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Verizon review: Fraud in billing! 73

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12:00 am EST
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Because of outright contract fraud with Verizon yellow pages, I eventually cancelled the yellow page ads, then my home phone, then my business phone. When in need of broadband service, I decided to give them one more chance since their 4 month half price deal made them competitive. Big mistake in thinking they would be any more competent or honest than they had been in the past. I found they quickly billed me at the full price and had no access by email for a complaint to a human, just macro answers from a computer that were totally unrelated to my demands that they hold up their end of the contract. After fighting to get to a human on my cell, about thirty minutes, I had to fight like hell to get a refund from a very "challenged" operator. I was told my bank would be credited the money. That never happened, but I did get a credit on the next bill. However, just as sleazy and stupid as the first month, I was billed the full amount again. I'm debating if I want to go through the fighting and half hour waits for the next four months, stacked on top of mindless assurances by inept operators, or if I should tell then to shove their "service" and spend the next year fighting an early termination fee I'm sure they'll try to impose for their breach of contract. I am forwarding a very detailed complaint at the very least to the BBB, the local and federal consumer complaints centers, and my state politicians over this fraudulent billing scam.

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73 comments
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Kittenwithboxinggloves
, US
Aug 19, 2020 12:31 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I took out an acct with Verizon, back in Oct 2019, but at the time, my phone had died, so there was no land line. I was calling them & calling them, once I got my new phone. I was told my phone was hooked up & working find. From the end of Oct. to the second week of May I had no landline. They billed me for a landline that I didn't have in the amount of $320. After days, on the phone, I only received $156.09 reinbursement & they refused anything more. I made a payment in May & they did not credit me. I fought for a few months. I went to the BBB which did very little & the FCC. Verizon lied to both. When, I read the letter that a rep. sent the FCC, to the FCC, the FCC rep started laughing. More lies. The rep from the FCC was satisfied & sent Verizon a letter & Verizon was suppose to send me a letter, to be received no later than the 22 of this month. Verizon lied to the BBB & the FTC & the FTC send that letter to Verizon. They didn't send me any letter, they turned my phone off & threatened my internet. This is against the law in Pa. You can not charge, while in dispute. I'm supose to get my service back tomorrow, but I don't believe them. Shouldn't I get my services back sooner, since it's their fault, they broke the law. They say that I owe them $195. I only owe them $35 & willing to pay it, once they do their part. The resolution called & said they will work on it, so what happened to that?

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lakesha benzo
pitcairn, US
Jun 03, 2016 8:36 am EDT

On november 26 I lakesha had called in to report a situation with my cable box. Due to more and more charges they wanting to add onto my account, I was connected with an employee who was able to help. Due to the unprofessonal work some of the employees was handling with myself. So ask the gentlemen who halp stated that being that I was going thru so much of the unclear communication and so on, that he seen that I had a past due balance of 161.00 that he would credit for me. Also put me up for a monthly fee for maitnance. Well as I received my next bill I seen that their was no credit .so I ask for my call to be listened to by a supervisor due to the fact that the people who I've spken with was saying that I was never told anything like that. And it could only be set up as a payment arrangment.. so please I would like my call to be listened to by somebody who can help me... thank you
Lakesha Benzo

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Valerie
, US
Jun 03, 2016 8:10 am EDT

Nine years ago I retired from Verizon after 31 years and I am ashamed of that company’s service. I had a dsl account in one state and a FIOS account in another. The billing was to be at a $99.95 base price, they never got it right I cancelled after four months they cancelled my dsl also-4 times. I made over 65 calls, hours and hours on hold they billed me after account was closed, told me not to pay then two months later it went to collections, they then charged me $200.00 for early cancellation, I broke the contract -never, never, never trust Verizon's service. If you prove them wrong, that’s an "if" you will wait 6 to 8 weeks for a refund which was not what they quoted. -"god awful service".

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Reviewer72592
,
Jan 05, 2016 3:17 pm EST

SO THEY JACKED MY DATA UP WITHOUT MY AUTHORIZATION OR KNOWLEDGE! I didn't know that it went up until I got my bill. How is this right? Very unethical...

Valerie
Valerie
, US
Dec 01, 2006 12:00 am EST

Verizon continues to suffer from the attitudes developed when they ran a monopoly and consumers had no other choice. The market is very different today and consumers are in the driver’s seat. But Verizon remains incredibly difficult to deal with, even when you are trying to buy something from them.

Case in point:

I work from home and have Verizon FiOS internet service. It’s a job requirement that I maintain internet service with static (fixed) IP addresses, so this costs me over $100 per month. I have a nice, new HDTV and would like to order FiOS TV service with DVR, etc. for about $115 per month additional. Since the house is already completely wired and already has FiOS internet, it would take Verizon about 15 minutes to deploy a set top box and start billing me.

I ordered the service and waited two weeks for an installation appointment. The night before, I received a voice mail stating that Verizon will not provision FiOS TV with FiOS Internet if the internet includes static IP addresses. Apparently, Verizon considers Internet service with static IP addresses a “business” service and FiOS TV a “residential” service and they have a policy not to provide both on the same fiber. It is not a technical limitation.

I called back and spoke with a supervisor. Trying to think outside the box, I asked that they install a second Optical Network Terminal (ONT) on the side of my house for the FiOS TV. I know that you will be shocked to hear that Verizon has a policy of only one fiber to a structure. I offered to pay for the extra ONT. No luck again.

So, Verizon has literally spent hundreds of millions of dollars installing fiber around the Tampa Bay area, but would rather leave some of that fiber unused and forgo the extra revenue rather than spend $250 for an additional ONT for my residence.

