On December 2, I called FIOS. It took over half an hour to get through to sales. A new, wanna-be customer calling, and they took a half an hour to say Hello. I was so angered by that time, that I should have hung up the phone. But, I was bent bound and determined to see if they were truly better, and therefore I proceeded to enquire about their service. I walked around the first red flag…
They could not tell me whether it was currently available at my house or not, because I did not have a home phone number, so I gave them my neighbor’s number at 5164 Lake Avenue. It was, and so our conversation progressed through the “do I want to try it”, and all of the wonderful things that they could do for me. Their internet connection was MUCH faster, their HD tv was better, they could do a wireless network in my house where everyone else before them had failed, THEY WERE THE NEXT COMING OF CHRIST, according to Tasha Roberts, who promised me that I would finally get wireless access in my own house. I informed her that I never could before, and she assured me that if they could not, that they would do their best to see why not. They would make their BEST effort to make it work. She assured me of this more than once. And then, she told me that she would call me on the Tuesday after my installation to make sure that everything had been completed to my satisfaction and matched what she had told me… (I’m still waiting on that phone call….)
BOY, was I a total jerk for believing a sales rep. Me, Ms. Pessimism, who should have known better, invited this company into my home to hook up my tv’s and my computers… Yes, I informed her that I have 5 tv’s and 5 computers. She took no issue with assuring me that ALL of them would indeed be working. The total cost would be $123/month + tax. She informed me that she would waive the installation fee, and that the DVR would be free for the first year, and that I would receive all the movie packages free for 3 months. Don’t get a much better deal than that. Remember: IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, SLAP YOURSELF AND WAKE UP, CAUSE IT IS….
On Thursday afternoon, I received a call from Jim at Verizon, just confirming my appt for Friday. He gave me the address that they were confirming as 5164 Lake Avenue. I corrected him and was assured that it would be corrected, and reconfirmed my appt.
On Friday morning, Jim McKeever called me and said he was on his way—that he was the actual installer, and that he was calling to confirm that I would be there. He was confirming 5164 Lake Avenue. Well, stupid me should have let him go there. If they can’t get the address right, I should have seen the bright red flag still waiving…. BUT, stupid me, gave him the correct address and invited him to come and do his thing.
He started out by the pole, and did whatever was necessary. He ran wires across our lawn—THAT ARE STILL LOOSE, ON OUR LAWN, waiving in the wind. They’re coming back some day to bury them…. And in the meantime, let’s hope that if they do come back, they won’t cut the cable wires or the electrical wires. Let’s see if Verizon CALLS BEFORE THEY DIG….
About an hour later, he came into the house and installed this huge box on my basement wall. The total installed thing is about 2 feet tall by 2 feet wide. It requires electricity—to be plugged into an outlet, so beware of the rise in your NYSEG/NIMO bill, as you will be paying for it to run their system. He grounded it to our water meter.
He then proceeded to whine about having to install all of my pc’s. As you all know, I make my living on my computers. A tv in our house is secondary. And, in case you, like Verizon, missed that, I made it quite clear to the sales rep, that I did have 5 pc’s and 5 tv’s that would need hooked up. That was well understood and cleared previously with her, NOT A PROBLEM... So I showed him all of the computers and the tv’s. He hooked up a brand new router with the FIOS modem built in. Then he proceeded to see if he could see the network—that is assigned by them and unchangeable. You may not set your own network name or your own security code—it comes printed on the router. It is WEP and cannot be changed--just a note.
Anyway, he set up his laptop and tried to connect, because by then I had told him that I was promised wireless access in my house. He then admitted that he was a tv tech and knew nothing about computers. When his laptop was on and he refreshed the wireless network list, NOTHING showed up. No neighbors, no other locked networks, NOTHING. Now, logic would tell me that if he can’t see it, there’s a problem. So, I turned on my laptops (3 of them) and tried to see it. Nothing. When I came over to the router and sat at the desk which is about 12” from the router, I set my settings to see hidden networks, and hard typed the address in. I found it and connected. After 5 min, the connection died. When I refreshed it and told it to look for hidden networks, it found it again. But their network did NOT show up in a list of wireless networks to connect to, not even on the Verizon laptop...
