Verizon Plans 24/7 Customer Service Blog

Telecommunications giant Verizon plans launch a blog for consumers where anything goes Mediapost reports. Verizon plans to support the blog with a 24-hour rapid response team where it will answer "all issues on the table."

If Verizon pulls this off, it could usher in a customer service sea change. Right now - with the exception of tech knowledge bases - the majority of customer service issues are handed behind closed doors. There's little way for consumers to learn from the questions posed by others and the response they receive. What Verizon is doing in taking customer service to the blog world sure sounds innovative. I hope they can pull this off. As a next step in this area, I would love to see Yahoo private label versions of Yahoo Answers for companies to use in a similar capacity.

Tags: verizon, customerservice

Comments

[Denise]

I have to say I'm skeptical at best. As a last resort recently - after searching desperately through their online support materials - I called Verizon customer service. I waited 25 minutes before getting a live person, who told me that it's not uncommon for there to be a 2-1/2 hour hold time! And if it's a billing matter that you can't blog about, you're still stuck. But they say "seeing is believing". So show me, Verizon!

[CZ]

While Verizon has a number of blog efforts lined up, our first -- a technology and telecom policy blog -- launched today. http://poliblog.verizon.com
While not the blog you describe above or a CS blog specifically PoliBlog will be a place for a lively policy discussion. Check us out from time to time.

[jimc]

No ability at all to deliver anything its ads promise, non-existent customer service, shoddy equipment a family share plan that seems to come in at 200% over the price quote, no matter how many times we change/upgrade our plan.Disgusting Business Model. I am now steering clear!

I am a Verizon employee and I will tell you first hand, the company sucks. The corporate executives make absurd amounts of cash while workers struggle to keep pace with the rising cost of living. Promotions are granted only if you have a "hook" who can pull up the ranks (I have 7 years field experience and they paid $45,000 for my M.B.A and never promoted me). I have had managers who were alcoholics, convicted drug traffikers, old secretaries with no experience in my end of the company who don't know how to splice a wire if their life depended on it, depressed and suicidal, unexperienced college grads, or have sued the company into promotion (sexual harassment in the workplace). Bear in mind, these first level jobs start at around $80,000 with a bonus in December. Foremen (first level management) comes out in the field on a daily basis to intimidate unionized employees with petty suspensions (having untied work boots for example). Corporate greed in its ugliest form, CEO Ivan Seidenberg is loathed by employees and must walk around with armed bodyguards. I do not use Verizon in my house or as a cell provider. I encourage all who I know to use the cable company and other cell phone providers. I refuse to give a nickel to a greedy corporation who tramples on it's employees. Verizon improvised an illegal lay off in December of 2002, while the CEO granted himself a $13 million dollar Christmas bonus. Seidenberg should have been handcuffed while spending the holidays behind bars wearing an orange jumpsuit. Union protection is an absolute must when dealing with this unreasonable corporation. Your thoughts and questions are welcome.

[njbball]

i hate verizon, i have been on hold for an hour and still waiting for a simple change that should have been done months ago. Now they have no record of my confirmation number.

its ironic, they are just like the company in their own commercial with the cardboard cutouts, its all a front, no real support at all.

[IHateVerizon]

I just received my Verizon bill. Without warning, a just-across-town call has become "long distance", despite the fact I didn't have to dial 1 or the area code. The bill was over $450 for one month of using an Earthlink connection number, again, from a location across town. Verizon = lying, cheating, manipulating SOB's! No matter how one slices it, it adds up to my switching to AT&T. Never had that kind of problem with them.

[novinka]

I found some hidden Verizon phone numbers which you can call and resolve your issue quickly - Verizon Customer Relations. Here is the link http://deccod.com/verizon.aspx

[James]

I'm also a little skeptical that this will work. I think that the best way to fix customer service is by empowering consumers to press their grievances in a fair and unbiased manner. I recently discovered a new third party service that offers this capability by allowing consumers to record phone conversations and email exchanges with customer service agents; users can then use the authenticated files to verify what transpired throughout the course of their interactions. The service is called 321-CALL-LOG and you can check it out at www.321calllog.com.

[Jerry Crouse]

Use their land line phone service and just try to report a problem! You cannot talk to a human and they expect you to sit aside a 4-hour window to have a tech visit your house! Do these people have any idea as to expectation as to customer service in 2007!?

