Verizon FIOS Consumer Reviews - Page 5

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA -- While Verizon internet delivery itself is decent, it seems that Verizon customer service policy is built around the idea that customers buy into the culture of spending large amounts of time on the phone in order to have phone or internet service. I believe internet customer service should be quick -- no long spiels and people sounding like robots on the phone going through their required info until they finally ask you for money. Verizon is not paying me to sit through long periods on the phone, repeating information, just trying to get an inquiry answered.

What they are trained to do is repeat a whole bunch of unwanted information that you already know, like the amount of your last payment, date, etc., and to tell you 'what is due', even though you don't ask for it and have already told them that you already made a payment and were just asking why you got this phone call from Verizon and why your payment might not be showing. If you tell them you didn't ask for the information or already know, they continue like automatons. It's as if they are not trained to hear what you say but instead trained for a sort of bill-collecting. This not only wastes your time, it makes you mad.

First, I don't think I should be getting ANY phone calls from Verizon on my phone, which is used for a business. At the least it's an annoyance but it does feel a little harassing when you're busy. Worse, now I will have to change my number, find a way to block them (block it app?) or call them back and update with a 'new' incorrect number. Also, the information you give the first representative should automatically transfer to any representative you're transferred to, but it doesn't. Instead, it's your cost to sit there and repeat it every time you're transferred.

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS -- While FiOS speeds are fast the heart of Verizon is still the old monopolistic phone company, and this shows up in how they deploy new technology and service their customers. My house is spread out and I don't get good wireless coverage in my office over the garage. I paid Verizon to have two additional routers installed so that we'd have seamless wireless. At the time, the techs knew how to configure the additional routers and everything worked flawlessly.

When Verizon came out with Quantum I was pretty excited. We're a family of six and everyone has multiple devices on the network at the same time - so I was excited to get faster speeds. But the deployment was less than ideal! The installed the main internet router (first floor, my wife's office) and that went fine. They told me the other two Verizon routers would need to be replaced to handle the higher speed... okay.

But they couldn't and wouldn't configure the other two routers to get the same wireless coverage. The techs don't know how to do it and won't address the service issue. Since then we've had drop out on some high def TV channels, rebooting of set-top boxes (in the middle of the football game the other day), and intermittent wireless drop out. The service guy came for 15 minutes, said he took out a bad connector and that we were all set... but the same issues persist. Waiting to see if a service person is going to show up or not.

So, in summary, it's clear that fiber optics is the way to go but Verizon still has a long way to go on the field deployment and customer service side. If (when) I have a reasonable alternative, I will be switching. At the end of the day it's not specs or side-by-side speed tests or any other theoretic performance that matters; all that matters is what you experience in your home.

NEWARK, NEW JERSEY -- I made a request about FiOS in May (shouldn't have done that). The representative assured me that it was in my area. I told her I did not want my account bundled. She spurted out some many lies about the advantages I told her okay. She had a FiOS router sent to me and told me she would follow up with me (her name was **) until it was up and running. Never did.

After weeks of calling Verizon telling them that FiOS is not available in my area, I told them to make sure that they DO NOT bill me for a telephone because I have been a Vonage customer for several years and I enjoy VOIP and their prices. I call Verizon again in June to find out what was happening and to make sure they do not bill me for the telephone. A representative I spoke to told me she can bundle my DirecTV and Verizon DSL and I would get a $10.00 discount per month for doing so. I receive a bill on 7/18/12 for a whopping $502 and change. They billed me for triple play (again cannot get FiOS in my area) and other extreme charges.

In fact, when I went online to see my DirecTV bill for part of June and July (I paid my DirecTV bill on June 1 with a $6.06 balance, it was $12.00 more than my basic package!I call them today and told them to send my bill back to DirecTV and to reduce my bill. They told me that I did have triple play because I have internet (DSL) telephone and DirecTV. I told her I again that I have Vonage. She told me call Vonage to see if they have my DSL number (973-482-5343) and she said they do not even have the number in their database only my Vonage home number which is 973-944-4927.

