Verizon DSL Consumer Reviews - Page 4

LOCKPORT, NEW YORK -- On 7 Aug 08, I cancelled my Verizon DSL service for multiple reasons, the primary one was that I had problems with the line and their customer service was lousy. The following week I migrated my home phone number to a cell phone service, and disconnected my Verizon home phone. On 21 Aug 08, I received an automated call from Verizon, at my work (against my specific request that they not use that number), telling me there was some problem with the disconnect and to call a specific number.

I called the number, spent 10 endless minutes in voicemail hell, and then was connected to a customer service agent. This agent spent another 5 minutes quizzing me regarding my account (asking for the same information I had just been prompted to punch into the voicemail system for apparently no reason), and then told me I had reached the wrong office and would need to call another number. I refused and asked to speak to a supervisor. After several more minutes arguing with the service agent, she finally agreed to connect me to a supervisor. After another 10 minutes on hold a Miss NAME REMOVED got on the line.

After re-explaining my issues to her (apparently my 10 minutes on hold was not used to communicate anything to her, and the notes taken by the 1st agent were not available to her), she agreed to contact the DSL Billing department. She contacted them and had an extended conversation with a Mr. NAME REMOVED of DSL Billing. I was on hold for another 15 to 20 minutes. At the end, they were unable to resolve my issue that day and requested that I allow them to call me back the next day. Mr. NAME REMOVED committed to calling me at 1:00 PM the following day with a resolution.

I agreed, and asked Miss NAME REMOVED for a call back number for her in case Mr. NAME REMOVED failed to call me back. This entire process took an hour. On 22 Aug 08, Mr. NAME REMOVED failed to call me back. At 3:45 I called the number given to me by Miss NAME REMOVED – 890-1550. This number placed me back into a call center (She intentionally and knowingly deceived me by giving me a number she knew I would not be able to reach her on). There I was told by several employees that it was against company policy to connect me to a supervisor. I called several times, because I kept being disconnected.

The employees were unbelievably rude and argumentative. In particular a Miss NAME REMOVED was extremely rude (and given the typically poor treatment received from customer service agents at Verizon, for me to single her out is a particular honor to her skill at pissing off the customer.) Finally, I called the 1-800 number from the phone book, and after another frustrating 15 minutes, was connected to a Miss NAME REMOVED at CSSC.

She took some information from me and put me on hold. I was mysteriously placed back in voicemail, had to go through the entire process again, and then was connected to a Mr. NAME REMOVED at DSL Billing. Mr. NAME REMOVED did not have any previous information collected at great length from the previous agents, and needed the entire story again before he would assist me. He then connected me to a supervisor – Miss NAME REMOVED – Online Billing – reference number – 203068396. Miss NAME REMOVED could not explain to me how I ended up in Online Billing when I had requested DSL Billing by voicemail.

She did not know, and could not contact Mr. NAME REMOVED, Miss NAME REMOVED, or Miss NAME REMOVED. She was able to resolve the cancellation issue, but was unable to offer me the second month rebate promised to me on a previous service call that I had not received. When I asked her if she did not feel the 2 hours I had spent on the phone trying to resolve Verizon's error was sufficient aggravation to warrant a rebate as an apology, she told me she was not authorized, and there was nothing further she could do.

She was completely unconcerned that I was upset. I asked her if there was another level the call could be escalated to. The answer was "no." Apparently there is no one in the company above minimum wage who is willing to speak with the customers directly.

It is clear when calling Verizon that their service agents have a standard playbook of problems and resolutions that they are unable or unwilling to deviate from. If your specific problem is not covered in the playbook they send you on an endless round of other numbers in the company. No information from previous phone calls is ever available to the latest agent reached, and the whole process must be done again. There is no accountability for the service the agents provide because they cannot be identified.

They'll give you their name, but without fail the next agent you reach does not know who they are, or where they work, and the new agent does not feel obligated in the least to address any wrong information or misdirection caused by the previous agent. If you push hard enough, the typical response is a disconnect. I can only surmise that this is a policy designed to discourage customer complaints.

