Horrible service!

[pmargari]

We have been VERIZON customers for more than 16 years on multiple residential addresses. We established new VERIZON FIOS service when we moved into our new home in March 2017. The cable was installed at the rear of our property and was draped over a bush with considerable slack in the line. There was another line (thicker line of unknown type) that went through the same bush.

A couple of months later the FIOS drop line fell on the ground and was run over by our lawn mowers. The other, thicker line was still intact and still hanging and going through the bush.

When Verizon came out to assess the situation he told us that the only way he could fix it would be to rerun another buried line. He could not patch the existing line. This was done quickly and to our satisfaction but we then received a bill for $753.25 from CMR Claims on behalf of VERIZON.

We would like to state that the are no trees in the area of our yard that the drop line fell. The other line that was there prior to the original FIOS line installation is intact and has not fallen to the ground. The Claims company (CMR) acting on behalf of Verizon told us that we should be responsible for the repair because our bush brought down the FIOS drop line. However, we strongly believe that if the original installation included a securing device of the FIOS drop line to the other existing line (going through the same bush), the FIOS drop line would not have fallen to the ground. Such a securing device could have been a ziptie. Please remember that the line that existed prior to the FIOS installation is still intact and goes through the same bush as the FIOS drop line went in the original installation. We find it very strange that, as CMR claims, our bush brought ONLY the FIOS drop line down and not the other existing line. As such, we believe that the original installation was incorrect and as a result, caused the FIOS drop line to fall to the ground.

We have spoken to VERIZON directly and have opened a ticket so that the local VERIZON installer would contact us and take a look at the property with regards to this claim. The ticket was closed without any contact to us, we re-opened it after another call to VERIZON and are still waiting (2 weeks later) to get in touch with the local VERIZON installer (that should have been done within 48 hours after the ticket was created).

It is apparent to us that VERIZON can install service but to be done correctly incurs a large fee. We are truly appalled by the lack of contact from the VERIZON local installer and the fact that as a company does not try and resolve this issue (i.e. send a local installer to assess the claim situation). Our calls to VERIZON directly resulted in the customer service stating that said they could not see this bill in their system even though the bill is from VERIZON and the people who came to our house to fix the problem were from VERIZON. We really feel cheated have lost faith in a company that should that we have been customer for 16 years. At the end, if we are forced to pay this bill we will be canceling our service.

[MrMatthew1]

Hi pmargari,

Claims Management Resources (CMR) is a Verizon authorized vendor that provides invoicing services to recover Verizon’s cost to repair damage done to the Company’s facilities. This includes but is not limited to:
• Buried and Aerial lines
• Poles
• Conduit and vehicles
CMR can handle disputes of claims directly, and works with the local field office that performed the repair. If you wish to dispute a CMR claim, you may contact them by phone at 1-800-321-4158 or by email at bswcomplaint@cmrclaims.com.

[LawrenceC]

Hi pmargari,

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.