Reader GC owns an Android tablet purchased from Verizon Wireless. Customers were promised that the device would receive an update to the latest version a newer version of the Android operating system, called Ice Cream Sandwich, by now. The promised update has come for the larger version of the tablet, the Droid xyboard, but not for its little brother. Sure, GC could jailbreak the device, but why do that and void the warranty when the update was supposed to be here by now? [More]
verizon
Hey, Verizon And Motorola, I Want My Ice Cream Sandwich
By 9.19.12
Not Even Verizon Knows Exactly Why It Charges $5/Month To Keep Your Number Unpublished
By 8.15.12
Most telecom companies have pat, scripted explanations for each of their many, many monthly fees and surcharges, but when one man tried to find out why Verizon charges a $5 fee to keep his number unpublished, he got two very distinct reasons — or rather, one reason and one description of the service. [More]
Hey, Who Cut My Comcast Line?
By 8.1.12
Jim can’t prove that a technician working for Verizon cut his cable line. He didn’t see it happen, and the vandal didn’t leave a signature or anything. All the perpetrator left behind was a dug up, severed Comcast cable, some fiber optic cable, and a conduit. Less than a week before, Jim had booked a tentative FiOS installation a month ahead of time, pending the approval of his housemate. Instead, this turned out to be one of those very rare Consumerist stories where the hero is… Comcast. [More]
FCC: Internet Service Providers Are Actually Delivering The Speeds They Promise
By 7.20.12
Internet service providers take your money and promise to send you speeding along an information superhighway, dangling the carrot of fast connection times to get your business. And according to an annual report card by the Federal Communications Commission, while Verizon and Cablevision are the leaders in providing advertised speeds, it seems most ISPs are getting better at being more consistent on delivering the goods as well. [More]
Verizon FiOS Retention Rep Called My Bluff. Now What?
By 6.12.12
It’s a common money-saving tip repeated just about anywhere you find money-saving tips. If you want to save money on something that you subscribe to (particularly cable TV), give them a call and threaten to cancel. They’ll slash your rate and maybe even shower you with freebies in order to keep you from walking away. Only a retention rep at Verizon called Dan’s bluff and wouldn’t lower his rate now that he’s out of his initial two-year contract. He’s prepared to leave, but really doesn’t want to. Have you managed to finagle a lower rate out of Verizon or another telecom? If so, how? [More]
Verizon Cutting Technician, Call-Center Workforce By 1,700
By 6.4.12
It’s now going to be slightly more difficult to get your Verizon landline serviced or get through to someone at a Verizon call center, after Big Red announced this morning that it intends to cut about 1% of its total workforce. [More]
Verizon Has Chance To Take Away Super-Cheap Plan, Doesn't Take It
By 6.4.12
Based on what you read here, all telecommunications companies are money vacuums that exist solely to find excuses to kick customers off perfectly good plans and extract as much money as possible. Right? Well…maybe not. Stephen doesn’t use his phone much, and is perfectly happy buying one $100 prepaid card per year to keep it activated, paying 35 cents per minute to make actual calls. Verizon has had a few opportunities over the years to take this plan away from him, but they never do. And he appreciates it. [More]
Sorry, Current Equipment Is Only For New FiOS Customers
By 5.29.12
Marvin is experiencing a very modern problem, one that our great-grandparents would probably be unable to wrap their brains around. His new video baby monitor for his new baby doesn’t get along with his Verizon FiOS-issued wireless router. They use the same frequency. That means that when his baby goes to bed, so do his Internet speeds. There’s a potential solution to this issue: get a newer router that operates on a different frequency. Verizon has them in stock, but not for Marvin. They’re only for new customers, not for him. His best option right now: to pay $130 to upgrade to one of the new routers. Which he still won’t own. [More]
Can Verizon Hike My Cable Box Rent In The Middle Of A Contract?
By 5.17.12
Jeanne has had her Verizon FiOS settop boxes for three years now, and the rent for them has remained the same. Until now. The difference is only a dollar, but what vexes her is that she just signed a contract in order to get a discount on her service. They shouldn’t be able to raise the rent when she’s signed a contract. Should they? And why is the rent higher when she still has the same old boxes? [More]
Verizon To Kill Grandfathered Unlimited Data Plans
By 5.16.12
If you were one of the Verizon Wireless customers who was allowed to continue their unlimited data plans after the company switched to tiered pricing last summer, we have some bad news. The company says it will be eliminating grandfathered plans as it rolls out LTE service. [More]
Want Verizon FiOS To Price-Match Itself? You Need Imaginary Re-Installation
By 5.8.12
A week after Kyle got Verizon FiOS installed in his new apartment, he saw an ad for a new subscriber deal that was $15 cheaper per month than the two-year contract he had just signed. No problem, then: just call them up and see whether they could price match their own deal. Sure, they could: but only if he canceled his new service, returned all of the equipment, and had the installers come out again to turn the service back on. Well, that’s efficient. [More]
Lawsuit: Verizon Sold Me A DSL Plan It Couldn't Deliver
By 4.16.12
A Verizon customer in California says the telecom titan screwed her over by selling her on a higher-priced DSL tier that it should have known could never possibly deliver the promised speeds. [More]
Verizon: If You Want To Upgrade Your DSL Service, You'll Have To Get Local Phone Service Too
By 4.4.12
Our inbox is currently being flooded with complaints from angry Verizon DSL customers who found out today that if they ever want to change or upgrade their service — even if they simply want to move across town — they’ll soon have to add Verizon local phone service. [More]
Which Worst Company Contenders Force Customers Into Mandatory Arbitration?
By 3.21.12
As we sifted through the mountain of nominations for this year’s Worst Company In America tournament, we noticed a trend of readers who cited companies’ mandatory binding arbitration clauses as a reason for nominating. And while it’s businesses like AT&T and Sony that have made all the headlines for effectively banning class action lawsuits, there are a lot of other WCIA contenders who are forcing customers into signing away their rights. [More]
Worst Company In America Round One: AT&T Vs. Verizon
By 3.19.12
Two telecom titans will step into the Worst Company gladiator pit this afternoon. One will walk out victorious while the other will end up stuck with a huge early termination fee. [More]
Here It Is, Your Lineup For Worst Company In America 2012!
By 3.12.12
Welcome to Consumerist’s 7th Annual Worst Company In America tournament, where the businesses you nominated face off for a title that none of them will publicly admit to wanting — but which all of them try their hardest to earn. So it’s time to fill in the brackets and start another office pool. That is, unless you work at one of the 32 companies competing in the tournament. [More]
Restaurant Uses Old School Social Media To Complain About Verizon
By 2.9.12
It’s now commonplace for angry consumers to use Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or WUPHF to complain that they are being ignored by their phone/cable/satellite provider. But one restaurant in Manhattan decided to voice its opinion of Verizon in a way that doesn’t require an internet connection. [More]
Verizon & Redbox Team Up In Unholy Video Alliance To Take On Netflix
By 2.6.12
In an attempt to woo Netflix customers who want either streaming video, DVD rental or both, Verizon and Coinstar’s Redbox have joined forces to provide a new video service. The way they made the announcement, seems like they’re kind of saying, “Yeah, we’re not going to be Netflix, so, pick us!” [More]
