that they never showed, but bigger problem is no phone service. I am told that Verizon thought I wanted FIOS phone and switched that over. Then apparently called me at my DISCONNECTED number at 8 pm on Thursday the 20th to "reschedule." I tell support I don't want, never wanted, and will never want FIOS telephone. I need my phone turned back on immediately. He tells me I can't call tech support directly b/c system thinks I have FIOS and will only route me to FIOS support, which can't fix "copper" problems. He attempts to connect. 30 minutes later he can't get through, tells me to call billing on Monday during office hours.
Verizon 3 | Sanity 0

3/24 I call billing. They acknowledge I don't have FIOS. Still don't offer to fix telephone issue. I ask for 3 month phone credit (I have basic service- $17/month including taxes, just local service). They refuse and I ask for supervisor, who I'm holding for now still, about 16 minutes by my phone timer.

They told me my phone service was set for service by 7pm on 3/25. They refused my request for 3 months of service credit, and only offered 5 days (the time I've been disconnected to date) of credit. My phone is still off, I still have no FIOS install date, and a "supervisors" supervisor is supposed to call me back tomorrow on my cell phone.

I admit I almost lost it today, as I was on hold almost 15 minutes waiting for the supervisor to connect me to repair (which never happened, they came back and said a repair ticket was already created, which surprisingly took 15 minutes to check). As I was on hold, they repeatedly played a voice-over advertising the free HD TV redemption offer for some level of FIOS order, and I asked why they could give away tvs but not credit me for $45 worth of phone service after they cut it off themselves. Then I asked for the TV. That was also refused.

Questions:
1) Why can't someone offer to actually fix my copper line? Maybe handle that while I hold?
2) Why does the robo system refuse to connect me to copper support? Is it inconceivable that an error like mine could happen?
3) Why doesn't Verizon give their own employees access to other departments to install / correct / fix services?
4) Can someone give me some suggestions on any other high-speed service in Santa Monica California I can use to dump Verizon forever?

I saw you have the executive customer service reps email on Consumerist.com. I'll email that tomorrow if my phone is not turned on.

212-395-1060 is the number for the CEO's office.
212-719-3349 is the fax number for the CEO's office.
212-321-8700 is Verizon Executive Customer Service.
ivan.g.seidenberg@verizon.com is the CEO's email address.

Mark D. Reddick
Executive Customer Relations
140 West St.
Manhattan, NY 10007
Mark.D.Reddick@verizon.com
212-321-8457 (office)
212-321-1047 (fax)

Call 1-800-483-7988 and press 3 to reach the Verizon Customer Advocates for landlines and DSL.

Cassandra Flippin
Consumer Advocate in the Verizon Executive Offices
212-321-8458

william.barr@verizon.com, robert.e.ingalls.jr@verizon.com, thomas.j.tauke@verizon.com

(Photo: Cayusa)

Correction: Verizon-FiOS Story [AP]
(Photo: Dana Spiegel)

Interesting news for apartment dwellers everywhere: Verizon is slowly creeping into Manhattan, but the difficulties of bringing FiOS to apartments will mean that some subscribers won't get 100% fiber.

A tenant in Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village who orders FiOS may find that the company doesn't pull fiber all the way to the apartment, because this entails wall-mounting a box in the apartment, and not all layouts have the space for it, Cevis said.

In those cases, Verizon will pull fiber to the basement, and use a phone line to carry Internet data the last part of the way. Coaxial cable will be used for video when that becomes available. Subscribers will be able to get the fastest current Internet plan, with downloads of 50 megabits per second, but may not be able to take advantage of future speed increases available to subscribers with fiber all the way to the home.

Verizon's first choice is to take the fiber all the way to the apartment, Cevis said.

Verizon's FiOS Takes Manhattan [AP]
(Photo:Ben Popken)

Numerous Verizon customers have reported that they were not sent the "reward letters" that they needed to redeem for the LCD TVs they were owed. We suggested that people start filing complaints with their state's attorney general.

Verizon says they stand by the promotion and that consumers who still have not received their "reward letters" should "please call your local Verizon business office; the phone number is listed on your monthly bill."

For more information about the promotion and details about when you can expect delivery of your TV, click here.

HDTV Promotion [Verizon Policy Blog]
(Photo:BILLBINNS)

Mary writes:

I am one of many people that have had this problem with Verizon—-

At the end of November 2007, I signed up and ordered Triple Play Fios with Verizon, as a promotion they were offering a Free LCD TV or Best Buy gift card. It is now March 2008 and I have not received the special offer letter or TV from Verizon. I have called many times and still get the same run-around, "Your letter will be coming in the mail in a few days"—-

Consumerist, if there is any way you can bring this problem to the forefront an behalf of the many customers who have not received their free LCD TV or Best Buy card from Verizon, that would be greatly appreciated.

Here are some highlights:

Joe and Lisa say:

My fios was connected on nov 20,2007. After being on hold with verizon a total of 6 hours in two weeks and speaking to numerous idiots i've gotten no where. Everyone I spoke to gave me a different story until I finally reached a supervisor, so I was told. He told me I couldn't register for the TV over the phone and that I needed to go on line which i've tried with no success. I again called verizon with another hour wait and when I finally spoke to another idiot I laid it on the line . NO MORE BULL%#@! I will not pay my bill until I receive my TV, AND IF THERE IS NO TV REAL SOON I WILL CONTACT ALL THE TV STATIONS AND INFORM THEM OF THE FALSE ADVERTISING BY VERIZON. THEY CAN THEN TAKE THERE FIOS AND SHOVE IT. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, I CAN NO LONGER BE PATIENT AND MADE A FOOL OF

Janet asks:

I signed up for the triple play on Nov. 24. I've called several times & I've been told each time to wait for the letter. FOR HOW LONG? Has anyone received their TV yet? Has anyone contacted ASA?