If your problem is in the playbook, they have one standard, poorly fitting, solution for all customers. It is made clear that the solution is a take it or leave it option. There is absolutely no escalation process. The agents make it quite clear that if you are still dissatisfied, that's just too bad. I really cannot articulate loudly and clearly enough what a poor, rude, and thoroughly aggravating and dissatisfying experience Verizon Customer Service is. Their service is poorly operated, overpriced, and comes with the worst service outside and Airline that you are ever likely to encounter.

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK -- I am very upset about the non service I receive and point out that their so called technicians are clearly working against the company and the customer. I've tried to get through the line, when my connection was down at night waiting 1/2 hour on the phone to be hanged up on. This happened 3 times, was never able to get through the supposedly 24/7 help line at night. The other times I just don't want to waste my evening on the phone so I just ask my neighbors to share their signal.

So I've called in the morning, when I can get someone on the phone to be told that they cannot help me because at this moment my connection is working. I try to send emails to online support and get bogus generic answers in return. I'€™m quite familiar with computers and networking, I've tried everything mentioned on their website to fix the issue and it's STILL not working and NO ONE can help me???

I am not willing to pay for a service that works only sporadically especially not at the inflated rate I had to pay for my first month. It's kind of like going to a restaurant ordering a steak and only half a steak comes out of the kitchen but we're still going to make you pay for the whole steak... Unheard of.

Now that'€™s memorable: I have a problem with my Verizon high speed internet and I receive "live chat" answers about Verizon One... good job people. Or wait, am I communicating to a computer I thought I was chatting "€œlive with a technician" as falsely advertised on their website as usual. I've already restarted modem, checked the cables and plugs, every day I've got to do it about 10 times.

I just spoke to another technician who couldn't help me on the phone. Right now, my connection is fine. Later on today, the modem is going to blink red, then go completely dead until sometimes when it'™s going to come back up. It'€™s of a GREAT inconvenience, especially when trying to upload files on FTP or watch a movie online for example. I try to watch a Netflix movie online and it tells me my connection has stopped, or that my connection is too slow to watch a movie. Am I not paying for high speed internet?? And this happens EVERY NIGHT because EVERY NIGHT I still hope that something miraculous is going to happen like a working internet connection for instance.

I have been extremely disappointed with Verizon service so far, interesting how the advertised price is only $24.99/month but I've just paid a bill for 120 dollars for my first month of "€œhigh speed internet"€ which is high in price but very low in internet and competent service. I have had to ask to use my neighbors signal at night for a month now because my connection stops. And the person on the phone told me he/she couldn'€™t help me??? What am I paying for then.

So far my 3G phone has had better signal in the evenings than your supposedly high speed internet. I have had high speed internet in the past through Comcast for about 8 years and NEVER NEVER had a problem. Once in a while I would lose signal but not 10 TIMES A DAY. Very unfortunately I had to switch to Verizon because I moved.

Also thank you Verizon for jacking up my phone bill with the extra 40 minutes wait on the line to get through someone else, after which I finally decided to hang up, OBVIOUSLY I was not the only one having problems. Please someone be a real technician and not paid to waste my time. Thank you.

PS: By the way, to the amazingly competent technician who swore to me that my connection was working fine: since I've been writing this letter, my connection stopped twice already had to reboot modem and router. So I am starting a log of these interruption of service. Maybe next time you will believe what the customer tells you.

EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY -- I wanted to drop Verizon wireless because I had retired and I am living on a fixed income. I couldn't afford it any longer. They told me I had to pay a surcharge because I was dropping it before my two-year contract was up. First of all they never notified me that the first two years were up before extending my contract for another two years. I told the girl that I'll pay the surcharge just to get my trio turned off. She told me if I got rid of my other amenities and kept my phone function until August of the same year they would wave the two-hundred-fifty-dollar surcharge and disconnect my phone.

I called back in August and asked to have my wireless phone turned off. They said I had to pay the surcharge and additional interest that accumulated, which came to three-hundred-twenty-dollars. After having several lengthy conversations with accounting representatives and their superiors I saw I was getting nowhere fast. I paid them what they asked over a period of time just to get rid of them.

My second run-in with Verizon was over my DSL connection going to my home PCs. I have been having problems with intermittent signal loss for over three-years. This problem had become more frequent this past six-months. It has cost me four-thousand-dollars in that period of time. I have an on-line business and my daughter almost lost her job because of Verizon'€™s poor service. She works on-line. Their technical support in India was of no help over this period of time. They had only black and white scripted answers for my problem and none of them worked.

