Verizon Strikes Again, Comcast Strikes Out

By Karen

After more “rate creep” by Comcast to almost $90/month for plain vanilla cable, Verizon bundled FIOS phone and TV for a few bucks more than I now pay for phone alone.

Verizon needs to work on their “Wait from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for us to show up” policy, but the FIOS TV installation August 10 was seamless, thanks to Mike, a friendly technician from Indiana.

But on my phones, Verizon screwed up in classic mode. I just wanted my dedicated fax line merged into my main line with distinctive ring, retaining the fax number.

No problem, Verizon said. We’ll disconnect the fax line August 10, and reconnect it as distinctive ring August 11. They said it involved another service call, so I’d have to spend a second day waiting between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

No so, said Mike. That’s a remote switch. He even rearranged my phone jacks and reprogrammed my fax so I’d be ready. Then he called Verizon to confirm the phone work, and they told him my fax line had been disconnected since August 4.

WTF?

He gave me a number to call and verify the phone work, and that’s when things got interesting.

The first Verizon rep kept me on hold for half an hour before telling me I couldn’t keep my fax number, even though it was still available.

So I asked to be bumped up and got a nice woman who said I could keep my fax number. She even offered to switch it to distinctive ring on the spot, but the work order for August 11 was apparently set in concrete.

I just checked it, and my fax line works, so the switch was made. There’s just this little nagging mystery of why that line was disconnected a week early.

Verizon FIOS TV leaves Comcast in the dust. I never knew my TV could have such a clear, crisp picture. FIOS lets you access Internet information with widgets, even though I have Clearwire Internet. Accessing On Demand takes mere seconds. And Verizon threw in some free HBO so I can catch up on Season 2 of True Blood.

Superior TV for $80 less, but there are tradeoffs. We’ve lost our beloved horse racing channel, and I can no longer fax and talk on the phone simultaneously. But to dump Comcast, it’s worth it.

Verizon Books Start Life in the Gutter

By Karen

In spite of everything, I have to admire Verizon for its singular dedication to leaving no stone unturned in making itself look bad.

My phones are fine, but the other day I found a dirty plastic bag in the mud, a foot from my paved driveway.

It was a mammoth new Yellow Pages directory. The cover was torn and some pages wet, but once it dried and I shook out all the crud, it was OK and I was satisfied – even willing to forget about White Pages. I figured Verizon gave them up as a compendium of errors too expensive to correct.

But a few days later, a man called asking if I’d received my books, and promised me White Pages, as well. And he kept his word.

My street’s gutters were soon strewn with white plastic bags. My particular gutter wasn’t, so I swiped my neighbor’s bag because he wasn’t home.

Sure enough, it was White Pages and a little Companion Yellow Pages. What’s with that, anyway? Does Verizon really think we let our fingers do the walking through a reference library when we need a plumber?

Miraculously, my listing was updated – calling Verizon twice about it obviously paid off. I’m a modestly published author and sometimes blog controversially, so I figured it’s time to delete my address and make potential assassins Google me to find me.

Verizon finally dropped my sister’s ancient listing, but my mother’s still showing at the house she sold 5-6 years ago, as well as her new address – with the same number.

I’ll give Verizon a pass on the crazy deliveries. They probably hire kids who consider the job a paid joy ride to fling heavy objects.

But the books’ content is pure Verizon. Why can’t they start by matching the books to their billing files? Don’t they have people who could do that?

One More Pocket of Competence at Verizon

By Karen

I can send long-distance faxes again, thanks to the “Expeditor,” a Verizon supervisor somewhere in the 757 area code.

She first called me out of the blue several hours after I put in my second request for third-party long-distance on my fax line. She said a 2-day wait for activation was unacceptable, and gave me two numbers where I could reach her.

Unfortunately, she was unsuccessful in speeding things up.

The two days were up yesterday, and when the promised service failed to materialize, I called the Expeditor, who stunned me by answering her phone. She checked into things and found that my order had “clogged” and gotten dropped. When this happens, no one at Verizon apparently notices or cares because nothing gets done until the customer starts screaming.

