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Why I Loathe Verizon (aka Verizon Sucks)

Around two to three years ago, I signed up to get DSL from Verizon with a guaranteed price so I wouldn’t have to worry about future price increases. A few months ago, Verizon “discontinued” my DSL package, so my price increased. Their fine print allowed them to change packages, which cancelled my guaranteed price. So I checked the Verizon web site yesterday, and saw they had a new bundle price for my phone service with DSL for around $20 less than my current increased price (about $10 less than my earlier price as well). So I called Verizon, waited on hold for around 15 minutes, and got a nice customer service guy (Mr. Hutchins maybe?). He took my information, put me on hold, and after a few minutes came back on and said it was all switched up, I should get my new price on my next bill. I also was told nothing else would be changing, so I wouldn’t have to worry about my DSL service going down or anything. Fine. Losing DSL would be a major problem, as a full-time blogger, I work at home and live online.

So the first thing is Verizon should have given the less expensive bundle price without me having to ask. That’s called good customer service.

But today! I got a phone call from DirecTV to confirm my DirecTV service. WTF? I’m on the phone with them now (still!) Verizon gave my information to DirecTV. After two customer service reps, (Heidi was nice) supposedly my DirecTV order (for two receivers, dvr, and the NFL package) has been cancelled. I asked if I would be getting any junk mail or telemarketing from DirecTV, Heidi said no, I shouldn’t.

So now I’m on hold with Verizon. They are bumping me up to a supervisor. Ms. Robinson will investigate, but basically, I should have my Double Play package. So hopefully I won’t have to worry about a price increase until next summer when Verizon screws around with their customers again.

So after 35 minutes of wasting my time, all I get out of this is an assurance that my next bill will be ok. I loathe Verizon. If there were any kind of competition in the home connectivity market, I would be out of Verizon so quickly their heads would be spinning.

10 Comments

  1. Christina says:

    I worked for Verizon Wireless for 5 very short months (in building services) and I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. I even took a huge pay cut to get away. I can honestly tell you from experience that the people who work in the call center aren’t too bright. There are some people who try to do a good job and do what’s right for the customer, but they’re usually the ones who get fired for staying home with a sick kid or showing up 30 seconds late for shift… The dumb ones that stick around and soak up all the BS the HR and Traning departments brainwash them with (about how great they are to work for and how nobody else will give them great benefits, etc.) are the idiots you usually get on the phone.
    It’s true, they’re only goal is bottom line $$ and they could give a crap about REAL customer service.

  2. ljnd says:

    This is horrific. What a colossal waste of your time!

    You might also want to spread the word on MeasuredUp.com, a website for reviews of products and stores that you really like (or really hate). It’s at http://www.measuredup.com , and it’s very easy and rather cathartic.

  3. Verizon Billing Sucks…

    Remember a couple weeks ago when I shared my glorious experiences with Verizon? And I was assured my billing would be ok? I just got my September Verizon bill in the ma…

  4. Vicki says:

    I just googled vrizon and Direct tv sucks… and lo and behold, here are the legions of people who feel the same way. I will not go into every single horrible detail of my experiences as there is not enough space or time to describe how inept “customer service” is or how they double bill and how they say seasonal suspension is fine and then lambaste you with charges for boxes and modems not returned when service was only suspended…. not ENDED. and then, they never send a bill, they just send you into collections without even contacting you about a possible problem, or how on screen sessions with techs wipe out your entire Outlook files; or how they add special packages “by accident”

    BUYER BEWARE. The Verizon Direct TV ” bundle” is a Gordian Knot. DO NOT BUY

    Get two tin cans and a set of rabbit ears. You will do just as well, if not better.
    Verizon sucks indeed

  5. james says:

    Verizon is a culprit! you do not know verizon! i have the 19.99 plan and they are strongarming me off of it! they S#ck! they are corporate thieves. i have a verizon cel phone plan. it was a contract they obsorbed from bell atlantic when they took over them and their customers.

    and as for my CONTRACT and plan, it then became a “grandfathered” plan. i was told it was good till “i” decided to change it. last year i bought a cel phone at full retail so i wouldn’t have to sign a new contract and lose my plan. and i always pay “full” retail for my cel phones from them because of this. i have multiple plans with verizon for several services, all which have been updated, but this one plan i have chose to keep as is. but they are NOT honoring it! it doesn’t fit what THEY want! dare not honoring their contract and they will have you in court and destroy your credit rating, but should they not want to honor YOUR plan, you are nothing but a left over thought to them as they have all the corporate power and control.