Calling them sometimes several times a week over this six-month period and getting the same choreographed answers was driving me wild. I then demanded to have them send a technician to my home and troubleshoot my problem. Again, after calling everybody within Verizon they finally agreed to send one. After two visits to my home he finally called a support group in Canada. They found I had a good carrier signal but the BOD-rate at which it was being sent was weak. They corrected it at the mainframe of Verizon's local office. It was alright for a week. Then it started again.

In passing, and by chance, I happened upon a person that used to work for Verizon. He told me that my problem stemmed from too many subscribers utilizing an antiquated hard wire system. For short, they were transmitting over our telephone lines, and at peak times during the day certain subscribers would be bumped. I told him I thought Verizon upgraded to fiber-optic system; at least that was what they led me to believe. He told me they misled me, and that they had no plans to upgrade my area because of the location of the utility poles in East Orange, New Jersey. The expense would be too great for undependable subscribers in my area.

Needless to say I dropped their DSL service also and went to a cable company for my high-speed needs. I could kick myself for not switching sooner. Cable internet is much faster and reliable. In so many word, it appears Verizon only cares about their bottom line when it comes to customer support and reliable service and to hell with customer satisfaction when it comes to the inter cities. At least that is the way it appears to me.

I hope Verizon read this and do something to correct these problems. One suggestion would be for their Canadian team to train their East Indian team and their Indian team realize they are dealing with US Americans, not The English. Our headsets are quite different. Thank you for publishing my complaints.

So I just got off the phone with the wonderful people at Verizon Online Billing Center (800) 567-6789. The reason I had called was I received a bill dated 10 months after my service began, informing me my 12 month introductory rate period was over and I was now being switched to their regular rate.

The reason this happened is, a year ago, I decided to take advantage of Verizon's $14.95 per mo. introductory rate on DSL. When I called to enroll, they told me I could only take advantage of the deal if I had Verizon phone service as well, so I went with a package of DSL and Verizon landline service, and cancelled my former phone service with Cox.

The problem began when Verizon never came out to hook up the phone line (required for DSL service). They were however, efficient at billing me promptly from the time I initially requested service. I had to repeatedly call to eventually get someone to actually come out and connect a Verizon phone line (I was told more than once someone would come out, but no one did); it was two months later when someone finally came to my house and connected service.

This entire two months I had been emailing people left and right from Verizon's "customer service" site, and phoned several customer service reps, trying to explain that I'm being billed for Verizon DSL and phone service, but no one has come and hooked it up yet.

Each of these emails either explained they couldn't help, or told me I had to call the billing dept. who would refer me to someone else, and so forth in an endless chain of explaining to me that my contract had begun, and that I was therefore obligated to pay.

Each phone rep gave me the same run-around, explaining there was nothing they could do for me, and ignored my explaining that I shouldn't have to pay for service that wasn't provided, and that I should be billed from the date my service began rather than the from day they began my service-less "contract," by repeating phrases over and over, such as "our records show your service began 2 months ago, sir," often in increasingly rude and berating tones.

When I finally got someone to come out and connect service, I cancelled my previous phone service with another company (Cox). Eight days later Verizon disconnected my phone service. That's right, I received only eight days of phone service before Verizon, disregarding of all my emails and phone calls regarding their billing error, disconnected my service.

So then I needed to get my phone service back. I called and reached a rep who steadfastly refused to even acknowledge the situation, even when I asked her if she thought it made sense that I was disconnected after only eight days of service. And, after--in no uncertain terms--letting me know she was no longer interested in taking my call. And after being asked if I could speak to someone else and explaining to me that "there is no one else," told me she could not help me if I couldn't give her my account number.

(I had called from work--remember my phone was deliberately disconnected which was the primary reason I was calling--and I didn't have my account number at the time nor did I remember it)--This, she decided, was her out--her means of getting rid of me. I told her I'd give her any other identifying information she wanted, but she repeatedly explained to me they weren't allowed to give out any information without an account number (which was false as I'll explain later) and kept repeating that, thinking it would end my call.