I suspect that Verizon invested more than that just tying to recruit me as a customer.

The supervisor went on to say this is a common problem experienced by many other customers in our area. The only alternatives that Verizon offers are to forgo the static IP addresses or go elsewhere for TV service. While I would like to do business with Verizon, I’m not willing to change careers to do so.

Again, there are no technical limitations against having both signals on the same fiber. This is simply Verizon’s marketing policy. Since the policy doesn’t benefit Verizon or the consumer, why have it at all? Policy-making like that is one reason I celebrate NOT being a Verizon shareholder.

Verizon lost my home and business telephone service sometime ago due to policies and ridiculous pricing. Now I’m off to find a single source for internet with static IP addresses and digital TV.

I really tried hard to be a Verizon customer. Sometimes you just have give up and move on...

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fredol
Philadelphia, US
Jul 03, 2015 12:01 am EDT

Recently Placed an order to upgrade to FIOS in Philadelphia, PA area. Verizon rep told and confirm by text messages several times that the tech will come to my house between 11am-2pm today. Long story short, I left my work place early just because of the verizon service will connect Fios to my residential house during that said time, lo and behold, without notification on whatsoever, verizon decided that they going to miss the appointment to install said service! Bad first impression, when I call customer service seems that she has no idea/ seems to try to cover up story and making excuses of why my fios installation is cancelled without notice (to be fair, at least she apologized but that's it... it is all the good side of verizon cust service)! I strongly feel big company like Verizon has to be forced to be accountable to what they promise the customer! seems no consequences for verizon to miss his due(in this case install the service as promised by verizon) for the customer while the customer can't pay late for their service(or there will be penalty for customer!) At the end... I cancelled the service, kind of missed east coast where their internet provider at least care, at least a little bit, to their customer!

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noneyabus
clearwater, US
Jul 20, 2011 9:10 pm EDT

Verizon Plus is on commission BUT with 6 months retention..translation- cust doesn't keep service for 6 months we DO NOT GET PAID.

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Yousef 12
, US
Apr 23, 2011 11:24 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I have just signed up for fios bundle for $64.99, when called customer service to verify they told me it's $69.99, then I asked what my bill is going to be, and ofcourse no clear anser at all from anyone i talked to ( 3 of them). When, asked one of them for their agent number, he said" we don't give our agent number anymore", 2nd agent told me your total bill will be $82.00 when asked to send me an email he said" you should get one within 24 hours", never got the email. Called a 3rd agent, who wasn't too friendly, and her name was Hasani, No last name, because she can't give it to me, but give me an agent number contradicting the first agent statement, Who is Right ? my guess is no one, and they all LIARS. My bundle was price guarrantee for 2 years, but no commitment, however My Verizon web page said I have 2 years commitment, when asked the Hasani lady, she said" No sir, you are not under commitment", I asked for that in writing, she wouldn't do it, claiming it's the SYSTEM MISTAKE. Who can fix the mistake on my werizon webpage, We don't know, It seems to be a mystery with Verizon. Can't get basic informations from my account, and afraid not to cancel during the first 30 Days, and get Early termination fees of up to $230, or Wait and get a surprise in my bill. By the way first agent told me it's $110, 2nd Agent said it's $82.oo. if $110 is the correct number that's $45 extra charges.
Any way, I am not decided yet on what to do but, I may update later when I get my first killer bill !

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Joe McGlynn
oradell, US
Mar 22, 2011 7:53 pm EDT

I renewed and agreed to a 2yr contract@ 109.99/mo +taxes. (=132/mo.)
Verizon sent me a bill for +$30 instead of - $14 or $i61.46 at the end of the month.
I was on a 30 day trial period and canceled in time to avoid a $300. fee.
Now, I am getting the runaround as far as a new service discount.

The last time I subscribed to Fios TV, I was overcharged $160 in 1009, it took about 8 hours over 3 days to work out my refund.

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Ellen Hutchinson
Fort Wayne, US
Dec 23, 2010 5:38 am EST

Verizon told me "Bundle internet and phone $69" Every bill has been $189 month or higher. Frontier bought-out Verizon and every month my bill is $189. That is $120 month more than $69 bundle
I keep paying or Frontier will disconnect and damage my credit. This is $1, 340 THEFT of myself by Frontier/Verizon

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never a Fios again
Aspen Hill, US
Jul 27, 2010 8:37 am EDT

I have been fios customer for 2 years now. I have been happy until recently when I decided that I need voice phone service at home because of a new born. The billing customer service, the technical support service and the customer services are all horrible. I am in the customer service business too so I know exactly what's within reason and what's not but these people are unbelievable. I called and called and got put on hold FOREVER. After 2 hours holding, I got to someone who tell me that there is nothing they can do for me and I have to call back. AFter 20 days trying out the voice phone service, I decided to cancel the voice phone service ( still have internet and tv) because it never work. It would work for a few minutes and out of service for days to day. It took me 3 hours to go through customer service to cancel the phone after several days trying. I was told that there isn't any charges because I am still within one month cancellation period. A month later I got the bill for the voice service. Today (7/27) I called back to the billing department and was told to hold so they can verify with their technical support of all the problems and only after that they can credit my account. Well, after holding for over 15 minutes, we still couldn't get to the technical support department. The billing representative told me that she just can't hold on for me because she gotta go help other customers. I asked to speak to a supervisor. Supervisor (Damica Kadis, # Z660419) came on the line and told me that I will heard back in one hour - at 10:08. After thrilling her a little more, and told her that I have heard of these call back promises many times and never got anything back, she said well if the representatives are busy and can't get back with you right away at 10:08 then it's by the end of the day...and if we dont call you back by the end of the day...you have to call us back tomorrow. Is this customer service? I can't believe I am hearing these from these people. The supervisor even told me that they can't be on the phone forever because they have a business to run...can you imagine that "a business to run". I am month-by-month right now and if I were to cancel fios service...will she still have a business to run? probably not. These billing people have no ideas who or what or how to do customer service. Oh did I tell you that this is a credit of $18? Omg. I pay them over $300 for all my service and here they are fighting me over $18. I am going to cancel the entire service all together today.

