ARRGHHHHH!! Verizon!

[DrPizza]

Question for discussion: Do you think that Verizon makes its pages load slower for customers who are not using Verizon's broadband services when they're trying to access their account information? Or, is Verizon's site slow for everyone who has an account there.
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Mini-rant follows:


My wife attempted to get rid of our land line 2 weeks ago. She couldn't, because her name wasn't on the bill. It's my name. Never mind that we're married and I have NEVER contacted Verizon myself. She set up the account in my name, she pays the bills. They're fine talking to her and letting her pay the bill each month, but when it comes to cancelling the line, no way.

So, I call when I get home from school. 20 minutes of menus and I finally figure out that chanting "representative" over and over again will get me to a human being. "I'm sorry, that office is already closed for today."

So, today, as soon is I hit "enter" in the fax thread, I started trying to deal with the removal of my landline. I never look through the bill - my wife pays it. But, I noticed that there's a $5 per month fee for inside wire maintenance. WTF?! Where did that come from. That wasn't on there the first time I looked at one of the bills. So, I attempted their online chat thing to resolve that. I'm logged in, I'm looking at my profile. But, I can't see my account number. WTF?! Okay, so I have to print out my bill so that I can see the actual account number (or at least print it to an html file so I can see it.) What idiots designed this?

Okay, so the person who is chatting with me doesn't have access to see where the charges on my bill came from? Again, wtf?! So, now it's time to enter the abyss of their phone system. Eventually, I make it to a menu that recognizes "representative" as meaning I want to talk to a human. They see the charge there and see it's been there for a while. But, no idea when it started or who authorized it.

I was hoping to have some of that charge removed from my final bill before I told them to shut me off. Finally, I gave up and said, "tell you what. I don't want my landline any more. I'm being overcharged for it and I never use it." "I'm sorry, our department doesn't handle disconnects." ARRRRGHHHHH!!!!!!

So now, I'm back in the phone system again, this time helplessly listening to music while I wait for a service rep in the other department "but I'm not sure if there's anyone there today, because it's a holiday." * A little over an hour later, and my landline is disconnected. Well, not quite, it'll be disconnected tomorrow. I should have told him that I was going to ceremoniously drop a tree limb on the line to sever it from the house once and for all.
Hmmmm. That just might put me in a little better of a mood

But, I did find out when the inside line maintenance was added - when the service guy came to install the lines for our directv, my wife okayed it apparently - he had to run lines to all the directv boxes. It's a shame though that I even paid for his services in this way, because that idiot didn't even ground the line properly (what he connected the ground to was not a ground at all. He simply connected to a pipe in the basement closest to where the wires came in. Unfortunately, that pipe goes nowhere. I grounded it properly back when I was hoping that would be a solution to the slow dial-up speeds.

Oh yeah, and that's another thing - it's like the Verizon site recognizes when you're using a broadband provider other than Verizon. Pages load slowwwwwwer (or so it seems) if you're not using Verizon for your ISP. (I'm using Wild Blue and it takes approximately a minute for each page on the Verizon site to load.)

*everything to this point while I was on hold, then a couple games of chess.

Hey, as long as I paid for inside wire maintenance, can I have them come in and remove all their wires? :evil: (the value of copper in phone lines in homes is practically worthless)

 

[Nitemare]

Trying to get rid of my landline - are they making it this frustrating so I just give up?

yes

 

[FoBoT]

:thumbsup:

i have been POTS free for a couple years now, welcome

 

[Old Hippie]

My Dad worked for the "Bell System" for 42 yrs., retiring @ 10 yrs. ago. Remember when you called one number for any and all phone problems?

Sometimes deregulation works to your advantage, sometimes it doesn't.

It sure was a lot easier with one phone number.

 

[jersiq]

Originally posted by: DrPizza
Question for discussion: Do you think that Verizon makes its pages load slower for customers who are not using Verizon's broadband services when they're trying to access their account information? Or, is Verizon's site slow for everyone who has an account there.
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Mini-rant follows:
...

Which would you rather traverse; the interior network, or the exterior network?

Although a counter example on that for me would be Comcast. I am almost never able to login into comcast.net, unless I am outside their network.

 

[IronWing]

I got rid of long distance a couple weeks ago, just using phone cards now. ATT kept tacking on fee after fee for long distance so it was costing us about 25 cents/minute. ATT were unbelievable butts about it. Every time I stated I wanted to discontinue service, the reps would propose a new plan. They never proposed one that was cheaper than the phone card I had bought at the grocery store with no shopping around. I imagine the next card I buy will be even cheaper. Anyway, once the rep figured out that I really was dumping ATT (after 24 years as a customer) his manner changed to curtness bordering on rudeness. I'm still waiting to see the final bill to see if they tacked more bs charges on. I also had to call Qwest to have them unplug ATT from my account at their end. I was very pleasantly surprised how professional and courteous the Qwest rep was. When I explained that I was cutting ATT and going with phone cards she didn't even try to sell me a Qwest plan.

 

[nakedfrog]

Yeah, I think it's designed to make you give up.

 

[RossMAN]

Disclaimer: I didn't read the entire OP.

Why not send a signed letter via USPS certified mail with return receipt?

 

[randomlinh]

I've been trying to drop my line to the cheapest variety. I need it for DSL still. The web page is SO slow it's ridiculous. to top that off, the online account doesn't even recognize I have DSL for broadband. It's only listed on my bill, no where else.

 

[GeekDrew]

Verizon's websites are entirely ridiculous. They're slow on broadband, and they are absolutely unbearable on dialup (where I am). I've seen that to be true regardless of whether I'm on a Verizon connection, or not.

It usually only takes me one or two tries to get a representative that is competent, and that knows exactly who I need to talk to in order to take care of whatever it is I need to do.