[Saja]

Hi,

I was wondering- I have all calls on weekends free, so my question is WHAT ABOUT INTERNATIONAL CALLS? to Europe exactly.

and another question I ALREADY PASSED MY 2 YEARS PLAN in summer, CAN I STILL CHANGE MY PLAN NOW? OR AM I ON ANOTHER 2 YEARS PLAN?

and one more WHEM I AM CHANGING PLAN CAN I CHOOSE FROM ADVERTISED PLANS FOR NEW CUSTOMERS OR WHERE DO I FIND INFORMATION ABOUT PLANS I CAN GET?

thanks a lot, I am looking forward to hear from you

have a nice day :) Saja

[Hilari]

I have to add to this: Verizon billing department is open 8-6 Monday through Friday. I work 8:30-5:30 M-F. Between 8-8:30 and 5:30-6:00, I'm driving to and from work. 49% of my day to day work activity includes speaking on the phone. Another 49% deals with face to face interactions with the customers. The remaining 2% of the time I'm still being paid to have my butt in a chair and attentive to my job. Technically, I am not allowed to sit at my desk on 30-40 minute personal phone calls. Besides being against the rules, I DON'T WANT TO SPEND 30-40 MINUTES ON PERSONAL (VERIZON BILLING) PHONE CALLS. I HAVE OTHER THINGS TO DO.

There is NO reason a company as LARGE as Verizon should not have at least a 24-hour billing center. Navigating the THREE verizon web sites available to me (Verizon.net, Verizon.com, and Verizonwireless.com) is a nightmare. I can go to each one with the same intention and come out with three different customer DISservice numbers to call to have the issue "resolved." Not only do you get passed around, God forbid you have a real job during the day, because if you try to call when it's convenient to YOU, you'll get a message to "call back during normal business hours."

The packages I have are reasonably priced, the services I purchased are fine, even above average.

However, the customer service nightmare will have me shopping when my contracts are up.

[Cathy Welsh]

We have had an ongoing problem with our DSL line now since
March 5, 2007. We have been paying for the Business DSL
768 Upload/ 3.0MB download and have been only receiving
1.5MB service since March 5, 2007. For over 2.5 weeks now, I have been given the run around. They have done a split back change 2 times, they have changed the router alot of times.
The Verizon Onsight Tech has been here 6 times. The phone line is clear, crystal clear. Our office is 4100 Ft. from the Woodbury, NJ Central Office, and at the Central Office itself the signal only picks up for 1.5. The maintenance office states the Verizon OnLine keeps sending them requests to restore my 1.5 MG service but my contract states that I pay for 3.0MB service. There are reported numerous problems with sluggish service in the Woodbury, NJ area, and Verizon seems to be doing nothing about it. I have already received a credit for the entire month of March due to the lack of the level of Service that I pay for. I have literally called Verizon every working day since March 5, including Saturday March 10. Still no answer or response. I am just getting the run around. I have been a loyal Verizon Business customer for more than 14 years, and this may destroy their reputation with me. I am looking into switching all of my voice and data lines over to Comcast (whom I consider the Evil empire due to the Cable Monopoly in NJ). MCO office yesterday told us there was a short in the line. They spent the money to send a Cable Splicer out here today, and the line is fine, just as the Verizon Technician said it was. There appears to be a capacity problem in the Woodbury Central Office and they are just trying to ignore the problem. The Verizon Tech called me today and said he had 3 other calls just today with Businesses with sluggish service. This is not a coincidence.

The MCO told me yesterday that there is no record that we have ever received 3.0 service at this location. Which means that Verizon owes us a significant amount of money. We have been paying for 768/768 service for 3 years, and 3.0 MB service since June 22, 2006. There is no Business DSL fee for 1.5MB, this is considered Residential, so Verizon owes me a huge explanation and alot of money.
DSL phone number is 856-848-6021 - the log for this account is huge so prepare your printer to print out a significant amount of verbage. I will continue to contact Verizon every day until this has be resolved one way or the other.
For any of the Business DSL accounts in the Woodbury, NJ area, to test to see if you are receiving 3.0 MB service - just simply go to www.verizon.net/speedteest and download any of the
packets there. If your download speeds are in the range of
150-190KB/sec then they have you setup for 1.5 MB service instead of Business DSL of 3.0MB. Of course you need to do this test with your PC only connected directly to the DSL Modem, bypassing any router that you may have configured.

