# Verizon "customer Service" Or Lack Thereof



## California Jim (Dec 11, 2003)

NOTE: I started typing this as it happened this morning as I could see where it was going. I had nothing better to do while I was on hold anyway.

About a year ago I switched my phone, internet, and TV to the new Verizon FIOS system after hearing great things about it's technical merits. I will say that so far it has been excellent and I am still very happy with the system.

However, I also heard many horror stories about their customer service. Today I was able to personally discover just how bad their "customer service" really is.

My need : To recover access to my online account for viewing my bill. For some reason my username and password have stopped working. The following is a summary of my 2.5 hour adventure:

Yesterday: Called 800 number and was on hold for a long time. Was advised that the "online e-center" was a separate department and was now closed (4:00pm PST). Was given a different 800# to call and reach them tomorrow.

Today: called new 800# only to receive weird recording about calling another number (1015158000) for a fee of $5.00. No reference to Verizon. Called back to make sure I didn't dial the number incorrectly. Same deal, it's a scam number.

Called 800 directory assistance for the Verizon online e-center. Received and dialed number which was no longer in service but had a recording to call a different 800#.

Called another 800#. After answering about 6 questions to the automated system was put on hold for about 10 minutes until a rep came on the line. Was advised by rep that he only handles ".net" connectors and that I needed to talk to the ".com" department. Was then transferred by the polite gentleman to the ".com" department but not advised what their phone number was.

After holding for another 10 minutes Jason came on the line but for some reason was not able to hear me and kept repeating his intro speech. He finally advised that he could not hear me and that they would be happy to help if I would simply call back. Jason then hung up without giving me the phone number.

Back to square 1 after about 35 minutes because I still don't know the correct phone number to call.

Did a Google search for the E-Center and found a well known number for it. Called and got a recording advising that I can't call this number from my area.

Did another Google search and found a second number. Called that number and got the same scam recording for 1015158000.

Called last known good 800 number in hopes of getting transferred to the E-Center. Went through about a dozen prompts as none pertained to my need.

Finally got connected to Terry who offered me 90 days of free HBO & Cinemax for my trouble and was very sympathetic. In total fear of having a Verizon Rep messing with my account settings I declined and she connected me to the E-Center.

On hold 15 minutes for E-Center. They answered and advised that I had the wrong department because I was a FIOS customer and I should just re-register on the Verizon.net website even though I am already registered. Huh?

Went to Verizon.net website and was not able to register. The site would only handle registration for new users with a work order number. I am an existing customer and was not offered an alternative to proceed.

I know for a fact that I am a ".com" customer because they keep sending me emails addressed "Dear Verizon.com Customer" and reminding me to logon to my "Verizon.com" account to view my bill. UUUUGGGHH!

I again use their "forgot my user ID or password" option on the email from Verizon which is the only email address I use (and the one they keep sending emails to!) and my home Verizon phone number to no avail. I don't exist, and that's not a valid email address!

I next use the "customer service" link on the very email they have sent me in an effort to again find help.

Called another 800 number for FIOS customer service and reached Karen. Explained my lengthy tale of Verizon woe and she got a supervisor on the phone. They both agreed that I needed the E-Center (again) to handle my situation! Karen transferred me back to the E-Center.

It has now been over 2 hours since I began this seemingly simple project.

Finally reached Natisha at the E-Center and had much grief trying to persuade her that I was me. "No I'm sorry sir, that is not the first school you attended". After much wrangling I was finally able persuade her the validity of my identity and recover my username and reset the password.

Went to the Verizon site and successfully logged in while large tears of joy streamed down my face.

After finally reaching a Verizon Rep who got it right, I was able to figure out what happened. Without notice they changed my username back to an old one my wife registered 6 years ago prior to setting up the new FIOS system. That would also explain why I couldn't answer the "secret question" about my first school correctly either. This was supposedly all deleted when we set up the new FIOS account to bundle all of our services.