I know, because this isn’t the first time I’ve been trapped in a “clog.” It happened before when I initially tried to get FIOS. Verizon’s “So what?” attitude and “rush” to reschedule me – 3 weeks later – caused me to switch to Cavalier Telephone for a while.

The Expediter got me back in the flow and my long-distance was restored by 5 p.m. yesterday.

At 7 p.m., the Expediter phoned me again to make sure everything was OK.

After I sent a long-distance fax early this morning to assure myself it really worked, I called the Expediter to confirm and she answered her phone again. The woman never goes home.

I can’t tell you her name because I know she’d be swamped if it got out. I’m adding her to my stash of secret Verizon contacts. However, with both phone lines working properly right now, I hope I’ll never need to call them again.

More Hassles with Verizon

By Karen

When I got Verizon FIOS phone service in October 2007, they insisted I buy unlimited long distance on my main line for $14.95 a month. Then they screwed up my much-cheaper long distance plan with Qwest on my fax line, leaving me with none.

I don’t do much long-distance faxing, so I didn’t reinstate Qwest until December 18. As instructed by Qwest, I immediately called Verizon to give them Qwest’s PIC number, 0432.

I didn’t need Qwest until two days ago to fax long-distance, and then it wouldn’t go through.

Qwest blamed Verizon for not processing my change.

Instead of wasting hours trying to go through proper channels for what I thought would be a quick fix, I called the secret phone numbers I got when I blogged here about my mother’s recent problems with Verizon. Naturally, no one answered, so I left messages.

A while later, another Verizon rep called back and said it would take two days to get my Qwest service because 1) It was President’s Day (although not a holiday at Verizon because she was working), and 2) It was just after noon.

She also said I should be charged $7-something to make the change, but promised to waive it.

Verizon screwed up my service and isn’t going to make me pay for that. How wonderful.

Later that day, a fourth Verizon employee called who said she’d try to “expedite” things.

Two days are up, and I still can’t send a long-distance fax. I called “Ms. Expediter” a few hours ago and I’m waiting for answers.

5 P.M. update: The Expediter called me again after this entry posted, so I suspect I’m being monitored. Upon trying the fax machine once more, it just said, “Thank you for using Qwest.” So it appears that Verizon finally gave up and let me have my cheaper long-distance carrier back. Hallelujah!

Keep the Garbage Off Your Phone Bill

By Karen

We know we must watch credit card bills for charges that could signal identity theft. But phone bills pose an equally insidious threat, and phone companies are complicit by listing their own legitimate charges in gibberish and by allowing anyone to place charges on your bill without authorization.

My phone has been targeted twice, but the first phony charge was only 25 cents, so I eventually paid it after protesting it for several months and getting nowhere.

Phone scam crooks depend on our lack of attention and/or comprehension of our bills, and our unwillingness to do battle with the phone company.

Last March, a suspicious $4.25 charge from Integrated Voice Services in Tampa, FL, appeared on my Verizon phone bill for a conference calling service I never ordered. It would have become a monthly charge if I hadn’t caught it.

Verizon refused to remove it, so I contacted Integrated – every month for four months. They canceled their “service” immediately, but that $4.25 hung on my bill as an overdue balance, and even accumulated finance charges. Integrated kept saying, “Just wait one more billing cycle,” for it to disappear.

All Verizon would do was waive the finance charges and put the $4.25 in dispute so it wouldn’t go against my credit rating. By law, I don’t believe they could cut off my phone service for not paying it.

By July, I was incensed enough to call the State Corporation Commission, and learned that phone companies earn a fee on these fraudulent charges (as well as any finance charges, if you give up and pay them), so they have no incentive to stop.

Once the SCC was on the case, Verizon had so many days to respond. They did, my account was cleared, and they offered to put a “cramming block” on my line, which was supposed to stop them from adding future unauthorized junk.

Anyone can call their phone company and request a cramming block (a.k.a. third-party block). You’ll never see them advertised, they’re not foolproof, and they’re not the only blocks available, but they’re a good start.

