how-to block ads
|
next review in page
Review by unhappy 
Fair warning: reviewer joined this week
lodged a few hours ago
 Taunton,Bristol,MA
 $20 per month Verizon "India is always awake" "India is always awake" "have read "good till problem"...who Never has problems? but they are right"
| Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings below consensus)
|
whoever shows up at your residence please treat them nice..they really can help and try so very hard
The last tech at my house wasnt even a DSL tech but got the problem (temporarily) fixed with a phone call to someone who COULD fix the problem
1M DSL service $20/month
originally 768k for (no idea)
10 year DSL customer (I did the hard work)
westell modem originally supplied was obsoleted before they sent it (found out later)..that began the problems
finally bought my own, so of course they dont support it even though its better than what they will supply you with even as of this date -- Actiontec too..go figure($140 2yrs ago)
problems last 3 months..I give up..they win..I'll leave
I refuse to pay full price for half or less speed that they won't fix
so to make it even up I will cancel DSL and landline and get cable speed from
someone ELSE or even dry loop dsl from someone ELSE
and TracFone works for a basic Cell
because really if you cant handle DSL why would I pay you more for potentially the same corporate problems with FIOS
I feel bad for thier land line division employees
they can fix it if they wanted
they just dont want to
(four or five letter word) VERIZON
see ya
Comments:
 | next review in page (previous review)
Review by Dcdude
member for 2.1 years, 72 visits, last login: 1 days ago
updated a few hours ago
- undisclosed location
- $39 per month
- (24 month contract)
 about 10 days- Verizon
- "Works all the time with no disconnects and or slow downs"
- "Verizon's Technical support can sometimes be a pain"
- "Decent for the money- if your near the co."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
First of all my line is a decent length, that being said I signed up for service anyway. Got my modem a few days after signing up but had to wait for the service to be activated on the line (took a few extra days). It was a new line so a tech had to actually come out and install the dry loop. After the install was done the modem synced right up at 1792/448 and stayed on that for about a week. Then one night the sync rate dropped all the way down to 448/448 for some reason and after that point it simply would not go above it. I had to deal with Verizon’s crappy tech support until they finally said
something in the line (can’t remember what he called it) but basically it was making my loop length longer than it actually was. After repairs where complete I went right on back up to 1792/448. The next morning when I woke up I happened to look at the modem stats; to my surprise the sync rate raised itself up to 2112/576. my loop length is about 16k long so yeah that’s not too shabby. Ever since then the connection has been rock solid.
Stats- (i use an old ATT motorola netopia modem) and keep the new one from verizon as back-up.
DSL Statistics
Line State Up
Modulation DMT
Data Path interleaved
Transceiver Information
Downstream Path Upstream Path
DSL Sync Rate (Kbits/Sec) 2112 576
SN Margin (dB) 10.0 10.0
Line Attenuation (dB) 63.0 31.0
CRC Errors 0 0
Comments:
| next review in page (previous review)
 Review by Packeteers
member for 6.6 years, 2650 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 2 days ago
- Forest Hills,Queens,NY
- $40 per month
- (12 month contract)
- about 7 days
- Verizon
- "Reliable Availability, Speed, FastPath Latency, Low Packet Loss"
- "All Verizon Employees will pass the buck every time if you let them"
- "definitely worth trying the first Month free in hopes they get it right"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
Original Install: I was one of Verizon's first $30/mo customers for my area back in 2004 and had to suffer a lot of their growing pains. the problems reached it's worst at the summer'05 when I finally complained consistently to Verizon that there were problems with my phone wires to the CO (less than a mile away) and poor routing from the CO to the CLEC. Once I got past a few Tier-1 idiots, I finally found a Tier-3 tech who confirmed all my packet loss issues. They changed my pairs and routing over a few days time, and ever since then I've had nothing but rock solid performance and speed during this past year. So all is forgiven, and I don't hesitate to recommend this service to others. I even sold several other friends and relatives in other areas of Queens on getting Verizon this past year, and not a single one got back to me with any complaints thus far. I sometimes find their DNS a bit sluggish, so I supplement that by using TreeWalk.
Dry Loop Update: I went "naked" in March'07 and migrated my POTS line phone number to another wireless carrier. Months later when I noticed my DSL speed and latency were deteriorating, I inadvertently found out the people who moved me from POTS to Dry Loop screwed it up, and they would have to migrate my account to a new phone number. Sounds like a clerical problem right? but instead I suffered 2 weeks of bouncy intermittent service, then I was totally cut off twice for a week at a time while Verizon twice tried to migrate me over to a new phone number.