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callmeifyoudare
Carrollton, US
May 28, 2010 10:10 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I am tired of Verizon too
every other season they put me on a tube
now they are raising my pricing again telephone and fios no internet
with the international channel they want $106.00 that is too much!
I was paying before $82 and was a lot of money for the BS
I wait till next week if they do not have a deal for me I am out here
they are rude over the phone too with lot of stupid [censor]es
WTF?
who is paying? US!
do not get verizon please

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Pete Hutchinson
Malvern, US
Apr 20, 2010 4:50 pm EDT

Last night I came home to find that Verizon had suspended my service @ 5:00PM due to a past due balance.
No warning, No phone call, No post card, just no TV or Cable service. Oh yea, there was no past due balance,
just a miss-placed allocation of my payment. Of course you can't get your service turned back on until the next day because only the Business Office has the ability to do that and they are only open from 8:00Am to 5:00PM. That's why they don't turn it off until 5:00Pm - So you can be appropriately punished for the lack of payment. Oh, by the way - the message that night from Verizon was to pay the delinquent amount by credit card and your service would be restored within 24 to 48 hours. The next day, when they found out that it was their fault and I had the canceled check to prove it, they restored my service while I was still on the phone with them.

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John
Riverview, US
Apr 02, 2010 4:00 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I am still in collections from a year ago when they had billing errors in the thousands several times. They canceled my account, continued to take my money every month, created $1400 bills that were coming out of my bank account that nobody could identify why.. but they knew there was nothing they could do. When they canceled my account, they reopened it (or created a new one, no idea..) and charged me installation fees every month for several months before canceling it again. They then sent me to collections for cancellation fees, and service fees when I should have had hundreds in credit again.

Then I consider picking up the phone and calling them, where I recorded 42 transfers in a single phone call, and my history is calling them at 8am and being transferred non-stop until 6pm when they transfer me to a closed department. I played that game for several months to get my money back (almost got kicked out of school since that was my tuition money) and now I sit with ruined credit because they messed with it. Had to report them for fraudulent activity on my account and they sent me back to collections.

What is there for us to do? This isn't a government agency, SURELY someone must have some solution? This has been years now with them hounding me for money that I don't owe by any stretch of the imagination.

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tsghhuyts
Murrieta, US
Mar 16, 2010 3:09 pm EDT

I moved in 2007 to an area where, as per verizon, there is only FIOS is available. I had DSL at my previous location and obviously I wanted to stay with Verizon and keep the DSL since it was under 2 years contract.

Upon many request by phone and emails to downgrade my account to DSL (may sound weird, but do not need FIOS) Verizon sales rep. kept on denying DSL service by saying that it's not available in my area. Many times I argued that Why I have to pay extra if you do not have the service that I had at other place.

Ok..3 years passed by, on 3/7/10, I came across an internet banner saying DSL for $24.99
without wasting any minute, I ordered online to see if they accept my order. To my surprise, order went through and now I have DSL at my home, Even the technician was amazed to know how I end up getting DSL.

I hope they wont turn it off to keep ripping me off with huge FIOS charges.

Now I am fighting for extra charges that I have been billed for past 3 years.

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Just Another Happy Customer
Portland, US
Jan 08, 2010 2:44 pm EST

I am at the end of my rope with Verizon. We dropped our "land line" in October and just kept our fios tv and internet service. That process took about 2 days on the phone to resolve and the billing effects of this change are only now being seen in January. My December bill still had charges lingering from this service change.
Then I complicated the process further by paying my verizon bill online through my bank to the OLD account number. They gladly took my money sent to a closed account, never informing me what I had done. I got a past due bill and checked my checking account that showed they had accepted my payment. Yesterday, on January 7, I a woke to no internet service or tv service. It was stormy in my area and I thought maybe service was interrupted by the weather. Well, my idealistic start to a new day quickly turn dark and ugly. My husband spent over 3o minutes, cellular minutes, on the phone trying to figure out what was wrong. That is when we discovered my oversight. I take full responsibility for my mistake. It should have been an easy fix. But wait, its verizon we are talking about. We will call them the evil "V" now. My husband got cut off with the person he was talking to, so I went through the whole process again. Another 30+cellular minutes burned. I got hung up on. I called back another 30+ minutes. I did get a nice person who said she would call me back if we got disconnected. Which we did, and she did call me right back. She also said she would try and trouble shoot the problem and call me back. I waited all day and finally called verizon back at 4pm pacific time. Another 26 minutes on the phone before I was cut off because their offices closed at 7pm central time. I called back again and the financial services department could not verify that a refund from the telephone department was submitted. So still no service at 5:30pm. I was not going to give them more money while I wait for a refund. Financial services was going to have a manager call me within 4 hours of my request. That was at 5:30pm pacific time on January 7. It is now 12:30 pacific time on January 8 and no one has called me. My husband finally went online at a friends house and paid the bill online after about 45 minutes trying to set up an new account. (We thought we had one already, but we didn't)
I burned 130+ cellular minutes to no resolution. Was disconnected 4 times while on the phone with them. Had my service cut off with no warning. Paid Verizon twice. Wow, can you say customer service.
When we can get another internet provider in our area (I refuse to go to comcast), Verizon will be gone.
Just another happy satisfied customer being held hostage by the evil "V"!

