Sure, finding a Redbox kiosk in your neighborhood might be pretty easy. But going anywhere to get a movie, even as far as your mailbox, much less getting in your car to drive somewhere, is so 2009, right? That need for instant access to movies is what’s leading Redbox owner Coinstar to hook up with Verizon to launch their very own video streaming service, set to debut later this month. [More]
Verizon & Coinstar Launching Redbox Instant Streaming Video Service This Month
By December 12, 2012
Verizon’s Proposed DVR Would Know You’re Still Sitting In Your Pajamas, Air Ads For Real Pants
By December 4, 2012
You won’t have to worry if Verizon can hear — or see — you now, if the company’s dream of a set-top box that could monitor all the activities inside your home becomes a reality. The company has filed a patent for a DVR system that would be used as a tool to then target customers with ads based on their daily doings. Which means I’d get a lot of ads for pajama jeans. [More]
‘Six Strikes’ Anti-Piracy Program Delayed To 2013, This Time Because Of Hurricane Sandy
By November 29, 2012
A long-in-the-works anti-piracy program from five major telecom players is probably not something you would think could be affected by a hurricane, but that’s apparently what is keeping the “Six Strikes” program from launching this week. [More]
Verizon Says Hurricane-Affected Customers Will Get Credit For “Vacation” Fees
By November 29, 2012
Yesterday, we told you about Roy, a Verizon DSL customer who canceled his service after he discovered the company was charging him a “vacation” fee to suspend service to his hurricane-damaged house. This morning, a rep for the company reached out to Consumerist to offer an explanation. [More]
Verizon Loses Customer By Charging A ‘Vacation’ Fee To Suspend Service To His Storm-Damaged House
By November 28, 2012
Porn Companies Sue Verizon For Refusing To Name Alleged BitTorrent Pirates
By November 27, 2012
Months after Comcast refused porn companies’ requests to hand over names of Internet customers allegedly involved in illegal file sharing, a trio of porn purveyors are going after Verizon for its denial of such requests. [More]
Verizon Sends Me To Collections Over Fees It Shouldn’t Have Charged Me In The First Place
By November 12, 2012
After several months of being lied to by Verizon customer service about his bill, it looks like a customer finally got the company to realize its error and zero out his account — except for the $17.50 in fees that shouldn’t have been assessed in the first place, and which has the customer fending off a collections agency. [More]
Verizon Says I Can Port Numbers Without Paying ETF, Charges Me $910 ETF Anyway
By November 8, 2012
When Consumerist reader Jill’s husband left his job at Verizon earlier this year, he’d been told that he could port all five of the wireless lines on their family’s account to another carrier without paying any early termination fees, and so they did. But when that final bill came from VZW, they suddenly owed nearly $1,000 in ETFs. [More]
Verizon Says I Owe Overages For iPhone I Returned 8 Months Ago
By November 7, 2012
This past spring, Steve bought a shiny new iPhone 4S. It seemed like a good choice because his son was about to be born, and the 4S has a pretty nice camera for photographing adorable babies. When he got home, he discovered that Verizon’s coverage wasn’t so great there, so he brought the phone back within the initial 14-day return period. They took it back, charged him a restocking fee, no problem. Then, more than six months later, the collection calls began. Wha? [More]
Verizon Sells Me An International Phone That Calls Everyone Except My Friend In Italy
By October 31, 2012
Jerrod was making a grand gesture: taking a surprise trip to Italy to propose to his girlfriend, who is serving in the Navy and stationed there. He acquired a phone from Verizon Wireless that he could use in that country in emergencies, but that plan had a flaw: he couldn’t test whether the phone worked in Italy. After all, before traveling to Italy, he wasn’t in Italy. Despite assurances from employees and good online reviews, you can’t be sure that a phone works at your destination before you get there. Jerrod’s phone worked just fine…except to call the one phone number that he needed it to. [More]
How I Got Verizon To Credit Me $300 And Admit My Phone Had No Water Damage
By October 26, 2012
When Justin’s phone failed, Verizon Wireless insisted that there was water damage to it, and billed him $299 after initially sending a warranty replacement with no fuss. Then, a month later, Verizon sent the administrator of the account, his mother, a bill for the replacement phone. It had water damage, they insisted, even though the moisture sensors remained un-tripped. Justin babied that phone, and resented the “abuse.zip” file name that Verizon gave the compressed set of pictures that they sent him as proof. So he employed the executive e-mail carpet bomb. [More]
Verizon Uses Warranty-Voiding Photo To Sell Protection Plan
By October 25, 2012
The Verizon/Asurion Total Equipment Coverage Plan looks neat sitting there on the shelf, with its pretty photo of a smartphone making a splash in a cool bin of water. As tipster and photo-taker Eric points out, though, why are they showing the phone plunging into a bin of water when the protection plan doesn’t cover water damage? We’ve heard from some people who know the plan well and who have pointed out that the plan has separate components: the Verizon part doesn’t cover liquid damage, but the insurance component from Asurion does. . However, intentionally throwing your phone in water in order to take a picture is still a bad idea. [More]
I Think Verizon Wants Us To Stop Getting Usage Alerts
By October 24, 2012
Kelly has a conspiracy theory. She thinks that maybe–just maybe–Verizon is sending out alerts for text message and data overages at odd hours when customers might be sleeping. According to her theory, this prompts annoyed customers to opt out of overage alerts, potentially leading them to run up huge bills. [More]
Does Verizon’s Monitoring Of Customer Behavior Violate Wiretap Laws?
By October 16, 2012
Earlier this month, Verizon Wireless began selling reports that contain data about its customers’ phone usage and browsing activity. Not surprisingly, some people are worried that this might cross the line from being simply bad business to possibly violating federal laws. [More]
Verizon Needs To Sell Me Slower DSL So My Slow Connection Can Get Faster
By October 12, 2012
Fred pays Verizon for DSL service, but his home Internet speeds are now slower than a crawl. This changed after technicians were in his neighborhood fixing the lines. When he called to complain about the slowdown, he was told that his connection was so slow because it was too fast, and they would have to downgrade his account to a slower speed so it would stop being so slow. No, this doesn’t make any sense. [More]
Cable Boxes Slurp More Electricity Than Refrigerators
By June 27, 2011
The biggest energy hog in your house is probably sitting right under your TV. That little ol’ set-top box could be using up more electricity in your house than your refrigerator or central air conditioning, according to a new study by the Natural Resources Defense Council. [More]
Laser In On Your "Region President" To Get Verizon Wireless Executive Customer Service
By April 15, 2010
A Verizon Wireless insider tells us that the best way to get white glove customer service treatment is to target the president for your Verizon region. Here’s how: [More]
Cheap Package Design Tricks People Into Dropping Motorola Droid On Floor
By November 23, 2009
The Motorola Droid is a sweet phone, but the box it comes in is a case study in bad package design. Where every other gadget these days comes in boxes with lids, or boxes designed to be opened in a specific manner, the Droid box can easily be opened so that the brand new phone falls to the floor.