I tried to explain to her that I wasn't asking for any information--I didn't need any information--I just wanted someone at Verizon to have the decency to look into it and restore my phone service. I didn't even need to be the customer in question for them to look up the records on that customer, recognize the discrepancy between when I was billed and the date my service began, and amend it. The part about needing an account number was a not true, because every time I called a representative, the first thing they asked for was my "phone number or account number, please," and my phone number often sufficed.

To this day my phone delivers a very fuzzy service which Verizon blames on my residence despite my previous service (with Cox) being loud and clear, through the same wiring at my house. That fact still did not deter Verizon reps from blaming my home's wiring.

For some reason, after 11-12 of these encounters, I eventually reached a reasonable rep on the phone who credited my account for 2 months. I was so impressed that I asked to speak to her manager so I could give her a verbal commendation, and her manager told me they take such accolades into account at employee reviews. Still, after that experience it became obvious to me that Verizon had surrounded itself with layers of protection from its customers, especially the ones it was blatantly and arrogantly stealing money from, in the name of "service."

So, back to the present, today I called to ask for them to once again amend the discrepancy, since I didn't receive a full year of the agreed-upon introductory rate. And was again shouted down by a rep who, in proper Verizon customer service rep fashion, kept repeating to me when my "contract date" began, no matter how many times I tried to explain to her that even Verizon finally acknowledged my service began two months beyond that contract start date, via their refund.

And she also informed me there was no one else I could talk to, which turned out to be another ridiculous statement because a few minutes later she was putting me through to her manager with the parting words "but you WON'T be getting a credit!"

The manager who then came on the line began repeating the same lines about how their records show my contract began at such-and-such time and that further, I was "already refunded" the amount for two months of no service. I tripped him up in getting him to agree I was only getting 10 months of the twelve months Verizon's offer promised, but of course that was followed by, "but your contract started at such-and-such date, and we can't change that" mantra. I told him "they sure train you people well," and let it go, thus allowing yet another untouchable corporation steal my money. Of course there's a fee for early termination of the account.

From this experience it seems obvious that Verizon has purposefully and painstakingly erected layers of insulation from customers (those trying to prevent Verizon stealing from them anyway.) It's as though they've provided a rat's maze, designed to appear customer-oriented on the outside whereas you can easily go in (Verizon ads show a legion of supporters standing behind a customer, right?), but all the paths only lead back out. It's very difficult to find any genuinely responsive corporate contact information in order to effect any accountability. It seems customers can only reach these insulating layers designed for the one-way flow of money.

Verizon's priorities are revealed by the fact their billing division was extremely prompt, while their service to my residence was nonexistent, for two months. It's obvious to me after dealing with Verizon's email contact points and its customer reps that they're trained to dispense with customers as efficiently as possible, and to not allow any flow of money in any wrong direction, regardless of whether or not the customer has a case. I've read before they're provided incentives to implement this policy, which would explain the emotional and berating kinds of temperaments one can encounter from them.

It's telling how disrespected customers are these days--gone are the days where businesses' keys to success in the marketplace involved the adage of the customer always being right. I really wonder if Verizon would do better in the long run putting resources into providing service instead of these bastions of protection from customers. But I really doubt this isn't happening with their competitors as well.

Banks certainly operate the same way. The more layers of this one-way insulation they have, the more they can bank on percentages of customers not noticing they're being ripped off. Or if they do, another percentage will become frustrated or discouraged in trying to recoup their losses against this customer barricade and give up.

The vast majority of whom probably don't have the time or resources to take legal action for relatively small losses; yet all those losses multiply to amount to a not-so-honorable element of profit for large corporations, who are really being aloud to run amok these days in so many ways. To the point where they're heavily influential in writing their own rules beyond accountability to the general public; they really need to be reined in.

PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA -- Ordered Verizon DSL. Went with the 3mbps version. Install CD couldn't get past step three, setting up the account. An entire week of evenings on the phone with their tech support (nice people, were doing their jobs reading the scripts hoping to find a solution), not being able to get to the web. Hours and hours and hours. I was patient.

Promises of a tech coming to the house to sort it out (had help ticket numbers and everything). THREE DIFFERENT TIMES THEY PROMISED THIS when phone support couldn't fix the problem. Three different times THEY cancelled a home visit claiming they knew what it was. Sent me another router, at my expense. Told me that they had a mismatch on the hardware on their end. But never could get it to work.

