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My Home Phone Horror Story

I'm writing this as I wait on hold yet again.

When we first moved into our house I signed up for FiOS 25/25 internet and Digital Voice(6/2010). I was told by Verizon that we could port our number over from ATT. When the technician came out to "install" (the previous owners had FiOS) he said that the number couldn't be ported. Something about Verizon and ATT not having an agreement. They gave us a "temporary" phone number. I was told to call back periodically.

Fast forward to July 2011.

I called Verizon and was told they could port the number over. (I had upgraded to the triple play bundle sometime in between) However, they said they couldn't just swap the ported phone # into our triple play bundle. I would have to open another account with the ported #, unbundle the triple play, cancel our "temporary" number, and then re-bundle the triple play. The good news was that our number did in fact get ported over. The bad news is that I've been trying to get the bundle and our phone straightened out ever since.

Here's the timeline:

7/8 Number can be ported over.

7/15 Ported number connected

8/12 Called Verizon to see if they cancelled the "temporary" number. (No, they didn't follow up)

8/25 "Temporary" # disconnected. Waiting for re-bundle.

9/1 Ported # no longer works.

9/6 Unable to re-bundle. Need to cancel order and redo everything. Will send technician out. (Huh?)

9/16 Tech came out. Waited for central office to "push the button" to activate the phone.

9/17 Can make calls. Can't receive calls.

9/18 Phone working. Triple play bundle still not fixed.

9/27 Bundle should be fixed. Wait till next billing cycle to see

10/13 Phone doesn't work at all. Repair ticket opened.

10/15 Ticket closed(why?). Phone still doesn't work.

10/17 Need to send a technician out again.

Am I asking for too much? I just want my triple play bundle and my ported #.

Comments

KH-OrnEsh1

I'm sorry you are having difficulty. An agent with access to your account will reach out to you directly by email, private message in the Forums and/or the billing telephone number on your Verizon account for more information or to help you resolve your issue.

@SocalFiOS3 wrote:
I'm writing this as I wait on hold yet again.

When we first moved into our house I signed up for FiOS 25/25 internet and Digital Voice(6/2010). I was told by Verizon that we could port our number over from ATT. When the technician came out to "install" (the previous owners had FiOS) he said that the number couldn't be ported. Something about Verizon and ATT not having an agreement. They gave us a "temporary" phone number. I was told to call back periodically.

Fast forward to July 2011.

I called Verizon and was told they could port the number over. (I had upgraded to the triple play bundle sometime in between) However, they said they couldn't just swap the ported phone # into our triple play bundle. I would have to open another account with the ported #, unbundle the triple play, cancel our "temporary" number, and then re-bundle the triple play. The good news was that our number did in fact get ported over. The bad news is that I've been trying to get the bundle and our phone straightened out ever since.

Here's the timeline:

7/8 Number can be ported over.

7/15 Ported number connected

8/12 Called Verizon to see if they cancelled the "temporary" number. (No, they didn't follow up)

8/25 "Temporary" # disconnected. Waiting for re-bundle.

9/1 Ported # no longer works.

9/6 Unable to re-bundle. Need to cancel order and redo everything. Will send technician out. (Huh?)

9/16 Tech came out. Waited for central office to "push the button" to activate the phone.

9/17 Can make calls. Can't receive calls.

9/18 Phone working. Triple play bundle still not fixed.

9/27 Bundle should be fixed. Wait till next billing cycle to see

10/13 Phone doesn't work at all. Repair ticket opened.

10/15 Ticket closed(why?). Phone still doesn't work.

10/17 Need to send a technician out again.

Am I asking for too much? I just want my triple play bundle and my ported #.

DTDunn

I too had a VERY bad experience trying to switch to FiOS telephone. If the good folks at FiOS want to try and understand why they cannot get more market share from Cox, these are the stories that matter.

When switching from Verizon standard hard lines, over to Verizon FiOS lines (which I did to save money), pretty much everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. Trust me Verizon, I have relayed this experience to many people in our community.

Without going into every detail, the installation was one botched task to the next. It took many calls (long calls, averaging 20 to 30 minutes each) to get everything right. I still need to dig up a drain pipe that I suspect is damaged. I still expect to slice through this FiOS line one day, part of which runs six inches deep along a flower bed (after I was promised it would not be run there). After installation the voice mails did not work and the lines were reversed. All of the issues taken one at a time were fairly minor, but add them all up along with the hours I spent on the phone and this experience was a giant nightmare. After two months of constant complaints, I am still trying to get the caller IDs correct (just completed my 4th service call on that matter alone).