Verizon’s Off the Hook

By Karen

Verizon’s Executive Support Escalation Team determined that my mother’s phone bill is correct. She just wasn’t able to calculate any combination of the convoluted, cryptic list of charges to arrive at the $99.99 she was quoted.

The total is about $10 more a month than she expected to pay, but that’s because they never tell you up-front you’ll be hit hard with taxes and miscellaneous fees.

Here’s more good news for Verizon: My mother has decided not to send her complaint to the State Corporation Commission. She feels she’s wasted enough time on this and won’t rewrite her letter to reflect that her bill’s confusing format led her to believe she was being overcharged.

She also declined Verizon’s offer to send someone out to tutor her on their e-mail program. From the way she describes it, it’s as bad as their billing and she’s better off with AT&T.

It’s unfortunate that every Verizon customer service rep isn’t a member of their Executive Support Escalation Team, diligent as a stalker and fully empowered to find answers and solve problems.

On the other hand, this morning I had reason to call Verizon Customer Service myself. I did it like any other schmuck, not using my new-found contacts in high places. When I had my FIOS phone service installed a few months ago, I clearly stated that I did not want Call Waiting. They seemed to understand me, and repeated the order back to verify it.

Guess what? I got Call Waiting.

I spent 2 pointless minutes explaining my request to a computer, then another 16 minutes on hold. A pleasant rep named Diane finally answered and, in my excitement, I accidentally cut her off.

I was standing there listening to the dial tone in despair and disbelief when Diane miraculously came back on the line. She quickly verified that, yes, the weird beeps I’d been hearing were Call Waiting, she disabled it, and then double-checked by calling me. She even offered to transfer me to Billing, but my phone plan requires paying for features I don’t want, so that wasn’t necessary.

All in all, except for the long hold time, it was perfect customer service. Thank you, Diane.

But trying to get a fraudulent charge off my Verizon bill was another story. That’s coming up next, along with advice on how to keep it from happening to you.

How I Got Verizon’s Attention

By Karen

Blogging. Within two hours of posting here about my mother’s problems with Verizon, a third-party consultant found it and alerted a Verizon senior vice president, who immediately phoned me for more details.

Within minutes, I got two more calls, from the consultant and from a woman on Verizon’s Executive Support Escalation Team. This woman also called my mother.

Now I have the names and direct phone numbers of two Verizon employees who are actually paid to give a damn. I’m not revealing them because the resulting avalanche of complaints would make their jobs hell, and they both seem like nice people who don’t deserve that.

Verizon promised me they would resolve all my mother’s issues and even make her happy. That includes trying (with a house call, perhaps?) to get her to give up her old AT&T e-mail account and start using Verizon’s, which she loathes for functional reasons.

But I think Verizon’s true motivation became apparent when the Escalation Team woman asked my mother if she would reconsider sending her complaint to the State Corporation Commission. My mother stood firm, but agreed to send a copy to Verizon.

Last year, I had to go to the SCC myself to resolve a bogus charge on my bill after trying in vain for four months to get the originating company and Verizon to remove it. Within a few days, the SCC cut through the crap and got Verizon to fix everything.

During this ordeal, I learned about “cramming.” Shortly, I’ll tell you what Verizon won’t about how you can avoid it and get some protection from bogus charges. Phone companies have reason to allow you to become a cramming victim.

I also promised Verizon to give credit when and where it’s due by posting word of their success with my mother when it’s achieved.

So, stay tuned…

Verizon Strikes (Out) Again

By Karen

My mother is Verizon’s newest enemy.

She had been clinging to dial-up Internet until she was forced recently to replace her old computer. The day we went shopping, a friendly Verizon representative was in Best Buy offering a FIOS upgrade of phone, TV, and Internet for $99.99 and $100 off the purchase of a PC. It was an offer my mother couldn’t refuse.

And she’s regretted it ever since.

First, the FIOS installation took over 7 hours. Then she kept having problems with Internet access. It turned out the installer wired some things backward.

Verizon has been shoving FIOS down everyone’s throat for months, but they still manage to make every home installation seem like it’s the first one they’ve ever done.

