There may be light at the end of the tunnel

It seems that Axxxxx Bxxxxx has taken ownership of this issue and is putting forth the effort required to resolve it. There were some interesting revelations, the most interesting is that "the technicians never used to record the serial numbers on the routers". This means that even though I shipped the router back under Verizon's direction, they would have no way to associate it with my account. They really have some screwed up/non existent systems. FiOS must be bleeding the company dry. I cannot imagine maintaining profitability if they cannot keep track of such basic things. Or maybe I am a unique case (lucky me).

Axxxxx Bxxxxx says he is still trying to locate the department that generated the bill I received. Can you imagine such a thing? If he is having this much trouble, how are customers supposed to figure things out? In any event, he has promised to see this through, and it looks like he is making the effort to keep that promise. I expect to hear from him next week.

This just won't go away!!!!

Get home from work today. Now I have a BILL from Verizon for an "unreturned wireless router". These people are (@&#(&% unbelieveable!!! I followed their instructions and dropped the equipment off at a UPS store, I have tracking numbers with confirmed deliveries, and they are billing me $200 for that crappy Actiontec router, that, according to UPS tracking, was received to their West Chester office. Oh, and the ten bucks for "video franchise fee". This is surreal.

Called and spoke to Axxxxxx Bxxxxx. He is really trying to be helpful but is unable to locate any bill. He says because of billing cycle, a credit "should" appear on January bill. I doubt it. He is really trying to figure this out, but is unable to find any account number using the bill I have in my hand. Unfortunately, after 42 min, he is unable to resolve. He promises to follow up tomorrow and call tomorrow afternoon. Axxxxxx really seems to care about doing a good job and I am cautiously optimistic that he might actually be able to help finally put this to rest.

Did I do something to piss someone at Verizon off?

Again, I have to say, I NEVER had this level of disservice from ComCast.

I leave this blog here as a warning to anyone considering conducting business with Verizon. Read away and make your own decision.

IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A VERIZON LAND LINE, DO NOT GET FiOS!!

Received instructions for returning equipment to Verizon

Received instructions for equipment return yesterday. I have several pieces of equipment and have ZERO confidence that just taking them all to UPS without an explicit packing slip will only result in more problems and more billing problems.

Calling 888-553-1555 - usual voice navigation hell. Spoke with Chxxx? Advise UPS "Verizon Corporate Account customer" and are returning equipment to coatseville, PA-STB. Wireless Router - return to West Chester, PA. - When at UPS, get copy of shipping label(s).

Again, I doubt this is over...

Cancelled FiOS - Comcast installed

Comcast was here this morning. Everything is set up and running fine.

Now I will try to cancel my Verizon services. Kxxxx. She claims all services will be cancelled. She acutally had the nerve to ask why I was cancelling. Claims I can take DVR, Digital Adapter, and Router to any UPS store where it will be scanned, boxed, and returned to Verizon at no charge to me. Also claims ONT can be unplugged and just left where it is.

I doubt this is over...

Now they have changed my pricing for Internet service

Does anyone at Verizon know what they are doing? This is absolutely incredible. My bill for this month's Internet has 127.00 in credits and 102.00 in new charges. WTF! Now my bill is about 20.00 more than usual.

On the phone now. Let's see how much of my time this wastes. Now they cannot find my bill. I can find my bill online, but they cannot. She suggests I call back in a few days. This is unbelievable! Now she is trying to see if someone else there can pull up my Oct. bill. Now we are at 18:00 with nothing even remotely close to a resolution or explanation.

Nobody has access to my bill past Sept. Again, she suggests that I call back tomorrow or Wed.

I am done with Verizon. I never thought I would actually say this, but I miss Comcast and am switching back.

In all fairness, it's probably the billing system

I suppose I should just take a minute to clarify the situation that has been going on here for the past few months. Most of the representatives at Verizon with whom I have spoken were very cordial and seemed very willing to help. Unfortunately, none of them were able to help because their billing system is fundamentally flawed.

It is based on the mistaken premise that anyone who has FiOS service will also have phone service from Verizon. This basic design flaw will cause endless frustration for those of you wanting to get FiOS service but do not have phone service from Verizon; more specifically, land line service, probably even to the FiOS service address. Any time you call, you will be asked for your phone number. They will insist on it, even if you tell them it will not help. It won't! You will be stuck on the phone with them as they ask for your address, name, anything but account number (if you are lucky enough to have received a printed bill). And, under no circumstances, separate your TV and InterNet bills for business purposes. This will cause you to be transferred at least 4-5 times back and forth to the same departments anytime you call.

My recommendation is that if you do not have a land line provided by Verizon, do not bother with FiOS. You will be putting in countless hours any time you need to call for tech support, billing, or any other form of customer service. Maybe you will even be as lucky as I was and have your service on your account, which is paid in full because it is billed to your credit card, disconnected without any notice or explanation.

Billed me without sending a bill...

9/29 9:00am- 800-688-2880 - voicemail hell as usual. virtually impossible to get to a human in under 10 min. Usual problems finding account information with my phone number. She has to transfer me to payment department. Lxxxa - will transfer me to billing department. Mxxt - still NOT billing. Says he cannot help me and I should be talking to billing. Lost temper and said I wanted to cancel everything. Cancellation department is transerring me to financial services. Jxx - financial services. Needed ssn to look up all billing. He has to transfer me to FiOS separate billing department. Now have two more phone numbers. Faxed the collections bill to 877-875-8858

9/29 - 10:52am - No response to fax, so calling again 888-338-9333. usual VM hell. On hold for 25 minutes. I will try calling back. 11:15 am - called 888-338-9333. Usual useless voice navigation so I chose the "wait for associate" option. Nxxxx? Cannot really understand due to her heavy accent. Problems locating account, as usual. Put me on hold twice to try and locate it. She is struggling to look through "all of the accounts" in my name to find any that have an outstanding balance. On hold again. Says there is some account that I supposedly owe money on. She will transfer me to billing (ugh). Another account number (internal) that is a listed as an "internet account although it is a tv account". Pretty #()@&% confusing! Transferred to billing and gave Kxxxa the "internal account number". She is struggling to figure out what is going on. She is now checking "one other system". Apparently, this goes back to March when my service was disconnected for no reason. This amount is supposedly the final bill for the canceled account, which I never received. When they arbitrarily canceled my account in March, they set up new accounts instead of figuring out what/why the account was disconnected. She says she will refund me the money, but she cannot adjust the old account. She will credit my live account. I have to pay the collections agency. For credit report, she suggests contacting a credit reporting agency to get a dispute form. She says this credit will be on my November bill. InterNet account number accesses both accounts with all of the notes about this conversation.

This is pretty messed up. Still, nobody can explain how my account, which was in good standing and never late, was canceled back in March to cause all of this headache.

Comcast - 1-877-870-4310 - http://www.comcast.com. Looks like I will be going back...they NEVER caused me this much greif. Plus, for 59.95, I can get business class internet that does not have monthly bw limits or restrictions on running a web server.