Verizon customer service

[W3GMS]

My experience with Verizon customer service has been horrible.  I am trying to help a elderly Ham friend get his phone back in service.  Originally, since he had no working phone line, he filed a trouble report via Verizon's on line trouble service via his cable online internet connection.  He kept getting responses that his report was received, but 2 1/2 weeks later he still did not have phone service. 

I called last week and after going through tons of phone prompts,  I finally got to talk to a person.  So after being without a phone for 2 1/2 weeks they made him wait another week for a phone technician to show up.  Well yesterday he showed up and fixed the problem, but the fix only lasted 30 minutes.  I called back today and told them the story and they wanted to put him back in the standard wait another week schedule.  I said no, that is not acceptable since this is not a new report, but rather a continuation of the problem they fixed for only 30 minutes yesterday.  They transferred me to a supervisor who put me on hold and never came back!  I waited 45 minutes to be taken off hold but it never happened!!! 

Joe, W3GMS 

[WA3VJB]

It's like they don't care about supporting plain old telephone service anymore.

My father-in-law had a similar problem. Their house phone, a landline, crapped out and he thought it might have been related to some work out on the street involving above-ground lines.

Called by cellphone to local Verizon, lots of detours through automated menus, and having to talk to robot receptionists with crappy voice recognition software.

Supposedly a repair order was issued, no one showed up for a week, and they simply used their cellphone waiting.

Finally he saw a Verizon tech out on the street, NOT responding to his repair order, but the guy was kind enough to call someone at a central office and check the status. No record of it, no action pending.  So he took it upon himself to follow through.

Turns out a switch at the central office needed to be re-set from the street work.  Someone went and did it, and the phone came back to life.

So my advice is to grab the technicians you see in the field, regardless of what Verizon unit they are from, and get THEM to provide either an inside number staffed by humans, or some other way to intervene like this guy had the courtesy to do.

[flintstone mop]

Ask him to consider a cell phone on a non AT&T or VERIZON network that lets you talk all you want for $45/mo. There is a wireless company that offers this.

Here's the link
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xkr6mi_talk-all-you-want-for-only-45-month_people

We dumped Verizon 6 yrs ago for the same issues..... They have a failing infrastructure of cabling that needs replacement and they are not re-investing their money on the landlines.

[The Slab Bacon]

I had similar problems with Comcash's phone(y) service. After many calls failed service calls and scheduled sevice calls that didn't happen, I got really fed up and filed a complaint with the the FCC on line.

After spending hours and hours on hold trying to get it resolved (with no sucess) and being jerked around when I did get a hold of a live person. They called me back within an hour of clicking the send button on the Fcc website.

After being told that they didn't do emergency calls on weekends, They had a tech out to my house on Sunday morning!!

I was told by the tech that they cant legally leave you for more than 4 days without phone service and the Fcc fines them big time for doing it when they get caught.

I was so livid over it because I have a 90 year old mother in a nursing home that was having problems and also, my father in law was in the horsepistol and they had told us he wasn't going to make it.

So, yes there are still some times where the Fcc earns their keep!!

[W3GMS]

Through a local friend, I got through to someone way up the food chain at Verizon.  It looks like the problem will be resolved tomorrow.  Without that phone number, I had little hope that things would get resolved.

I think in the end he will likely switch over to his cable provider which buy the way Frank is not Comcast. 

As companies downsize resources get stretched and the customer suffers.  I don't see anything on the horizon that makes me feel that it will get better. 

I noticed locally that a lot of the smaller banks are being absorbed by larger banks.  We have one local bank that has gone three owners in just a few years.  I think someday we will only have one bank and no choice!   

Joe, GMS

[K5UJ]

Use gethuman for this stuff:

http://gethuman.com/Verizon__Land_Line_-customer-service_849.html

gethuman.com

[W3GMS]

Thanks Rob!  Looks like this latest problem may be in the rear view mirror, but will keep the link you passed along for future use.

Joe, W3GMS   

[W3LSN]

It's like they don't care about supporting plain old telephone service anymore.

I used to work for Verizon, and yes it's true. They really don't care about copper POTS lines anymore and for good reason.  Verizon announced two years ago that it plans to sunset POTS within ten years and concentrate on broadband access to its FIOS and 4G/LTE networks. The truth is that with the Internet now well established, all "phone" companies quickly realized that offering dial tone on copper subscriber loops has become a hopeless money loser. They long ago conceded the phone business to Skype and Vonage which has placed POTS on the endangered species list.  I would expect POTS to be phased out quickly as the alarm companies shift to IP technology. For other than the technophobes, its primarily the alarm monitoring services that are keeping POTS alive.

73, Jim
WA2AJM/3

[W3GMS]

Hi Jim,
Well if a company is not going to support what the customer is paying for, then disconnect the service.  Many people in rural area do not have FIOS available to  them.  This is the case with my friend up in the N.E. part of PA.  Others choose to get the internet connection from another provider, but wish to leave the house wired phone with the phone company. 

73,
Joe, W3GMS

[K7EDL]

It only strengthens our position for Ham Radio with lined phones going away Internet in notoriously unreliable (mine cant even make it through a long weekend with the kids off school) cell phones are garbage in a large emergency. Land lines at least worked when the power was out. All we will have left is Ham. 

