Verizon Fios--HORRIBLE (buy, taxes, pricing)

[rome99]

Wow! You would like to go with Comcast? Really??
btw, you should write a letter to Verizon's CEO. You wasted your time by posting here. Your post doesn't make sense.

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

Posting this for those in the future who may be looking for reviews.

We've had Fios for six years. We were happy with it till recently, when a billing error has become a nightmare.

Long story short, VZ thinks we have a second set-top box (STB), and I can't get this corrected in their system, no matter how many hour-long phone calls or online chats I endure with with their customer service people--who, by the way, are all in India.

Even when I had one of their techs come out to replace a malfunctioning outdoor relay box--he couldn't help with this. He had no "special phone number" for elevated customer service, and I couldn't just walk him through the house to show him we only have one STB.

It's a simple problem with a simple fix. But every CSR tries to fix the problem and claims they have--and then I see on the bill that it didn't work.

So here is what you need to know if you're looking for a TV/internet provider:

1. There is no easy way to report a problem--no email address to contact. Even getting a chat window is very hard to find on the VZ website. Every "Contact Verizon link" sends you to a phone number (which will put you in touch with someone overseas) OR a forum made up of other users.

2. The CSRs are not able to fix things. They mean well, and they try--but it just doesn't work. My bill is now a confusing nightmare of partial credits but still that persistent charge for equipment I don't have. The one time I asked for a supervisor, I got put on hold forever and finally hung up.

3. I have nothing against people in India; they need jobs too. But customer service is one area that should be handled by native English speakers. The language barrier is a problem, even though their English is relatively good. With every call, I can tell they're not really listening to me and getting what the problem is.

I also think Verizon is betraying the American people by outsourcing all these jobs while raking in tons of money and paying its CEO more than $18 million for 2016.

When our contract is up, I'm going with Comcast or RCN.

[BOS2IAD]

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

3. I have nothing against people in India; they need jobs too. But customer service is one area that should be handled by native English speakers. The language barrier is a problem, even though their English is relatively good. With every call, I can tell they're not really listening to me and getting what the problem is.

I also think Verizon is betraying the American people by outsourcing all these jobs while raking in tons of money and paying its CEO more than $18 million for 2016.

When our contract is up, I'm going with Comcast or RCN.

Another C-D poster (in another thread) said that the way to handle things when you get someone in India who doesn't know what s/he is doing or isn't fluent enough in English is to say this "I want to escalate this call". If you have to repeat it more than once, keep persisting. Eventually, you will be sent to someone higher up who is probably in the US.

I agree with you about outsourcing, BTW.

Sorry you're having such difficulties with Verizon. My husband worked from home for 10 years until he retired recently. He stuck with Verizon as he thought they met his needs very well. In fact, when one day our internet connection failed, he called Verizon (and got someone in Southern VA). When they said that someone will look into it the next day, my husband told them that he worked at home and needed it fixed ASAP---and they complied. Recently, when we had an issue, he called them and they talked him through the problem.

As for Comcast, we have it for cable. When service fails, no telling when they will fix it. Because of that, we refused to hook up our internet with them.

[Carlingtonian]

Originally Posted by BOS2IAD

Another C-D poster (in another thread) said that the way to handle things when you get someone in India who doesn't know what s/he is doing or isn't fluent enough in English is to say this "I want to escalate this call". If you have to repeat it more than once, keep persisting. Eventually, you will be sent to someone higher up who is probably in the US.

I agree with you about outsourcing, BTW.

Sorry you're having such difficulties with Verizon. My husband worked from home for 10 years until he retired recently. He stuck with Verizon as he thought they met his needs very well. In fact, when one day our internet connection failed, he called Verizon (and got someone in Southern VA). When they said that someone will look into it the next day, my husband told them that he worked at home and needed it fixed ASAP---and they complied. Recently, when we had an issue, he called them and they talked him through the problem.

As for Comcast, we have it for cable. When service fails, no telling when they will fix it. Because of that, we refused to hook up our internet with them.

Thanks for the thoughts and advice. For a long time, we were quite happy with VZ. The signal is by and large pretty reliable (notwithstanding the gradual increase in pixelated channels and one completely missing one caused by our faulty outdoor box). And the in-home tech guy was great--very professional. (He told me jobs like his are unionized.)

