Issues with bill

[KaoStriegel]

We are having so many issues with customer service representatives giving us information that is false and not doing as they are told We would like some correspondence from someone who can help. 

We have had many issues with the customer service department over the last 2 weeks because of being told we would get certain things or led to believe that we would get services that were not the case. Every customer service representative we have talked to has told us something different. This all started when we noticed our bill was more than we wanted to pay. We did our due diligence and checked out the competitor's rates and what they had to offer before contacting Verizon to see what you could offer. 

The first phone conversation happened on January 29 (order attached to this email). One thing that we really wanted was to ensure that we were given a better deal instead of having to go through the hassle of switching to the competitor and then back to Fios a month later as new customers. Talking to the representative, we quickly decided on going with the Gigabit speed and asked for new television boxes as the ones we had were not performing the way they used to. Originally we were told there would be one-time charges (100 dollars for the speed boost and 50 dollars for the upgraded boxes). We expressed our displeasure for having to pay the 50 dollars to upgrade the boxes, since new customers did not have that added expense and it would cut into what we were trying to do as a growing family that is just trying to get by. The woman on the phone said that she would waive of the box upgrade, but we would still have to pay for the internet boost. We scheduled an appointment to have installation on February 18. The technician was professional and helpful. He then stated that he was finished and we asked about the new boxes we thought we were getting and he stated that there weren't any on the order. Now this is where the first issue came in. Looking at our past bills it was 20 dollars per month to rent 2 set top boxes and the new order said  "New- rent 2 set top boxes - $12 each" This led us to believe that we were paying more because the boxes would be new. We were obviously wrong but we also felt like we were mislead into signing the 2 year agreement. We asked the technician if he could put a note in to have them call us and we never received a call.

So after a few days we tried to take matters into our own hands and call back and ask about this. I have been on the phone with Verizon for a minimum of an hour 4 separate days this week (Monday, Tuesday, Saturday and now Sunday). After much discussion and being told it was not possible to waive the box upgrade fee, we said that we would want to just cancel our services at which point they offered to drop the fee to 25 dollars. We expressed our displeasure for this and still moved forward with attempting to cancel the service. At this point I was bounced to 3 different representatives that asked me the exact same question "Why do you want to cancel?" Truth is I really didn't want to cancel. I just wanted what I believed we were supposed to get and even reviewing the order thought that we were getting. The termination cost would be 350 dollars. I stated that I needed to talk to my husband about how he wanted to move forward with this. After speaking with him we called back and said we really didn't want to cancel but would if the 50 dollars was not cleared. Another representative (this was Tuesday, Feb. 26) agreed to remove the price because he stated that in the transcript of the call the other representative did not see that it was agreed to waive the charge. He was very kind to us and tried to walk us through the everything that we were getting. We were told we had 10 days to pick up the boxes from a Verizon store and that everything would be taken care of. 

Yesterday, I went to the Verizon store and upon arrival I was told that the order never existed. Which caused me to sit in my car for 37 minutes trying to talk to a representative about what was said. The rep on the phone asked me if it was alright to confirm the set top boxes. At which point I said, only if the fee is waived. The rep assured me this was the case and again I was happy this saga was over. I took my boxes home and today we attempted to set them up. There were some issues with getting them set up, so I spent over an hour on the phone with another representative trying to set up the new boxes.  One thing we noticed during this phone call is that the order still had the 50 dollar upgrade fee on the bill for March. After inquiring about this oversight, we were bounced around and the same rep that was so kind to us started becoming agitated with our conversation. We were told that if we have an issue like this to call customer service but that they were closed today so we would have to call back tomorrow. 

At the time of getting the boxes set up finally my husband was looking at the features and extremely excited to 1) Use the awesome new voice remote we got and 2.) to start setting up the shows we watch on the DVR. When he clicked on the box it turned out that we no longer had DVR. As it turns out when we had Multi-room DVR in the past we no longer had that or any DVR. This made us feel like we would just be paying even more money. At this point I am beginning to get so frustrated that the tears began to pour from my eyes as my 6 year old and 4 year old looked on wondering why I was so upset. We asked to speak to a supervisor and after a 10 minute wait a very kind man came on to try and help us. Again, we were told that there was nothing they could do until they could speak to a customer service representative. 

Honestly, this isn't even about the 50 dollars but the fact that we feel betrayed and mislead by people that we fully supported and we have been loyal customers for so long. We know how business works and understand that not everyone deserves a hand out but as loyal customers that want to stay with the company think we should be treated with more respect than having to repeat ourselves to different people multiple times. I am emailing because I do not know if I can sit on the phone with Verizon about this matter any longer without getting upset and without it having an affect on my family and their life. Almost 6 hours of time on the phone with them in one week with most of the time just sitting there on hold seems to be quite extreme. All we want is this resolved. We want to stay with your company but we are upset by what has happened over the last couple of weeks. Almost 6 hours on the phone and dissatisfaction from loyal customers feels wrong. If there is anything you can do we would be grateful. 

[LawrenceC]

Hi KaoStriegel,

Your issue has been escalated to a Verizon agent. Please check your Private Message Inbox for a message from Verizon_Support. You can find your Inbox by clicking on your username at the top right corner of this page. Please direct all correspondence concerning your issue to the agents who will be assisting you privately.