Consumerist

verizon

Man Experiences Competent Verizon DSL Tech Support

By consumerist.com 2.27.08

Nick was able to actually get decent Verizon tech support. But to do it, he had to trick the phone system and select “install problems” instead of “tech support” when he called. He writes:

I live in northwest Pennsylvania, an area formerly held by telecom company GTE (GTE North to be specifically I believe?). This has been particularly troublesome to the folks at Verizon when I’d call for tech support. Over the past few years of getting DSL from Verizon when the need would arise to call tech support I would cringe. I *knew* they wouldn’t be able to find my account, it always happens.

readers

Reach US-Based Verizon DSL Customer Service

By consumerist.com 2.27.08

Verizon DSL customer service draws complaints because it’s mainly outsourced to people from India with thick accents and little comprehension of how to fix your problem, but one reader says he’s got, “a direct number to Verizon’s Teleperformance-run, Columbus, OH call center. No Pasig or Hyderabad agents.”

verizon

"This Is Verizon Calling To Confirm Your Appointment. We're Sorry We Missed You…"

By Meg Marco 2.27.08

We found this photo on Flickr and were comforted to know that other people had not only thought of decorating their house for Verizon day, but had actually gone ahead with the plan.

complaints

3 Months, 21 Customer Service Calls, 1 Tech Visit And No Working Verizon DSL

By Meg Marco 2.26.08

Starting in November, reader Roberta has called Verizon 21 times about her lack of DSL, and has yet to reach a resolution. She also launched two EECBs, both of which were ignored.

safety

By consumerist.com 2.19.08

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In response to consumer backlash, Verizon has decided to make it so alarms on its new phones don’t go off on its phones when you dial 911. This is so if you hide and call 911 when a prowler breaks in, you don’t give them a handy homing signal. [KOMO]

sprint

Verizon To Offer Flat-Rate, Unlimited Minutes Cellphone Plan

By consumerist.com 2.18.08

Starting February 19th, Verizon will begin offering a supposedly unlimited cellphone minute plan for a flat $99 per month. It’s only really a deal, though, if you use more than 1000 minutes per month. More important than the actual value is that a brand-name cellphone carrier is offering a flat-rate unlimited minute plan. Notably, Verizon’s move came on the heels of Sprint’s new CEO suggesting last week that Sprint might be headed in that direction. I predict a flurry of plan-matching by the other carriers. The breakdown of the various new Verizon unlimited plans, inside.

cable

Comcast Recommends That You Switch To Verizon, Then Apologizes

By Meg Marco 2.18.08

Reader Brian sent us this transcript of a conversation that he had with a Comcast rep. He was considering switching to Verizon and was wondering if Comcast could come up with any reason why he should stay. They couldn’t. In fact, Comcast’s CSR “Mike” said: “my advice is to go ahead and switch, and if you find Comacst provides a fast and more reliable service we will welcome you back.”

verizon

When Someone With Your 15 Year Old Disconnected Phone Number Orders FiOS, You Get The Bill

By Meg Marco 2.15.08

Reader Joan once had a phone number. 15 years ago, she disconnected it. Now she’s being charged for someone else’s FiOS and she’s not happy about it. For the past 6 months she has called Verizon to ask that the error be fixed and each month she’s been told that the stranger’s FiOS has been removed from her bill and that she’ll be credited for the error. It hasn’t actually happened yet.

lawsuits

Verizon Accused Of Illegally Marketing Retention Offers To Customers Who Defect

By Meg Marco 2.14.08

The complaint states that in violation of FCC rules, Verizon used its knowledge of switching customers — through requests to have their phone numbers moved or “ported” to the new provider — to ply them with “price incentives and gift cards” to stay with Verizon.

california

By consumeristcarey 2.9.08

../../../..//2008/02/09/a-computer-glitch-has-left/

A ‘computer glitch’ has left 740,000 Verizon customers in California without access to their voicemail for the past two days. Messages left for affected customers after February 4 are gone forever. [Bloomberg]

readers

55 Support Tickets Later And Your Verizon FiOS TV Service Still Doesn't Work

By consumeristcarey 2.9.08

Andrew writes: “I had been a satisfied customer of Verizon for several years – I have had phone service with them since the days of Bell Atlantic and have had their fiber-optic internet service (FiOS) since March 2005. In March 2007, I decided to switch cable providers and signed up for Verizon’s FiOS TV service as it was cheaper than Comcast and supposedly provided superior picture quality. As the saying goes, “you get what you pay for.”

verizon

By Meg Marco 2.9.08

../../../..//2008/02/09/verizon-has-penned-a-light-hearted/

Verizon has penned a light-hearted response to the funny TWC “fiber” commercial that we posted earlier:

Bottom line: these guys may be selling some soggy cold cereal, but FiOS is an all-you-can eat buffet.

For what it’s worth: here’s our response to their response.

advertising

Time Warner's Hilarious Verizon FiOS Attack Ad

By consumerist.com 2.8.08

Competition brings out the best in employees, friends, and companies, as demonstrated brilliantly in Time Warner’s attack ad against Verizon FiOS. The scenario is that a cocksure suburban dude is interrupted making a bowl of fiber cereal by the doorbell.

readers

FiOS Damage Control Swoops In After Man Blogs Privacy Concerns

By consumerist.com 2.7.08

After Andru’s story about Verizon not taking his privacy concerns seriously hit our pages and the front page of Digg, the Verizon Damage Control team swung into action. Andru had this problem where whenever he logged into his Verizon FiOS account, he saw the personal information on some other guy’s account. When he contacted the guy, the other guy said he saw Andru’s info as well. Over eight months of broken promises by Verizon and the problem wasn’t solved. So Andru blogged it. Once it started getting internet attention, Andru got two calls and several emails from Verizon people and a Verizon exec ended up having a tech stay on the line with Andru for an hour getting it fixed. Andru then asked for compensation for his three quarters of a year of hassle. Verizon gave him 10 months free FiOS, a $1500 value. Ii think it’s actually good thing when the customers can force the big corps to do right,” Andru tells The Consumerist.

fcc

Google Thought To Be Out Of The Running In The Wireless Spectrum Auction

By Meg Marco 2.6.08

Analysts are saying that Google is probably out of the running for the “C Block” of wireless spectrum that it had been bidding on.

at&t

Verizon To Hollywood: We're Not The Piracy Police

By Meg Marco 2.6.08

AT&T and Comcast may be willing to help Hollywood control piracy on their networks, but Verizon wants none of it, says the New York Times.

readers

Why Everyone At Verizon Online Is Utterly Useless

By consumerist.com 2.5.08

Faith writes:

It began the beginning of Oct. 2007. My credit card expired, and I contacted all of my utilities to update my credit card information. It was an annoying process, but it went smoothly. That is, until the notices started coming.

readers

Tired Of Your Entrenched Service Provider? Consider A Local Alternative

By consumeristcarey 2.3.08

Few consumers realize they can ditch their monopolistic service providers in favor of local, independent telecoms that often offer similar services at competitive rates. These smaller outfits depend on service, not size, as reader Sharpstick recently discovered:

In the Charleston SC area we are fortunate to have local a internet / phone / cable provider called Knology that has made customer service an art form.

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