Worst customer service I have ever experienced
rfeineis
Newbie

We switched to Verizon from COX two months ago and have lost our phone service countless times, been "disconnected" from customer service 12 times and have filed a formal complaint with the Better Business Bureau.

To date, Verizon has not resolved a single issue that they said they would.  Has not returned over a dozen phone calls and is now on our list of companies that will never receive another dime from us.

Stay away from Verizon.

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Re: Worst customer service I have ever experienced
drwikboz
Newbie

I have to second this, Customer Service is atrocious. 

So I've had Fios for just over two years and it's a pain.  Of three boxes, two did not work.  It took forever to finally get them replaced.  Even though they replaced the boxes, I still have a lot of lag on the guide, dvr functions and on demand.  I've learned to live with it since Verizon clearly can't fix it expeditiously. 

Over time I have also had billing issues, the most recent of which has me livid.  A $14.95 charge showed up for something called "Hold Billing Services."  I noticed the charge because I am contemplating switching to a cable provider as Verizon is considerably more expensive.  Anyway, when I called Customer Service, I was cut off and told this is a third party charge for streaming flix (as in the channel????) and that I need to call a separate company to deal with the charge!!!!  That is ridiculous, she also started screaming at me when I requested to speak to her supervisor.  She then transferred me to the third party! 

I did not authorize any third party service and upon quick research, I see these companies are scams and have federal investigations and even lawsuits filed by the federal government against them.  I can't believe Verizon would allow such a charge and then have the nerve to pass it off.  If they can't handle the charge, they should not be billing the charge, period! 

I will be switching my service from Verizon in the next week or so when I have time to take off of work.  I don't care if the picture quality is better or if the internet is a little bit faster, nothing is worth the hassle of dealing with Verizon customer service!

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Re: Worst customer service I have ever experienced
ElizabethS
Moderator Emeritus

There are a couple of good threads on the board about third party billing that you might find useful. One is here, and the other is here.


Call Verizon back and ask to have a block put on your number so no more such charges can be made.

Re: Worst customer service I have ever experienced
XanderZane
Enthusiast - Level 2

rfeineis wrote:

We switched to Verizon from COX two months ago and have lost our phone service countless times, been "disconnected" from customer service 12 times and have filed a formal complaint with the Better Business Bureau.

To date, Verizon has not resolved a single issue that they said they would.  Has not returned over a dozen phone calls and is now on our list of companies that will never receive another dime from us.

Stay away from Verizon.


I was thinking about getting FIOS Internet access and TV service, as my sister works for Verizon. The problem is FIOS isn't out here in Arizona yet. Verison has nothing on their site that lets us know when it will be here. With all the complaints I've been reading, I may just stick with COX Communication. They are way over priced though, but at least the cable and internet works 99% of the time and I don't get charge any extra fees.

Speaking about slamming. That happened to me once before. I was being charged like $.65 a minute on all calls. Local and long distance. My bill was like $350. When I called my phone company, they said my service was switched, even though I never made any switch. I had them switch me back and put a block on the line. For anyone to change it, they would need my last 4 digits of my SS and my mother's maiden name. I only had to pay a small fee to switch back. Didn't oay anything to the 3rd party phone company. If you ever get a new home phone#, also make sure you put a block on it immediately.

I'll wait on getting FIOS at this point. If their customer service sucks, I won't even waste my time.

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Re: Worst customer service I have ever experienced
pl626
Contributor - Level 1

And forget about the Live Chat support.  It's terrible.  It took me almost an hour to convince the guy that my STB was dead.  What should have taken less than 10 minutes was stretched into almost an hour. And he didn't resolve my issue!  I actually called the FSC, waited about 10 minutes, but the person was an American and resolved my issue in less than 5 minutes.   I suspect the chat 'person' was at an offshore center, as his English was extremely broken.  He did absolutely nothing for me except waste my time.  After I told him the FSC solved my problem in less than 5 minutes, he acted as if he had actually contributed to the effort.

If you have a billing dispute with V*, be prepared for a long battle.  I have almost never had a good experience with their billing department.  It's almost as if being rude is part of the SOP for them!

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Re: Worst customer service I have ever experienced
DoveLove
Enthusiast - Level 2

I also have received the worst customer service ever. I want to change my provider as this has become ridiculous. I was planning to switch my cell phones over to Verizon in a few months when my current contract is done, but after this month of ongoing problems and no resolution, I think not. I have had emergencies in which I needed my phone but didn't have. I couldn't even call my mother to tell her Happy Birthday, what child does that? The problem is that I tried and tried, but due to my failure in service, I was prevented from doing so. I still haven't been able to talk to her over a week after her birthday and I'm sure her feelings are hurt. And then for them to request that I refer my friends and family is outragous to me.

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Re: Worst customer service I have ever experienced
lasagna
Community Leader
Community Leader

So ... help me understand how not being able to call your mom on your Verizon landline prevented you from picking up that cell phone (the one's you were going to switch to Verizon) and calling her on that?  Granted, that doesn't excuse an issue with Verizon service ... but I'm just sayin ...

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Re: Worst customer service I have ever experienced
pl626
Contributor - Level 1

@lasagna wrote:

So ... help me understand how not being able to call your mom on your Verizon landline prevented you from picking up that cell phone (the one's you were going to switch to Verizon) and calling her on that?  Granted, that doesn't excuse an issue with Verizon service ... but I'm just sayin ...


good point, however, if you don't have a signal, you can't make a call, unless you go out of your way to find a signal.

I've got AT&T for wireless, but I can almost never use it at my house, which is why I still have my V* landline, in addition to my VOIP line.  If I didn't have these, I'd have to take my cell to an area where I had a decent signal to actually make a call. 

I would have given my wireless business to V* since they have the best coverage in my area, but they don't allow you to multitask on a 3G phone.  On AT&T, I can surf the web, lookup contact info, text all while I'm on a voice call.  OC, I don't do this when I'm driving.

Now the downside is, I can only do this if I have a signal...Every carrier has it's issues and qualities, there's just no standout service provider.  From a consumer's perspective, don't put all your com eggs in one basket.

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Re: Worst customer service I have ever experienced
Quetee916
Newbie

I totally agree with you about Verizon's customer service.  I order an On Demand movie last night for the first time that is good for 24 hours.  I tried to watch the movie again this morning but on a different TV.  It wanted to charge me again.  I did a chat with a Verizon rep who in the end, could not help me.  I called the toll-free number and was told that another department would have to set up my account to watch an On Demand movie from another tv.  She then told me that  I needed to speak with someone in another department however, the department was closed today (Labor Day).  I informed the rep that calling tomorrow would be outside the the 24 hour period.  This is absolutely ridiculous!!!

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Re: Worst customer service I have ever experienced
lasagna
Community Leader
Community Leader

@Quetee916:  It sounds like you are getting bad or inaccurate information.  This issue was discussed previously on this thread:

http://forums.verizon.com/t5/FiOS-TV-Programming/only-allowing-paid-movie-viewing-on-one-box/m-p/519...

You can watch it on a second TV in the same 24-hour period.  The second STB will want you to "buy" it again, but according to the post above, you aren't billed for it as long as it's within the initial 24-hour period.

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