Verizon's FiOS advertising focuses on their crystal clear phone lines. The exact opposite is true. My phones (after being "repaired") get line noise that goes from barely audible to the caller sounding like they are talking over an AM radio. Verizon says they have replaced or swapped everything. Who knows? All I know is that the sound quality is generally poor. I wish I had never switched. How can copper lines sound better than fiber optic lines? Why does everyone say they hear zero noise on their end, but my end has noise often?

I had planned to switch to FiOS TV and Internet, but after all these phone problems -- from a phone company -- I killed that order. I am nowing trying to learn if I can go back to copper without penalty. They say I can, but I expect some sort of reconnect or disconect charge to find its way onto my bill.

DTDunn

By way of background, I was once a national Customer Service manager for a mid sized computer company, so I understand how service organizations are supposed to work. Here is how Verizon responded to my blog entry above and my 4th request to change the Caller ID on one of our two phones:

1. I found a message on my wife's phone this morning, stating that if I wanted the Caller ID changed, I should simply call the Verizon business office and make the request. The guy said I would need to have the name changed on the FiOS account to my wife's name.

So after four requests to get this simple change done, Verizon asks me to do EXACTLY what I did yesterday, which was to call the business office and request the change. We are in what I call an "idiot loop" and I am not the idiot.

Further, Verizon apparently STILL does not understand my request. We have two FiOS hard lines. One is my wife's phone and one is mine. When I call people, I want my name to come up on their Caller ID. When my wife calls people she wants her name to come up (not mine). When we had Verizon copper lines (no FiOS), this was a non issue. The phones were set-up this way on the first request. For some reason, FiOS cannot seem to even understand what I want done, let alone execute it.

Why should I have to spend another half hour on the phone speaking with people who cannot comprehend such a simple request? Are the Customer Service people working at FiOS really this dense?

2. I got an email in response to my blog entry asking me to click on a link and file some sort of request to get my problems fixed.

One of the golden rules of Customer Service and Sales is "Do not create work for the client." I have stated my primary issue is line noise, possible damage to a drain line in my yard, and a FiOS line running along a flower bed which I predict I will slice through the next time I mulch this bed. I also stated I am tired of sitting on the phone for hours making service requests. How does Verizon respond? Asking me to phone back in and also fill out a new service request.

Why should I have any confidence that Verizon will this time respond correctly? They cannot seem to even understand my Caller ID request, no matter how many times I slowly explain it to them. They still have not fixed the phone noise, even though three people have worked on this issue and (supposedly) all of the hardware has been swapped or replaced. They sent a guy by to (supposedly) check for the drain line damage and to move the new FiOS line away from my mulch bed edge, but when I inspected the ground later that evening, the soil was not even disturbed.

Regarding the line noise issue, an on-site Verizon technician said he had NEVER ONCE heard of Verizon FiOS lines having noise. I asked how long he had been doing his job and he said over a year. However, if you call or log into the FiOS site, one of the service problem options offered to you is "line noise." So this issue is complained about SO often that Verizon has made it one of the primary options to seek a repair for. They even instituted an automated system to help a customer troubleshoot their own line noise. Was this on-site technician that clueless or did he lie to me? I will never know, but that single event has me questioning at the very least the level of training provided to Verizon techs.

If I am a sharp person at Verizon I do NOT ask patient Mr. Dunn to call in one more time or fill out one more form, I get on the phone to him and I get these problems fixed before Mr. Dunn sends one more email to his 50+ neighbors who at this point will never order anything from FiOS.

Hello... Can you hear me NOW?

DTDunn

Still no Caller ID fix.

I get an email today stating the install of my TV and Internet services will start in four days. I HAVE CANCELLED THIS ORDER TWICE!!! I am on hold now to cancel a third time. I have been transferred twice, so the first person who transferred me did not know what they were doing.

This "Customer Service" agent was very rude and condescending. She says the order has again been canceled, but offered no explanation as to why the first two cancellations did not go through.

She then says residential lines cannot have a separate Caller ID. If that is true, why have multiple Verizon FiOS people stated in could be done?

Then when I was on hold, she was mocking me to a coworker. I have no doubt she left the line open so I could hear this.

Total time on the phone (a VERY noisy line) was 83 minutes. Installation canceled a third time. Caller ID project apparently dead. I attempted to switch back to copper and was told the monthly fee would go up 40%. So now I am stuck with noisy lines.

AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

ephatcow

verizon needs to get their act together with this. I just created a thread about my troubles.

Verizon is way too big for thier own group, and their SOPs are ignored in favor of each representative's feeling that the last rep was wrong with what they did

My ordert was FILLED with mistakes with the port, Alot of redone work, alot of mistakes according ot the various reps

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