It will be interesting to see just how many complaints that Verizon finds in Woodbury, NJ. This is the county seat for Gloucester County, NJ. This town is just full of Attorneys and Doctors.

Thank you for letting me vent.

[Cathy S Welsh]

Ongoing problems with our DSL service. We have now had 4 different Verizon Technicians. They can verify that 3.0MB service is coming into the Building at some points throughout the day. But the upload and download speeds of any given minute in the day vary from 2.6 download to .9 download - and the uploads
vary from 22kb/sec to 156kb/sec. The local Woodbury Verizon team first though the problem was a faulty router between Camden, NJ and Woodbury, NJ. They ruled that out. Then they thought this was a capacity problem in Woodbury, NJ which has more Business customers with 3.0 MB service than residential. The Woodbury, NJ
operations center is served by an OC3 line (100MB) trunk line.

They are now believing that the problem is in the servers in the Verizon Philadelphia, PA site. There is not enough capacity to handle the requests going in and out of the Phila Central office. This explains such the fluctuation of operational speeds.

What is Verizon doing about this? For over 1 month now, there are at least 20 business customers in Woodbury, NJ that have complained, and have gotten nothing but the run around. We have had about 30 router changes, 2 split bank changes,
4 different Verizon Technicians on-site about 9 of the past 21 days. They have had a cable splicer out here to check the line, when there was not a problem.

We are located 4100 ft from the Woodbury, NJ Central Office. The Main DSL office in Massachussets keeps telling us that we can get 7.0 MB service where we are located. But since we are not even getting reliable 3.0 MB service, Why in my right mind would I want to pay more for less?

I am on the verge of going door to door in Woodbury, NJ to test each Business account and see the throughput they are receiving from Verizon. There are many attorneys located in Woodbury, NJ since the County Court systems reside in this town.

The lack of Customer service on Verizon's side is growing by the day. They are only concerned about their FIOS customers, and all of the Copper line customers that made them the money for so many years, they are giving them the shaft.

FIOS is coming to Woodbury, NJ within this year. But why would I want to pay more for a "cleaner" service from a company that is not taking care of the needs of their long-time Verizon Business Customers.

Anyone else have problems in Woodbury, NJ, please Blog. The call has been escalated to Priority 3 in the Woodbury Central Office, but not in Verizon Central. I may have no choice but to switch to the 2nd Evil Empire in NJ - aka Comcast.
This is the only other reliable Broadband connection in NJ.
I have 9 phone lines on the Verizon for Business plan which expire on June 22, 2007. I may switch all of these phone lines to some other carrier, due to the absolute lack of respect that Verizon has for it's Business customers.

[Richard]

Began having DSL problems with Verizon on 23 March. Have explained, over and over, each day for 7 days now what's wrong. Verizon agrees their problem (todays 77 minute conversation beginning in the Phillipines and ending in Canada). I knew that 6 days ago!
Not one simple call back .. not one technician on the street.
The only response seems to be "sorry about that" or "i will put you on hold for 5 minutes, ok". I'm keeping an accurate log but am most put out where I can't seem to get anyone who cares about my offer to move all my service to COMCAST.
Is my experience symtomatic of the Verizon responsiveness? AFFFFFFFLacccccccc

[CHeryl]

I had a very nasty experience in the Verizon Store in Erie, PA. I wrote this to the consumer protection bureau.