I had to spend 600 minutes on my cell phone with tech, billing, sales, and even service cancellation counselors to get them to clean up this mess. I finally had to camp out at the employee entrance of the Verizon CO and catch a DSL cross connect tech on his way back from lunch, and bribe him with a box of doughnuts, in order to get someone to finally straighten out this Verizon created debacle that same day. As I update this my DSL is rock solid with 8 hops to Yahoo and zero dropped packets all day. Now I have to go back and waste another 100 minutes making sure they don't charge me extra to reconnect me twice, and hopefully get credit for the Month of service I was unable to enjoy.
Best advice: take nothing for granted! follow up a day or two later on all customer service related calls to make sure the person you originally spoke to didn't just pay you lip service and pass the buck to the person you are now calling back.
2010 Update: I've gone 2 years without any line problems since going Dry Loop. They recently lowered the Monthly 3.0/768 charge from $40 to $30 (you have to call them to start the lower rate) so I could not be happier. 7.0 is available for my line, but I'm satisfied with 3.0 even while streaming vuze, game playing, etc. I'm using public 4.2.2.3 and 4.2.2.5 as my DNS, since Verizon's own DNS can be annoying when you get a URL wrong. I'm using a magicJack for a voice phone, so I don't miss my POTs line at all. When over air TV went DTV - I got a $10(-rebate) box, so now I enjoy my own "triple play" for a bit over $30 per Month thanks to Verizon. I just hope they don't yank my copper once FiOS come here, because there is no way I'm going to spend >$100/mo for stuff I can obviously live without.
2011 Update: other than being pissed at Verizon for raising my rate over $40/month for the same old 3.0 aDSL using the same old modem, who's activity probably costs them nearly zero per month to provide - I continue to be satisfied with my connectivity. I came close to switching to TimeWarner, then I realized I watch so much TV content now on my PC, that getting basic cable TV with broadband would be pointless. It's nearly 2012 and still no FiOS in my dense suburban area despite contracting with NYC it should have been built by now.
2012 Update: I signed for another year after struggling every day for a week with billing and tech support to upgrade me from 3.0 aDSL FastPath on my old Westell 2200 to 7.0 aDSL-2+ FastPath on a new Westell 7500 (which includes a 802.11g WiFi) on my 4,000' clean copper pair to the CO.
$40/mo is not competitive for my area, since I can get 10.0 speed from TWCable broadband($30/mo) and 30.0 speed from TWCable wideband($50/mo) around the same price, but once Verizon actually provisioned a 7.0/.768 low latency FastPath service, I decided to stay with quality (low Latency) over quality (higher Speed).
with Verizion shifting it's business focus away from aging DSL and further delayed FiOS build out, over to the more profitable wireless business this year, I sure do hope I don't get stuck with any more headaches now that my speed upgrade is stable. If you don't see any updates after January, you can assume my latest upgrade is stable and keeping me happy despite the premium cost.
Comments:
| next review in page (previous review)
 Review by dataice
member for 9.2 years, 1849 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 8 days ago
- Crisfield,Somerset,MD
- $30 per month
- about 5 days
- Verizon
- "Reliable Connection"
- "Poor communication between departments. No one to hold accountable when service issues arise. Tech support is outsourced."
- "Okay, as long as everything runs smoothly, otherwise you'll be forced to deal with a poorly trained and outsourced tech support."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
08/14/08: I have had Verizon DSL since 2004 with hardly a hiccup in all that time. Well, that was about to change. I Called Verizon billing office on August 14th to order an upgrade from 3/768 to 7.1/768. The rep says there is no such speed for FIOS?!? Um, I'm not calling for FIOS, I am calling for DSL. So, I figured that I would wait a week and try again.
08/21/08: I Called them back today to give it another shot. The rep that I spoke with was obviously from India, as her accent was so strong that I could barely understand her. I explained to her that I currently have DSL 3/768 service and was interested in upgrading to 7.1/768. She checked her system, and said that it was available in my area with a 1 year contract and that voice service was also required for $39.99 a month, then $42.99 a month after the first year was up (after renewing with another 1 year contract), at least this rep knew what 7.1 DSL was. Fine, I said sign me up. She gave me a service ready date of August 26th, said I could continue to use my current Actiontec router/modem, and that I needed to be home.
08/26/08 OK, 08/26 comes and goes, no upgrade.
08/27/08 I called them back today on the 27th and opened a trouble ticket. The rep I spoke with said that the last rep that placed the order for me, didn't enter it properly, and it was never dispatched to a local field tech. Ok, fine set me up again please. The rep gave me a new service ready date of September 2nd, and asked me to be home as the tech "may" have to do what is called a home run (place a filter at the NID). I said ok.