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A disgusted customer
NJ, US
Dec 21, 2009 12:48 pm EST

I have been calling Verizon for months now trying to resolve an issue with billing. When I first signed up for FIOS they opened my account as a small business account. That is when my nightmare with these people started. It was apparently fixed after several hours on the phone with Verizon reps which by the way are clueless of how to do their jobs or resolve issues. I was told that everything would be changed back to a residential account and for a couple months everthing was ok. Suddenly I got a bill for 94. 22 just for FIOS when I was told that I would pay 39.99 at the time I signed up. At the time, I was told that a supervisor would call me within 24 hours after being switched back and forth fromthe residential to the business account offices. This was a couple days before Thanksgiving and after a month of waiting for that call, I decided to call them today. Lo and behold, I have to wait again, this time after being on the phone for another 1 1/2 hours for a supervisor to call me because now they want my credit card to charge me directly when they never did before. I was also told by their rep that I would have to pay more now for a slower internet. When I explained that I signed a contact, Edward told me that it didn't matter what I signed up for initially because the price had increased anyway. So not only did they screw up, now I have to pay the new price for slower Internet speed when Verizon was the one who made the mistake. I have to say that anyone you speak to will tell you how this companies service has decreased significantly leading you to question "how the heck do they stay in business!" The commercials on T.V for Comcast and other competing companies are right on the money with what Verizon has become!

A disgusted customer

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xanadar
New Port Richey, US
Dec 19, 2009 5:09 pm EST

You do not need Verizon to set up a static IP address. Yes, you can pay to have your provider set up a static IP. Yes, your provider will want to switch you to business class---more money for them. The bottom line is you can set up a static IP yourself if you have a router installed. I have Verizon Fios, and I have set up a static IP address myself. Keep in mind that both Brighthouse and Verizon will charge you up to sixty dollars just to set up your computer to the router. This is simple. If you can hook up a telephone, you can hook up a computer to a router. If you are not the tech type and want a step by step run down on how to set up a static IP, go to PortForward.com. They provide the information for free. Happy surfing guys. http://portforward.com/networking/staticip.htm

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mrnoenglish
Mount Vernon, US
Sep 09, 2009 5:01 pm EDT

2 Things:
First; I am completely fed up with the fact that NOT ONE PERSON IN VERIZON has been able to help me reset my user id or password in order to simply view my bill online! I have repeatedly asked how to have any help (at least 10 times in 2008/2009 rather than simply/blindly pay a bill by entering my phone number. For all the pre-scripted calling cues laid out that I have to jump through to get a human being on the line, it has become far too great a nightmare to continue any further. Second; I have made absolutely NO CALLS FROM MY HOME PHONE SINCE I SIGNED UP IN JULY 2008 (CHECK THE RECORDS), YET I STILL HAVE TO PAY A BILL THAT'S BUNDELED TOGETHER OR HAVE THE LUXURY OF PAYING MORE FOR JUST INTERNET AND CABLE! It is absurd that I continue to get the run around by Verizon. I am so completely and unequivocally fed up with Verizon that next immediate task is to do everything I can to get back onto Time Warner Cable ASAP! I am completely convinced that there will be no response to my concern because FOR THE PAST YEAR AND A FEW MONTHS there has been no help! Just so my frustrations are clearly noted I am sending a copy of this email to your CEO - Ivan G. Seidenberg, the COO - Dennis F. (Denny) Strigl and the EVO and CTO - Richard J. (Dick) Lynch to their corporate offices at 140 West St. New York, NY [protected]. It is shameful that a company that has built its reputation for its innovative services and products continue to operate behind the scenes like a slipshod charlatan whose only concern is making sure the service works just enough to pay the bill due.

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VERIZON FEEDOM FIGHTER
Millington, US
Aug 19, 2009 9:59 am EDT

I have Fios Triple Play for several years and regret the day I signed up. I though they billed me fraudulently for the Fios TV service from the beginning, I became obsessed and for no other reason except to sleep at night I decided I would fight them to the end. I have not only the written documentation, but also varied tape recordings that indicate beyond any doubt that they do lie and are well trained in distorting the truth to make customers feel that they themselves did something wrong. I also have documents that show their deceptive promotional pricing and packages are ongoing. I had a lawyer willing to fight them until the attorney general of my state filed some kind of class action against them; this meant my attorney had to remove our case from the picture. Be sure, I have as much faith in the justice system, especially in New Jersey, that all my documentation may just as well be written in sandscript.

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threedrag0nz
Portland, US
Aug 16, 2009 6:40 am EDT

Yes, Verizon FIOS is a total scam, they are all swindles.

FIOS is a total joke. Obviously the company grew too fast and the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing. I subscribed to FIOS December of '08. FIOS had contractors come out and install the equipment. These contractors were ###s who obviously didn't know what they were doing. They completely tore up my yard and my sprinkler system. It took the company about 4 months to finally come out and fix it - way after my yard was dead and only after I filed a better business bureau complaint.

1st they didn't bother to tell me that they were going to tear up my yard by digging a 3x3 feet. All I knew was that they were coming in the garage to install the equipment. They had two separate crews, one installing the cabling in the yard and one for the garage. The crew installing the cabling, whom also dug up my yard and ruined my sprinkler system didn't even bother to tell me when they were going to be out. Nor did they tell me what happened with the sprinkler system. All they did was leave a cone in the yard, marking the spot.