This complaint is concerning the treatment we received at the Verizon store on 3/28/07. I took back my daughters Krzr phone as it did not ring. I thought we would just be taking it to technical support, but once there we were informed that they have problems that style of phone and Verizon is writing a software patch to correct it but it isn't finished. We were upset because we were never informed on purchase of this flaw. We were then put into the customer service cue to exchange it for another phone as it was less than 2 weeks old. We waited and upon explaining all of this the rep said that she had never heard of that. She said Krzrs are great. She then left us to go over to the technical group to confirm what we had reported. This was the beginning of our frustration. She then called over another sales rep to confirm that the software patch was in the making and not yet in place. Again our frustration grew. She then said she could not exchange it as we did not have the boX! I had come from work (I teach) and had a tight schedule as I had another meeting at 6. So, home we went to retrieve the box. We had never gone through the bag from Verizon as my daughter just got out the phone and the rest stayed in the living room waiting to rebate, check our items we had purchased (Car charger etc). We brought the entire bag with what we thought was everything. When the rep began to go through our things she noticed we weren't given the car charger. And that the case and chargers wrapping weren't there. I explained that the rep that sold it to us on 3/18 told us that she would put the case on it for us as it was too tight a fit. She must have disposed of the wrapper. She said she would not replace the car charger or the case as the wrapper wasn't there. I again explained that the previous sales rep took it off for US! And we did not check to be certain she had put everything in the bag. We weren't going to use the charger until we went on vacation. At this point I said I had to see a manager. I did raise my voice as by this time I had just about had enough. When he told me to lower my voice I said that I was extremely frustrated because :
1. The krzr phone was not ready to sell to the public because it doesn't ring.
2. We were challanged about our honesty, having everything confirmed and reconfirmed and that I am a teacher and that I teach children not to steal through example. They were afriad I would rebate 2X that is why I had to go and get the original boxes.
3. The manager, Ken, approximated my personal space and said "I will call the police on you and have your name published in the paper and charge you with tresspassing. YOu cannot raise your voice in my business!
4. I continued to explain that he needed to address these problems and if I had my voice raised it was because of the ill treatment I had been given. He continued to tell me he was going to have me removed and charged as he wasn't going to reward my behavior!
5. He finally settled down and asked if I would be happy with $10. I said NO, I wanted to be restored to equity: Have the same items I paid for in the new phone. I want the charger (I had Paid for it) the Case (paid for) and Phone (different model).
6. He again said he could call the police on me but had the rep do the exchange.

I would like something done about this man's behavior. I called the state police when I returned home and they suggested filing a complaint with your office. They said they would not arrest anyone for raising their voices. This man is a bully and once he heard me say that I was a teacher he thought he could then threaten me.

2. I would like to see Verizon change its policies. I was a supervisor of customer service when it was GTE and we were (and they still are) able to make RMKR's on customers bills to let reps know that packaging is due etc instead of sending people back home.

3. Customers are captive. There is a 2 year commitment with 175 charge to leave this service (per line). They know we can't do anything. This needs to be addressed.

4. Customers should be warned verbally and in writing that packaging must be retained for the life of the warranty. This is not done.

Please see if anything can be done. These policies are very negative to consumers and so many of us just allow it to happen, get frustrated or live with it.

It just is bad business!

As a past Verizon employee, I am ashamed of these anti consumer corporate policies.

When I started both my home phone service and internet service from verizon 2 years ago, I paid double months bill for my first billing circyle, which means I paid service before I receiving it. Now after I disconnected the service, I received one more month bill. When I called the customer service, the lady on the line admitted that they charged me first before the service,but the billing department insisted on I using the service before the payment, I told them to check my billing history, they refused. I really dont understand this, and now I cant find anyone in this company I can talk to about it, every time I called the customer service, they transferred me to the billing department, and the billing staff every time gave me the same cold, rude and irresponsible answer.

Is that ridiculous? Now I really regret that I had applied their service 2 years ago.

[Laurie Goffman]

I am a Verizon Fios customer. I pay a monthly charge for this service. I am very upset that my Verizon homepage is coming through with advertisements. 760-360-1726

[Eric]

Called two weeks ago about repair, no dial one, verizon found it is the line between house and road is cooked, been waiting and calling (from cell/work) for two weeks on repair....this sucks

[verizon employee]

Verizon 1st level managers manage by terror and intimidation so much so I can't even put my name on this. There is no technical training that goes on when the work load is slow, which is why your static and humming or slow DSL continues to exist. They do not train the technicians they just expect them to know how to fix it. What a foolish waste of money... The corporation will buy fancy $4000.00
pieces of test equipment that only one guy knows how to use. Yeah, and when that guy is out for the day nobody knows how to use it. I know I'm looking for another job this place couldn't run an ice cream stand..

[Madeline Bienstock]

Just another consumer who thinks Verizon should be investigated by the FCC. Horrendous doesn't begin to describe their service. I'll be switching providers tomorrow after a week without DSL service, speaking with people who read from a script on the other side of the world, and deliberately being disconnected after asking to speak to a supervisor.

