Now that telephone and cable companies have increasingly moved away from using the old tried and true copper lines to provide landline service, you might find yourself without a phone in a power outage. Our seriously smart siblings at Consumer Reports looked into the drawbacks of landline fiber optic and VoIP telephone systems. [More]
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I Signed Up For Verizon DSL Back In September. They Forgot That I Exist.
By 1.12.12
Heather signed up for Verizon DSL service at her new place last September. So she’s been enjoying several months of cost-effective Internet service by now, right? Not exactly. Her story is a perfect illustration of why it is that monopolies can make customers miserable. The scheduled installation technician never showed up, troubleshooting of her service didn’t work, and when she tried to set up service again months later, they misplaced her account and kept hanging up on her. [More]
Verizon Catches On To Unlimited Data Loophole, Returns Account To Tiered Pricing
By 1.3.12
Apparently, there had been a way that you could talk the Verizon Wireless automated CSR into changing your current tiered data plan into an unlimited one. But now that this work-around has been published and oodles of people have tried it, VZW appears to have caught on and has begun auditing changes to customers’ accounts to make sure people aren’t working the system. [More]
Verizon Caves, Pulls Plug On $2 Convenience Fee
By 12.30.11
Well that was fast. Only hours after publicly stating it wouldn’t back off from charging a $2/month fee to customers who paid online or by phone with a debit/credit card, Verizon Wireless has pulled a complete 180 and decided to nix the fee completely. [More]
FCC Voices Concern Over Verizon Wireless Fee
By 12.30.11
Someone at the FCC must be a Verizon Wireless customer. The agency has just announced that it will look into the nation’s largest cell phone service provider’s plan to charge a $2/month fee to customers who don’t enroll in auto-pay or pay directly from their bank accounts. [More]
Verizon Wireless Will Watch Everything You Do If You Don't Opt Out
By 11.17.11
Verizon Wireless is sending emails to customers this week informing them that the company will now begin storing their browsing history, location, app usage data and more, in the name of providing “more relevant” mobile ads. The company says it won’t “share any information that identifies you personally,” and the email includes instructions for customers who want to opt out of the tracking program. [More]
From FiOS, To Cablevision, To Hell, And Back Again
By 11.11.11
Oliver tried to two-time FiOS after he got burned on a bad install. But Cablevision didn’t treat him right either, reneging on its promise to pricematch his old bill. Now he’s back again trying to rekindle a relationship with FiOS but they’re still up to their old ways and not giving him the tender loving he deserves. [More]
Verizon Class Action Settlement: Get Refunds For Accidentally Pressing "Get It Now" Button
By 11.4.11
If Verizon “erroneously” charged you for accidentally pressing the “Get it Now” or “Mobile Web” buttons on your phone, you can file for a refund, thanks to a recent class action settlement. [More]
Verizon To Offer "Turbo" Button To Users To Speed Up Apps, For A Price
By 11.3.11
App on your Verizon phone going too slow? Just press the “turbo” button and get a temporary speed boost for $.99. That’s the idea behind a new feature Verizon will be releasing to software developers in 2012. [More]
Verizon Loses FiOS Equipment, Sends You To Collections
By 10.13.11
Leon liked Verizon’s FiOS service when he had it. It wasn’t until he moved and sent his equipment back that he had any problems with them. He sent his router and CableCard back via UPS, and the card was taped to the side of the router. Verizon received the router, but the CableCard is still missing. “I have visions of the router at some new customer’s house with the cablecard still taped to it,” he writes. [More]
Mother Somehow Runs Up $1500 Verizon Bill
By 10.12.11
Despite not knowing how to use her phone for anything other than making calls, Michelle’s mother somehow racked up a $1500 bill for 2,888 MB worth of “music or video streaming.” It certainly wasn’t the latest Justin Bieber video on loop. Michelle is trying to negotiate with Verizon but all they’ve done so far is offer a 50% discount. That’s still about $600 more than Michelle wants to pay. [More]
Verizon Internet To Share Your Location With Advertisers So You'll Get Ads "Of More Interest"
By 10.5.11
As a favor to you, Verizon internet says they’re going to start sharing your local geographical location to advertisers so you’ll get ads “of more interest.” For instance, “a pizza chain may want to deliver their ad to give a special offer to people living in a particular area.” Here’s how to opt out. [More]
Secret Memo Reveals Which Cellphone Carriers Store Your Data The Longest
By 9.28.11
How long does your cellphone company keep logs of your text messages? Of the words you wrote? Of the calls you made? A Freedom of Information Act request by the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina unearthed a Department of Justice document that breaks down the retention periods for each mobile provider. [More]
Verizon Makes Online Chat Just As Crappy As Calling In
By 9.27.11
Verizon FiOS has done an admirable job with their online chat-based customer service, making it seem incredibly real and human. You almost forget that you’re not talking to a person over the phone. One of the ways they make this simulacrum seem so life-like is that you can be transferred from one agent to another, and then there’s silence on the other end because there’s no one there — just like the real thing! Reader Michael shares a recent chat transcript to illustrate: [More]
25 CEOs Who Made More Than Their Companies Paid In Income Taxes
By 8.31.11
The Institute for Policy Studies has just released its 18th annual review of U.S. executive compensation and found that 25 out of the country’s 100 highest-paid chief executives actually earned more in 2010 than their companies paid out in corporate income taxes. [More]
Verizon Takes Away FTP Access, Charges For It
By 8.26.11
Star commenter GitEmSteveDave contacted me this morning with a relatively minor but still irritating problem: he didn’t have FTP access to his webspace anymore. While all customers with Verizon as their Internet service provider have a small amount of storage space to put an entire web page or just a few files online, they can now only access that space through a web-based site-builder tool. The change is supposedly for “security” reasons, but somehow security is no longer a concern if you pay Verizon an extra six bucks per month. [More]
Activating Google Voice On My New Verizon Account Somehow Undoes Cancellation Of My Old T-Mobile Plan
By 8.26.11
For several years, Consumerist reader Bryan and his wife were happy with their T-Mobile service, but after some recent dissatisfaction with service, they decided to jump ship to Verizon. Everything seemed to be go fine and dandy when Bryan called to cancel service — and then he got his final bill from T-Mobile. [More]