09/02/08 I took the day off and guess what? another no show. Ok, now I was not a happy camper.
09/03/08 Called back the next day on September 3rd, that rep said the same thing the last one did, the order wasn't placed correctly. Ok, set me up again please. The rep did so, and gave me a service ready date for September 9th (what is up with ONLY giving me Tuesday's, don't the field techs work more than one day a week?), anyway I said fine, and stayed home all day on the 9th, guess what?
09/09/08 You guessed it, NO SHOW., BUT, he did go to my local central office, and he CUT OFF MY INTERNET COMPLETELY., ok now I had had it. Called back that same day, was told that a rep would come out on the 16th some time between 8 am - 12 Noon, now I was fuming.It was bad enough I was missing time from my duties by taking off all day, but now I had no internet at all. When asking why I was cut off he said they have to do that first in order to upgrade my line to the new 7.1. That sounded fishy so I demand a supervisor, he says no that is not normal and said it must have been a mis-communication (yeah, no s*it).
09/16/08 The 16th comes, again a no show.
09/17/08 Called them the next day on the 17th and demanded a supervisor, who could barely speak english. He apologized several times and said he was escalating my problem to a dept for supervisors, and that someone from that dept. would be calling me within the next 24-48 hours to set up an appt. They actually called that same evening, and they set me up with a new service ready date of September 18th. They asked if I could be home. I said yes, I would be.
09/18/08 September 18th comes, NO SHOW! Now I am truly livid, as I have missed five days of my duties and stayed at home for nothing AND with no internet. I came here to DSLR and found a toll-free number to Verizon Customer Advocacy group, but guess what? they don't help you with a Verizon DSL problem, only a problem with your landline service. So I was back to square one. I called the outsourced call center in India and demanded to speak with yet another supervisor. Apparently none of the former reps or supervisors added ANY notes to my account, so they would know this is an ongoing issue, so I had to explain my lack of customer service issue to him from the beginning, he said to wait for someone to call me back from the same escalations dept. Finally someone from the USA got involved this time around, and returned my call a few hours later. The agent I spoke with said he would handle it personally and that someone would come out on the 19th and that I needed to be home, OK.
09/19/08 19th comes and again another no-show, called (you know the deal by now) and was given a new date of September 22nd (great,another weekend with no internet) Not like I really have a choice in the matter, Ok, fine I will be home on the 22nd
09/22/08 FINALLY a field tech shows up on the 22nd, but , not to my residence but to my local central office instead (field tech told supervisor I didn't need to be home after all, no home run required), since I reside in an large apt. complex, and doing a home run in a multi-dwelling unit can be troublesome and very time consuming, so now I had missed 7 days for nothing. This tech finally gets me up and running with 7.1/768 speed. He stopped by my apt. before heading out of town, and asked me to pull up my stats on the gateway to make sure I was getting good numbers. He was satisfied with the transtats, so all was good. I asked him if he knew what in the world happened with my upgrade. He explained to me, that apparently the first field tech who was dispatched to my local central office, moved my line over to a different card in the rack at the DSLAM but he didn't provision it properly once he moved it over. At least that was the gist of it, since it was nearly 7pm and past his normal quitting time, and the man was tired, as I was as well. So I didn't ask him to go into great detail.
09/23/08 I called Verizon Online billing/sales dept. today to complain about what I had been through and how I was being treated as a paying customer, and the retentions dept said they would give me 4 free months of service for all of my trouble, and being without internet for 2 weeks. So, I will update when my next bill arrives and let you know how that went. But I am not holding my breath with the billing dept., especially after what I had just experienced.
10/17/08: Well, bill cycled online today, and guess what? Yep. No 4 month free credit!I was charged the full $39.99 for the service. It's to late to call today, since the retentions dept. is currently closed. I will try to contact them on Monday when they reopen.
10/20/08: Called retentions dept. today (was hung up on the first 2 times). Rep that I spoke with was very friendly and said she would handle this immediately. She said the original rep that entered the 4 month free credit, did enter it into the system on September 23rd, but she didn't enter WHEN the credit was suppose to actually begin. So, basically it just fell out of the system. She said she entered it again, for the credit to take affect asap, and that I would receive a statement in the mail confirming that my last 4 months paid service would be credited back to the account. I assume that they will just hold off billing me for the next 4 months, I could barely make out what she was saying, since I had to go through a rep in India first to get transferred back to retentions here in the states, so the connection was very bad. Hopefully it has been taken care of this time. I will update again sometime in the next 30 days to confirm if the credit went through as the rep promised.
