Verizon FiOS Sucks

Quick post to bring up to date on where we stand since my Verizon FiOS triple play order caused my number to be disconnected. First, I shouldn’t have been so hopeful that Vonage could help. I got an email from them stating:

• Your number has ported out to Verizon. To bring the number back to Vonage, you will need to contact Verizon and setup an account with the number on the account. We can then request the number be returned back to Vonage.

So it looks like I am going to really need Verizon’s assistance to get back my number. My number is still dead to inbound calls for the 5th day in a row. However, I have finally been contacted by Verizon!! First, a woman called me and left a message on my cell phone early Friday afternoon about having “no dial tone”. I called her back twice between 3-5 pm she must have been gone for the day.  I don’t know if it is to investigate my claim on slamming but I am glad people are calling.

Second, I got an email from a man in the Public Affairs office leaving contact numbers and we touched base after 6 pm Eastern time on Friday.  He said that my issue had been escalated to a level above him but he wanted to call and talk with me. He left me his cell phone number so I called him back and we talked at length about my situation. He was cordial, apologetic and accepted responsibility for the poor handling of the entire event and also explained how it could have happened. Here is the gist of the cause:

• They have “partners” (non-Verizon contractors) that take orders and these orders aren’t entered directly into Verizon’s sales systems because of the significant numbers of checks that have to occur to validate the orders. This is, most likely, why the order wasn’t in their system when I called customer service a week later to see when the installation would be scheduled.

I really appreciated his call, the time he took to explain how it happened and his personal concern for the situation even though the issue had been escalated.  While his reasoning for how this whole situation started certainly explains the initial cause I am still somewhat baffled as to why:

• The CSR who couldn’t find my FiOS Triple Play order did not mark against my phone number that any order that comes in should be canceled.
• Why I never got a call about outdoor or indoor installation.
• Why the inside installer insisted on calling in a customer cancel when all I wanted (since I finally had the order number) was 24 hours to call in to customer service again and straighten things out.

I understand the need to use 3rd-party order takers, but I also think that it is reasonable to expect that order to be in Verizon’s system within a week (even if it still needs to get through some checks). Tell me what you think about this - answer the poll in the top of the left-hand column.

I am really glad that I have finally been contacted but I also really want my phone number back for Christmas. I am anticipating that a number of friends and family members that I don’t frequently talk to will be calling that day and experience the “Number has been Disconnected Message.” If you are from Verizon and think you can help with this then please email me.