I explained all this to him and he proceeded to call tech support. When they came on the line, I was on the phone, hoping that someone would help me while he ran an Ethernet cable to Mac’s pc. I was told explicitly that they would not talk to the customer and to put the tech on the line, so I did. They tried to talk him through finding the network, while I typed the same hard address into his laptop. Nothing—he was about 4 feet away from the router…Then they disconnected him. There is justice in this world-the customer is not the only one that gets disconnected....
He dallied around with the tech on the phone and watched me try and connect my Mac, etc. The Mac would not connect, and if you know anything about computers, you know that if the airport card will not connect, a PC doesn’t have a prayer…. He (on the phone) proceeded to tell me that there was something wrong with my Mac and that my utility preferences needed to be redone. He walked me through repairing my utilities, etc…. Still no connection on my Mac.
My whole house was full of red flags, and it was now lunchtime. The installer left to go and get whatever he needed (taking back 4 HD boxes that I didn’t need). I told Tasha that I had 5 tv’s and she proceeded to tell them to install HD boxes on all of them. I only needed HD in the living room, so he had to go and get the regular ones instead. He was a nice guy—he called me and asked me if I wanted anything from Wendy’s while he was there….
When he returned, he quite clearly made it evident that he “did not have time” to sit around and work with pc’s any longer. He hadn’t even started with the tv’s and he had to get that done. So, he wired the laptop and went about getting the rest of them plugged in and then did all the tv’s. As far as tv’s go, we have 2 older ones in the kids’ rooms, that he disconnected from their rca jack converters, vcr’s, etc. and that he never reconnected. He left Sam with no DVD player… Can u imagine how unhappy Sam was when he found out that he couldn’t watch Star Wars or Pokemon on his DVD player in his room???? This alone was enough to make me crazy. I asked him about this and he told me that I would need an A/B switch, now that I had to have a box on every tv in the house to get a signal…. Not an HD signal, just a signal.
Note: You cannot split a Verizon signal if you add another tv—it will not work—YOU MUST HAVE A BOX INSTALLED ON ANY TV YOU WANT TO WATCH. I was not impressed with that. I didn’t mind paying for all of the tv’s, but to disconnect all of the dvd players and VCR’s, and not make them workable? No. Plus, if we took our flat screen tv down off the wall, and took it outside where we watch it on the deck, we would have no signal, unless we moved the box out there as well. Not going to happen. So keep this in mind when you tell them you have more than one tv… They made our outside coax plug USELESS…
Well, it was now 3:00 pm and the whining was getting bad. He had to go, it was Friday afternoon. When I asked him about my pc’s, he said that he would file a Trouble ticket and come back and fix them. No specific date, just when he didn’t have anything on his plate. Somehow, that just didn’t sit right with me. DUMB me, let him go…
So, I now had to hook up my own e-mail, and network all my pc’s myself. I had to call Verizon again to get the mail servers to use on Outlook, and set up all my accounts. If you are not versed in migrating mail, do not let him leave before it’s set up.
During the next 3-4 days, about 4-5 people from Verizon called me to see what the problem was. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM HAD THE WRONG ADDRESS…. And I proceeded to change it with every single one of them. How hard can it be to change an address???? I hope they send the bill to the wrong address…
I spent about 5 hours on the phone total, explaining my situation to each and every one of them. I told them what I was promised and that it STILL hadn’t been done. Nothing was done to my satisfaction. I really didn’t expect them to make my house wireless, BUT I EXPECTED THEM TO SEND A COMPUTER LITERATE TECH OUT TO SEE IF THEIR NEW TECHNOLOGY WOULD WORK. I myself, and every other person that I have talked to since then, didn’t think that that was too much to ask.