Jesse says:

In November 18, 2007 I signed up for Verizon FIOS TV and FIOS Internet service. After a read in a newspaper about the Free 19″ LCD HDTV, I called Verizon to switch to Triple Play to get the offer. On November, 20, 2007, Verizon came and installed the FIOS Triple Play. They told me that I will be receiving my letter to redeem the free gift in two weeks, then thereafter I should be receiving my HDTV after a week later. In detailed told me what the letter is going to have such as the url to the website, a username and password. Once signed in I will have the option of three offers from HDTV, $200 Best Buy and Wireless Phone. Today is January 9, 2007 and still no letter. Yes, I tried several times to get connected, busy signals. Finally, got someone and they told me that I am not on the rebate list, but they do notice that I had the Triple Play, so they ordered for the letter but will take 4 weeks from today to get the letter. Let's see what happens. The offer has been extended til February, 2008. Although, if the offer is expired by then, they have to render the gift as promised. This can lead to legal action for false advertisement. Peace!

Mary says:

i am having the same trouble. i signed up for FIOS- had a terrible experience during installation- spent over 7 hours on the phone getting issues resolved and then 2 hours on hold the next day trying to get someone back out to my house. issue was finally resolved but when i tried to call back- on 3 separate occasions with other questions i could not committ to waiting that long on hold- just ridiculous to think my time is worth so little. I also cannot log on to the rewards.verizon.net website-their cust svc # is not manned evenings or weekends- how convenient-also- i was promised either the mini camcorder OR $50 to Best Buy- no mention of that in the promo letter- i as well as many friends were also told we would receive a $50 Target gift card which we have received absolutely no additional information on. i am extremely diasppointed in the level of followthrough i have received so far.

John says:

My install was Nov. 28,2008 and as of this date I still have not recieved the promotional "confirmation number" The reabate center also shows no "confirmation number.
In December I checked w/ the rebate center as to the whereabouts of my Sharp LCD or $200.00 gift card from Best Buy. They advised me there was no information entered on my account. They took the necessary info that day and said I would recieve the confirmation number by mail in 3-4 wks. Called the rebate center again in late January and again nothing showing. They asked for my info again and advised me the process would start all over again (3-4 wk. wait) So I did not provide my info and gave it some more time. Feb. 5 I called Verizon Billing. Billing looked up my records and asked if I had agreed to the Terms of Service. I said I'm sure I did, I've been billed 2 months already for the package required to qualify for this rebate offer. She then suggested and assisted me with going to the Verizon website TOS logging on to my account and again agreeing to the TOS, which now I did again. ( Incidentally, I asked does this mean my 2 year contract for this Triple Freedom Pkg. starts as of Feb. 5, and yes she said it starts again. To me it now is a 26 month contract). I was advise to check in 1 week to make sure a "confimation number" is entered onto my account. I did call today and the rebate center still has nothing. I called Verizon Billing and there is nothing there. I was told to wait 3-4 wks. again and if at that time nothing showed they would start the process all over again.

..by signing up, he was to receive a 19-inch flat-screen TV.

"I said great, I don't know anything about it, but I'll be happy to take that." he said.

But that was more than three months ago, and despite numerous phone calls he says he has made to Verizon, still no TV.

"They keep telling me they will send a letter with an authorization code, but I haven't gotten the letter," he said.

"Of course we wanted the TV, because it was just an incredible deal," Verizon customer Bryan Vincent said.

Vincent signed up for the triple-play package too. He says after numerous phone calls, he was also told he would get a letter with an authorization code. Weeks later, the letter finally arrived.

"So I wait all this time, I get the letter, and it's the wrong letter," he said.

If you're a Verizon customer who is running into problems getting your TV, we suggest you contact your state's Attorney General and submit a formal complaint. If enough consumers complain, the AG's office may get involved and Verizon will have to "take it seriously."

What was your experience with this promotion? Tell us about it in the comments or at tips@consumerist.com.

(Photo:i'm george)

Joan launched an EECB and cc'd us so we could listen in:

I am a Verizon telephone, DSL and wireless subscriber [redacted].

I have been dealing with an erroneous billing situation and its severe customer service consequences for over six months. In September 2007, the owner of a telephone number I once owned (and disconnected 15 years ago) ordered FIOS. Since then, that person's FIOS charges have been appearing on my bills, despite different account numbers. The new owner's account number shows up on my bill as [redacted]. Since discovering the error, I've contacted customer service six times - once per month, beginning on September 21st. During those calls, I spoke to [redacted] and a few others whose names I've misplaced. Each of them assured me that the problem would be corrected immediately and that my bill would be credited immediately. In each case, this proved false.

My latest bill, dated February 7th, shows an overdue balance of $149.35 for this FIOS service, as well as a new $39.95 charge for another month of another person's FIOS. In understand from the bill that I not only am I being charged for the other account's FIOS, but I am being charged interest on an overdue balance that does not belong to me. Further, I have worked hard to ensure my excellent credit standing, and I am concerned that this issue is being reported to credit bureaus. This is clearly unacceptable and should be rectified immediately.

Satisfactory resolution of this issue would include the following:

1. All erroneous charges removed from my account
2. Separation of my account from the other person's account so that the charges do not reappear in the future
3. Assurance that this mistake has not been reported to a credit bureau (and if it has, assurance that a correction has been filed with the bureau
4. A credit on my next bill for the exceptionally unreasonable amount of time and energy I've had to expend in my efforts to have these charges removed.

Given that I have been pressing this issue for six months now, I will expect appropriate resolution within 48 hours.

Sincerely,

Joan

(Photo:JohnMarino92)