Going back to Comcast--Verizon poor customer service

[kenjo]

Well, I'm going to have to terminate Verizon FIOS. I switched from Comcast, thinking the internet speed would be higher and overall service would be better, but so far my experience with Verizon has been terrible. Although (according to my contract) the fiber optic line would be run underground to my house prior to installation, it was not. In fact, on the day the service was installed, there was no cable so there was a delay of several hours waiting for a cable drop to the house so installation could proceed. A cable drop means the cable was run to the house above ground. Since the installation on April 1 (yeah, I know) Verizon has "promised" the cable would be buried on 5 different dates. Each day came and went, with no cable burial. Furthermore, there was no call from anyone to let me know the cable would not be buried on the day as promised. This has been a problem, because they require our dogs to be kept out of the back yard so they can do the cut over with the buried cable. This means we either had to stay home so we could confine the dogs when the installer showed up, or keep the dogs locked in the garage for several hours if we had to leave. Don't bother calling their tech support line to resolve the problem--their standard response is to say they will contact the department that schedules the in ground installation and I would get a call back withing 24 to 48 hours. I've been told this 3 times on 3 different occasions, and never had a call back. Yesterday I was told that the contractor would be out today to bury the cable, and they even had a work order number to confirm the appointment. Nobody showed up today, and no call back.

Now, Comcast may not be superior to Verizon FIOS, but in the 2 years I was with them they never lied to me. Verizon has lied to me (unintentionally, perhaps) at least 5 times so far, and no one has ever had the courtesy to contact me when an appointment was broken to let me know it would not be kept.

I plan on terminating the agreement with Verizon and going back to Comcast. According to my contract, Verizon was required to install the FIOS cable to my house--prior to installation--in the same manner as the copper wire; aerial or buried. Well, the copper phone line and Comcast cable are underground, but the FIOS cable is still lying on top of the ground. Breach of contract.

PS--although the service I signed up for promises internet speed up to 10 Mbps, the fastest I've seen so far has been closer to 5. Comcast was faster.

[prisaz]

Sorry to hear of your hard times with the install. I had the install in August 2005 and ran into issues exactly like yours. The contractors used to run the drop, lied to Verizon on more then one occasion. I know Verizon should find more reliable contractors to run their burial cables. But they must also keep costs down to cover the cost of the technology. But that is no excuse for poor service and missed appointments. My work order was closed twice without the cable in the ground. Both times the contractor said it was finished.

If you are only getting 5mbps there is definately and issue. I have the 20mbps service and consistantly get 19.xx mbps no matter what time of day or night. The 10mbps should be close to 10 all the time. During my last almost 4 years of service I have not had any down time. I hope they can make things right for you. I have not had Comcast for years, and even though at first there were some pains with the burial of my cable, I have never looked back.

I will forward a link to your message to some Verizon people that monitor these forums. There are some very good people that work with these forums and most will jump though hoops for you. If you are having trouble this is a good place to look for help, or voice issues. I think it is the best place to go for support or problems.

[kenjo]

Thanks for your reply. The people I have actually talked to at Verizon seemed sincere in their desire to help, but they have no control over contractors. If I was in charge, I would find out who the top person is who is responsible for holding the contractors to the required level of performance and replace that person with someone who is able to do the job. Contractors who don't do what they are paid to do, then lie about it, and are not held accountable are the responsibility of Verizon. I appears there is no quality control over contractor performance; there should be follow up to ensure the job was done correctly when it was supposed to. Relying on the contractor's word rather than checking on it is not smart business. I'm sure there are responsible contractors out there (not here, apparantly) but Verizon should still trust but verify. There doesn't seem to be any verification going on--I have no doubt that if customers don't complain, the contractors will collect their money and go home and by the time Verizon gets around to fixing the problem they will have to find a new set of contractors to fix the problem, thus paying twice for the same thing. Not a good business model.

[prisaz]

I did post to some Verizon people regarding what has happend. Yes they should be accountable for their contractors. Also it is not good for them when contractors make them look bad. So I hope you hear from Verizon soon. Perhaps there is something they can to for you regarding all your pain. I think they gave me a credit or something on my account, but it has been a while so I don't remember exactly.