I spoke to about 5 reps, and received at least 9 excuses, some of them matching… They ranged from “We don’t guarantee any speed—UP TO whatever meg rate... (which we all know can mean from zero to…)”. They guarantee NOTHING when it comes to speed. One told me that they guarantee 80% of their top speed. Find that in writing and there’s a medal involved from me. One told me that they guaranteed wireless connection within 10 feet—DIRECT SIGHT of the router…. One told me that I should get what I was promised. It just got ugly from there. On Friday, I spoke with Glen—he agreed with me—that I should get what I was promised, or at least an honest attempt to make it happen, and he filed a ticket to have them schedule a computer literate tech come out and see if he could make it work. So I waited all weekend and nothing. Finally, someone called Sunday and said he was going to cancel my Trouble call if he could fix it. I explained to him the whole story, and that I could stay connected for about 5 minutes uninterrupted if my laptop was less than 3” from the router. He proceeded to tell me that that was all they guaranteed, and canceled my appt for Tues. I was furious….
Then Monday afternoon, a Verizon tech called me and asked if he could stop by my house, in response to a Trouble ticket. I told him No, that I had to take my kids to hockey and that it was supposed to be arranged for Tues at 3:00 pm if it hadn't been cancelled.... Just for shits and giggles, I asked him what house he would come to, and HE GAVE ME THE WRONG ADDRESS… I laughed and told him part of my story. So I told him No and left things alone for Tues afternoon.
This is where the bottom falls out…. Monday nite, Jim (same one as before—Operator out of Syracuse), calls my house and explains to me that access was denied for a Trouble call on Monday afternoon…. Apparently they came out anyway and probably knocked on my neighbor’s door and she didn’t hear them. She’s old and probably thinks they’re crazy for bothering her all week at the wrong address….
So I take another half an hour and explain all of the above to him. He tells me that his sales rep either lied or that she should never had made any insinuation of wireless access. I know that, and you know that, but that is not what transpired here. I even told him that I agreed with him, but that they at least owed me the courtesy of sending me out someone that could determine whether it was a bad router, or if it was hooked up wrong or if it was just my house. He did not agree, and proceeded to be a total prick about it. He is the one that clearly stated that they guaranteed wireless access within 10 feet, direct site of the router, yada yada yada. Total bullshit. After he offered to ship me a new router and have me change it and reinstall everything, I thanked him for nothing and asked him for a supervisor. Remember, I was totally content to sit at home again, wait for Verizon to come on Tuesday afternoon and see what, if anything could be done. This little punk kid—Jim is the one that lit my fire…. He made every hair on the back of my neck stand up and turned me into the raging tempered Irish bitch that I can be… I told him exactly what he could do with his new router and what he could do with his service and then asked AGAIN for a supervisor.
He transferred me to the Disconnect department. The gentleman there got thrown into the lion’s den with no warning. I then explained this all to him and he got me a tech—GEM of a human being, named Edward Blackburn. Edward should be in the collections department at best. He is the Doom and Gloom of the world. Edward should NEVER be allowed to speak to customers, especially NEW ones...
He proceeded to tell me the TRUTH, according to him. He stated that Verizon is only under contract (which I never signed or saw...) to come to my house, install ONE TV (get that---they are responsible for ONE TV), and to hook up high-speed internet access to ONE COMPUTER. Not wireless, not 5 pc’s, not do anything for me. AND… he proceeded to tell me that they make a GIFT of a wireless router. They don’t even have to plug in any pc’s, no wiring, NOTHING. They put it in your house. PERIOD. That’s it. That’s what they are to do. He proceeded to make me feel bad and tried to make me believe that Verizon had done me a FAVOR by installing that router and plugging in the ethernet cable that was already there.....He was the worst rep I've EVER spoken to at Verizon in about 15 years.
Then he transferred me back to the Disconnect department and I got some other person. I then poured a glass of wine and explained this horror story ONE MORE TIME. The poor guy that answered my call agreed with me as well—that the onus was on Verizon to make it work, or admit they couldn’t.
But by then it was too late, they had shut everything off. I had no Skype phone, no internet, no tv. I then had to call back and waste cell phone minutes as well…. He explained that he had no supervisor available and that I would receive a callback within 24-48 hours, and that he saw my side of all of this and agreed with me about how I had been glossed over and then bent over (my words obviously, not his).
