Jansch
September 29th, 2004, 07:11 PM
I just had a 9 day ordeal attempting to have Verizon put into my bedroom in GW building. It was without a doubt the worst experience I have EVER had with a company of any kind, in my life.
First step, I called them and said I wanted DSL, and that I only wanted a land line for that reason. The woman took my address, and said that there was no problem getting DSL at that location. Since I'm a foreign student here, she told me I had to fax two forms of ID and pay a $100 deposit. Fine!
So I faxed the ID, which got accepted, and then I called to ask where I could pay the deposit. As I'm unfamiliar with Jersey but more familiar with Manhattan, I asked if I could pay it over there. "Sure", they said, and gave me a few locations in Manhattan. So off I go to catch the PATH train. I went to a shop in Maiden Lane, and they tried for 15 minutes to enter my new telephone number without any joy - the computer kept saying "invalid id". So I called Verizon, and was on the phone (in the shop) for 30 minutes as two guys expressed total confusion as to why it wasn't working. So eventually, they gave me a new number. That didn't work. They're starting to get pissed at me in the shop. There's no air conditioning. So after another 15 minutes on the phone, the guy goes "hey, you know, I've just thought - you can't pay a deposit for a New Jersey account in Manhattan". Great. Way to go Verizon!
So eventually I got my friend to use her credit card to pay, as I don't use one. It took 30 minutes on the phone, as she got passed from department to department, got cut off, had the girl on the phone mistype her number, etc etc. So after that, the phone is handed to me and I'm transferred to the sales dept. to talk about which package I want. We go over the details for 10 minutes, then she says "oh, you know what, you can't have DSL in your building." I asked her to double check, which "she did", and it was confirmed. So after all that, after being told I could DEFINITELY get it, I'm told I can't. After the deposit has been paid. So that's me pissed.
In the morning, I called back to ask again, as I read on this forum about people in the GW building having Verizon DSL. The woman told me that in fact I COULD have it. "How can that be", I said, "when I've been told no by someone else"? She said she didn't know why in the hell I was refused, as it said on her computer that I could have it. I asked her if she was sure and she said "you have my personal guarentee". She says I'll have my phone line connected Monday, which will be automatic, from the office, and a few days after, my modem will arrive, to get my DSL. Fantastic.
So on Sunday, I get a recorded message call from Verizon reminding me to be in on Monday for the technician to call. I called installation and said that noone had told me about this, that I was told it was automatic. "We don't know why they told you this" was the reply. Great. I had to leave the apartment at 10am Monday, so couldn't be in. "Don't worry", the guy said, "I see on my computer that you're down as the first job of the day. He'll be there between 8-30 and 9-00. So Monday comes, it's 9-30, no guy. I call them. "Oh", they say, "you're down for anywhere between 9 and 5". So why did the guy yesterday say between 8-30 and 9-30? "We don't know why they told you that" was the reply.
Notice a pattern already of general incompetance and possible downright lies? That's Verizon. So I call customer services to complain, and the woman tells me that "under no circumstances can I have DSL at that address". Great. So so far it's been "yes, no, yes, no". I say I want to complain about the whole affair. So far it's been 6 or 7 days of being transferred to different departments, being cut off, put on hold, and cut off again. Lies, misinformation, and these customer service girls with "attitude" (you know what I mean). I was told that a supervisor would call me that day. Of course, nobody did. So I call to complain the next day. Put on hold. Cut off. Transferred. I made a formal complaint to Customer Relations, and she told me that someone "from management" would call me WITHIN 4 HOURS. "you have my personal guarentee, sir!". So I says "OK, I've heard that before". She says "I PROMISE you sir, someone will call you".
No phone call within 4 hours, or indeed that day. So I call again later, and talk to a customer service goon and try to explain to her what I've been through (and guess what - this is the short version!). She says to me "I don't know what you have to complain about sir - my records show that your account is good to go". I said "please try and listen to what I'm telling you" and she gets all stroppy and says "sir, you have nothing to complain about. It says here, you're good to go. You CAN have DSL". She accuses me of being a liar. She tells me to calm down (I am calm!) . Then, when I can't stands no more, I tell her to transfer me to someone who is prepared to listen and who understands what the problem is. She tranfers me to "Cancellations". (Is this a hint? Spite?)