[Verizon Customer]

I have been calling and calling customer service to have them remove the Vcast internet and the stupid insurance that we didn't as for in February. I have been told each month I call it will be removed and it has not. The manager is a bitch and was extremely condescending. SHe basically says she will remove the service but will not give a credit. The employees and the other manager I spoke to at earlier times didn't type a single notation that I called their customer service line. I am so appalled. If YOUR CONTRACT IS UP RUN, DON'T WALK, AWAY FROM VERIZON. Unless of course you have no problem paying for services you don't ask for, and dealing with incompetence when you need customer service. I find it sad that the manager was so incapable as well. I know several people looking for work that would do that job much more professionally and satisfactory. Whatever happened to compromise. I know that the customer isn't ALWAYS right, but I have been with them for years and this is how I am treated. I am seriously thinking of breaking the contract it will save me in the long run since I am being overcharged $40 a month for unwanted services.

[BOB]

VERIZON DSL seems to fade every day in the late afternoon, and especially when it storms outside. Often during the day, is shuts down, with the dreaded red light showing on the black box = westell versalink. It now approaches AOL dial-up performance .... poor. Worse, while they helpfully get me through THEIR reboot process, the frequent need for this service continues. A case of a near monopoly, where insufficient com petition allows for complacency.

[SAM goldstein]

If we all stick together we can get rid this lousy verizon corp. It is very simple: STOP GIVING THEM YOUR BUSINESS! THEY WILL BE HISTORY IN NO TIME!
WHY GET RIPPED OFF BY SICK BASTARDS!

[Bob]

The sad truth is this is the result of a monopoly... they can do whatever the F* they want and there ain't shit you can do about it... Think about it, the only two options are either Verizon or Comcast, none the better.

I propose consumers developed a network of tin cans and webbed strings for telephone communications without any of these pigs!

[Carl Cathcart]

I dropped Verizon for my home phone because it was just too expensive. Believe it or not AT@T saved me 20 - 30 dollars per month. Unfortunately I stayed with Verizon for dialup internet access. All was fine until they billed me $730 one month. Unfortunately my payment was tied to a credit card, so Verizon had already pocketed the money, along with $430 for the next month. Of course I closed the card, but getting them to come clean is a nightmare. To make a long story short over $1800 in ridiculous charges of which I have been credited $547. The last contact I had was 8/24 when I was informed someome would call within 72 hours to discuss my problem ---- I'm still waiting. It looks like small claims court is in my future --- and soon if this is not resolved by end of this week.

[Linda]

My advice: Avoid Verizon AND DirectTV like the plague.
My ELDERLY mother was having trouble with her DirectTV reception, she let a Verizon customer service rep sweet talk her into switching to their cable service in addition to long distance telephone service -- the Verizon rep ASSURED her it would be no problem, they would take care of the switch over ... it might take a billing cycle or two to get the numbers straightened out, but her monthly billing would be $74.99 for the package.
So much for happy endings.
The Verizon rep tried on FOUR occasions to complete the changeover on her end but was unable to due to computer troubles. Her boss eventually told her to have us contact DirectTV ourselves, that they could do the same thing from their end.
WRONG! DirectTV said they couldn’t, they’d have to start a separate account but they could save her even more money doing it THEIR way. They started her in that account and it is now costing her more money AND she also is getting two different bills.
Have we tried contacting Verizon and/or DirectTV? Of course.
To date we’ve placed FOURTEEN calls to Verizon -- and SEVEN more to DirectTV -- with no resolution.
Her bill is still $20-$30 higher than it was supposed to be, and she is still paying two separate bills. That’s a lot of money when you’re a senior citizen on a fixed income.
And get this -- DirectTV, which perpetuated the screw up begun by Verizon, decided for reasons unknown to any of us -- to bring a collection agent into the mix. They claimed she was two months behind on payments to them -- coincidentally, Verizon’s customer rep had told us to disregard any thing DirectTV sent us and they would take care of DirectTV as per their contract with DirectTV.
Don’t believe anything they tell you. We’ve been told, repeatedly, that it would be resolved to her satisfaction. Obviously, it has not.
What’s worse, the way the FCC and consumer laws are written, the consumer has little, if any, protection -- and the cable providers know it.
Run … don’t walk … if Verizon and DirectTV try to get your business. It’s just not worth the hassle.