Sheesh. Verizon may as well be taken over by the government too. They already act like them so it would be a seamless transition.


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## Ridgway-Rangers (Apr 18, 2008)




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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

I think someone needs a beer....


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

Could you now send them an email and attach a link to this thread just because......it won t do any good but complaining does a soul good sometimes.


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## mswalt (Sep 14, 2004)

Hey, Jim,

Call me and I'll gladly listen to your tale of woe. My number is 1015158000.

Mark


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## Lmbevard (Mar 18, 2006)

I had Verizon Wireless years ago and the few times that I tried to get any answers all I got was the run around with things promised but never anything done. On top of that, after 6 months the service went from being good to almost non-existent in this area. I fact, had no connection from hear to St. Louis, 200 miles away. As soon as my contract was over I went with a Midwest provider US Cellular. Even though there are things I don't like about my service, every time I have to deal with CR, I have had a good experience. Lately, without warning I suddenly started seeing EV on my phone instead of 1X, I had 3G networking! Not only here in town but even at camp in the boondocks! I would love to have the IPhone or Pre or one of the new phones, but none of the other providers provide the service in this area like US Cellular.

As far as cable goes, I have never had a problem with CR with Mediacom. I guess I'm lucky that way.


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## thefulminator (Aug 8, 2007)

I've had FIOS for about a year now. About the only problem I had was when they hooked up my neighbor a couple of weeks after I got it. All the fiber lines were brand new in our neighborhood and they accidentally disconnected me when they plugged in my neighbor. I was fixed the next morning. It sounded like the contractor who installed the lines marked something incorrectly.


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## Tyvekcat (Aug 28, 2007)

more headed to India,


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## Airboss (Jul 14, 2007)

mswalt said:


> Hey, Jim,
> 
> Call me and I'll gladly listen to your tale of woe. My number is 1015158000.
> 
> Mark


LOL!!









Sorry for your troubles, Jim. Funny that Verizon Wireless has near flawless (IMO) customer support and Verizon FiOS isn't up to the task. At least your call wasn't transfered to a 3rd world country with reps that can barely speak English.


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## California Jim (Dec 11, 2003)

mswalt said:


> .... At least your call wasn't transfered to a 3rd world country with reps that can barely speak English.


Well actually one of the first Reps I got was named "Bob" and had a decidedly Indian accent. (not that there's anything wrong with that).

To add insult to injury, and perhaps as a result of my activity yesterday, I received two automated phone calls from Verizon last night...........wait for it.............at 12:30am !!!!


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

California Jim said:


> .... At least your call wasn't transfered to a 3rd world country with reps that can barely speak English.


Well actually one of the first Reps I got was named "Bob" and had a decidedly Indian accent. (not that there's anything wrong with that).

To add insult to injury, and perhaps as a result of my activity yesterday, I received two automated phone calls from Verizon last night...........wait for it.............at 12:30am !!!!








[/quote]
Well, that's 3:00pm Indian time. Seems like a fine time for a phone call.


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## JerseyGirl86 (Mar 30, 2009)

The guys here have Nextel/Sprint since it has the "push to talk" feature. They can't live without beeping each other every 3 minutes. And this way they can still play "cops and robbers"with their walkie talkies.









Us girls only care about who's giving us the most for less....since we, by nature, want everything ON SALE







... as far as family plans go, I don't think you can beat Verizon. And I think their service is hit or miss.....kind of like the signal I get when I'm out of area!!

Jim~ I had the same experience with Dell and believe it or not...Kmart!!! I had a patio set shipped and it was missing cushions. After 2 1/1 hours of getting transferred, I was connected to the same lady I talked to in the first place who said she couldn't help me and gave me annother 1-800- number. It took 2 weeks of calling and actually journaling (for credit card purposes) my phone calls to tell them to get pick the set up - I don't want it. And the lady on the other end says " Let me understand you so I'm not confused. Do you mean you would like us to pick the set up? Do you mean return it?? OH! Let me transfer you, please hold!"