10/24/08: Received phone bill in the mail today. Apparently Verizon Online credited the $39.99 back to my account on the same day that the paper bill cycled and was mailed out to me, just barely making it on the bill at the very last minute. Good thing I called on the 20th or I would have had to wait another month for the credit. So, I did get at least one month free, but I am not holding my breath that they will credit me for the other three. I will update in mid/late November when my next bill cycles.
11/20/08: Received latest phone bill by e-mail this morning. Verizon charged me the full $39.99 this month. So much for receiving a credit for the other 3 months. Unless they do what they did last month and apply the credit literally at the last minute before the paper bill mails out to me. I will update when I receive that bill by snail mail to let you guys know if that is what happened. At this point however, I am so frustrated dealing with them every month for the credits that I am just going to be thankful that I got at least one month free credit for the 14 days I was without service. I never did receive that so called statement in the mail, confirming the 4 months of credits.
11/25/08: Received latest phone bill by snail mail this morning. Sure enough, they charged me the full rate of $39.99 this month. So, apparently one month of credit is all I am going to see. I've decided to let it drop, its not worth the hassle of dealing with retentions yet again.
03/25/09: After not hearing anything more about my so called 4 month credit, my bill that I received today in the mail showed a credit of $171.96. Apparently I am going to get the 4 month credit after all, 4 billing cycles later. I must say I was VERY surprised after not hearing anything back from them since last November. After contacting billing, the rep said I was given a credit of $171.96 to cover 4 months of service at $42.99 a month. However I WAS paying $39.99 a month with a 1 year contract, which they were taking $3.00 off on the regular $42.99 a month, so I am not sure where the extra $3 dollars suddenly came from. I also noticed that they quietly extended my contract from September to December 2009. After the pure hell on earth that I went through last fall I will just let this slide, since by the time I fight them to get them to put it back the way that it was originally before applying the 4 month credit, my contract would have expired by the time it was all worked out. This company never ceases to amaze me.
07/31/09: I contacted Verizon Business Office today, after seeing on the portal that I was eligible for a bundle discount, by combining my POTS and DSL on one bill. Apparently I can get both Freedom Essentials and 7.1 DSL for $79.99 a month, which is called Verizon Double Freedom. I am paying $45.99 a month now for Essentials and $42.99 for DSL, so this would save me $8.99 a month off of my bill. The best part about this, is that the rep that I spoke with said I would be able to come off my 1 year contract, and would be placed on a month to month on the DSL portion. I can lock this price in for the next 12 months with no ETF if I drop the bundle. I would just go back to my previous billing. I took them up on their offer, so I guess I will see what happens to the billing when I get my next bill in late August.
08/21/09: I checked my online billing today. The paper bill went out a few days ago, which hasn't arrived yet, but I was able to view on the DSL side at verizon.net what Verizon Online was going to submit to the POTS billing as my current billing cycle before the $79.99 Double Freedom bundle reset it. Apparently I was taken off the $39.99 a month DSL billing. They reset my DSL billing by taking me off of my old billing agreement and entered me into a month to month agreement. They treated it as a new customer agreement, and basically reset my billing in January of this year under the promo that was running at that time for the 7.1 tier for new customer signups. The first 4 months are free and then it bills at $42.99 a month. I was placed on a month to month billing, which would run through December. Then the regular price would be $52.99 month to month with POTS. Of course this is all moot now since it will be reset yet again under the $79.99 Double Freedom promo that I recently signed up for. I then went to their main verizon.net signup page to find out exactly what they charge for the 7.1 tier at the full price month to month, with and without POTS. The current billing info for the 7.1 tier list it at $62.99 month to month dry,$52.99 month to month with POTS, $39.99 with a 1 year contract and POTS or $37.99 with a 2 year contract and POTS. No wonder they can't seem to keep the billing straight, they have so many different billing scenario's, there's no telling what you may end up with at the end of the day.
08/25/09: I received my bill in the mail today, and I was billed correctly under the Double Freedom bundle at $79.99 plus $12.01 in taxes and fees, for a total of $92. You gotta love unfees! I can't believe they actually got it right this time on the very first try. Go Figure! 
01/04/10: Connection has been rock solid since August 2009, with the exception of a couple of minor outages that each lasted for maybe 3-4 hours. Bottom line is this, obviously there is very poor communications between the different departments at Verizon, the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing, and that is unacceptable with a telecommunications company. Usually when you want to give a company more business, they don't require that you jump through hoops to do so. As long as everything is running smoothly, and you never have to contact them for any reason, they are great. If something goes wrong however, you will quickly learn that their outsourced support is unable to handle even minor issues.
