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Bundle Service Deceptive
By -

I have had my phone, internet, and satellite service bundled in my home since August. My promotional service is supposed to end in 12 months...so I should have a month or two left, especially since my twelve months didn't start until after a few bills and many angry phone calls. Apparently not. Let's start from the beginning. I saw one of those ads for 79.99 or 89.99 for bundled service, I honestly forget which because after taxes and such the bill was supposed to be around $100. Okay, fine.

The first angry phone call came when my husband took a day off work to meet the Direct TV guy. Verizon set the appointment on some day between, like, 8 am-noon. This appointment was set at the time I ordered the bundle. They never showed. I was informed by Verizon after button-pushing and being transferred a few times that "I requested" the appointment be canceled, and that the original appointment "I" had set was for 2 am on a Sunday.

How was that even possible for the customer service representative to set up in the first place? Also, my name was spelled wrong, so she changed it in the computer. I set another appointment through DirecTV themselves. They showed up on time.

The second angry phone call came when I was promised internet service on September 1st. They had not sent my modem. I asked where my modem was, and after being transferred around for a while, was told by some guy from India that they could not send my modem until my "line was fixed" and would have service on the 5th. I wondered how I could gain access to the service with the "fixed line" without a modem, rendering my promised service on the 1st (now 5th) completely useless.

He honestly didn't understand why I was upset about having the internet floating around my house on the 5th with no modem. I gained access to the internet on the 9th. He told me that he'd change my name so it'd be spelled right from now on.

The first bill came prorated (first 2 months on the same bill), so was (since it was wrong, too) over double what I expected. I was smart enough to divide it by two and figure out what was wrong before I called. After calling that insipid customer service line and being transferred around for a while, (and telling them they had my name spelled wrong) I was informed that "I" never requested the bundled service so my account was not set up that way. They would fix that now, along with my misspelled name. I'd also forgotten to claim a discount off the DirecTV service. I called them directly. Their portion of the bill was correct the next month.

The next Verizon bill was still wrong. More entering my account number, saying yes and no, pressing one through five, and getting transferred for a while. I was informed that "I" had changed my service so that it was no longer bundled and could not receive the discount. "I" sure seem to be calling Verizon a lot in my spare time to volunteer for a higher bill.

After much angry yelling, somebody eventually found a $25 discount to stick on my bill to shut me up for 12 months. This made my bill close to $95, which is what it should be, but I don't think I ever got the elusive bundle package that doesn't seem to exist. Also I told every person I talked to that my name was still spelled wrong. It's June now. My name is still spelled wrong. My bill is back up to $130 for no apparent reason. I'm actually almost willing to shell out just so I don't have to deal with their customer service.

In case you're wondering, the phone service itself is fine, I only lost TV service once when the dish had about a foot of snow on it, and the internet is a tad slow for my tastes once in a while. Even still, this company is not worth the trouble. I might keep DirecTV, but you can bet I'm never signing up for a Verizon product again.

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Verizon Scam
By -

PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA -- If you receive an offer from Verizon that looks too good to be true, it is. In July 2007, I received a letter from Verizon offering a Triple Freedom package: phone, internet, and satellite TV service for 89.99 a month for 12 months. I called Verizon to verify the offer, and my husband and I decided to go with it, as we were fed up with Comcast's high prices.

Installation was set up for July 24th and 25th, and the installer for DirecTV arrived promptly on the 24th. An hour later I had satellite TV, which I actually like better than Comcast cable. However, Verizon called me to reschedule the installation of my phone service, first pushing the date back to July 27th, then July 30th, then finally to August 2nd, when phone service was installed.

In the meantime, I had already received my installation kit for DSL service, but was told I had to wait (1) until the phone was installed (duh) and then (2) had to wait until Verizon checked my lines to make sure that I could receive DSL. I already knew I could get DSL, as I am only 3 blocks from a Verizon DSL hub, and...my next door neighbor has been a Verizon DSL customer for 3 years. I didn't get the okay for Verizon DSL until August 18th.

Anyway, it seems that with all the delays, somehow my bundled package deal got 'unbundled'. I have so far paid around $450.00 MORE than what I was originally promised. That includes an installation fee for $95.50 from Direct TV, when installation was supposed to be free. I got that bill a week after installation of the satellite service, which tells me that Verizon either unbundled my bill as soon as they pushed back the first installation date, or they never really bundled it at all.

I was told, that for all three services, and with 3 extra TV receivers, my total bill (ONE bill, from Verizon ONLY) would be $105.00 per month, plus the various fees and taxes. Not happening. I get a bill from Verizon for phone and internet, and a bill from DirecTV.