I only found out about the incident when the 2nd crew came and wanted access to the garage - this crew also didn't bother calling beforehand and was late. I told them of the incident in the yard and they said a crew will come out to fix it ASAP, adding in that the company will also be planting sod. I also made a call out to the company to report the incident.

A week went by and nothing. I made a call again and they said that it would be fixed shortly. We had a bad storm in December and I gave them that for an excuse. Then as it cleared up, still nothing. Days passed to weeks and weeks past on to month and on and on I waited. Several angry calls later still not one showed up to fix my yard. I had misplaced my original paperwork moving to a different room within the house and tried to call their customer service number. Each time I was told they couldn't find my account and was given the wrong number each time from the rep on the phone before I was able to talk to someone, whom I reported the problem to.

In the end I got sick and tired of their games and reported the incident to the Better Business Bureau and a couple weeks later got a call from the company. She promised that someone would come in a couple days and get that taken care of. About a month went by and several disgruntled calls from me later - the yard was finally fixed. Til this day, I still don't know if they job was done right - since I asked FIOS to let me inspect the work before covered it up to see if there are any leaks or not. They didn't bother calling me to tell me when they were coming out and didn't bother to tell me they were done so I could inspect the work.

What's sad is that FIOS denied this whole incident from happening. You see, I refused to pay for the internet service bill until they came out to fix the yard, especially after weeks went by. The company rep had the nerve to tell me I never reported the incident because their records didn't show me ever calling in. My service was shut down for non-payment and now they want to charge me the $175 early termination fee and the fee for the equipment. Are they kidding me? I asked the rep handling this that if a contract painter came out and did a hideous job painting her house, would she pay the contractor ... she didn't bother to answer and still insisted it was my fault for not reporting the incident and my fault the service got disconnected and that I owe the company the $175 early termination fee and the fee for the equipment. She thought that it was also funny to leave me a voice-mail after doing some research on her end that my service was on all this time.

After they fixed my yard, I told them that I'd be wiling to pay for the time I had my service on and wasn't even asking for any credit to my account for the whole ordeal I went through. No one from Verizon FIOS offered me an apology for what they did, nor took ownership for any wrong doing. The company didn't want to reinstate my service nor did they want to waive the $175 termination fee. I guess, this incident never happened and I guess I don't have their expensive equipment in my garage still that they never put in, LOL. Not wasting anymore gas or time with this scam of a company.

Totally unbelievable. I've never had such crappy service in my life. I will never do business with FIOS or Frontier again, nor Verizon since the bill came in as such and even those reps I talked to had no clue of what they were doing and how to direct me to the right person to talk to when I called the customer service number on my Verizon FIOS bill.

Verizon FIOS is a total fraud and scam. The service is terrible. I hope none of you ever experience anything like this. Keep your yard and house safe from unnecessary damage and steer away from Verizon FIOS. Instead go with Clear. I've had this since then and I totally love it.

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F verizon.
Waldwick, US
Aug 14, 2009 10:54 am EDT

I feel very lucky to have options. I did not Choose Verizon and think your crazy to after going through what I just experienced...

I just purchased a home and the process to get the mortgage approved was easier to get through than getting my verizon fios connected. After spending two days on the phone, web, faxing 3 forms of identification, full SSN and more I was still unable to get them to agree to terms that were acceptable in my mind. Verizon has a great service, I have seen it. But I cant believe they can't extend the same level of excellence to their process when an individual is obtaining the service.

Questions:

1) Why do they need to do a credit check? Isn't it enough that I live in a neighborhood where the houses cost no less than a half mil?

2) Why do they need three forms of ID? There are many options for doing identity validation without creating manual paperwork for the folks that want to turn the service on. Google: real time identity validation. Many companies specialize in this.

3) Why dont they partner with the mortgage companies to make this a cleaner process for the folks who just purchased a house? This way the mortgage companies background/credit etc checks could be re-purposed for the Verizon fraud screen. I value my credit score and feel that Verizon creating an inquiry is unnecessary for a service that costs 100 a month.

I understand there is alot of identity theft going on at the moment but I think the paranoia has pushed Verizon too far into the realm paranoia. Come on Verizon, Man up! Spend some time on improving your processes to get in the door! Apply the same level of excellence to folks approaching the service as you do to the actual service itself and you could have cornered the market by now.

Cablevision just let me in with a warm welcome, I'm glad I had options...

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jwana
East Windsor, US
Apr 11, 2009 10:35 pm EDT

also to the original post... just order it to a fake apartment at the same address...

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jwana
East Windsor, US
Apr 11, 2009 10:34 pm EDT

every verizon order has a 28 cancel policy. I'd hurry if you were going to return it.

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denisep
, US
Apr 09, 2009 9:42 am EDT

Well, I should have read here first. I ordered FIOS and it was installed on 4/5/09. I decided to add an international channel and tried through the set top box. This was supposed to take 24 hours at most. It didn't work. Called to find out what was wrong and they said no order was received...so glad they put that subscribe thing on the channel for no reason. The woman on the phone said she'd order it and it should be on in an hour but give them until 5pm and if it's not there call back before 6pm when they close. I get home, no channel, call and am told that my FIOS will be installed on 4/20/09. WHAT? So, I tell the story. New woman says she will clear that order and then order the channel I've been trying to order. Give them 24 hours. 24 hours later...no channel...no surprise. I call back, the order to install my service that was already installed has at least been cleared but still no order for the channel I was trying to order. Eight people later that morning and an hour on the phone, I am still being put on hold and passed around (one person hung up on me...nice). Still no channel...no order for the channel and I'm done. I don't need the stinking channel and I don't need to give Verizon more money. I'm seriously thinking of just ripping out any equipment I have that is not vanilla, plain old stuff and giving up TV. All the TV services have made it impossible to enjoy a viewing experience.