    The name of my Granfathered plan is the DIGITAL 20.

    over the past several years, verizon has done everything from lie to harrass me to get rid of this plan. they have shut off my service multiple times, and continually offer me their new plans to “fix” the problem. they overbill me to distract from what they are doing. then they will confuse my bill, and i will have to go over it with them every month. then they will credit it, and then it will start over again. and they will just keep offering me a NEW plan that will fix this.

    however, they now say my plan is absolutely no longer good, but then offered it back to me to if i just sign a new 2 year contract to keep it. and then after told me, that offer is no longer good and neither is my grandfathered plan.

    keep in mind, for years before they decided to get rid of these plans, i never had problems with my bill. it was always the same, 19.99 plus tax and usage charges. pretty simple.

    the Digital 20 is 19.99 a month and includes nights starting at 8pm to 7am, and weekends, as well as the first incoming minute. nights and weekends were not a “free” promotional offer like they are now trying to say, but were originally “included”. the plan is limited to the MA, RI & NH. outside of that area is long distance. but this plan works very well for me on my income and budget. and i have made them aware of that. and i have had this plan for over a decade.

    they have lied over and over, and on many occassions have tried to resell this same plan to me, as long as i sign a contract for it. one time they even said i did sign a contract for a new plan, which i did not, and they changed my plan on me to something i never even heard of. it took months to fix this. now they say that is why i am having problems. but then change that story too. i have never ever signed a new plan, or even considered a new one.

    i have been a loyal customer of verizon since they first bought bell atlantic. and my bills are always payed in full, but now, they have made such a mess of my invoice they told me not to pay it till it is fixed, and yet, now they are telling me that they are shutting of my service because it is not payed. but when i call CS they say do not pay it till it’s fixed so it doesn’t get worse, and then they shut if off. they also over charge when it comes to taxes and other services. i have been paying my plan month’s in advance to avoid these problems, but still they shut me off. it has gotten to the point now where they are admitting they want me gone. me, and the rest of the public with this plan. they are ignoring this “granfathered” protection and law. and using strongarm tactics to do it by holding my phone service hostage.

    they say they do not carry the plan anymore, yet my invoice is still billed under it. and also many many people still have it. and now, they are methodicly eliminating us one at a time. they have sent me invoices that are so over the cost of my plan it amounts to fraud. they continually make me call to fix it and then try to force me off of my plan. now, they are refusing to help me and tell me that they now will decide what i pay, and that my granfathered plan is useless, altho of course, many people have it still.

    it has now gotten to a point where they refuse to help me at all. their own customer service told me yesterday that she believed verizon was strongarming me and that i was not alone. she said that verizon is in the process of systematicly harrassing everyone off of these old plans to get them on to new nationwide plans that start at 34.95 a month. it is their NEW bottom line, and they do not want anymore grandfathered plans to exist, so, they are corruptly going about harrassing customers with them to get rid of them.

    they also refuse to give the names or even extension numbers for customer service reps when you speak with them to keep a record, and when you call back, they say that you never called before. it is overwhelming to say the least. i can not begin to list the amount of other corrupt things they are doing in this case, but i do know it is well known amoung verizon employees that they are intentionally violating these grandfathered plans, and robbing the public in their criminal billing practices. they simply figure no one will spend the time to fight them.

    verizon has lied, cheated, and stolen from me. and i am not alone. recheck your bills every month and you will see, it is never correct. they always overbill and they do NOT honor granfathered contracts.

    you must be working for them!

    and please, if there are any lawyers out there interested in suing them for me, please send me an email. they are the putrid coporate scum that has gripped the american dream and made it the dilluted nightmare it has become!