They lied about the home tech. Never intended on sending a tech. Even told me that its not their company policy to send a tech. THEY DO EVERYTHING THAT THEY CAN NOT TO SEND A TECH! If you purchase their DSL, pray that you don't need a tech. They'd rather lose a customer. And they proved that... to me first hand.

Charged me for two routers. Won't refund $$$ for first one. Said its not theirs. Bought it from them and it has their name on it. Their phone filters. Its THEIR ROUTER! I'm stuck with it. Climbed the ladder to management levels multiple times. Then they told me to call phone support and ask for a tech for a home visit. You've got to be kidding me! Are these people for real? Their phone support was trying to help me to get a home visit. Management cancelled it!

After speaking with at least 8 techs, two managers, a final call with a sales rep, some DSL expert who wouldn't respond to my questions (I was hoping she could help) and some sort of manager who didn't listen, just kept talking until I interrupted him. I got very tired of the runaround. I cancelled. I called another broadband provider and guess what, they are sending a tech for the initial install. And they claim to not leave until everything is working.

Now maybe, JUST maybe, Verizon COULD learn something from this other provider. Or maybe, JUST maybe, they eventually will go out of business. Do they truly believe that they can go on treating customers like this? They may be BIG now... But sooner or later, I would have to believe that their customer base would grow tired of this type of poor treatment.

Oh yeah, they'll try to tell you its Vista, or its XP. Depending on which one suits their purposes of blaming it on the customers machine. I have two machines, both op systems, they blamed it on both. They didn't realize that I had the other one sitting there too. I have one laptop that had no problem hijacking a neighbors wireless router. They told me that machine has problems talking to a wireless router. Heck, they couldn't even get the direct line to work.

Do yourself a huge service, go somewhere else. ANYWHERE else. Verizon only seems to care about the quick installs that work right away. If there are any tech issues, they can't handle it. And they will drag you along for as long as they possibly can, trying to get you to pay for a service that you can't even yet use. And don't buy a router from them. If things don't go right, they just might tell you that you didn't buy it from them.

This is my experience with Verizon. It was a nightmare. You've been warned. I wish I had read the reviews. I would probably of had gone somewhere else. My stupidity. And I paid for it in time and $$$. Don't let that happen to you.

I have to tell you, the reason I cancelled my order was the result of a series of events. A Verizon rep came to my home on Dec 29th, 2006 and checked my phone line - he said it was fine, but was surprised that I had not received my installation kit. He advised me to call Verizon since I had ordered the service on Dec 11, 2006.

The 40 minute phone call on Tuesday the Jan 2nd, 2007, in which I was transferred from orders to billing to sales, then to tech support in the Philippines, all to no avail - in fact, the tech rep then transferred me to AOL - why? I don't know. I do not use AOL - I suspect there was a misunderstanding since he was hard to understand and I was apparently hard for him to understand (language barrier?).

At the time, my shipment of the installation kit was pending and all I wanted to know was "why is it still pending?" No one could answer my question and I was repeatedly transferred and placed on hold until I finally gave up. I tried asking the online chat my question and was told to call the same number I tried earlier. I call, but was told to call my local Verizon office since the "hold up" is due to the local office. I call, but went through another maze of automated messages and transfers to various departments.

I called the following day and received the same runaround, but this time I was told there was something wrong with my dry loop and a dry loop technician would call me back. I received a phone call later from a Verizon rep who told me that there weren't enough "slots" for DSL in my local Verizon, and that I would have to wait until someone cancelled their DSL before I could get Verizon DSL.

My order would automatically cancel and I should try again (i.e. place another order) in a couple of months. This was believable because I ran into a similar problem May 2006 when I tried to sign up for Verizon DSL and went through a similar experience of being transferred from dept to dept asking about my "pending order".

Then on Thursday 4th, I see an email stating that my installation kit is going to be shipped and my order will be active on Jan 12th. I call to verify this information and it is true, my order will go through after all. This means that I wasted some 2-3 hours or so on the phone the previous days getting useless information.

I realized that if something were to go wrong with my DSL service once I'm locked-in on contract, I would probably have to face the same nightmare customer service transfer game, in which no one really knows what the problem is, but will tell you "something" or transfer you to someone else who will tell you "something" or transfer you back to the dept you just spoke to.