Message Edited by prisaz on 04-17-2009 12:51 PM

[DarkCobra1]

Well theoretically the FIOS line should render the superior results but sadly in too many cases that is just not materializing.    I too am sticking with Comcast for the time being as their service (while not perfect) is actually very fast right now . . . and it works!    When Verizon gets everything together (as I'm sure they will in time) I'll be glad to give them a try!

[woyala]

sad to hear u having this issue kenjo....its sad to see that you are not having the full experience of FiOS.

IMO all these Unions & Contractors should be gone.  If Verizon and other companies actually  did the hire and installation themselves it would give a better reputation.

[kenjo]

It all comes down to lack of oversight by Verizon. If they had a supervisor or manager who followed up on the work contractors were supposed to do, this issue would have been resolved a long time ago--the contractor would have been required to do the job right or be sent home without payment.

[DarkCobra1]

At first it may have seemed like the cost effective thing to do in sub-contracting the work out to thrid party contractors.   However, Verizon is large enough now to have their own network of installers who can be trained to do the job right the first time.   How cost effective can it be for Verizon if they have to keep arranging for strangers to keep coming out to make these things right?    I think customers would be willing to pay a bit more for true professional installation to have it done right and have it all tested on the spot to make sure the full FIOS signal and all bells and whistles are working as intended.

I know if given the choice between some unknown contractor across town to install such critcial equipment or a dedicated Verizon professional who's been fully trained and does this and only this . . . I'd gladly pay extra for the later.   I think many others would as well.    If Comcast can do it, so can Verizon.

[dtmfman]

A poster wrote: "IMO all these Unions & Contractors should be gone. "

The unions have nothing to do with this...let's keep the blame where it belongs. 1) unethical, unreliable, and unresponsive contractors, 2) lack of oversight from Verizon, and 3) unresponsive, no follow up/less than stellar Verizon customer service.

Verizon...or better...Ma Bell....was at one time THE BEST SERVICE PROVIDER BAR NONE. That sadly has gone the way of the do do bird...They've dumbed down their techs, compartmentalized their "mindbank". There are very few techs who know more than "one thing" anymore. When companies slash budgets to remain competitive...invariably customer service and repair suffer...

I too have some issues with Verizon's customer service. I was a land line customer for well over 20 yrs until I had a repair issue and was told on 5 different occasions that a repair tech would be out to do the repair...they never came...they never called. My screen name is dtmfman...for anyone who doesn't know it means dual tone multi frequency...in lay terms...dial tone....Yes I've been a voice person for well over 30 years....so after 5 missed repair visits and no calls....I disco'd my land line service and now use only my cell. I'm sure at the time they (Verizon) probably thought they wouldn't miss my $40+/month income....but more and more people are fed up with poor customer service and have followed my exodus.

Back on topic...Yes sadly the buried cable issue seems to remain a big problem for Verizon. It happened to me. But..I have to say...once it did get resolved....I haven't had many problems...I too was a comcast customer...but I would NEVER go back unless Fios was discontinued...or they finally have competition in the "fiber to the house" arena.

Right now...my issues are questionable data transfer speed....and of course less than stellar customer service...

Good luck....

Message Edited by dtmfman on 05-06-2009 05:00 AM

Message Edited by dtmfman on 05-06-2009 05:01 AM

Message Edited by dtmfman on 05-06-2009 05:02 AM

[bubscon]

I am experiencing the same problems. Had FIOS installed on February 16, 2009. The cable was actually buried a few days before although they would not put it on the side of the house we needed it to be on (and yes the lines were marked there). When the tech came to install, he gladly ran a new cable where we needed it to be promising someone would be out in a few days to bury it.