[Cathy Welsh]

We have Verizon Long Distance Conference Call Service. We have subscribed to this feature for a couple of years now. We typically use it several times a year and get billed for when we use it only.
I had a conference call scheduled for 10/10/2007 at 12:00 ET for people in 5 different time zones. Tried to use our typical 800 number and the number the 800 number was linked to was a 215 (Phila, PA) Exchange number was no longer in service. Our 800 number was always linked to an 813 (Tampa, FL) number.

I tried calling the 813 number directly and found out that our passcode and Pin number was no longer valid on this conference call center.

I called the Repair number on my Verizon Long Distance bill - and they technician said that phone number was not the correct phone number to call for Conference Call problem - they did not have the number for this type of problem.

So I had to cancel my 15 connection conference call in 5 times zones today, and here I sit waiting once again for someone from Verizon to figure out who is responsible.

The last time I used the Conference Call center was 5/30/07 and had no problems - used 778 minutes at .20 a minute - You would think Verizon would be happy with that.

Someone transferred both the 800 number to another number and gave out Teleconference number to another account without notice to us.

Isn't Verizon Wonderful.

[Cathy Welsh]

More on the teleconference mess.....
Found a phone number on the internet to contact Verizon conferencing service. The lady on that number said the "Instant Meeting Teleconference" was a terminated plan in the range of 7/1/07 - through the beginning of September 2007. They were told that all customers were notified. We were not notified by email or the postal service.
We also still received the line item on our September 26, 2007 Phone bill for the Teleconference Charges.

You now need to setup a new account that they can no longer bill on your regular Business Verizon Bill every month. It will get billed directly to a credit card - at maybe .085 a minute - but if they don't approve you, then the rate if .50 a minute. They have got to be kidding!!!! And the kicker... It will take 2-4 weeks after you fill out their form and postal mail it back to them.

The only other option is to prepay for the minutes up front from the
conferencing.verizonbusiness.com website. At the low rate of .13 a minute with any overages at .18 a minute.

They are smoking something funny - maybe Crack!!!

I have contacted atconferencing.com at 7.9 a minute. They called me back within 4 minutes of entering the email address on their website.

[jim landers]

I have never been a customer of verizon,I live in seattle.wa .But they let someone in Arizona get a phone in my name .Idenity theft,I found out by my Credit Report,And sold the account to a collection agency .I finaly got it resolved through the collection agency,removed it off my credit report in a day or two , Now I'm playing the game of being put on HOLD ,WILL TRANSFER YOU TO ANOTHER DEPARTMENT OVER AND OVER AGAIN. Is there anyone that works for Verizon have their SHIT together.WHAT A PEICE OF SHIT COMPANY.So let this be a warning stay away from Verizon..

[Moshe Miller]

Yes, I'm having major aggravations in getting service from Verizon.
No, I won't bore you with the details; suffice with all the blogs above. While all of us here agree we should be going to another company, can anyone identify the alternatives, or are there none? My story in short was dissatisfaction with Verizon, so I switched to a local VOIP carrier, but they're new and full of problems, so I'm trying to go back but can't due to 'technical difficulties' (two months of calling, 4 wasted days off from work waiting for a field tech, and thousands lost in billable hours on the phone).
What are the alternative companies and technologies? Help!

[Moshe Miller]

Yes, I'm having major aggravations in getting service from Verizon.
No, I won't bore you with the details; suffice with all the blogs above. While all of us here agree we should be going to another company, can anyone identify the alternatives, or are there none? My story in short was dissatisfaction with Verizon, so I switched to a local VOIP carrier, but they're new and full of problems, so I'm trying to go back but can't due to 'technical difficulties' (two months of calling, 4 wasted days off from work waiting for a field tech, and thousands lost in billable hours on the phone).
What are the alternative companies and technologies? Help!

[Carlos]

Verizon Sucks... I don't know if they're the WORST, but they're working hard on that... I've changed my home and business phone service to the cable company and it has been great. I don't want to give those bastards another penny. I have also had problems with the Verizon/Wireless crappy service, and will change that service soon... There customer service department is useless, they sent me a defective cell phone to replace my originaly defective phone.