Poor Customer Service
alford847
Newbie

I have tried to have this issue resolved at all lower level avenues available to no avail.  I moved to the Dallas metroplex a couple of years ago and was thrilled to find that Verizon Fios serviced the area where I lived.  I received an advertisement for a promotional offer of a $200 gift card and quickly called and set up my services.  A few days go by and I have not received any contact to set up a specific time for installation.  I call back and find that my order was never placed.  In addition, I was told that Verizon has “never offered a $200 reward for 2 year contracts” and that the best they could do was $100.  I found this odd as I had and have since seen the $200 offer available most of the time.  The customer service representative was not budging so I settled for the $100 gift card. 

About a year and a half goes by and my wife and I decide to attempt to decrease our monthly bills while we are saving for a new home.  I use the Verizon web chat and inquire about decreasing my monthly cost.  I was told that I could decrease my internet speed from 50/25 to 25/25 and save $10 per month.  I agreed and was sent an estimate for my new monthly cost.  It was exactly the same as before the speed decrease.  I used the chat once again to explain the situation and asked that I be put back on the 50 mbps internet speed.  Again, I received an email and this time it had increased $15.  At this point I had roughly the same speed internet, but was being charged $15 more than I was already paying.  I called the Verizon customer service center to try and rectify the situation and was basically told that it was my fault for making the changes without knowing all of the details.  It was made very clear that the agent was not willing to accept the fact that someone at Verizon had possibly given me misinformation or had made a mistake.  She kept telling me that it was my fault.  Frustrated, I told her that it wasn’t worth paying ~$180 per month and asked to cancel my service.  She transferred me to the retention department and the agent convinced me to keep the internet only.  She quoted my $62.xx and said that since I was keeping service with Verizon, I would not be charged the early termination fee.  I double checked with her and asked her to clarify that there would be no charge for canceling my TV service and going with internet only.  She confirmed.  Being burned in the past by not doing my research before confirming a change to my service with a Verizon representative, I told her that I would discuss it with my wife and call back.  About a week later I called back to make the change.  I discussed with the retention agent that I was canceling TV and keeping internet only.  She had some difficulty getting the price to be the same as I was quoted previously, but we ended up within $2.  That was fine with me.  I received my first bill about two weeks later and there happens to be a $70 early termination fee on it.  I called in and spoke with a retention agent about the fee and she said that the only way to have that fee waived is to have died.  She was not helpful, but I understood that her hands may have been tied by policies and procedures.  She offered to transfer me to her supervisor.  I accepted and was connected with Bridgette.  I explained all of my previous encounters to Bridgette and asked if she could do anything to make this situation right.  She responded to me with the same words after every question I asked.  She kept saying, “You must keep at least 2 of the 3 services to not be subject to an early termination fee.”  All I wanted her to do was to look into the issue to see if there was perhaps a call recorded with the Verizon representative quoting me $62 and telling me an early termination fee would not apply.  She would not even acknowledge what I was saying.  I told her that I was very frustrated and disappointed in the way I was being treated and she was unsympathetic. 

I understand that I am contractually obligated to the early termination fee, but I have never been treated so poorly by a company in my life.  I always see stories in the media about poor service in the telecom industry, but I never thought I would be affected.  I have not had a positive encounter with Verizon customer service in the past year and a half of being a customer.  I am constantly given misinformation and even the supervisors do not seem concerned that their subordinates are not providing even adequate customer service.  It is such a shame because you have a great product. 

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Re: Poor Customer Service
LawrenceC
Moderator Emeritus

Hi alford847,

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 look at the top of the middle column where you will find an area titled "My Support Cases". You can reach your profile page by clicking on your name beside your post, or at the top left of this page underneath the title of the board.

Under "My Support Cases" you will find a link to the private board where you and the agent may exchange information. 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, at the top of your support case there is a drop down menu for support case options. Open that and choose "subscribe". Please keep all correspondence regarding your issue in the private support portal.

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