    Please take notice of these corrupt corporate thieves, and be very ver aware before you do business with them.

    p.s. and just try to get a hold of one person there. just one. none have extensions or call back numbers. they hide behind countless anonymous numbers and offices all over the place, with not one person responsible. their president is in hiding as well. he should be held accountable for his thieving soldiers!

    God Bless America!

  6. Monica says:

    I hate Verizon for the sheer fact that they can’t get their online, billing, or CS numbers straight and keep giving out my company’s as theirs! Every day I receive hundreds of “F*ck you!” and hangups and getting my a$$ chewed out for the idiotic things Verizon/CS/billing does just because I answer a phone. I will NEVER use Verizon because of the incompetencies I hear about. I also tell anyone and everyone I know and meet not to use them and to get rid of them ASAP if they have them for any type of service. Too bad I can’t give all the pent up frustrations back to ALL the Verizon heads EN MASSE!

  7. camille says:

    I have been trying to stop my service for months..i emailed them, I called them and was put on hold…..now I need help…my bill is over $500.00 and they are about to ruin my credit….I am a RN and had battles in my life but nothing like this………..

  8. greg says:

    Good luck getting a TV from them. They can’t even get there billing straight let alone keep a promise like provide you with a TV. If they do, it’s going to be salvage from Katrina. Stay Away from the Venison Direct TV Package. They’re always getting the billing wrong, and blame one anther for the problem. I signed up in May 2007 and have yet to receive the billing price as offered
    If you do, enter at your own risk. It’s worse than spam mail or some Trojan virus, trying to fix this mess. Look, I bought a Direct TV receiver from Circuit City, and now that I have canceled my service with them, they say that the box is theirs, that I was just leasing it, and I must return it along with the one they provided. Oh really. I thought the five dollars a month I paid extra for it was all that was required. If I new that I wouldn’t have given Circuit City $99.00 for it.
    I got a mailer from Verizon in December 07 that the billing issue was resolved and it would remain consistent on a monthly cycle thereafter. Yet, I got two consecutive months—January and February 08— for $179.00. What, I thought the triple package was 99.00 monthly? Even with the two receivers, just the basic package, and taxes, it doesn’t add up to $179.00… It’s really a mess. I am done with both; very unprofessional.
    If you don’t want to ruin you credit, don’t sign up for this promotion from hell.

  9. John says:

    I recently received a direct mail piece from Verizon thanking me for being a customer – “we want you to know how much we value you as a customer.” All I had to do was call and get a $30 credit on my bill. When I did so, I gave them my account information and after reviewing my account they told me they couldn’t process the credit and I would have to call back sometime in the future. They wouldn’t give me a reason, just that sometimes this happens. I smell a scam here – offer $30 to get people to call, and if they aren’t able to trade them up, tell them they can’t process the offer.

    Try it yourself, call 888-266-0058. Tell them you received a direct mail piece for a $30 service credit.

  10. james says:

    If so many people have a problem with VW, then why dont they file a class action lawsuit like they did with 5/3 bank? Big companies like VW dont give 2 $hits about their customers because they are so addicted to their technology. Its like being a drug dealer. You may be so hooked that you hate the dealer and you hate the prices, but you just cant go a day without getting a fix. I have had my bad experiences with VW as well and would love to see someone file a class action, but I dont have enough ammo to do so.

    They operate a monopoly and they hate their customers, but loooooooove the money we spill into their bank accounts. They will continue to operate like this until someone starts complaining.

    I HIGHLY suggest that you contact the BBB and the Federal Trade Commission and file a complaint EVERY SINGLE TIME they piss you off. The FTC will HAVE to open investigations and the BBB will start tagging their rating. The more LEGAL complaints they receive, the better chances we have at making them change.

    Document everything, bills, log/record phone calls (check your state laws for that one first, it is illegal in some states) and take aim and fire off complaints….as many as you can about as many different subjects as possible.

    I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice in anyway, but I have been around the block many times in this realm

    Good luck