Eric

[w1vtp]

I  had the same problem with Fairpoint.  My phone went dead.  After calling in the problem I was given a long dissertatin on what would happen if the problem was inside the house, we broke off with "come out and check it anyway."  After a month of no dial tone and no visit from Fairpoint, I went over to my cable provider.  So far so good.  Got a dial tone and still the @#$% telemarketers back but at least I have a dial tone.

These people are begging for everyone to switch over to cell phone service.

Al

[W3GMS]

Hi Al,

The cable provider in our region is Comcast.  In looking at the customer satisfaction ratings, they are no better than the customer satisfaction for Verizon. 

I highly dislike when a company takes your money for a service that they are selling, and then provides poor to no customer service when a problem develops. 

It reminds me of a restaurant that has too many tables without enough waitresses or waitors!  I have told many restaurants, if you can't support the amount of tables you have, then take some out!

If your not going to do something well, then don't do it at all......

Joe, W3GMS 

[w1vtp]

Joe

Unfortunately, this lack of customer service is the business model for many outfits in an effort to reduce overhead.  The prevailing thought is that a business can withstand a certain turnover if they can bring in new "victims" err... customers.  I bet in a few years the pendulam will swing the other way as a "new business model."

Your analogy of the restaurant is well placed.  There is a certain popular Italian food restaurant O**** G***** that ALWAYS has a really big waiting line.  I NEVER frequent the place, especially with my walking / standing disability

Al

[WQ9E]

If you have a somewhat active state public service commissioner this sounds like a case for them.  A couple of years ago I was plagued with split second power outages a few times per day in this area.  Complaints to Ameren (a leader in sucking up rate increases and spitting out ever poorer service) went nowhere.  Filling out an online complaint form with the PSC netted next day action from the company and the problem was cured.

Frontier bought the Verizon non-FIOS areas in IL and the service has been fine (much better than Verizon).

[WA2TTP Steve]

I'll second what Rodger said. I had the same type problem a few years ago and nothing got them moving like like my complaint with the PSC in NY. Verizon was calling me within about 2 hours and the line was repaired the next morning. The problem was a broken wire in cross box about a block from my house.

Steve,
WA2TTP

[WB2CAU]

Joe,

I'm very surprised at the way Verizon handles customer service complaints in your area.  In this area, I've had far better customer service from Verizon than with most other companies.  The representatives are in the USA, can speak clearly, and are knowledgeable.  And if a piece of equipment has been determined to be faulty on my end, a new piece is dispatched and received within a day or two at most.   I have no complaints about the service from Verizon.  I hope that they haven't deteriorated since I last contacted them last year.

One tip; when you reach the automated menu and they ask for a verbal response, clearly say the word, "agent" and it takes you immediately to a live person so you can bypass the long menu options.

Eric

[Pete, WA2CWA]

I kissed Verizon (land line) good-bye several years ago and switched my phone service, high speed internet, and TV over to my cable provider. Great quality of products and only one number to call if I have a problem with any of it. Even came over on a Sunday (they offered) to replace all the coax in the house when I added the phone service (already had internet and TV product) and also replaced the line from the house to the pole. One bill each month for all three services and it's only one page.

[W3GMS]

Thanks for all the comments dealing with this problem.  Yesterday a local Ham friend gave me a phone number within Verizon that was higher up in the food chain!  I called that person, left a message on the answering machine and within 15 minutes she called me back.  I explained the situation and she arranged to have a service truck come out today to fix the problem.  The problem location is about 100 or so miles from my QTH.  While she was on the phone, I was talking on 75M with the guy I am trying to help out.  She asked a few questions, so I patched him through to her and that really made an impression!  She promised to have the problem fixed as long as she said, "please don't broadcast my phone number"!

Saying all of that, a problem still exists, at least in this region, with Verizon customer service since the normal communication channels when you call to report a problem does not lead you to this particular person who is very customer focused.

I do believe that my OT'er Ham friend is going to switch his phone to his cable provider once the dust settles since he does not want to go through this nightmare again. 

73,
Joe, W3GMS         

[The Slab Bacon]

My neighborhood is about 1/3 Comcash, 1/3 Verizon, and 1/3 Dish of one kind or another. The general consensis of opinion is Verizon is more reliable, but it takes an act of God (or congress) to get a service call when you do need one.
Comcash just sucks, but you can usually get one of their dumb-assed techs out within a couple of days if you do need a service call. (Threatening to pro-rate your monthly payment for service lost seems to help a little.) (not to mention their nuisance of "press 1 if you have hemmrhoids) And those with satellite never seem to bitch about much. (Hmmmmm.....) Other than their internet being a little slow on uploads.

Which all tends to leave you caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place.......................

[WBear2GCR]

Verizon is a bunch of mindless jackals.

They bill for not much service, and falsely advertise their rates (always lower than the bill you get in the mail. Are quick to cut you off, not quick to fix or turn you on. On the phone customer service is a nightmare. Great company all 'round.

If anyone has had a good experience with them, I haven't.

My smell phone included.

Bah.

                 _-_-bear

[W1RC]

Hey if you think Verizon stinks down your way look at what they did to all of us here in ME,NH and VT.  They sold us out to some third-rate company from NC called Fairpoint.  

Un-Fairpoint so soooooo bad that I gladly switched over to Commie-Cast.  W'd all be happy to have the Verizon serice that you are complaining about.

73,

MrMike