Tonly lives in a deluxe condo building in the sky. Unfortunately for him, high-density urban living and AT&T DSL don’t mix. He waited three months for sweet, sweet Internet access because, as AT&T explained, all of the ports for the building were full. Just a few months later, his access cut out for no clear reason. The most logical explanation is that the line to his condo was switched off by mistake during another customer’s install. Easy enough to fix, isn’t it? But Tony owns his modem, and AT&T is using that as an excuse not to fix the problem. [More]
landlines
FCC Proposes Anti-Cramming Regulations For Landline Bills
By 7.12.11
Last month, FCC chair Julius Genachowski said the commission was preparing to take on the problem of landline bill cramming, the practice of placing mysterious third-party charges for everything from long-distance to yoga classes on your landline bill. Earlier today, the FCC announced more details of its proposed plan. [More]
AT&T Charges Your 82-Year-Old Grandma A $150 ETF
By 4.26.11
One might think that a recently-widowed 82-year-old woman moving in with her grandson in another state would be have a valid reason for AT&T to waive the early termination fee on her phone and Internet package. Not so! Reader Chris is the grandson in this situation, and he helped his grandmother get the $150 ETF waived. AT&T has finally cooperated: they think. [More]
Verizon To Charge You $3.50 To Pay Your Bill
By 10.13.10
Starting October 16, all Verizon Communications landline, FiOS, and DSL customers will have to pay a $3.50 fee if they pay their bills by credit or debit card. (Currently there are no plans to apply to same to wireless customers). The only way to get around it is to sign up for auto-billing. Verizon says the new fee is because they have a new vendor for processing credit and debit transactions, and they’re passing on the lack of savings to you. [More]
Verizon Won't Verify Calls On My Bill
By 12.9.09
Brad can’t bring himself to drop his landline because he sees it as a security blanket, but Verizon is making it a tough choice for him, because it’s charging him more than he thinks he owes on his pay-per-call plan. He’s asked Verizon for an itemized bill, but the company refuses and says it would only give up the information if subpoenaed. [More]
By 5.13.09
../../../..//2009/05/13/are-disconnected-landlines-just/
Are Disconnected Landlines Just As Useful In Emergencies As Connected Ones? Responding to comments on our post and on CRO, Consumer Reports posts a follow-up on the debate over the value of landlines in emergencies. [Consumer Reports Electronics]
By 5.11.09
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Using a cell phone as your home phone comes with a risk Although consumers can save money by canceling their land lines, they risk dropped calls and difficulty being located if they ever need to call 911. What do you think: are the savings worth the risk? [Consumer Reports Electronics]
Verizon Tech Made 5,000 Sex Chat Calls On Customer Accounts
By 9.11.08
The next time you’re disputing a 900 number call to a sex hotline and the CSR tells you nobody else could have made that call, remind them of this story. Over the past 10 months, a Verizon technician made 5,000 calls to sex chat hotlines, totaling 45,000 minutes of dirty talk at a cost of $220,000. He placed the calls from over 950 tapped residential and commercial accounts throughout Bergen county in New Jersey. He has since resigned, and been charged with theft by deception and theft of services.
It Takes 40 Verizon Reps To Fix Your Address
By 8.6.08
You know those Verizon ads where someone is trying to make a call and like 100 Verizon people show up to help them do it? Arelene’s story is sort of like that. Except they all showed up to help her change her address. And they were one at a time. And it was over the phone. And it took several days. Here’s her tale, and how she eventually won…
Sorry Telcos, Landlines Are Now A Luxury Expense
By 7.28.08
But in this first real slowdown of the wireless age, consumers seem to be saying that home-based telephones are expendable luxuries, like Starbucks lattes or Coach handbags. And it makes sense. Confronted with high inflation, soaring energy costs, and stagnant wages, millions of households are facing choices about which monthly bills to pay and which commitments to maintain. And if it comes down to one or the other, the mobile or the home-based land line, it’s clear which is a necessity and which is an option.
Sprint's "Nucking Futs" "Jessica" Fired
By 4.16.08
benpopken: How did the company track down which “Jessica” it was?
Sprint To Customer: "Are You Nucking Futs?"
By 4.12.08
Reader Pam asked Jessica if she could port her landline to her mobile account, prompting the Sprint CSR to respond: “No, are you nucking futz?” Pam wasn’t expecting an abusive chat when she visited Sprint’s website to research a potential contract extension, but Jessica unexpectedly appeared with advice that wasn’t just rude, but also wrong.
LEAKS: Insider Says Verizon Isn't Fulfilling Advertised Discounts For Tens Of Thousands
By 3.27.08
A mysterious letter was anonymously faxed to our headquarters by a self-described “disgusted” Verizon customer service rep angry at how he/she says Verizon is screwing over landline customers. Here’s the highlights of his gut-spilling:
- 30,000+ people nationwide have still not received the free HDTVs Verizon promised new FiOS triple-play subscribers
- Verizon totally screwed up the “blitz” promotion, leading some customers signing up and not getting their discounts, others getting too much discount, and others not getting their discount for months
- Employees issued over $1 million in credit in January ’08, double what was given out in Jan ’07
- $250 in discretionary credit has been reduced to $50
- Internally, Verizon refers to customer service reps who give out “too much” credit due are called “offenders.”
HOWTO: Drop Landline, Keep DSL
By 10.31.06
Man gets rid of his landline, or “snail phone,” but maintains his DSL service, saves money, lives to tell the tale.