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## KosinTrouble (Jul 18, 2005)

Oregon_Camper said:


> I think someone needs a beer....


I like this solution! But I would make it plural.. beers

Kos


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## AZthunderations (Aug 21, 2008)

I had the same deal with Cox Cable. Ordered it, telling them that there was no cable on my side of the street. Two young guys came out to do a RECONNECT. They discovered that there was no cable on my side of the street. Thay called a supervisor to verify, THERE IS NO CABLE ON THIS SIDE OF THE STREET. In total amazment the process was turned over to a cable installer and I was given a date, 1 week later for install. Several phone calls later, all from me to them, I found that a city permit was needed. Now we have local government, cable installers and cable company involved. Any permit can be aquired locally in about 3 working days....................a month and a half later and many more calls from me to them, (they never did initiate a phone call) I hit the very day that they got the permit. Gonna get that cable across the street in only 10 more days. Finally, cable installation company shows up and in about 2 hours we now have cable across the street. Cox Cable guy takes another 4 days to show up, unannounced, to install in the house. I have purchased all equipment as instructed by sale people at time of initial order. All is well, gets installed and works fine. I'm happy and then I get the bill. For 3 months I've gotten bills, even though I didn't have the system showing a $15 deposit, so 3 months with a $15 credit. Now I'm charged for a hook-up and all the equipment it takes to have the service....mega bucks. Phone call to Cox automated system and several wrong choices and call anther number and let me transfere you and that isn't this department. Finally stopped, hung up and redialed. As soon as the automation started, I started hitting the zero button (operator) and the auto system tried to take over, hit 0 again...kept doing it until a voice said "I will transfere you to a represenative." A short wait and I had a live human on the line. Discussed the problem, checked my records, found the free insallation had been ignored and that the equipment I have and use is not even carried by Cox for customer purchase and so the bill would be adjusted and I would be informed pesonally by her when that was done. Two weeks later and the bill date is coming due, I decided to access the internet web site and check on my bill. All ID's and passwords that had been assigned to me by Cox were invalid and I would have to re-register. OK, re-register, fill out all the forms agian and hit complete........can't re-register because that account all ready has been registered.........log in with assigned ID and password, not acceptable, re-register. Called again and tried the automated system only once before hitting zero again and again. Got a human that was amazed that I got through at all and proceeded to reset my ID and give me a temp password to access the account, stayed online while I reset my personal password and told me to have a nice day, would I like for her to add Cox Cable TV to my package? A conversation was held that may or may not be printable for general puplic. I declined her offer. Checked my account and it had been corrected....but I never got a call back. Customer Service?


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

Not always but I have found many times when you get into a computer answering system that if you just hit O (as in operator) it sometimes bypasses the computer and goes to a live breathing human being. They will resend you of course but sometimes it shortens the game.


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## camping479 (Aug 27, 2003)

there's a short article in the latest reader's digest about how to get a person on the phone. They suggest a bunch of things to get an actual human on the phone; press everything on your phone, mumble, speak nonsense, do nothing, speak spanish, select the cancel service option, mention a competitor. They also listed gethuman.com as a site that has a list of companies and ways to get a person on the phone.

Mike


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## W5CI (Apr 21, 2009)

Thank God for AT&T, but be glad you dont have sprint.


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## BigBadBrain (Aug 26, 2004)

Funny, I was just going to ask Jim if he wasn't actually calling SPRINT. Their customer disservice folks are top notch.


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## DernMooseAK (Apr 16, 2004)

Used to have them too, no problems til I cancelled them because I moved to AK. same sort of issues with customer support. After trying to get the total for finnal bill, getting diffrent amounts every time I called back because they wouldnt call back to verify the amount of last payment. They sent me to collections, I called again and asked for the bill amount and paid the latest guess. Month later got a refund for over payment. Turns out I was amonth ahead on my payments.

Dont pay them, the'll call you! There issue not yours.


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