Here we are 3 months later and the cable is still above ground. My neighbor complains non-stop that it's unsightly and her lawn mowing crew has to move it each time. We started calling once a week, but over the past few weeks we've called almost every single day. Each time it's the same story. They can't believe we're not getting service we should be. They apologize and promise someone will be right out there to bury it. And they've now elevated our complaint - whatever that means. They refuse to let us speak to a supervisor or manager. Someone was supposed to be here on Saturday, we were instructed to stay home and wait for them. No one showed up and we couldn't get through to Verizon to inquire about his whereabouts. On Tuesday they promised someone was going out that day. Well, of course no one showed up.

Verizon - if you're reading this, I am home today and would really appreciate it if you sent the cable burying people out here. Of course, the lines need to be remarked as the lawn has been mowed several times and the original lines are now gone.

I agree with you, Comcast was much better. Thought is sometimes took a try or 2 to get through, they usually resolved the issue immediately. When this one year contract is up, we are definitely going back.

[jmcohen231]

you would think that a communications company would be able to communicate with itself....  perhaps they need Nextel's direct connect walkie-talkies...

[DarkCobra1]

Can ya hear me now? 🙂

[skitzthegemini]

That's definitely the first time I've ever heard of someone switching TO Comcast for the customer service.  Good luck with that

[kenjo]

As to going back to comcast for customer service--I had been a subscriber to comcast for 2 years. Any time I had an issue their customer service was responsive and active in correcting the problem. Others may not have had good service from comcast, but my experience with verizon has been negative. {please keep it relevant} 

Update: My neighbor across the street, who still has the fios cable coming out of the box in his neighbor's yard, running across the neighbor's yard, draped over the fence, then strung along the top of the ground and around the back of his house to the service box after 2 months, finally got someone from verizon out today to look at it and confirm it was screwed up.

duh.

Now, of course, they promised to be out within 2 weeks to bore underground and connect his cable properly. Other houses in this neighborhood still have cable draped across the ground to their house after almost 3 months.

I am still hanging in with verizon to give them a chance to make things right. They know they are in breach of contract now, so maybe they'll do something (the contract requires them to run the fios cable to the house in the same manner as the copper phone wire, which in this case is underground).

Message Edited by ElizabethS on 05-06-2009 12:14 PM

[Techman28]

Kenjo,

Toss me some info here in a PM I'll get both you and your neighbor fixed asap.

[DarkCobra1]

Now that's what I call service!   🙂

[kenjo]

Techman28:

What additional information would you like? I have explained the entire sordid story to so many people at verizon with no results, but lots of promises for action, that I'm reluctant to explain it all again. Perhaps you can send me a PM--I don't know how to send a PM from within this forum; when I click on your user name I get a page with your profile, etc., but no way to PM you. Perhaps if your email address wasn't hidden...

Just out of curiosity, what can you do from TX to resolve the problems my neighbor and I have had with properly burying the fios cable?

Thanks.

Message Edited by kenjo on 05-06-2009 05:35 PM

[KaLin]

kenjo,

To send Techman a PM, click on his username to go to his profile.  You should see a link that says "send this user a private message."

Click that link and write your messge and click "send message"/

[Techman28]

Kenjo,

 I will make sure you get everything completed asap. I know that you have heard that before, however I do mean what I say and won't stop working the problem until its completed to your satisfaction

[kenjo]

I had a PM from Techman28 to let me know he had completed a work order to have someone follow up on this issue today, and he provided me with a work order number. THANKS! His response to this issue actually resulted in some action, as follows:

Update: A Verizon truck showed up this morning with an actual Verizon person who said he had a work order to replace the temporary line with a permanent (something about an irate customer as well). I escorted him around the house so he could see for himself how the temp line was put in, and he agreed that there is no reason why they (the contractors) could not have put the line underground all the way to the house without going through the crawl space. He said he would issue a new work order to ensure the work is done correctly. Of course, there will have to be a new locate done since the original locate marks have been washed away or grown over (they were done 2 months ago). So, there is still hope.

Message Edited by kenjo on 05-07-2009 11:43 AM

[DarkCobra1]

Well "props" to Techman28 for being a man of his word and getting this moving.   Please continue to keep us all posted until this is done.    It's too bad that this took so long.   However, it's good to see that this forum was the instrument for getting it moving.