09/18/10: Connection reliability has started to slip recently. I could count on one hand how many times it had gone down over the past two years. Since this past April there has been a total of 7 outages. Some of them lasting for more than 24 hours. Three outages in August alone. This is very unusual for Verizon. I hope this is not a preview of what is to come. I've recently read numerous comments by DSLR users of reliability issues in several states in their footprint. Verizon has gone as far as to sell off large chunks of their "less profitable" markets. I have serious doubts that my area here in rural Maryland will ever see FIOS. We may even be the next market to be sold off to the highest bidder. If that happens I am sure our reliability issues will only get worse.
Recently when my current double play bundle I had with them (phone/dsl) expired I called them to sign up for another 1 year bundle deal. That experience was pure hell on earth. Not only did they not give me the agreed bundle deal of $64.99 a month on my next bill as they agreed to do, they also signed me up without my knowledge or permission for their internet security suite, insurance on my computer,dedicated 24/7 expert care technical support, and Verizon On Demand Games.
I was outraged. I immediately called them back and had to literally get into a verbal fight with this very arrogant customer support rep in the telephone support dept. That was horrible. My blood pressure had to have been through the roof. This woman all but called me a bare faced liar about not signing up for those services. I told her I would have NEVER asked for those services, as I consider myself a fairly knowledgeable person when it comes to computers. I did not need or want expert care as I am able to do my own trouble shooting, I don't need the on site repair service and insurance on my desktop or laptop, I rarely play online games, and I already have an excellent virus/adware/malware setup that I am very happy with.
Well, she cancels all of those services and also put me on that $64.99 bundle special I was already suppose to be under nearly 6 weeks ago. Well, I get my bill in the mail about three weeks later, and sure enough no bundle deal, and to add insult to injury I was billed a $59.99 early termination fee for cancelling the expert care tech support that I had never asked for in the first place. I called them back again on 8/20/10 and demanded to speak with a supervisor after speaking to yet another very rude service rep, who didn't even apologize for what I was going through, and had the nerve to try to upsell me on DirecTV. I told her that I live in a large apt. complex that does not allow a dish to be installed because there is no ideal way to install them on the side of the building. This woman had enough nerve to say, well sir that doesn't sound truthful to me because the laws were changed to allow apartment dwellers to install a dish. Unreal that these people are allowed to talk to loyal customers in this manner, especially those who pay their bills on time every month.
I told her I don't care if you don't believe me, I do not want DirecTV right now even if it were an option at my current address because I already have digital cable with a local provider, and I may be moving within the next 12 months, and it would require a 2 year commitment on my part for the DirecTV service. So, after telling her this and asking to be put on the $64.99 Double Play bundle deal (for the 3rd time) I then asked her again for a second time to please transfer me to your supervisor she finally agrees. I was then placed on hold for nearly 35 minutes before I reached a supervisor.
This supervisor quickly transfers me to India support because he doesn't deal with DSL issues, only phone. I spent the next 45 minutes holding for a rep in India. I then had to explain to this rep in India, because none of the previous reps had bothered to place any notes whatsoever on my account of what was going on, so I had to start all over again from the beginning.
That was going nowhere and after spending 10 minutes explaining to her what had happened, she too said why did you ask for services you did not want? I said, in a raised voice, I did NOT ask for ANY of those services ,and only after threatening to cancel all of my services did she finally agree to credit my account for the $59.99. I will have to wait until late September when my next bill cycles to see if she actually applied the credit, but after my last ordeal with billing I am not holding my breath. I am NOT a happy camper right now.
10/12/10: I was finally credited for the $59.99 early termination fee. I also recently placed an order online through their web-site to upgrade my DSL from my current 7.1/768 to 15/1. Their fastest tier available. My service ready date was September 15th, but they actually did the upgrade a day early on the 14th. I must say I was very surprised after what I dealt with recently. However, because of my distance from the central office I was provisioned for 10/1 Mbps for $39.99 a month with a one year contract and POTS and a $150 ETF. I am crossing my fingers that the billing will also be as smooth as the upgrade. I'll update my review after my bill arrives.
10/26/10: Verizon actually billed me correctly after the recent upgrade. I just hope it's smooth sailing from here.
01/26/11: No new service or billing issues to report. So far so good.