That was on Monday, December 15. It’s been almost 72 hours and I STILL HAVEN'T HEARD FROM VERIZON...., and Time Warner has been back to my house, hooked everything back up, rewired anything out of date, made everything work as it should, and smiled. The tech even took another stab at my wireless access, only to admit it would not work and agree with me. He was very pleasant, and knowledgeable about tv’s AND pc’s. I made sure he knew about pc's by having conversations that he would not be able to have had he not hooked up, installed, wired, given wireless access to, etc. He gave me back my remote with the light on it so I could see it, which is something that Verizon should look into..., and he hooked up all of my vcr’s and dvd players so they worked properly. I am well aware that TW is far from perfect, but they welcomed me back with open arms, and have met my expectations so far. I'm sure things will happen that will cause disconnect, but at least I know that they will send someone or help me to the BEST of their ability and at least I am familiar with them. They came within 24 hours and took a stab at what I wanted. They did not promise any more than what I said I had before and they updated everything and did not charge me for installation or wires, etc. It will not be perfect, but it works and it's half the price....
He showed me the proper way to hook up coax cable, not to crank it down so that you could not loosen it without a wrench. Everything in my house had to be wrenched off. That just eventually ruins all of your equipment…
Anyway, I printed this story to make you aware of my personal experience with Verizon FIOS. It may sound a little sour on my part, but after reading this, maybe you understand. They have no promises anywhere in writing, so if you get a sales person that makes everything sound rosy, record the call and play it for the tech that comes to your house, and just keep it on a flash drive to play for every other rep that will call you. Then keep it to play for the Disconnect department, because I guarantee you’ll need it. OR, take this column for the advice that it is giving free, and go in with your eyes open. You’ll get a bill for more than you were quoted, and you’ll get less than you were promised.
And after speaking to the Disconnect department, they tell me that somewhere, although I signed nothing, they tell me that I am responsible for returning their equipment…. We’ll see if that ever happens. I wouldn’t walk it to the end of my driveway for Verizon. I would give them as much effort as they gave me. NONE. Show me where I agreed to return their equipment and I’ll take it back. If not, come and get it is what I say. It’s all neatly packed in a box in my basement, collecting dust, which is exactly where it belongs and about the only thing it does well.
This sheet cannot be construed as liable, because every word of it is true. Please feel free to contact me at buffalochick@roadrunner.com with any questions or comments. I will post any that are humorous….Please, by all means, contact me if you have had a similar experience or if you have switched and switched back.... Would love for some comments.
Updated Dec. 17 - 8:00 pm - No Callback
Updated Dec. 18 - 7:40 am - No Callback...
I was leaving for xmas to Canada on 12/27, so I dropped off all of their equipment at the UPS Store to be returned to Verizon, as per their original threat. The guy at the UPS Store told me that he had shipped about 30 bunches of Verizon stuff back per day. He stated that everyone was returning stuff. He gave me a receipt with a tracking number. Stuff would be delivered back to them on 12/24.
While in Canada, they called my cell phone, wondering what was up with my account, and to state that I would be billed for equipment. That was on 12/27. Meanwhile, all of their crap had been returned, delivered and signed for by Rainer at 11:39 am on 12/24. So, again, Verizon's left hand not knowing what the right hand was up to....
Updated Dec. 28 - 3:28 pm - No Callback....
Maybe they've read this site...Meanwhile, about 20 people have e-mailed me to relay similar experiences, or to thank me for posting this story, just because they had been contacted and promised the world by Verizon as well....
GUESS WHAT??????? It's now 12/29, and I just opened a bill from Verizon!!!!!!!!! They're billing me for services to January 10, for stuff that I don't even have!!!!!!!! Will post the outcome of this call shortly. I'm on my third call, trying to get through to someone. Been disconnected twice now..... Walking to the fridge to get some wine.... and it's only 3:30 pm. I was on hold for almost 25 minutes, before I got 2 people that I gave my account number to, who put me on hold, and then I got to a 3rd, totally different, oblivious embarrassment to the female race. She is what you will find when you look up stupid little c/s person sitting at a cubicle that doesn't give a shit about anything that resembles a customer, and doesn't know anything. I certainly at least hope that Mrs. McLean is blonde...