I call Verizon back to tell them Vonage does not have their number (which a previous customer representative told me to do) and I get put on hold on sent to DirecTV. And, you have no idea what I had to go through to request June and July's bill on paper and sent to my home. By the way, the representative told me that I had to pay for the telephone bill because I have DSL. Fast forward 2012. They are no longer the only boys on the block. Thank God. Bottom line, I should not have to pay for a telephone I can't use because the line is hooked up to the DSl I pay every month and I should not have to pay for FiOS WHICH I CANNOT GET AND THEY ACKNOWLEDGED IT.

WALNUT, CALIFORNIA -- I moved in December, 2011. When I contacted Verizon to get pricing for service at the new house, I was told that, if I bundled TV and internet, I would receive a $300 Visa prepaid debit card 60 days after my account was transferred. I shopped other providers who had better prices but, with the $300 Visa card, Verizon was competitive, so I transferred my account to the new house.

Once we moved, we had numerous service problems, but I was too busy to make a change in provider. The service issues seem to have metered out to infrequent occurrences. I went online to my Verizon account and paid the balance due, on January 6, 2012. The balance due was $63.34.

A couple of days later, I received a Verizon bill for approx. $98. I called Verizon and spoke with ** (supposedly a supervisor). Unbeknownst to me, when the account was transferred, a completely new account was established and the online account was not connected with the new account.

Both ** told me that I would receive a refund of the $63.34 I'd paid on the old account, and that I would receive the $300 Visa prepaid card 60 days from the date the new account was started. It makes absolutely no sense that a new account was created, that the two accounts were not linked, that I was billed at all in January for service that should have ended on December 14th, and that Verizon is incapable of transferring the overpayment from the old account to the new account.

I was assured that someone in management at Verizon would contact me to discuss these problems and errors. Two months later, on March 12th, having heard nothing further from Verizon, I called again. I spoke with ** who was unable to “find” any notes on the account showing that I was to receive a $300 Visa card. ** told me that the $63.34 refund check was issued on January 10th. When I explained to her that, if this were the case, I would have received the check by now, she was unable to explain this. I asked to speak with someone in management.

After holding for 20 minutes, I was transferred to a call center supervisor who was clueless! If I do not receive the $300 Visa card and the $63.34 refund check by noon (PDT) March 16, 2012, I will proceed with filing charges of deceptive business practices against Verizon.

WOODBRIDGE, VIRGINIA -- I signed up for paperless billing and electronic payment. On Dec 5, 2011, I completed the one time payment electronic form in the pay bill section of my account to have my bill (due Dec 9, 2011) paid on Dec 6. My payment records show the payment attempt was made on the 5th/6th. However, for some reason the payment did not go through. I returned from an out of town trip, and was notified via a computerized telephone call that the payment had been rejected by my bank. I called the bank and they had no notice of a problem.

I then went on-line on Dec 14 to attempt to resolve the problem - resubmitted the payment electronically, then tried to contact a real person at Verizon to find out what the problem was and correct it. I spent an extremely frustrating HOUR trying to get a live person. The "contact Us" page on Verizon.com did not work for me - I tried multiple times to get either a phone number or email address and the most I got was a request to enter my zip code, neither phone # or address was supplied. Once I found the 800 number, had to navigate a computerized phone tree that didn't seem to fit my problem.

Needless to say, by the time I got a customer service representative, I was highly annoyed. Then she wanted me to supply account information that I did not have handy (because I had signed off of my account on-line), "to make sure I was the account holder". Even though I told her I was frustrated because of my difficulty in contacting a live person, she caught an attitude with me. Finally She accessed my account and told me the back had refused payment because I had PROBABLY put the account number in incorrectly!

I told her I hadn't been notified of the problem until Dec 14 and asked if I would be charged a late fee - she said yes, because at this point the payment was late! I am going back to paper billing to avoid these problems in the future- and highly recommend that the Customer "SERVICE" staff be given a LOT more training in how to help upset customers. Will also look into changing service providers as soon as my contract is up.