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Higher Interest Rate
Edgewater, US
Mar 30, 2009 12:58 pm EDT

Indeed my wife canceled our FIOS service in California when we moved to New Jersey. We noticed a few months later that her FICO score had dropped by about 200 points. Sure enough, Verizon contended that we still owed $33.

Every other piece of mail we expected arrived through the USPS forwarding service except somehow that Verizon bill.

It took two phone calls to ascertain the final payment amount. I sent the check immediately.

So we applied for a home loan and the banks now say we have to pay about a half a percent more on our 30-year fixed mortgage because of my wife's low FICO score. Her ONLY blemish is this matter with Verizon.

It will cost us, and the economy, tens of thousands of dollars, not to mention the impact on Verizon's balance sheet.

Never mind the bandwidth, or the true 1080i video, this company is a public menace. They don't know which way is up.

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H8FIOS
Frazer, US
Mar 29, 2009 4:55 pm EDT

I agree with all the complaints posted on this site by other people. My own experience with FiOS has been one long nightmare, even though the service itself is excellent. For the first year all of my bills were literally indecipherable (& I'm a retired scientist, not exactly a stupid fellow). After the first year they abruptly cancelled my discounts, which were supposed to last for the 2-year period of my contract. My phone bill doubled. When I requested them to restore my discounts, they told me that the people who initiated my contract had overstepped their authority, were no longer employed by the company, & I was never entitled to those discounts in the first place. After 3 hours on the phone I was completely exhausted & finally gave in & got a new contract that includes services I didn't really want but my bill is still double so I might as well have them. No phone call to them is shorter than 30 minutes; my record is 4 hours for the longest call. My relationship with Verizon is permanently adversarial, & since starting FiOS I now keep careful notes on every call I make to them. Over the past year I've compiled a list of 9 outright lies they told me. Their marketing people are all expert liars, & the customer service people are professional ###s. The technician who installed my FiOS service was incompetent. Three days after the installation the FiOS cable box fell off the side of my house & was whipping around in the wind dangling by the cable & banging against the side of the house. Only when I threatened to cancel the service did they send out someone to reattach the box. Verizon has made my life miserable. I hate these people. They should all go to jail. They use technology to steal your money. Someone should file a nationwide class-action lawsuit against them for their sleazy business practices. When I asked for a written contract guaranteeing the deal I first signed up for, they refused. That should be illegal. With no written contract, they can change stuff any time they want & you are dead meat. The only thing that will stop these people will be a monster fine, a ton of bad publicity, & a few dirtbag executives being sent to jail. Where are the lawyers when you need them?

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cjamke
Virginia Beach, US
Feb 17, 2009 5:48 pm EST

I started Fios and Internet Service on June 6th of 2008 and have had nothing but nightmares since establishing service. So far to date i have been billed $930 dollars for a service that should have only been $75 dollars per month with the cable and fiber optic internet. If my calculations are right They owe me around $400 plus dollars even taking into account taxes and set up fees. I have called 3 times to only get told it takes 3 months to correct billing once a problem is reported. It has now been well over 3 months and still I am getting bilked more money out of my account. They gave me this ### and bull story that they cant paper bill me without a landline phone so they continue taking the funds out of my checking account. If the problem isnt resolved soon they will leave me no alternative but to take them to small claims court as I have all documentation to prove they are over billing me. I would warn anyone considering this service to NOT DO IT! I will be switching my service back to cable as they have always been tried and true with their billing practices.

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Huggie
the villages, US
Feb 06, 2009 10:00 am EST

The Verizon customer support is worthless. They do not have access to your actual info. I never recevied a contract from them and they refuse to send one to me. I may stop paying until they send me a copy of the contract I am under. TERMS and CONDITIONS.

I caught them in two outright lies and they had the nerve to try and intimidate me with subtle threats. It turned out kind of funny, as I had a VERIZON senior executive sitting with me to review my complaints about their processes. One less Verizon flunky employed now.

Their systems seem to have lost all entries for ONLINE process discounts; screens said $10 per month, but the systems say $5 per month, BUT neither showed up on my bill.

A Free DVR was supposed to be included for 6 months, but their systems now say 3 months, BUT my bill shows me being charged for the FREE period, as I am in my first month and a charge for it is on my bill. THEY HAVE TO RESEARCH IT, although they agree I am correct.

They did not send my initial bill, but did send one the second month with a $7 late fee. They agree that they did not send the first bill, due to a change in billing cycles, but will not take off the late fee. POOR CUSTOMER SAT.

Also, it costs an additonal $3.99 per month to get the most basic digital adapter, which you MUST have one of theirs to get the signal. A desktop box, which gives you access to the MENU functions, costs and additional $9.99 per month and a base DVR costs and additonal $15.99 per month. BRIGHTHOUSE and COMCAST, I will be coming back.

Even with all these add-ons the total comes out less than previously, Verizon phone and Brighthouse Cable TV and Internet (about $30 per month less) and once I get the last few discrepencies fixed, it should be about
$50 pe month less.

ALWAYS print off the detailed information from your on-line CONFIGURATION results, as they claim not to have access to them and without it, say they cannot find a plan to match what the on-line sytem gave you and thus must charge the full amount. Can someone give me a BULL SH..

Signed: BACK TO BRIGHTHOUSE NEXT YEAR, unless things get a lot better and cheaper.