The guy there is really nice, and tells me that he deals with people who've gone through what I've been through all the time. He tells me that the reason why they keep telling me that I CAN have DSL when nobody is really sure, is that they are LYING in order to get me to push through my land-line installation. They don't really care if it is subsequently found that I can't have it. He says he hears of this all the time. I can't believe it! He promises me he'll get to the bottom of what's going on.
Next thing I know, I get a voicemail message from installation, who tell me that "due to legal reasons", Verizon are not allowed in any GW apartments and can only install to the basement. I have to get Newport Telecom to fix me up from the basement to my apartment. First I've heard of this! So I call NT, and they tell me that it's a charge of $75 dollars to do this, and that Verizon can't tell if I can have DSL or not until I have this connection. So, I may pay the $75 only to find that I can't have it. Great. I call Verizon again, and they tell me I CAN have it once more, and when I explain what's happened, they once again accuse me of lying! Can you believe this? When I asked NT about the "legal issue", they told me that Verizon had decided themselves not to come into the apartments. So who is telling the truth?
So I've tried to complain again, and I got some attitude ***** who told me that her sales representatives would never have said that I could have it if i can't, and that they would never have said the things they did. So once again, I'm a liar. I called again today to cancel the whole thing and get my deposit back, and they said that would take up to 4 weeks, until I threatened to sue them and she eventually told me the deposit would be refunded immediately. Can you believe, that through all this, they were trying to get me to change my mind and get DSL from them after all?
Here's the funny part - my roommate has had his own Verizon telephone line in his bedroom for a couple of years, so he offered to ask them if HE could have DSL, so I could get an answer without risking the $75 fee to NT. They gave him two answers - YES and NO! It's just hilarious. I've spent over 350 minutes on my cellphone over the last week or so and not to mention untold time and extreme stress, in dealing with the most incompetant, rude, lying Verizon customer service representatives you could imagine, and falling prey to Verizon's shoddy system and extremely poor training. At the end, I have nothing. I still have no internet. I'm opting instead for the NT T1 line, after all the bad things I've heard about it.
Verizon, you ****. It was 20 times easier for me to get hooked up with telephone and internet when I lived in the Czech Republic years ago, and that was dealing with people who barely spoke a word of English. I have also been told by a guy at Verizon that America's technology in this field is WAY behind that of other countries, and now I can believe it. My cellphone service ****s, too.
Well, that's my spleen vented. :o
First step, I called them and said I wanted DSL, and that I only wanted a land line for that reason. The woman took my address, and said that there was no problem getting DSL at that location. Since I'm a foreign student here, she told me I had to fax two forms of ID and pay a $100 deposit. Fine!
So I faxed the ID, which got accepted, and then I called to ask where I could pay the deposit. As I'm unfamiliar with Jersey but more familiar with Manhattan, I asked if I could pay it over there. "Sure", they said, and gave me a few locations in Manhattan. So off I go to catch the PATH train. I went to a shop in Maiden Lane, and they tried for 15 minutes to enter my new telephone number without any joy - the computer kept saying "invalid id". So I called Verizon, and was on the phone (in the shop) for 30 minutes as two guys expressed total confusion as to why it wasn't working. So eventually, they gave me a new number. That didn't work. They're starting to get pissed at me in the shop. There's no air conditioning. So after another 15 minutes on the phone, the guy goes "hey, you know, I've just thought - you can't pay a deposit for a New Jersey account in Manhattan". Great. Way to go Verizon!
So eventually I got my friend to use her credit card to pay, as I don't use one. It took 30 minutes on the phone, as she got passed from department to department, got cut off, had the girl on the phone mistype her number, etc etc. So after that, the phone is handed to me and I'm transferred to the sales dept. to talk about which package I want. We go over the details for 10 minutes, then she says "oh, you know what, you can't have DSL in your building." I asked her to double check, which "she did", and it was confirmed. So after all that, after being told I could DEFINITELY get it, I'm told I can't. After the deposit has been paid. So that's me pissed.
In the morning, I called back to ask again, as I read on this forum about people in the GW building having Verizon DSL. The woman told me that in fact I COULD have it. "How can that be", I said, "when I've been told no by someone else"? She said she didn't know why in the hell I was refused, as it said on her computer that I could have it. I asked her if she was sure and she said "you have my personal guarentee". She says I'll have my phone line connected Monday, which will be automatic, from the office, and a few days after, my modem will arrive, to get my DSL. Fantastic.