My mother had to wait a few months to get a “clean” bill, without any straggling days, to find out the true bottom line on her FIOS upgrade. Phone and cable companies always act as if taxes and fees are negligible pennies and refuse to quote them, but they always add a hefty chunk to the total.

It turned out she was being charged more than $99.99. So she called Verizon and, after waiting on hold for 20 minutes (much better than the 105 minutes she spent trying to cancel her old Verizon dial-up line), the customer service rep couldn’t explain the discrepancy, but had the nerve to say, “Even so, you’re still getting a good deal.”

At those words, my mother hung up and began composing a letter to the State Corporation Commission.

Bad service, bad billing, bad customer service. With Verizon, you get it all.

No Escape from Telecommunication Hell

By Karen

I made several technological leaps recently. Out of thriftiness, I switched my phones from Verizon to Cavalier. A smooth-talking Comcast CSR named Sheila persuaded me to upgrade cable TV from analog to digital. And with glee I abandoned dial-up for high-speed Internet access with Clearwire.

Two out of three decisions I lived to regret.

Clearwire was the only company who delivered as promised. I had their modem within 24 hours, it took seconds to install, and it worked perfectly. They’ve billed me exactly what they quoted.

Not so with Comcast. I was told digital would cost about $5 more a month, but it’s actually $15.

The new digital box compelled me to shell out another $250 for a VHS/DVD recorder to replace my analog VCR and a DVD player.

I was getting lousy reception on NBC and the Food Network, so I called for service. Comcast replaced my digital box without telling me, which caused the universal remote to stop working with my new DVD recorder, and I can’t fix it. Then they billed me $24.95 for the call, like it was my fault their “upgrade” botched up two channels.

My honeymoon with digital TV was brief. Channels jerk and skip content. HBO goes black for extended periods. On Demand isn’t always available. TV has become hit-or-miss.

But Cavalier Telephone took dishonesty and incompetence to new heights. They started me off with no phone service for three days. During that time, I spent literally hours on hold on my 10-cents-a-minute-only-for-emergencies prepaid cell phone, only to have Cavalier do nothing when they finally did answer but blame Verizon.

When the phones started working, some significant functionality was missing. This inferior service ultimately cost more than Verizon because Cavalier failed to quote $27 in additional monthly taxes and questionable charges, like the extra $8 per month per line to use phone lines.

The only time Cavalier excelled was in disconnecting me yesterday when I crawled back to Verizon. I had no phone for another half-day while I waited for rescue. Verizon, playing their upper hand, forced me into a FIOS upgrade, but at least I got all my calling features back.

So, now I hear a tinny echo when I talk, and God knows what FIOS is really going to cost. Verizon sold me unlimited long-distance to ease the pain.

From the Ridiculous… to More Ridiculous

By Karen

Last week we had the mother of all thunder-storms. Comcast cable TV was down for six days. I was so upset to miss Jon Stewart on The Daily Show and two episodes of Anthony Bourdain’s new “season” of No Reservations (who are they kidding, calling six episodes a season?), I was ready to pull the plug on basic cable, get a library card, and save myself almost $60 a month. Comcast has been bleeding channels over to digital for months, leaving nothing but sports and network dreck. AMC is going next month, so I was desperately trying to wean myself off my latest addiction, Mad Men, before things got ugly.

But then a miracle happened. I called Comcast and spoke to a woman named Sheila who actually gave a damn and knew what she was doing. Not only did she credit me for the six days of no service without being asked, but she told me I could switch to digital cable for only about $5 bucks more. AND she sent the guy out to install the box in less than 12 hours. (Hear that, Verizon? I begged you for a MONTH for a FIOS hookup after you excavated my backyard to run the cable, but you never made it happen.)

If I did it only to regain the channels I’ve lost, I’d call it a Comcast screw job. But as it turns out, digital is more TV and music channels than I could ever possibly appreciate. It’s a veritable orgy of sound and images. I haven’t felt this giddy since the first time I signed on to AOL years ago and suddenly had the whole world’s data and smut at my fingertips.

For once, I’m not hating Comcast. They’ve given me so much TV, but there’s so little time…