Frustrated by customer service and sales misrepresentation

[mkoman1]

First,  let me explain that I took the "leap" 2 years ago after being a Comcast Customer going back to the days before Comcast bought up all the local cable companies.  So after finally tiring of the hours long renegotiation of the contract with Comcast, we changed our email addresses to gmail and declared ourselves open to whatever made the most sense (Comcast/Verizon/Dish/Direct TV).

We accepted a verizon triple play promotion 2 years ago and have  been quite pleased with the overall experience.  The 2 year contract was coming to an end, so we called to see what we could do to keep pricing reasonable and keep the service as close to what we had.  The rep worked together some codes and asssured us that we would have everything for the next 2 years that we currently had.  I asked 2 times if she was certain we would have the same services including premium movie channels. The reply was yes both times. No brainer. I was pleased.

By the end of the day (12/30/16) we had lost all of our premium channels.  I gave it a day to work itself out, then finally called on Jan 1st to see what was up.  The call handler routed me through 3 different people. The last person I spoke with said I no longer have premium channels, that the service I have for TV is in fact no longer available, and that was clear on the email sent to me.  What was clear to me is that I had been lied to.  I told the 3rd person that day that the rep I talked with on the 30th had assured me that all would remain the same, and they should listen to the recording of the call to be certain.  This person said they would file a complaint, someone would listen to the conversation, and I would be contacted no later than the end of the day on Weds, Jan 4th as to how this would be resolved.  There was no contact by Verizon by the end of the day on Weds, Jan 4th.

On Thurday morning, jan 5th, I again called, this time going directly to billing and explaining again what had happened.  The person taking the call said he understood,, knew what needed to be done, but would need to contact his supervisor for how to handle this in the "system." He asked me to stay on the line.  I could not, asked for a call back, but he said he could not do that and i should call when I could remain on the line.

I called back at 3:30 PM on Thurs, Jan 5th.  I once again went through my story, explaining that the rep on Dec 30th misrepresented what I would receive, and that someone should listen to the call if they did not believe me.  This person said he understood the issue but had to talk with his supervisor on how to set up the premium movie services and issue a credit for the services at the same time.  He said it would take no longer than 30 minutes, said he would call me back, explained it would be an 800 number showing on my phone, and asked me to please take the call.  He never called back.

On Friday, jan 6th I called again. I once again explained my plight, explained that the rep had misrepresented what I was going to receive, and asked him to listen to the call.  He said he was a billing specialist and that there was no way he would be able to do anything about this.  When I expressed my disappointment, he offered to have me talk with a supervisor.  I asked if I was going to be wasting my breath.  he said I should talk to the spervisor.  I waited one the line about a half hour, then was transferred to a supervisor.  I again explained the situation.  The supervisor said they did not listen to recordings except for training purposes.  She said I received a good price  and what I was asking for was simply not available. I agreed that I was happy with the price but not with what I was promised i would receive (the premium movie channels.) I asked if there was any type of a make-good she could do.  She told my they are regulated and not premitted to do anything like that.  I saw no point in going any further since she was not budging.  I did ask for my movie service to be turned back on until my 2 year period expired (it was turned off immediately on Dec 30th which is another matter.)

So i went through probably 4 times more time on the phone than I ever did with Comcast renewals, was promised follow ups and callbacks that never happened, and at the very end was stonewalled even though I made it quite clear that a verizon rep had misrepresented what I would receive and verification of this should be available on a recording if anyone cared to verify this.  I ended by stating "you understand that I am not a happy customer" and I will need to shop around.  She said I was already getting as good price and for me to be certain to cancel before my grace period was up if that was my choice.

I thought Comcast didn't care.  My 1st 2 years with Verizon was so pleasant that I am absolutely floored at how this has gone down in the past 10 days.  It is not like I was calling insisting on more.  I was simply requesting to receive what I was originally offered on December 30th.  The supervisor kept referring to the email I received and that it did not mention the movie package.  I agreed but stated I read on forums that names of these things were changed and I just assumed that it was now just bundled in with some other part of the service, since I had no reason to not believe what I had been told initially by the Verizon rep.

Quite simply, I am requesting that someone at Verizon give me what I was promised by a Verizon rep on dec 30th, or at least offer me some type of add-on make good in order for me to feel good about going forward with a new 2 year contract.

[LawrenceC]

Hi mkoman1,

Your issue has been escalated to a Verizon agent. Before the agent can begin assisting you, they will need to collect further information from you. Please go to your profile page for the forum and scroll down the page to an area titled "My Support Cases". You can reach your profile page by clicking on your name located above your post, or at the top right of this page.

Under "My Support Cases" you will find a link to the private board where you and the agent may exchange information. The title of your post is the link. This should be checked on a frequent basis, as the agent may be waiting for information from you before they can proceed with any actions. To ensure you know when they have responded to you, you may subscribe to the case. At the top right of your support case there is a gear icon which provides a drop down menu with support case options. Click that and choose "subscribe". Please keep all correspondence regarding your issue in the private support portal.