So on Sunday, I get a recorded message call from Verizon reminding me to be in on Monday for the technician to call. I called installation and said that noone had told me about this, that I was told it was automatic. "We don't know why they told you this" was the reply. Great. I had to leave the apartment at 10am Monday, so couldn't be in. "Don't worry", the guy said, "I see on my computer that you're down as the first job of the day. He'll be there between 8-30 and 9-00. So Monday comes, it's 9-30, no guy. I call them. "Oh", they say, "you're down for anywhere between 9 and 5". So why did the guy yesterday say between 8-30 and 9-30? "We don't know why they told you that" was the reply.
Notice a pattern already of general incompetance and possible downright lies? That's Verizon. So I call customer services to complain, and the woman tells me that "under no circumstances can I have DSL at that address". Great. So so far it's been "yes, no, yes, no". I say I want to complain about the whole affair. So far it's been 6 or 7 days of being transferred to different departments, being cut off, put on hold, and cut off again. Lies, misinformation, and these customer service girls with "attitude" (you know what I mean). I was told that a supervisor would call me that day. Of course, nobody did. So I call to complain the next day. Put on hold. Cut off. Transferred. I made a formal complaint to Customer Relations, and she told me that someone "from management" would call me WITHIN 4 HOURS. "you have my personal guarentee, sir!". So I says "OK, I've heard that before". She says "I PROMISE you sir, someone will call you".
No phone call within 4 hours, or indeed that day. So I call again later, and talk to a customer service goon and try to explain to her what I've been through (and guess what - this is the short version!). She says to me "I don't know what you have to complain about sir - my records show that your account is good to go". I said "please try and listen to what I'm telling you" and she gets all stroppy and says "sir, you have nothing to complain about. It says here, you're good to go. You CAN have DSL". She accuses me of being a liar. She tells me to calm down (I am calm!) . Then, when I can't stands no more, I tell her to transfer me to someone who is prepared to listen and who understands what the problem is. She tranfers me to "Cancellations". (Is this a hint? Spite?)
The guy there is really nice, and tells me that he deals with people who've gone through what I've been through all the time. He tells me that the reason why they keep telling me that I CAN have DSL when nobody is really sure, is that they are LYING in order to get me to push through my land-line installation. They don't really care if it is subsequently found that I can't have it. He says he hears of this all the time. I can't believe it! He promises me he'll get to the bottom of what's going on.
Next thing I know, I get a voicemail message from installation, who tell me that "due to legal reasons", Verizon are not allowed in any GW apartments and can only install to the basement. I have to get Newport Telecom to fix me up from the basement to my apartment. First I've heard of this! So I call NT, and they tell me that it's a charge of $75 dollars to do this, and that Verizon can't tell if I can have DSL or not until I have this connection. So, I may pay the $75 only to find that I can't have it. Great. I call Verizon again, and they tell me I CAN have it once more, and when I explain what's happened, they once again accuse me of lying! Can you believe this? When I asked NT about the "legal issue", they told me that Verizon had decided themselves not to come into the apartments. So who is telling the truth?
So I've tried to complain again, and I got some attitude ***** who told me that her sales representatives would never have said that I could have it if i can't, and that they would never have said the things they did. So once again, I'm a liar. I called again today to cancel the whole thing and get my deposit back, and they said that would take up to 4 weeks, until I threatened to sue them and she eventually told me the deposit would be refunded immediately. Can you believe, that through all this, they were trying to get me to change my mind and get DSL from them after all?
Here's the funny part - my roommate has had his own Verizon telephone line in his bedroom for a couple of years, so he offered to ask them if HE could have DSL, so I could get an answer without risking the $75 fee to NT. They gave him two answers - YES and NO! It's just hilarious. I've spent over 350 minutes on my cellphone over the last week or so and not to mention untold time and extreme stress, in dealing with the most incompetant, rude, lying Verizon customer service representatives you could imagine, and falling prey to Verizon's shoddy system and extremely poor training. At the end, I have nothing. I still have no internet. I'm opting instead for the NT T1 line, after all the bad things I've heard about it.
Verizon, you ****. It was 20 times easier for me to get hooked up with telephone and internet when I lived in the Czech Republic years ago, and that was dealing with people who barely spoke a word of English. I have also been told by a guy at Verizon that America's technology in this field is WAY behind that of other countries, and now I can believe it. My cellphone service ****s, too.
Well, that's my spleen vented. :o