03/23/11: I've had the 10-15 Mbps plan since September 2010 and before that I had 7 Mbps since 2008. I never had a hiccup with the 10-15 Mbps plan in the six months since ordering it. I had my POTS and DSL bundled together but now that I have a unlimited voice plan with my cellular provider I found that I almost never use my landline to make voice calls.
I placed an order with Verizon on March 17th to go dry loop on the DSL at the same speed package 10-15 Mbps. That order completed on March 21st. Everything was fine for the next 48 hours until I woke up this morning and noticed pages were now loading much slower. So I pulled up my stats and my speed has been downgraded to 3 Mbps from 10 Mbps.
I am now being told by the drones in India that my line is only capable of a maximum of 3 Mbps. After bringing to their attention that I had 10 Mbps since September 2010, and 7 Mbps for two years prior to that, so how is this possible? They draw a blank.
I have a feeling if I called them tomorrow and placed an order for POTS I would suddenly and inexplicably discover that my line is capable of getting the 10 Mbps plan again. My only other option for broadband at my location is Charter Communications which is a whole other can of worms, and AT&T 3G for $60 a month with a 5 GB monthly limit. So Verizon knows my options are limited.
03/24/11: I just got off the phone with them. That was fun! It's bad enough trying to get this resolved then on top of it there is the language barrier. Well, after having them escalate it to a supervisor here in the states, he said the reason I was bumped back from 10 to the 3 Mbit plan is because when you go dry loop the max speed you can get in Maryland is 3 Mbps. Anything above that has to be bundled with POTS. It would have been nice if the rep who took my order on the 17th had explained this to me. It would have saved me three hours on the phone yesterday, and another 90 minutes today. So, I guess I have to live with 3 Mbits for the time being. I will miss having 10, but not at $90 a month. I will have to pay $39.99 dry loop for the 3 Mbit plan with a 12 month commitment.
03/25/11: I pulled up the website just now and for the 7 Mbps and 15 Mbps plans they have a notice saying those two speed packages are not available at my location dry loop. If I check off with POTS I can suddenly order those tiers again. Pretty lousy business practices if you ask me. They would be getting an additional $20 a month from me if they allowed me to order the 10-15 Mbps plan dry loop. It's like I'm being punished for dropping voice services.
04/20/11: I called Verizon today to cancel my DSL service. My 3 Mbps service was dropped back to 1.5 Mbps on April 18th after being hit by their so called optimization service. I called customer support and spoke with no fewer than five different reps, and two supervisors, explaining to them that I am only 6,400 feet from my central office and just recently had 10 Mbps on my line until I went dry loop and had it bumped back to 3 against my wishes, so if my line can handle 10 it can certainly handle 3. Well that went no where fast.
They just kept spewing the same scripted BS, it's well within the 1.5-3 mbps range. I then said you know what, I'm done. Transfer me to the department that takes disconnect orders. I was given a retention offer by the disconnect department for 3 mbps for $24.99 a month, which is actually an excellent offer, but I told them why should I even waste my time, if you will only give me 1.5 Mbps? You've already bumped me back twice. So why should I give you guys a third chance? I politely declined the offer. So that ends my 7 year relationship with Verizon DSL.
I will start checking into resellers in this area in the coming week. I hear DSL Extreme is one option. In the meantime I am stuck with using my AT&T 3G service at home via my tethering plan. With that being capped at 5 GB per month I won't be doing much more than basic browsing until I can place an order for DSL service with a reseller. I will update how that goes at a later date.
04/22/11: It looks like I shot myself in the foot by cancelling service. A Verizon supervisor called me yesterday afternoon because he said he wanted to know why I cancelled my service. I told him what has been going on. I told him if he can get me set back up with what I wanted originally the 10-15 plan that I would consider coming back. Long story short, after checking a few things he came back on the line and said, sir I am sorry to tell you this but it appears that your central office is oversold and there is no available circuit.
Great, if I had known this was the reason why my line was being constantly re-provisioned at a lower sync rate I would have kept my service active long enough to switch to a reseller, but now that I am no longer active in the central office even that isn't an option. So now I am stuck with AT&T 3G for the foreseeable future. My only other option for broadband at my location is Verizon Wireless also with a 5 GB cap or satellite.
06/20/11: I was contacted by Verizon today that an opening in my central office had become available. Finally some good news. So I immediately cancelled my wireless service at $80 a month for 5 lousy GB's. Except one problem. There was no opening at my central office! Needless to say I was not a happy camper. So I demanded a supervisor in the US and much to my surprise he actually called me back an hour later. He apologized and said he would call the dispatch dept. for my local area and over ride the block since I was told there was an opening. They had me up and running 72 hours later on the 23rd. The only real complaint I have is that they provisioned my line for 1.5 Mbits on the 3 Mbit plan. I am only six blocks from the central office and I use to have the 15 Mbit plan just two months ago. They also are billing me $44.99 a month with no contract dry loop. That is absurd for the speed I am getting but at least there is no cap (for now).