I have called Verizon 6 times in 4 months about this, and they go through all the motions, then we do a conference call to DirecTV, and nothing gets settled. I just got both bills from both companies again, and even though they are showing discounts, the bill is far higher than it should be, and I still want them bundled. I have been told by Verizon that it is DirecTV's fault, and they tell me it is Verizon's fault. The only consistency is that with each call to DirecTV, they tell me that it was Verizon who unbundled my package, not DirecTV.

I have also been told that to get it re-bundled, I need to pay the Direct TV bill down to zero, call Verizon, tell them, so they can send a 'request' DirecTV to re-bundle my package. I've done this. Still not happening. On my last call to DirecTV, I was told by a supervisor to 'cross my fingers, and lets hope that DirecTV okays Verizon's request to 're-bundle' the original offer.

Personally, I hold Verizon responsible, as they are the ones who made the offer, they are the ones who 'unbundled' the package deal, and they are the ones who went after a partnership with DirecTV, so that Verizon could compete with Comcast. To be honest, I am happy with the services I get from Verizon, there's been no problem with phone or internet, and I certainly do NOT miss Comcast's annoying as hell Comcastic ads. I just want what I signed up for.

To pass the time, I have sent letters to local TV consumer reporters, and to the BBB, and the State Attorney General. Not that I don't have better things to do, it's just that I can't be the only person who fell for this and is not getting what we thought we were.

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The Lies They Tell
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK -- I was a Verizon customer for two years. I had a two-year contract which was set to expire in June 2012 and was sent an email by the company to renew. I checked out their offer and it was only $5 more than what I had been paying originally. Being fairly lazy and not wishing to deal with switching services, I accepted the offer and signed up again online. Big mistake! Turns out the price I was quoted -- $94.99 plus taxes and fees -- was not what I was charged. I expected a first-month bill of about $130, but instead received a bill for $156.

I called customer service and this is where my troubles really began. Two reps outright lied to me, insisting that the price I had agreed to was $115 plus taxes and fees (adding up to about $137 a month). When I pointed out that it made no sense for me to accept a $22 increase for a service that was exactly the same, the reps had no answer for me. I even gave them my order number, which they claimed they had no record of. One representative even covertly accused me of lying. And both of them refused to accept a forward or fax of the email confirmation that I had received from Verizon when I signed up again.

I called back the next day and spoke to two reps who really did sound like they wanted to help. While speaking to one of them, he magically found the email I was referring to -- confirmation number and all! For a brief moment, I thought, perhaps, the situation could be resolved and laziness could prevail. But, alas, it was not to be. The representative proceeded to inform me that the quote for 94.99 was made to me while a $20 discount currently existed on my account, and that when the discount expired ten days after the offer was given to me, the price jumped $20.

Funny thing is -- I was never told about this disappearing discount, nor was I told that the offer of 94.99 was contingent on this ephemeral discount. Had I known the price of 94.99 was valid for only ten days, I would never have signed back up. I'm lazy, but I'm not stupid. What irks me even more is that there wasn't even an asterisk next to the quoted price. Nothing to indicate that the price could even change.

This was a classic bait-and-switch: promise one thing, get people to sign a contract, and then switch the terms in such a way that people without a cadre of lawyers can do nothing about it. I'm angry at Verizon because of the persistent lies they told me and the way I was treated by their reps who were doing the bidding of the Evil Empire they work for. I honestly have no idea how this company stays in business. I have filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and I intend to file a complaint with the State Attorney General. Thank God for cable.

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Process Matters
StarStarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 2/51

FREDERICK, MD -- My story... I have had a Verizon bundled package for years. For convenience I signed up for auto-pay and to be environmentally friendly I signed up for paperless billing. Since I make international calls, I enrolled in one of the Verizon World Plans with a flat monthly billing with unlimited calls. Everything was fine and dandy for many months. So far, so good.

One day, when I was checking my bank account, I was shocked to find a Verizon charge for almost $870 as opposed to the $200 (approximately) that I usually pay for the bundle (home phone, internet and DirecTV). Upon further investigation, I found that Verizon changed my international package without my knowledge. Every dispute has two sides. To be fair, I want to present a totally balanced view.

Instead of sending me separate correspondence about the changes in its international calling plans, Verizon included the information on the last page of my bill as fine print. In the bill Verizon indicated that it would be changing plans beginning the following month. I didn't read the small print as I wasn't expecting an announcement about plan changes in my bill. Plus, paperless billing, auto pay and years of no billing hassles made me too complacent.

My dealings with Verizon customer service were the most troublesome part of the story... Dropped calls, unusual wait times, getting the runaround, being transferred again and again, rude customer service reps, I can't tell you how much time and energy I spent on the frustrating experience in wanting to let Verizon know of my displeasure about the change in my international calling plan.