Thinking back, I could swear I had called their customer service in the past and gotten folks on the phone from Dallas or somewhere in the US. So maybe the outsourcing is a recent thing.

My beef with the outsourcing is not only the language barrier but the inability to follow a slightly complex problem and take charge to put an obvious, common-sense solution into place. And that may not be their fault entirely; could be their bosses are giving them only certain options to use, none of which applied in my case. E.g., they can't just "undo" the charge for extra equipment but process it as a "new order" and a credit for some amount.

It's crazy that it has to be so complicated. I'm wiling to pay their prices up to a point; I just don't want any surprises.

Maybe I should start my own cable company. $100/month for everything, all taxes included, for the first two years. After that, we knock off 10% a month each time you renew. (Which is the opposite of what they do now.)

[dkf747]

I haven't had any issues with Comcast or RCN for a long time. Comcast used to be (in my experience) the worst at customer service. That's just me though.

[car54]

I recently decided to ditch the Verizon cell phone. My wife has a separate smartphone...she's into all that swipin' and pinchin' nonsense. All I need is a basic phone for emergencies, so I got a pre-paid cheapo at WalMart.

So, I called Verizon to cancel my cell service. I got an American in Atlanta, and after listening to a bunch of stuff about how sad they are to see me go, she said service would be disconnected on such and such a date...which just happened to be the end of my billing period, so I owed nothing. They disconnected the phone on the day promised.

About a month later, I got a bill for 42 cents. But it said "Courtesy bill, do not pay", so I didn't. Another month and I get another bill for 42 cents marked Past Due.

I wasn't about to waste hours trying to call these idiots, so I wrote a check for 42 cents, put a 49 cent stamp on it and mailed it to 'em. Six months later I haven't heard any more from them, so I must be good to go...

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by car54

I recently decided to ditch the Verizon cell phone. My wife has a separate smartphone...she's into all that swipin' and pinchin' nonsense. All I need is a basic phone for emergencies, so I got a pre-paid cheapo at WalMart.

So, I called Verizon to cancel my cell service. I got an American in Atlanta, and after listening to a bunch of stuff about how sad they are to see me go, she said service would be disconnected on such and such a date...which just happened to be the end of my billing period, so I owed nothing. They disconnected the phone on the day promised.

About a month later, I got a bill for 42 cents. But it said "Courtesy bill, do not pay", so I didn't. Another month and I get another bill for 42 cents marked Past Due.

I wasn't about to waste hours trying to call these idiots, so I wrote a check for 42 cents, put a 49 cent stamp on it and mailed it to 'em. Six months later I haven't heard any more from them, so I must be good to go...

pretty sure I would have taped four dimes and two pennies to a piece of paper. Se how many man hours they spend trying to deposit that......

[car54]

Originally Posted by spencgr

pretty sure I would have taped four dimes and two pennies to a piece of paper. Se how many man hours they spend trying to deposit that......

It's a shame I didn't think of that!

As it is, I wonder how much my 42 cent bill cost them to send (twice) and then process my payment. A lot more than 42 cents I would imagine.

But when their computer wants something, no matter how ridiculous, you must comply. All resistance is futile.

[Bigfoot424]

When we moved last year it was very easy for us to cancel and get our equipment back to them as they sent the shipping box to us. No issues at all with FIOS.

[car54]

Speaking of FiOS...I recently got a letter from them about my router.

They say my router is old and being discontinued. But, if I want to keep it, it'll cost me $2.80 (plus taxes) extra per month.

OR, I can buy a "Certified pre-owned" (LOL) "FiOS Advanced Wi-Fi Router" for a one time charge of $59.99 (plus taxes).

You guys know way more about puters than I, what should I do?

[The Dissenter]

Originally Posted by car54

Speaking of FiOS...I recently got a letter from them about my router.

They say my router is old and being discontinued. But, if I want to keep it, it'll cost me $2.80 (plus taxes) extra per month.

OR, I can buy a "Certified pre-owned" (LOL) "FiOS Advanced Wi-Fi Router" for a one time charge of $59.99 (plus taxes).

You guys know way more about puters than I, what should I do?

As a help desk guy, I would see if you can get the FIOS compatible router cheaper on Amazon. The one I rent from Comcast sells for less than $100 on Amazon and I'd buy it and give Comcast back theirs...but my service with Comcast may end for another reason depending on how this week goes.