I have officially fallen into the Rabbit Hole of Fios Customer Service. What a joke. I actually switched from Comcast to Fios because Comcast customer service was poor. Now that I have experienced my first interaction with Fios customer support, I long for the days of Comcast! I had a seemingly simple request: for Fios to send me the same 500 GB DVR upgrade that half the people on my block were getting emails about. I have not gotten the email, so I figured, no problem, just call Fios and they should be able to send me the box or, failing that, at least send me the email, right? Is that asking too much?

Apparently, yes. NONE of the three separate divisions I spoke with (sales, billing or tech support) could do that. One representative gave me two separate URLs that I could go to, to sign up for the DVR, and when I told them the URL they gave me would not work, and asked them to go online with me and walk me through it, they could not! What the heck?!?

In ANY other encounter with customer service for any other company I've had dealings with, if you had a question about their website, they go online with you and walk you through the process. How the heck do you guys not get how frustrating it is for customers when you can't do this? Or simply generate a darn email??? You can't do that???

Also, I've had tech issues with my existing DVR. So customer support says they will send out a replacement OF MY OLD DVR! Huh? I tell him, "If I can scale the 500-foot wall of your company's horrible customer support and somehow figure out how to get the 500 GB DVR, I'll just have to replace the old one you're about to send me. So how about you just send me the new 500 GB DVR instead? After all, I'm paying nearly $200 bucks a month for service--I think I deserve that basic level of support, don't you?" "Sorry, sir, that's a different division. I can't do that."

So he transfers me to billing. Guess what? "Sorry, sir, I don't know anything about your level of service, terms of service, what type of DVR you're supposed to have, so I can't help you with that." ARRRGH!!! Congrats, FIOS. You are officially one and done--the MINUTE my first year of service is up, I am RIPPING OUT your equipment and going back to Comcast. Or maybe I'll just start reading books more. A heck of a lot cheaper and infinitely less frustrating.

I had Verizon Fios Triple Play service for 2 years when Verizon sent me a notice in July that my plan was about to expire and I needed to re-up with a current plan. So I contacted them via online chat. During the back-and-forth email messages with their rep, I asked what my total monthly bill with the current plan would be WITH taxes, fees, and surcharges. The representative told me "about $180", which sounded fine to me, and so I re-enlisted for another 2-year plan.

Luckily (or not), I had the foresight to print out and save our online discussion. When I got my first bill, it was over $200, so I again contacted Verizon online. After two back-and-forth emails, they advised me that I would receive a $20 credit for one month and suggested I call their retention team for possible "discounts".

The retention team is not an actual separate group. Rather, it consists of whichever representative answers the phone. In any case, the representative told me I was getting the lowest possible rate, yadda, yadda. I explained that I had it IN WRITING that my total monthly charge would be about $180 and I accepted the 2-year agreement at that rate. I told her if the actual monthly charge was going to be over $200, then we didn't have an agreement because they weren't honoring their side of the commitment. Longer story shorter, they aren't going to honor what their representative told me.

Rather than going through the hassle of having equipment changed by another provider, I reluctantly accepted a small short-term credit on my bill. I really enjoy Fios service but not being baited and switched. And I didn'€™t want the hassle of bringing in a new provider for an install, so I accepted their resolution. Sure did leave a bad taste in my mouth, though, and I'll never trust them again.

I originally called Verizon over the phone for a new bundles service package of TV/internet/phone service back on August 5th. I requested new service at my newly rented apartment. I requested that the installation begin on August 18th. When I originally called on the 5th of August I had not yet moved into my new apartment. Unfortunately after calling back Verizon as to why I did not get the internet modem mailed out to me, it was confirmed by a Verizon representative online that the modem was sent out by UPS two days after I made the call. I specifically stated to start the service on August 18th in my first phone call to Verizon.

To make things worse, all landlines in the area was currently under repair and could not get the phone number working. After a few days the phone line went on but with a phone number that was not assigned to me. I reported this matter to Verizon and they responded by sending out a tech to the home three days after the call was made.