I called Verizon not to get a total refund of the extra charges, but to let them know of my feelings of bait and switch and of my upset at not informing me of the change in a separate email and letting me choose one of the new plans instead of automatically choosing a plan for me. I also hoped for a partial refund or credit of the over $500 I paid for additional voice services.

Every story is a morality tale. Here are my lessons. Read every bill from beginning to end, even the small print. Check your plans regularly. Verizon changes its plans at its whims and has a poor way of notifying its customers. Credit card payment for autopay is better than payment linked to your checking account if you need to dispute your billing. Verizon customer service SUCKS!

My message to Verizon: customer service matters. Process is important. Procedural justice (fairness of the process) is as important as distributive justice (fairness of the outcome). Thank you for listening. I wish all of you only pleasant experiences with companies and lots of patience with customer service.

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Advertisement
Don't Be Overcharged by Verizon
By -

Warning: "Senior citizens and potential Verizon customers - don't be overcharged". About eight months ago I contacted Verizon about a promotional flier advertising a Triple Freedom Bundle (phone, internet, and DirecTV) for $79.99 a month. I contacted Verizon and was assured the flier was correct and there was not any additional charges. I ordered the package plus two extra receivers ($10.00 extra).

I received my first bill dated 4/19/09 for $225.76(12pages). Since then, I have contacted Verizon over 20 times on the telephone and wrote four letters(three to the Chairman and CEO). By writing to the CEO I finally received a response. I'll have to say, the Verizon supervisors were well-schooled in the complaint department. They had an answer for every question I had except one -€“ why was I not informed about the extra charges before I accepted the Freedom Bundle?

I know the answer, if I were aware of the extra charges beforehand, I would not have accepted Verizon's services. I finally got approximately $100.00 removed from my bill after spending hours on the phone complaining.

I have contacted three agencies about this matter. Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission - their response, they only deal with phone service, not the internet or DirecTV. They told me to contact the Attorney General'€™s office. I contacted the Pennsylvania Attorney General'€™s office almost six months ago. I received a letter from the Attorney General around 12/20/09 and I responded the next day -€“ I said, I want them to pursue this complaint.
I also complained to a Pennsylvania Congressman about four months ago, with no response. His staff has not returned any of my calls.

Does anyone feel Verizon has overcharged them? Please let me know. This is the first time I have used the internet to ask for help. If you have any ideas of what I can do, please tell me. Thank you for listening to me. As an individual senior citizen, I do not think any government agency will stand up to Verizon. I still feel Verizon business tactics are unethical and unscrupulous. I'm tired of big business taking advantage of us, are you?

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Thinking of Switching to FiOS, Think Twice
By -

If you're thinking about switching to FiOS, I have to ask you one question - why? First off, they may run fiber optic out on the pole, but once it gets to your house, it's still coaxial cable. I can't imagine how that is an improvement over coaxial cable all the way. But let's pretend that's not the case. Verizon's customer service is without a doubt the worst I've ever encounter in any industry in my entire life. I am not exaggerating. It's the worst.

All I did was try to sign up for service. I stopped at a kiosk so I would always be assured of dealing with the same person. I also wanted to keep my phone numbers. He signed me up then told me I couldn't bring my numbers. I said thanks, but no thanks. Later he called me on my cell phone to tell me he could do it.

5 trips to the kiosk and 8 phone calls from the central customer service center later, after I had given up any hope of keeping my numbers, the installer showed up with the wrong equipment. He also told me I could bring my numbers and the whole process started over. I could go into far more detail, but what would my novel be about. It was crazy. As I told people my story, no one who had dealt with Verizon was very surprised. I think the surprising thing is that Verizon is still in business. It doesn't seem possible to give customer service that bad to that many people and maintain a customer base.

Even the installer who came out but never installed anything agreed it was tough to get anything done there as no computer systems talk to other department computer systems. Then we laughed at the irony that they are a communications company and he put me on the phone with customer service and left. In the last twelve years I've had DISH Network (very good customer service), DirecTV (mediocre customer service), Optimum Online (pretty good customer service) and tried to switch to FiOS and I'm very glad they couldn't do it.

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Beware of Verizon Bundles
By -

I've been a Verizon land line customer. When FiOS came to town I was really excited. I called and ordered FiOS TV and upgrade to FiOS internet. Anyway, that lasted almost a year with no real problems. Then in Dec. I signed up for their wireless family plan. I had two phones unlimited and two with shared minutes. I didn't have the web on the phones, all had unlimited texting. Anyway, along comes February when I get this huge bill for $600 on top of my regular charge, and that was only for the wireless.