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Pat
Norwalk, US
Jan 08, 2009 12:23 am EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Bought the FiOS inet/TV package; Day of installation-tech didn't want to go looking for cables left...(I think I should have taken the hint...!)..Well, then it was" Oh, you’re supposed to get cable?, well, we’re not 'set-up to do the cable', just yet! It'll get done in a couple o'weeks..[ with a :->) ] quick 'n nasty..shoulda taken that one too.. welll in a couple of weeks the cable got put in, but not correctly, had to do it again. Little annoyed on this one. It's in now and then all of a sudden came the BILL, Fella', gotta pay that bill or.. interject wife! Like hell [on the phone] got it straightened out with apology... Folks, if I've done a network stack ONCE, I've done it at least a hundred times, at work [used to be in IT] and at home and at another couple of places for friends... allways worked, because it was done correctly, you see... . the point is I know about networks and netwrongs, because I've made a few mistakes of my own, and LEARNED FROM IT to be sure I didn't do it again! Now you know - it just isn't too hard to figure out that when a system isn't really working right, you start from the input end. I got a replacement modem after talking with some really great, nice folks in Verizon’s Tech support. A fine Lady, whose name I wont reveal, and I did every thing but rip out the wires and put new, and then really discussed on a very technical level what was happening. We both agreed that: If I could see the cable modem from my side, and, if she could see the cable modem from her side; then the Modem needed replacement, because it wasn't bridging the gap from my modem input to the host computer at Verizon. That being said, I asked for, received another modem and promptly installed and ..got the same exact problem! Soooo, I got online again and asked to have a tech call to check out the Verizon connection. Now, his computer hooked up. Mine didn't. Make that three of mine; A Win98 box that worked from day one until AI dropped the Charter connection, an act which I will sure pay in HELL for doing, as Bugs would say "What a maroon”. well then I tried my VAIO with a dual core P4 - 3 GHz CPU, NO JOY! then I tried a Vista laptop, also ours. NO JOY! Nobody can tell me that three computers that previously hit the net with no problem and got all kinds of site to look at, could all be broken, because they are. not. ! Soooooo, ! I took my work laptop that was configured to a T-1 line URL and hooked it up to the internet through Verizon's Cable Modem..!...!..! and it works just fine! Why? Because it isnnnnn't, being directed, THROUGH, Verizon’s, Host, server! The URL has it's own server and Hub and although it uses Verizon’s' phone lines for long distance as a T- 1 connection, which by the way, by this time, is an optical cable backbone across the country shared by many-many companies, which they don't dare interrupt service to or from, but they will to lil' ol' you and me! Now the moral of this story is: If you are going t fight Verizon, DON'T, you don't have the money, resources or clout!, BUT if you are going to RESIST Verizon, do it through the FCC, Better Biz Bureau, Congress and any body else that can put some wind in your sails, like I am SURELY going t do. For, it is a fact, that if we all make common cause against Verizon, then we should be able to take their teeth, as it were, and put the 'False" teeth where they belong; right in their nasty, lying, conniving, stupid, mouth(s) for all the lies they've told people and all the theft of real money they've connived at doing, and all the nasty attitude ..they've displayed to the old folks and young folks, all of YOU, who tried to do the polite thing only to be put down for being so. Putting your mouth where your money is, will do the most good.! Of course I'm not angry, I'm just disgruntled, Right? Like Hell I'm not angry, and as far as being disgruntled goes, no problem, so what? I hope we are all disgruntled enough to fight for what’s right and legal! PJ..

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Todd
,
Nov 28, 2008 2:52 pm EST

They promised me a $150 credit on my second bill plus $13 credit per month if I combined my cell phone and I find out these two promotions don't exist. This is fraud.

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mpecc55
,
Nov 20, 2008 11:21 am EST

I have called verizon 3 times today, and had 1 chat trying to get access to my account online. I have either been put on hold and lost in their call center or given a pin number that does not work. I tried the chat again a few minutes ago and it was down. I would switch service if there was a better alternative. unfortunately the only other option is comcast who are even more incompetent.

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Michael Nummy
,
Nov 14, 2008 11:45 am EST

I try to remember that you guys are just employee's. But, I truly believe Verizon developed a system that is designed to rip off the public. Unwittingly, you are part of that system. When you tell me there is nothing you can do about a blatant error on my bill or a promise that was made, or that you can't erase a charge but you can give me a credit that lasts 6 months, I know that the actions you take are DESIGNED by Verizon to illiminate your will to help and keep the $$ rolling in. If the computer won't let you - then you can't - right. You sound like a good person. You have got to speak up with an authority and say what is going on. ME, I am in the process of filing a class action suit. Somebody has to stop these institional badits. Will it be you?

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Michael Nummy
,
Nov 14, 2008 11:29 am EST

Verizon! Billing! Lies! Enough is enough. I am in the process of filing a class action suit against them. Any of you guy's want to join in? Contact me NMI327@cs.com

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Andrew
,
Nov 13, 2008 9:22 pm EST

This is my horror story that just begun:

I have been using Verizon for quite a while.I am not only a residential customer but a business customer as well.To tell you the truth, I've never had a problem with your service before but now that I have, I'm not happy. On November 3rd, 2008 I called and ordered Verizon FiOS TV to get the installation done. When I called, a woman ( I don't remember her name) told me that it would be done Friday, November 07, 2008. They were supposed to come between 1-5 PM. Since I was expecting them, I took half the day off from work to be there when they came. I waited for someone to show up until 5PM. Since no one showed up, I called them. They said I was scheduled for Sunday, November 09, 2008. I was suprised and angry for this misunderstanding, but I reluctantly agreed for them to come on Sunday. I figured that someone made a small mistake with the dates. On Sunday, NO ONE came and I spent half the day waiting. (They were supposed to come between 1-5PM) Confused and upset, I called to see what had happened on Monday, November 10, 2008. A Verizon worker from Rhode Island told me that someone made the date scheduled for Sunday, November 09, 2009. If November 09, this year, is on a Sunday, so of course November 09 would not be on Sunday next year. That was when I knew there was something wrong.He rescheduled it on Wednesday, November 13, 2008, between 1-5PM. Just to make sure that they would be coming today, I called them to confirm this, and instead, they told me that it wasn't today! It was supposingly scheduled for November 18th, 2008! I asked to speak to a manager but she said there was no one available and as soon as he is, he would give me a call. All this time was being lost by calling and waiting for them to come. So instead, I called the the Chairman & CEO, Ivan G. Seidenberg, and the lady who picked up, told me that somebody would get in touch with me. Later today, I spoke with one manager and he scheduled me another date! So I was thinking, your company, with almost 240, 000 employees, after hearing that story, can't send a crew for a simple installation? That's ridiculous! I'm dissapointed because aren't you supposed to be the "#1 customer service"?

I look forward to hearing from you and having this issue resolved in a manner that not only satisfies both myself as your customer, but you as my provider too.

I would like to be able to tell my friends that you have resolved my problem with speed and accuracy.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

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Pixma
,
Nov 11, 2008 9:30 pm EST

FIOS installation just cut my electric lines - lost power - had a flood - lost cable service too. VERIZON refuses to take responsibility! And, can't get a telephone # without talking to incompetent reps who insist in filing trouble tickets. Shoddy installation, rude managers, poor service.

Fed up with Verizon - Holmdel, NJ.

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J in Kenmore
,
Nov 07, 2008 5:07 pm EST

One of the big promotions Verizon touted when they began installing FIOS in our area was their great customer service. I have recently had problems installing MSN Premium on one of my computers. They are totally unresponsive and sent only articles I was able to research myself before I even tried contacting customer service. It was like no one was even reading my comments or that they even cared. It is obvious they will provide customer service if you want to pay for it. They obviously have no vested interest in helping customers who won’t pay for their pay for service plan. I plan to look for alternatives as soon as my contract period is up. They are also promoting FIOS TV but it is more expensive than my Dish Network service. I have Verizon for my home phone, internet and wireless services but I will actively pursue other vendors for all of those services. While I recognize that other providers may not have necessarily have better customer service, the company that provides the best service will win my business!

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Michael Nummy
,
Nov 05, 2008 8:03 pm EST

I am in total agreement. Without boring you with the details, suffice it to say that I had Verizon Cell Phone Service and their billing was a night mare. Every month was hours of phone time just trying to explain to anoother Verizon idiot what I discussed every month since. I then went to Alltel and it's been a year and they are great. No problems and right on the money. I then - stupidly - went to Verizon FIOS. For 2 years I fought monthly with them. Finally my contract was up and I called to cancel. The man on the phone could not have been more agreeable or helpful. He was great! EXCEPT when the bill came it did not even come close to reflecting the agreement we made on the phone. Since then I have talked monthly with idiot after idiot. OR, are they idiots? After my experience with their cellular service and now their FIOS service it is slowly dawning on me that they have concocted this entire senerio - like their complicated bill - to confuse and squeeze money out of their customers. In short, I think this may be the largest case of corporate fraud in America. It appears that the problems and resulting credits and charges that are unknown to the customer - piling up month after month to the point of confusion is designed on purpose by Verizon. I am a victim - you may be a victim to. I know the writer is. Somebody help us please. Someone has to stop this company.

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Bradspace
,
Oct 30, 2008 9:54 am EDT

I have had mixed success/failure with Verizon FiOS. The install process was easy, except that they didn't include the phone in the bundle package. This probably relates to the fact that English was certainly not the CSR's first language. After three more days, I had a phone but they screwed my billing up COMPLETELY. I spent countless hours on the phone over a period of 6-8 months to try and get it rectified. It's like they're playing a shell game and you just can't win. I have no doubt that I have overpaid, but I can't even begin to waste any more time to deal with it. What's more, I never got the bundle price discount. This is actually in my favor as I am canceling my TV and phone service. Now, as far as the actual service goes, the internet has been FANTASTIC. Not ONE minute of downtime in over 18 months. The phone has been OK, but in reality we scarcely ever use it. It doesn't seem to be worth the monthly bill. The TV SUCKS. The guide is NEVER right. NEVER! Doesn't seem like a big deal until you set up a recording and it's wrong. The DVR sucks. I had all sorts of problems with it spontaneously re-setting and their advice over and over is just power cycle it. They recently shifted ALL of the channels, so after a year and a half of learning and knowing where channels are, I have to start over again. finally, the lag is atrocious. I can press the up channel button 10 times and the channel doesn't change for 15 - 30 seconds and then BOOM it goes to where it should be. All the TV issues continue to get worse and they couldn't care less. Plus, they have zero sports packages. I am going back to DirecTV.

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Omar Padron
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Sep 22, 2008 7:49 pm EDT

I am having billing problems as well. I switched to Cablevision back in july. I paid my verizon bill in july that covered all the way into august. But continued to get billed for the service, even though i spoke to someone at verizon who had told me it was taken care of and that i was owed credit. Now 3 months later i get a notice from a collection agency that i owe verizon money.
If anyone wants to proceed with a CLASS ACTION SUIT, I'm in.