Anyway, she told me that they have an "equipment retrieval" on record. Ok, let's not talk customer friendly, but rather make a game out of this call. Then she promised she would not put me on hold, but couldn't find the bill date... I had it in front of me, so I read it to her... Oh my God. Then she put me on hold!!!!!! When she came back, after this call had increased to 39 minutes, she told me that she would send out another bill-KILL ANOTHER TREE, to zero out (a credit) the first 6-page bill. So they are sending me 12 pages to tell me that they screwed up, and that I don't owe them anything. And CAN YOU GUESS WHAT ADDRESS IS ON THE BILL??????????????
I just laugh out loud when I read this over for spelling mistakes.... It's so humorous, to think that a company as big as Verizon, could be so stupid. I can guarantee that FIOS will not be a big hit around here, unless they employ a FORD CEO or someone that will take the fall. If they average 8 hours for an installation, and the UPS Store is returning equipment from 30 customers in one day, how can that make good business sense?? When Verizon comes before Congress for a bailout, I'll be right there at the front of the line with this story. They should be made a mockery of, as that is exactly what this FIOS is. It's a great concept if it works. Well so was Free Trade, and Welfare, and Unemployment and Auto Workers pension plans.... and we see how well they work.
Verizon FIOS is a joke. BEWARE.
Just for the hell of it, January 22, 2009, no callback, and I have now convinced about 41 other people NOT to get Verizon FIOS by posting this experience. You'd think that they would give a damn.....
A day and a half later, I got a voicemail message from someone at Verizon, leaving me the same, deadbeat, waste-of-time 1-800 number that I called to begin with.
Well, it's now February 23, AND I JUST WENT OVER TO MY NEIGHBOR'S HOUSE TO GET MY VERIZON BILL!!!!!!!!!!
This is the last time I deal with them. It's been almost 10 minutes now, and here we go again. I haven't even gotten the first useless cubicle rat and I'm getting angry.... I'll just leave a message for a supervisor to call me back.... Maybe they'll come and disconnect their stuff, if they can find anything.... Knowing what I know now about Verizon, they'll probably be over knocking on my poor neighbor's door for their stuff. She's 92, and she's probably more on the ball than Verizon......
I'll add my final comments after another couple of days. I hope they're my last, but if you've read this story, you're probably laughing by now and guessing that this will never end.....
Been almost 17 minutes, no cubicle rat yet.....
20 minutes.... Good thing I can cook and have my Verizon cell phone on at the same time... Wonder how I get reimbursed for all these minutes they're costing me.....They'll probably send them to my 92-year old neighbor though....... Yup, I'm laughing.
Okay, I'm going to try and send this link to their e-mail contact, I give up on their phone--after 24.5 minutes. Even dinner is ready before they are. Lord I hope they don't get in line for a bailout, I'll be the first to tell the whole world about how they waste money.
Signed on to Verizon chat, got in line..... Would be 10 m 34 sec..... waiting, went down to 6 min 22 sec, AND THEN IT WENT BACK UP TO 12 MINUTES!!!!!!!! How does my wait time go up?????? Enough. Signed off.
Went back to dinner, signed on to general support, chat, waiting.... 5 minutes, okay, got JD. He signed on, and promised that he would give my message to a supervisor. About 15 minutes after speaking with JD, I got a call from Stanley, a supervisor in tech support. It said general support, but I got tech support.... Anyway, Stanley was reading this page when I hung up with him. I told him that if I worked for Verizon and I saw this page, I would be freaking. He was one of those very calm people though.... So he read this page, we'll see what happens next. That was at around 8 pm on February 23......... He has a copy of my chat transcript, so he has this link and my cell phone.... Where would you put your money?
Sunday, March 1, no call back.....I'll just wait for Marion's call this month to say that my phone bill has arrived, and I'll just tell her to throw them in the garbage from now on. I have all my documentation and dates and names of who all I have spoken to, trying to correct their error. What more can I do. I give up.