I called them and asked what was going on and they said the two phones went over their minutes. They offered to make them unlimited retroactively, I accepted and made a payment of $600. Then she said, you should probably bundle it to save money...so I did. I also turned off my landline to try to lessen the burden. Next thing you know I can't get into my account online for TV and internet. I could only see wireless.

When March rolled around, I got my wireless bill of $1100 even though I had paid $600 at then end of Feb. I called them and they were all full of sorry's and told me they would rebate my bill. I paid another $600. In April my bill was normal, finally! Then I get my FiOS bill in the mail and they wanted $1171 to keep my TV and internet from being suspended. I called them, they said call Wireless. After an unbelievable amount of time on the phone the representative tells me, once again, they're sorry and will rebate me the money but I won't see it right away (this is a trick they play). I paid the $1171 and kept the service.

Now it's June, I paid $700 in the first week. I get a FiOS bill for $1900 give or take and they want $1600 by June 28 to keep my services. I call again and explain I'm getting a rebate from Wireless. After hours on hold and being shuffled around FiOS reps, one calls Wireless with me on hold. She gets back on and says they will rebate you but only $341. WHAT?

Today it's Sept. I now owe FiOS $1875 to keep my services and that doesn't include new charges of $160 and $429 for my wireless. I now can see my FiOS bill online and it shows my cell, however I can still see my cell bill separate and both places ask me to bundle them???

Oh yeah, Verizon Wireless put me in collections for $641. And if any of you are wondering, none of the wireless charges are for using the web. After going over all my bills I found Wireless NEVER even made the two phones unlimited until April. AND they NEVER gave me a rebate. All I can say is, see ya, Verizon. You win! I give up. I can't take anymore. Beware of Verizon.

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Worst Company / Overcharges
By -

Absolutely the worst service. I have lost my job temporarily and I decided that instead paying RCN $145 per month (which included all premium channel, 3 mbps internet and phone) I will take that irresistible offer Verizon has been sending me in my mailbox. Great, I thought I will pay $99 for all three services (I downgraded to basic cable - but at least I would be saving almost $45) a month.

Little did I know that not only I would get less than half of channels I was receiving before but also 1 MBPS internet speed (if you don't know what that means - I will tell you. It means same as what you used to get using dial up). OK but at least I thought I am saving money. BUT WAIT! My bill is more than before, total bill amount $160!!!

Spent hours on the phone trying to figure out why something that was initially $99 became $160. I still don't know why, bottom line contract is for one year so I am out of luck. If I could give anyone an opinion I'd say this: not even to my worst enemy would I recommend Verizon!

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Advertisement
Verizon Bundle Scam
By -

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS -- BEWARE of deceptive practices by VERIZON. I agreed to bundle my telephone, internet and DirecTV with Verizon. Verizon did not explain that by doing this, I was entering into a two-year contract. DIRECTV installed the service but it was not the package I agreed on. They only provided a HD box for one TV. When I told them I needed one for my other TV as well, they claimed it was a mistake and that I could swap the boxes by calling DIRECTV. What they neglected to tell me is that there is a $100 fee.

Verizon did not explain any of the other equipment fees as well. I told them I needed four boxes. I only received two and now I am told I have to pay $285 to add two more boxes. It is unfair that they do not explain these things because unless informed, consumers do not realize what they are getting into. BEWARE, BEWARE, BEWARE Don't trust Verizon. After they hook you, they blame it all on DIRECTV and vice versa. Both companies can go to hell as far as I'm concerned.

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Verizon Is Sneaky With Their Bundles...
By -

HELENDALE, CALIFORNIA -- Verizon is by far the worst telephone company I have ever dealt with. I HAVE SPENT OVER 10 HRS ON PHONE TRYING TO RESOLVE CONNECTION ERRORS. They must manually feed the cables through the lines. Slowness, incompetence, tormenting the customer, and making stupid errors best describe Verizon.

NOW, VERIZON WANTS TO HARASS ME AGAIN. I signed up for a bundle offered online for under $110 with first DSL internet month free, and $200 American Express gift card. The bundle includes DSL service including free wireless router, Verizon Freedom Essentials and DirecTV - Choice Extras plus DVR/HD DVR. A few days after service is working, they send me an email INDICATING that my plan has changed & I will now be billed for A TRIPLE FREEDOM PLAN for additional $31.99!!!

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Verizon Triple Freedom Rating:
Star Half star Empty star Empty star Empty star
1.5 out of 5, based on 2 ratings and
24 reviews & complaints.
Contact Information:
Verizon
1095 Avenue of the Americas
New York, New York 10036
800-621-9900 (ph)
www.verizon.com
billingservices@verizon.net
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