Though I did speak to some rude Verizon reps, the majority of your representatives are courteous - simply ineffective. I decided that it was just too much to bear and cancelled my order. I pay a little more for my cable internet service, but the customer service I get from my current carrier is excellent. I will probably never sign up for Verizon "anything". Good customer service is important to me. Thank you.

My first attempt to install DSL service was unsuccessful, I went through the instructions on the troubleshooting CD to no avail. So, I called the 800 number for tech support to fix the problem. The first tech I received was incompetent at best, asking me to perform all the tasks already suggested by the troubleshooting CD. When static on the line made the process impossible, he asked for a contact number to call me back. I gave him my cellphone number and waited patiently for 10 minutes before calling the 800 number again.

This next tech was better than the first, but still not very knowledgeable. Each and every time she would ask me a question, she would put me on hold for at least 5 minutes while she apparently searched for my account and tried to locate the problem. After waiting an hour, most of the time on hold, I became frustrated and asked her to please transfer me to a supervisor and not to place me on hold again. She told me she did not HAVE a supervisor and then placed me on hold.

When she came back, I told her I did not believe that there was no one supervising and to please transfer me immediately. This time she stated they were in a meeting, to which I replied again that I did not believe her and to transfer me WITHOUT PLACING ME ON HOLD AGAIN. She again disregarded my request and placed me on hold before finally transferring me to someone claiming to be a supervisor. This person gave me an employee number with 6 numerals, which I found out later was not a supervisor number at all.

So this tech set up an appointment for someone to come out to my house and fix the problem. The next day I arrived home at the scheduled time only to find 2 messages on my machine from the service man stating he was trying to contact me and he would try my cellphone. I had no missed calls on my cellphone that day and the man never showed up.

I called the 800 number back to find out what had happened to my appointment. This call lasted about 2 hours and about 3 transfers before I finally got an actual supervisor on the line. This is how I learned that supervisors' employee numbers have two letters at the beginning, rather than the 6 digits I was given the day before. In any event, this man stated he would send a tech out the next day at the same agreed upon time and he would "personally" call my cellphone if there was a problem. The next day came and went and nobody showed up or called.

I called again and got the same runaround, some told me they could not transfer me, others told me that department was closed. I finally got the same man from the day before on the line and asked him what had happened. He stated he had been very busy, but he could get someone to my house the next morning. I told him that was not good enough, that I needed this issue resolved today, I had spent enough time dealing with this problem. He stated that there was nothing more he could do.

At this point, I had had enough, I told him to cancel my service. He stated that he did not have the ability to do that for me, but that he would transfer me to someone who could. When I got the next person on the line, I told him what had happened and that I wished to cancel my service. This man told me that the cancellation department was closed at that time and that I would have to call back later.

Eventually, I called back another day and successfully cancelled my service with the termination fee waived and the connection fee credited back to my account. However, I am still reeling from the horrendous service I endured and do not want anyone else to have to go through the hell I went through with this company. Please do not use Verizon DSL if you appreciate customer service. This kind of treatment should never be acceptable, no matter how large the corporate entity.

BOTHELL, WASHINGTON -- Verizon's customer service is truly a nightmare. A short while back I moved to a new apartment about 4 miles from my old one. In both apartment complexes, Verizon was the phone provider and DSL provider. I called about 2 weeks before the move and asked to have both my phone and DSL service transferred. I was told they could transfer my phone the day of the move, but DSL would take 5 to 10 business days after the move. I said that was fine.

I moved. Sure enough, I had phone the first day. Very nice. After 2 weeks (10 business days), I still had not heard a peep about my DSL. So I called Verizon. I wish I was exaggerating when I say I was on the phone for 2 1/2 hours. I kept getting transferred then put on hold. No one seemed to know who to transfer me to. With each person I talked to, I explained the problem and they'd transfer me to someone else, who'd transfer me to someone else, etc. I kid you not when I say that one person who I was transferred to answered with "Boiler room. How can I help you?" BOILER ROOM???

