A Verizon customer service rant. Need to vent a little.

[HiredGoon]

Well, here we go.

I got a call from Verizon DSL sales dept last week, a woman I had spoken to before, and she told me that 7.1 Mbps DSL speed was available now in my area and I could upgrade.

I had been inquiring every couple months about it. I have been a long time Verizon DSL customer almost from when they started offering it. I cannot get FIOS yet in my area

She said she would send me a new modem to accommodate the higher speed and put the order in for the change and my "ready" date would be May 27, but the modem would arrive before that....YIPPEEE!

Well, May 28 came and went and still no modem. I call and they say they'll overnight it...which they did and I got it today.

So, I hook 'er up and try to activate the DSL...but I keep getting an error. I was able to check the speed on the modem setup screen and it still showed the 3.1 speed.

So I call tech support and explain. BLAH...BLAH....BLAH... transfers to billing, sales, back to tech support, etc. So after getting bumped around like 6 different times, and getting told that there was a problem in the billing department with my upgrade, finally a "supervisor" tells me "Oh, were showing that 7.1 Mbps is not available on your line..."

ARRRRRGHHHHHH!

I said that their sales person called me and told me it was and this supervisor said that sometimes it is available for a short time, then the lines can't handle it and then it becomes UNavailable.

On top of all that, the phone connections were bad and filled with static, they had trouble hearing me and I had trouble understanding their damn accents (how nice it would be to speak with an American sometime when calling Verizon, but I guess just about all calls are now routed to a little corner of Hell somewhere, probably the area that Adolph Hitler is condemned to).

Anyway, the Verizon DSL service itself is actually very reliable and I have been happy with it, it's just that their customer service really sucks and the first line reps seem barely trained to do anything.

Oh, well, so now I wait for 7.1 or FIOS, whichever comes first.

At least my 3.1 Mbps is still working.

[Dannytheman]

Well, here we go.

I got a call from Verizon DSL sales dept last week, a woman I had spoken to before, and she told me that 7.1 Mbps DSL speed was available now in my area and I could upgrade.

I had been inquiring every couple months about it. I have been a long time Verizon DSL customer almost from when they started offering it. I cannot get FIOS yet in my area

She said she would send me a new modem to accommodate the higher speed and put the order in for the change and my "ready" date would be May 27, but the modem would arrive before that....YIPPEEE!

Well, May 28 came and went and still no modem. I call and they say they'll overnight it...which they did and I got it today.

So, I hook 'er up and try to activate the DSL...but I keep getting an error. I was able to check the speed on the modem setup screen and it still showed the 3.1 speed.

So I call tech support and explain. BLAH...BLAH....BLAH... transfers to billing, sales, back to tech support, etc. So after getting bumped around like 6 different times, and getting told that there was a problem in the billing department with my upgrade, finally a "supervisor" tells me "Oh, were showing that 7.1 Mbps is not available on your line..."

ARRRRRGHHHHHH!

I said that their sales person called me and told me it was and this supervisor said that sometimes it is available for a short time, then the lines can't handle it and then it becomes UNavailable.

On top of all that, the phone connections were bad and filled with static, they had trouble hearing me and I had trouble understanding their damn accents (how nice it would be to speak with an American sometime when calling Verizon, but I guess just about all calls are now routed to a little corner of Hell somewhere, probably the area that Adolph Hitler is condemned to).

Anyway, the Verizon DSL service itself is actually very reliable and I have been happy with it, it's just that their customer service really sucks and the first line reps seem barely trained to do anything.

Oh, well, so now I wait for 7.1 or FIOS, whichever comes first.

At least my 3.1 Mbps is still working.

I may be opening the proverbial can of woopass, but don't you have access to cable TV. I have 12 Mbps now.

I can accept a simple yes or no!!

[tlgpa]

and I had trouble understanding their damn accents (how nice it would be to speak with an American sometime when calling Verizon, but I guess just about all calls are now routed to a little corner of Hell somewhere, probably the area that Adolph Hitler is condemned to).

It's usually India with Verizon. Here's a tip. Anytime you start getting the run around and passed along, ask (demand) to speak to a supervisor. You'll either be passed back to someone in the States, or someone more knowledgeable and speaks better english. I'd say I've had success 80% of the time doing this.