06/24/11: I called support today and asked why I was only getting 1.5 Mbits on a 3Mbit plan when I am less than 6,500 feet from the central office. They just kept saying that I was within an acceptable speed range. I asked for a supervisor and explained to him that I had the 15 Mbit plan just this past April but now that the central office is full techs are apparently not provisioning for anything faster than 3. He confirmed this but said I should be getting the 3 because of my distance from the CO. He placed an order to change my speed and an hour later after a recycle of the modem I was now up to the full 3 Mbits. I am very surprised it went so smoothly. As anyone who has had the misfortune of dealing with support at Verizon knows, getting anything accomplished with them is an exercise in futility. Now, after my first bill comes in the mail I will see what I can do to knock that price down a bit. At least see if I can come off a month to month plan to get it a little cheaper.
06/27/11: Apparently I was hit by their optimization software this morning. My sync dropped from 3360/864 to 2526/864. I know calling is a waste of time since they changed their TOS so you have to agree to having your line probed by their software on a regular basis in order to continue to receive service.
06/28/11: I was hit again this morning. My sync is now 2942/864. Still not the full sync rate but getting closer. I guess they are probing the line daily now and not monthly.
06/29/11: Hit again. Sync is now back down to 2526/864.
06/30/11: I was hit again this morning, but finally was put back to the full 3360/864 sync rate. I wonder how long it will last.
07/01/11: I was contacted today by a Verizon support rep after he saw my post in the Verizon direct forum. He said he would take the optimization off my line.
07/02/11: I'm now off of the optimization and he also said he put me on Fastpath. My latency improved dramatically from 24 ms to 8 ms. Thanks Verizon direct. Now that is service!
07/21/11: I contacted billing today to see if I could get the price down a bit and they refused to lower the price from $44.99 unless I bundle it with POTS. They would give me the Regional Essentials with the 3 Mbit plan for $44.99, which is what I am currently paying for dry loop, but after you add in the taxes and fees on the POTS side I would be paying around $55 so I will stick with dry loop for the time being.
10/23/11: I logged into my account today to pay my latest bill and Verizon offered me Freedom Essentials with High Speed Internet Enhanced (3 Mbps) for $44.99 a month. It just made economical sense to take them up on their offer, considering I am paying that for dry loop. I will essentially be getting an unlimited voice line for $10 more a month ($55 after taxes and fees). I was up and running just a few hours after placing the order online. I just hope the billing is as smooth.
11/23/11: The billing was anything but smooth. Verizon did not give me Freedom Essentials but Regional Essentials, and then billed me for all calls outside my regional area. When I called them to bring this error to their attention (after a 45 minute hold) they admitted that something went wrong in their billing system. She said it would cost me $59.99 a month if I wanted that Freedom Essentials package with DSL.
I declined and said just disconnect my voice service and I will go back to dry loop. She said please hold sir, and came back to the line nearly 10 minutes later and said I can credit your account for the calls you should not had been billed for and we can put you under our Regional Essentials with 3 Mbps DSL for $44.99 a month. I accepted the offer, only because making any major changes to my services would probably make it that much worse. I will update when the new bill arrives.
12/23/11: Received latest bill and it's still incorrect. This time I was billed separately for voice and DSL instead of a bundle price. It was broken down at $34.99 for Regional Essentials and $34.99 for DSL. The total with taxes and fees was $80. I contacted billing and they have no explanation of what is going on with my account.
Since I rarely use the landline for making calls, and only have it for a backup in an emergency, I told them just take the voice line down to the bare bones measured rate service with no calling features, which I was told would be $5.92 plus taxes and fees. I was told I could get the DSL at the same rate of $34.99. I'll update in late January when the next bill arrives.
01/24/11: Received bill today and the billing was finally correct. The taxes and fees on the voice side were nearly three times the cost of the measured rate service but at least it's correct. The total for both services with taxes and fees was $50.01. I was paying $44.99 before all of this mess just for dry loop DSL, so getting a landline for emergencies for $5.02 more than my dry loop price is worth the added peace of mind.
Attachments:
Comments:
  HpowerRoflmao
join:2000-06-08
Glendale, CA
 ·Charter
| Damn Man I feel your pain. I'd die 3 weeks without connectivity. I already was going nuts with 2 weeks of no service for getting charter pipeclog pipeline.