Finally, I got to talk to someone who knew what they were doing. I was told "The DSL address doesn't match your phone address that's why we couldn't set it up." I asked them how that could be as I made ONE phone call and talked to ONE person and she said she'd switch both my services. What's more, the address he read off for the DSL order was the correct address. He said he didn't know what happened exactly, but that he'd have to re-enter my DSL order and that it would take another 5 to 10 business days. I was pretty annoyed but fine, whatever.

Another 2 weeks pass, still no DSL. I call them again. This time, I'm on the phone for 3 1/2 hours. It was the exact same thing... On hold, talk to someone, tell my story, they transfer me to someone else, repeat ad nauseam. At least this time I didn't talk to the boiler room guy.

Finally again I talk to someone who supposedly knows what's going on. This person tells me they have no record whatsoever of any DSL transfer order. Somehow it got lost. He says they'll have to re-enter it and it will take, yep you guessed it, 5 to 10 business days. I'm about ready to blow at this point. I ask him if there's any way we can put a rush order on it seeing as how I've now been without internet access for a full month. He says there is "no way" that they can contact the DSL department and put a rush order on something.

I ask to speak to a manager. Same deal from her. I ask to speak to HER manager. Still no dice. It's always 5 to 10 business days, despite everything that Verizon has screwed up. At this point it's clear that I'm getting nowhere and I tell her, "As soon as I hang up this phone, I'm calling Comcast. If they can get me hooked up before you, you've lost me as a customer." She said, "Do what you have to do."

I hung up and called Comcast. In very short order I was on the phone with a live person. I explained that I wanted high-speed internet and I wanted it ASAP. He said, "We can have a technician out to install you within 4 to 6 days." That's better than 5 to 10, but can we get it any faster? "Well, I can send you the self-install kit and it will be there in 3 to 5 days and you can do it yourself." That's even better, but I want my internet now. "You can drive down to your nearest Comcast store... There's one about 10 miles from you, and pick up the self-install kit and hook it up yourself and have internet access within the next few hours."

I was stunned that they were so competent and agreed to this deal. I drove down, picked up the kit, drove home, installed it and within a few hours I had high-speed internet access. I called Verizon and cancelled my DSL order at which point all the sudden they were tripping over themselves to try to help me with the problems I'd been having. But it was too late. It's quite clear to me which company has its act together and which doesn't. Sure, Comcast is a little more expensive, but they were able to accomplish in less than 3 hours what Verizon could not in over a month. That says something right there.

A few weeks later I received a bunch of DSL equipment in the mail from Verizon that I had to ship back (otherwise they'd charge me). I'm not sure why they shipped me the equipment as a) I had cancelled my order, and b) I was transferring service to a new address... I already had the DSL modem and all that jazz that I needed. I don't know why they'd send me a new set. If I can avoid it, I will never again deal with Verizon in ANY capacity.

WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA -- On May 6, 2006 I called Verizon to set up a local telephone service account and a DSL account for my new apartment. I was told both phone and internet service would be up and running by May 25, 2006. I moved into the new apartment May 21, 2006. As May 25 approached I called Verizon to check the status of the phone and internet service to make sure everything was in order, as I had not yet received my set-up package in the mail or the wireless router I had ordered (which is supposed to arrive several days before your service ready date).

Verizon told me that my order was “on hold” for an unknown reason, so Verizon cancelled my order, without attempting to call or e-mail me (they had both my e-mail address and multiple phone numbers from when I ordered the service). After about an hour of unfruitful conversation trying to figure out why this happened and to reinstate my order on an expedited basis, Verizon told me the only thing they could do was to start everything over with a new phone number and a new order.

Given no other options (despite the fact that I had already given the old number to everyone, including important business and financial contacts) I re-ordered the phone and internet service. They told me that it would not be ready until mid-to-late June. I explained to them that I had ordered the service at the beginning of May because as I was working from home for the month of June, having functioning internet was essential to my job. Therefore not having internet service for the first three weeks of June was unacceptable.

They told me that I needed to just place the order and wait a few days to call back to try to expedite the service because they could not alter the computer-generated service ready date. The Verizon employee assured me that she had noted all of this on my account and when I called back it would be easy to change the service-ready date. When I called Verizon DSL a few days later the Verizon employee informed me that there was no record of my mistakenly cancelled order or my previous hour-long phone call and that she would be unable to expedite the service because the phone service was not yet set up.

