PSA - Moving Service Address During Strike = Nightmare. Be warned

[aparisi]

I want to recount probably the worst customer service experience I have ever had with any organization.  To put it in perspective, I spent the last 5 years working in a complex service department where I managed the New York office of a global unit.  For that reason, I am typically very patient when it comes to dealing with customer service.  I know how it feels.

I also have been an advocate for FIOS ever since my family was an early adopter.  The actual service is great, and after being stuck with Time Warner Cable in NYC, I jumped at the opportunity to switch to FIOS.  Ultimately, they provide a much better experience for TV and Internet across the board.  

With that said, it was time to move to another NYC apartment, and I called in March to schedule the move.  Having read that Verizon makes you sign a new contract (negating all initial signup discounts), I was already nervous.  However, the person on the other line said I could transfer the same contract to the new billing address.  This was fantastic news, as I wanted to continue with the exact same service I had at my previous apartment.  He was also very personable and very helpful, and assured me that everything was in the system and ready to go.  They also allowed me to take the equipment with me - something I was happy about because I had a full DVR that I did not want to lose.  So far, so good.

About 1 week before the installation, I received a call from an agent to confirm the installation date.  For whatever reason, my previous conversation must not have been logged in the system properly.  Not a problem, as the agent mentioned that the date I had scheduled (4/26) was still open, so they kept me on schedule.  The window was the entire day (which I found odd), but it didn't bother me.  This was the date I was moving into my new apartment, so the time wasn't important.  Oddly, this was the first time that I received a confirmation e-mail regarding my appointment.

Two days before (4/24), I received an e-mail with this introduction:

"Thank you for choosing Verizon Fios®, we are notifying you that due to a temporary work stoppage, we were unable to meet your installation appointment for Tuesday April 26, 2016."

This was due to the service strike.  The problem with this strike isn't just the availability of workers to install FIOS at the new apartment, it's that their entire customer service operation has no escalation and no resources available to help any customer during this period.  Here is the series of events since the cancellation of my appointment:

1. I called after receiving the e-mail to confirm when I could reschedule or potentially find a new date.  They could not provide any confirmation and stated that it would be sometime in late May, IF they didn't show up on 4/26.  This means they had no idea whether someone was going to show up? This seemed odd.  I figured OK - we will see what happens
2. Wake up on 4/26, and the service at our old address is off.  Sounds about right.  I also received an e-mail notification that my phone service was switched to the new address.  However, nothing else was switched over.  When logging into my account, there is no longer any service listed except phone, despite having switched over phone, TV, and internet.
3. I called later to check in again as it was clear it was not going to get installed once I got to my new apartment.  The person I received mentioned that they contacted the service dispatch and they didn't have anybody available to install.  This was obviously because of the strike, but it was clear she had no idea that was the reason no technicians were available.  Secondly, the date she gave me for potential installation was 5/18, almost a full month after moving into my new apartment (if that were to actually happen).  I asked to be escalated to a supervisor:
   1. I waited at least 30 minutes to reach someone
   2. Someone chimed in off of hold, and after me stating "Yes I am here" - they hung up and disconnected
4. I called back again, go through the same process, and this person tried to escalate me again.  I waited on hold again for an extended period of time and had to cut it short this time on my end because of an obligation
5. I called back again and just asked to be immediately escalated to a supervisor.  After waiting on hold for over 30 minutes, they mentioned that the supervisor would call me back and to provide a number.  I provided my phone number, and never received any call.  I then received an e-mail that mentioned because I couldn't get internet installed, I was provided 10 GBs of free data on my wireless account.
   1. Are you serious?
   2. I consume 10 GBs of data in less than a night due to working from home and other applications of my service, and I need the internet to operate with my business and personal life.  Was this a way to not call me back and not resolve the problem?
   3. Appendix: still have not received a call from a supervisor
6. At this point, I let it rest for the day.  I was moving in and couldn't fathom I was hung up on, bribed with a paltry 10GBs of data for residential use, and still had no end in sight because I had not talked to anyone who could provide any information on: whether or not I had the right service, was still paying for my old address, had information disappear on my online account, no end to this in sight or peace of mind, etc.
7. I called again today, and stated that I need to at least have an idea of what next steps are, and to talk to someone who can provide me with some answers.  After staying on hold for over an hour, and them fumbling through my account (they couldn't figure out what happened either), they stated that someone would call me back again from service dispatch.  Yeah right.  Again, did not even move an inch towards peace of mind let alone a resolution.  I didn't even know if i could cancel my service if I wanted to!
   1. I finally asked if she even could cancel my service.  After waiting another 20 minutes, she came back and confirmed that she could.  At this point, I don't have service, no idea when it will be installed, so what's the worst that could happen.  I asked if I would have any fees, and she said no, but I don't trust anything at this point.
   2. She provided a confirmation number, but I have no e-mail confirmation, and no signal that this conversation actually happened.  I have no idea if I am paying for anything at the moment. 

In summary, I switched to FIOS as soon as it was available in my previous apartment building because the offering is much better than Time Warner Cable, which I loathe.  After being put through this fiasco, not only did I waste a ton of time, but I didn't even make any progress towards having any cable or internet in my home, or having any issue resolved.  I didn't even get an idea of when it could be resolved, or talk to a single person who had any authority or idea of what was going on.  I am now going to be switching to Time Warner Cable, because this is the type of service experience you don't forget, and it was bad enough that I'm willing to switch to a lesser offering for peace of mind.  I'd rather have service interruptions than have no service - and I need service to actually operate within my field and my business.  Waiting a month or longer with no sense of progression in sight is unacceptable.

The service workers have a right to strike, and it's a tough industry.  They aren't the ones that failed here - and I don't blame the people I dealt with.  They were simply provided NO resources to actually resolve any problem.  My advice to Verizon is to pay up, because if this goes on for much longer, I won't be the only customer they lose.  

[aparisi]

Edit to my previous post: I completely forgot that through this process, I received a package at my new apartment the day I moved in.  I had no idea what it could be.

When picking up the package, it was a box sent by Verizon to send my equipment back, even though I was already told I could bring it with me.  Again, this adds to the mystery of whether or not I am still paying for anything and what I am paying for.  At least now since I am canceling my service due to this awful situation, I now have the boxes to do so...

[tns2]

Probably an automatic send of a package to return equipment.  Save it in case you do in fact have anything to return after your move is actually done.

[aparisi]

That's exactly what it was.  In case anybody is curious:

• Still no official confirmation on me cancelling my service.  While the individual I spoke to provided me with an "order" number, I haven't received an e-mail or any other notification
• My online ID still exists, and it says I still have Verizon phone service.  This has yet to be canceled.
• I did receive proper confirmation for returning my equipment

In the interim, I signed up for Time Warner.  While FIOS has faster max Down/Up speeds for internet, in my building, it's limited to 75/75.  TWC offers 300/300.

Now, I'm just hoping that everything was properly canceled, and I don't end up having to go through some fiasco to make sure I don't get continuously charged.