This applies for just about any phone tech/service.

[knight0334]

Vent all you want about Verizon. Most of us that work for them criticize our service and customer relations departments as well. All 7 of us that work on my floor make all sorts of snide remarks about our service department.


They will make any excuse not to send a tech out, and when the do the poor tech catches the brunt end of things. They will also hype the service and tell you all sorts of stuff to make a sale. But they wont tell you about some of the drawbacks like losses from distance/loops from switch, losses from gauge changes, losses from additional bridge taps within the house, etc.

I'm not familiar with the ADSL2 standards and speeds, we still use the ADSL1 in the former GTE districts. ...so, I cant really give you any suggestions as to why you're only getting 3.1 from a 7.1 service, other than the drawbacks mentioned in the paragraph above.

[ALS]

That's ok the guy next door was told Fios was not available to him. I had it installed in my business and he was all over the installer wondering what was up since the Fios port was bolted to building on his side.

The installer called the office and corrected the problem in the computer.

There is a lot on incorrect information that is put in the computers and isn't caught until they get a situation come up like yours. You know the saying garbage in garbage out. People make mistakes and sometimes you happen to be the one that ends up catching it.

I have to say over the years Verizon has been great to deal with.

Crap happens like when I set up an install date for my Fios at work. The women I talked to said she could get me in the next day between 8-12 noon. Well 2:00 pm comes along and no installer, so I call to find out. Well I got bumped because she was late putting the order in and no one called to tell me. Did I get upset? No because stuff happens. I just set up a new install date two weeks later.
The guy showed up to do the install was outstanding.

[knight0334]

It's usually India with Verizon. Here's a tip. Anytime you start getting the run around and passed along, ask (demand) to speak to a supervisor. You'll either be passed back to someone in the States, or someone more knowledgeable and speaks better english. I'd say I've had success 80% of the time doing this.

This applies for just about any phone tech/service.

Yes, that works.. As for a supervisor immediately if they cant not walk you through things within a few minutes, or not at all. All our first level helpdesk services is in India. Even company personnel that have problems with our company PC's deal with them first.

[PeskyGee]

Don't mean to offend anyone here but Verizon Sucks Big Time. I gave them up about 3 years ago an will never go back. EVER!!! The worst service I ever had and the biggest idiots I ever dealt with. Do yourself a favor and try to find another provider. I talked with every so called "Tier" of support they have and they were all a bunch of retards. To tell a story would take a book of what I dealt with. The last thing I said to them was "I don't care how long it takes me to find another provider in my area for all of my services but I would rather not have any service and wait than have to deal with your company for one more service problem". About a month later I was with another provider and never looked back. That includes Phone and Internet. What a joke!!!!

[HiredGoon]

. ...so, I cant really give you any suggestions as to why you're only getting 3.1 from a 7.1 service, other than the drawbacks mentioned in the paragraph above.

Actually the problem is that they said I qualified for 7.1 service...but now apparently my line does not. So, I do not yet have 7.1.

I am getting about 2.8 Mbps DL speed average on my 3.0 service which is pretty good.

[HiredGoon]

Yes, that works.. As for a supervisor immediately if they cant not walk you through things within a few minutes, or not at all. All our first level helpdesk services is in India. Even company personnel that have problems with our company PC's deal with them first.

First level always seems to be for complete noobies and are usually no help at all for someone who has been on the net and around computers for years...and those damn accents are totally irritating.

And everyone you talk with needs phone #, name, address. Once you give it to them on a call (and also enter it via keypad) can't they just hang onto to it as they transfer you thru endless people?

I did call presidential appeals or whatever it's called now and got an actual American ...I have called them in the past and usually they bend over backwards to help, bu this woman today was civil, but not very friendly or helpful.

[HiredGoon]

I may be opening the proverbial can of woopass, but don't you have access to cable TV. I have 12 Mbps now.

I can accept a simple yes or no!!

Yes, I can get cable, but then you have the problem with as more folks in your hood get it, your speed decreases.

I've not checked into cable DSL for years and not sure what speed is available in my area now.

Apparently calling the presidential appeals line at Verizon and threatening to go to cable gets some action from them.