I then called Verizon local phone service office that also had no record of my previous conversations with Verizon and again told me that she was unable to expedite my service and I would just have to wait until June 21 for my service to start. I explained to her that this was a unique circumstance and the result of a problem caused by Verizon and that I absolutely needed the service to start in the beginning of June. The Verizon employee told me she would look into my options and would call me back the following day between 12:00 and 1:00 p.m.

I waited for the call the following day and when I did not hear from anyone I called Verizon at 4:00 p.m. The employee informed me that there was nothing she could do to help me because it was after 4:00 and all the managers had gone home for the evening.

I called again the next day and spoke to the local phone service office again and they again said there was nothing they could do to expedite my service and that I should receive my materials in a few weeks and service would be ready June 21. I asked if I needed to be present for them to turn on the service. They said “no” and that everything was done remotely.

A few weeks later I received my wireless router in the mail. A few days after that I came home from a trip out of town to find a note my landlord had received from Verizon. The note said that a technician had come by my apartment to service my phone, but was unable to do so because I was not home at the time. I was extremely confused since Verizon had explicitly told me they would not need to enter my apartment to start my service.

At this point, it was past the service ready date, so I tried to connect and use my phone. There was no dial tone. I then called Verizon and a customer service representative told me that there was an inside wiring problem with my phone and they would need to send someone over to the apartment to service the phone jack. I told them I would not be home all day but my landlord could let them in to my apartment to perform the service.

The next day a technician came by the apartment to “fix the inside wiring problem.” My landlord let him in and stood by while the technician worked. The technician did NOT fix any wiring problem or perform any service. Instead he simply unplugged the telephone wire from one jack and plugged it into another jack. He did, however, leave us with a $95 bill. When I came home that evening the landlord explained to me that the technician did not perform the service he claimed to have performed on the bill.

When I received my bill several weeks later I called Verizon to dispute the $95 charge for “servicing a jack”. I explained to the representative that we had a charge on our bill for “servicing a jack” when in reality the technician had done nothing other than plug in our phone. The customer service representative apologized for the discrepancy and said he would remove the charge from my bill.

Several weeks later my fiancé received a call on her cell phone from Ms. ** of Verizon (You can call Ms. ** at 410-265-3217). Ms. ** was calling regarding our disputed $95 charge. She said that according to her records we had called Verizon requesting service on our phone and had agreed to pay the $95 fee for servicing our jack. She repeatedly accused my fiancé of lying and refused to acknowledge the fact that even if we had requested service on our phone line, in reality the technician did NOT service the jack. She refused to speak further with my fiancé and demanded to talk to me.

I then called Ms. ** to discuss the disputed charge. Ms. ** was very confrontational with me from the beginning of the call, and clearly had no interest in working with me to solve my problem. I explained my entire Verizon story (detailed above, in painful detail) to Ms. **, but she simply responded by saying that I had called to request the technician's service and thus by law Verizon had to charge me $95. She told me that was unable to remove the charge, and that the $95 charge would be sustained.

I informed Ms. ** that there was a 0% chance that I would ever be paying this $95 charge for service that I didn't need, especially after the horribly delayed service I had received from Verizon and the fact that I only agreed to a technician coming because Verizon informed that I had an “inside wiring” problem. I did inform Ms. ** that since my phone and internet service was finally functioning (albeit more than a month and a half after first ordered) I would happily pay my regular monthly bill going forward with no complaint, but that I could not and would not ever pay the disputed $95 service charge. Ms. ** then told me that in that case my service would be turned off by Verizon.

I asked to speak to Ms. **'s manager, but was refused. I responded to Ms. **'s threat to cancel my service by letting her know that I would most likely be a lifetime (hopefully at least 50 more years) Washington DC resident and that at about $50 per month, I would most likely be paying about $60,000 to Verizon over my lifetime. However, if my service was cancelled, I would never pay another cent to Verizon and would acquire phone and internet service through another carrier (most likely RCA or Comcast).

Ms. **'s response was simply that there was nothing she could or would do about the charge, but she would “note” my issues on my account. The conversation ended after about 30 minutes with no resolution. Today I received a letter from Verizon informing me that if I do not pay the $95 charge by August 21, 2006 my service will be cut off.