The internet modem was once again re-mailed to me which got to my home apartment 5 days after the request was made to remail same. After following all written instructions for the internet connection I came to the conclusion that the internet does not work. I once again called back Verizon to complain about the internet not working. Three days later after that call some rude technician from Verizon came to my door and explained to me that he will not be able to fix the problem since he will need to get onto the roof of the building to get to the terminal.

Since Verizon has a policy of not allowing their employees onto roofs of residential and business buildings the connection could not be done. Each time I call Verizon you get onto an automated system of answering machines. Humans never answer the phones until the very end and after being placed on hold for a long period of time.

I went ahead and cancelled Verizon completely. The only part of the service that was done right was DirecTV. The courteous technician arrived on time and did the job right. I called DirecTV to let them know that due to lack of service on part of Verizon I requested that DirecTV bill me directly for the service. I have ordered new internet service with Time Warner. I WILL NEVER REQUEST ANYTHING FROM VERIZON AGAIN. THEY ARE TOTALLY LOST!!

NEW YORK, NEW YORK -- On 02/22/2011 I Junior ** called Verizon customer services in order to get the access number to check my voicemail. To begin with they gave me a non-working number, when I called back to tell them that the number that I was given to me isn't working. The customer service rep went ballistic talking about if I'm unhappy with my service, I should consider about canceling it. To make a long story short, I don't think no customer should be spoken to in that manner.

When I asked to speak to her supervisor, she stated that she was not going to transfer me. Then she told me that I was not worth being a customer, and literally disconnected my service right there and then as I was still talking with her on the phone. In addition to that she wrote a bogus note stating that customer called the previous day about disconnecting their service. Therefore in order to have my service re-instated they had to place another other (Central office) which doesn't require a technician to come to my house. Basically I went almost 2 days without having any services.

Finally when my data and phone services started working, unfortunately my TV wasn't because according to another rep, no videos were ordered. Therefore they told me they're going to place a separate order which requires a tech to come to my house. However the earliest appointment was in 17 days. The best way to handle it, is to make sure that you write a letter.

Please do yourself a favor if you need to be treated with respect and dignity, DO NOT GET VERIZON FIOS. Take your business to a company that will appreciate you as a customer, and able to provide you the highest integrity of customer service like cable or satellite dish, you'll be better off. Because Verizon customer service Reps can be so rude and get away with it. Not to mention most of them go by initials, which makes me sound stupid to say that I've spoken with J. C.

My husband and I have been cable TV subscribers for decades. The things we value about our cable TV service most is the ability to watch movies "On Demand" & wireless broadband service. When my neighbor directly across the street suggested we try Verizon FiOS we thought we'd give it a try.

I spent countless hours with a Verizon representative arranging for the installation for FiOS TV. Verizon's website for FiOS is very deceptive and at no point along the way was I informed FiOS was not available on my side of the street. When the installation crew from DirecTV showed up at my home we thought they operating under the guise of FIOS. Much to our dismay FiOS and DirecTV are two completely different technologies; and that Verizon would simply be our internet supplier.

The installation was a hellish experience and we were left with unsealed holes in our roof, coaxial cables which were unnecessarily cut, and my neighbors were left without Comcast service or Internet... (they sent our modem to Hoboken. I can't make this stuff up. And no... we do NOT live in Hoboken). It is beyond me how you are able to deceive the consumer public and thrive as an organization with such a fraudulent approach to the way you conduct your operations. From the moment the installation crew showed up, it's been one disappointment after another.

Verizon/DirecTV's deceptive marketing practices must stop. I did not, nor did I ever want, DirecTV. I returned the equipment after 3 days and WANT OUT. However, much to our dismay, my husband and I received a bill from DirecTV for $369.95, and a bill from Verizon for $160.98. For what? I NEVER RECEIVED THE MODEM! I NEVER GOT INTERNET SERVICE! It is unconscionable to expect us to pay for what amounts to unprofessional, unethical, and misleading business practices.

My level of anger and cognitive dissonance is immeasurable. I feel my consumer rights have been grossly violated. There is no way my husband and I are paying anything to anyone in relation to this experience. WHAT AN UTTER NIGHTMARE THIS HAS BEEN!