Seems like Verizon does a horrible job with their DSL service but does a much better job with FIOS.
--
The Internet is about to go down....it is actually. | |
| | | DLS Tier 3 phone# I'm truly thankful that I'm not the only person who has such problems with Verizon...I'm not happy about your problems, I'm just happy that these things don't only happen to me!
Does anyone have the Tier 3 DSL phone number? I had it and now a friend needs it and of course I can't locate mine...she's calling Tier 1 asking for Tier 3 help and they claim to have no clue what she's talking about and hang up on her...
Thanks! | |
| | dataicePremium
join:2002-10-27
Crisfield, MD Reviews:
 ·Verizon Online DSL
 ·AT&T Wireless Br..
·Verizon Broadban..
·Verizon Wireless..
·Comcast Formerl..
4 edits | Re: DSL Tier 3 phone# Those Tier 3 direct #'s don't work anymore. Since Verizon now outsources its entire DSL support overseas. They use to work when they were still based here in the USA, but I haven't reached a US based CSR since at least 2007, much less a Tier 3 based rep. So, unless you subscribe to their premium support plan, which I am not even sure if that isn't outsourced as well, you probably will be unsuccessful in getting one of the Tier 1 CSR's in India to transfer you to a Tier 3 rep. That's if they even have any Tier 3 reps on the staff in India, and even if they do, I seriously doubt they will know any more than the Tier 1 script robots manning the front lines. Most of the reps that I spoke with when I had my recent problems, didn't know anything more than what was on the script in front of them, no matter how high up the ladder I climbed. | |
|
Reviews:
·Verizon Online DSL
| Tech Support, yeah if you want to call it that I called not long ago for some help with modem/router issues . The tech said, in that barely understandable broken english, sir I'm going to send you toour expert support. Well I knew there was a fee but didn't know how much so I asked the "expert" how much will it cost? She replyed its a one time fee of ONLY $89:-() I said no way I think I can figure this out myself. You have a nice day. Then hung up the phone. | |
| | dataicePremium
join:2002-10-27
Crisfield, MD | Re: Tech Support, yeah if you want to call it that I would keep a VERY close watch on your bill for the next few billing cycles. It would not surprise me in the least bit if those clowns tried to bill you anyway for the $89. | |
|
| | Verizons DSL support Like everyone else, I also went through the hell of trying to work with the outsourced "techs" in India when my 3.0 service dropped to slower than dial-up. I spent every day for a week dealing with India before I demanded an English spealking supervisor and was transferred to a San Diego location set up to handle calls escalated over the cultural/language barrier in India. Although they were more pleasant to deal with, I got conflicting stories: a field tech would be sent out (I had to be home) which never happened to I needed to downgrade my plan as my location was not eligible for the 3.0. That put me over the edge so I went to the corporate website and found a listing for people in the Media Affairs Department that included office phone numbers. Several calls went to voicemail, but eventually I reached a V.P. in the department who answered. After explaining the whole problem, he asked for my contact info and said someone responsible for my area would call me back. Sure enough, the next morning, I got a call from a Supervisor IN MY STATE. After listening to my experience to date, she said she would do some checking and call me back. One hour later, she called asking if I was going to be home for the afternoon as she was diverting a tech to handle my problem. She said she had checked with the engineering department and I should infact be able to get 3.0 and was on the "edge" to get even faster. She promised to stay on the problem until I was satisfied. Two techs came to the door about an hour later. They said they had been diverted from doing routine work in a town about 60 miles away. They were exceptionally professional and checked everything from the modem outward. They made some changes in my network interface box as well as rerouting my cable pair at several points between me and the CO. They explained that they had cut the distance to the CO nearly in half. Speed tests showed that they knew what they were doing as i was now getting over 3.0 consistently. That was over 3 months ago, the "ticket" is still open and the supervisor calls about every two weeks to check on my service. She credited me with 2 months service, cancelled my contract and put me on a month-to-month plan at the contract price.
Moral of the story: Upper level tech support based in the US does exist and you can speak to them, you just have to be resourceful and MAKE A LOT OF NOISE! I'm just hoping my service remains the same when the Verizon/Frontier deal goes into effect later this summer. I'm already collecting a list of phone numbers, just in case. | |
| | | dataicePremium
join:2002-10-27
Crisfield, MD
1 edit | Re: Take advantage of BBR Thanks, I am aware of this, but having several different billing issues required the attention of a live rep from different departments. | |
|
| | | Verizon blows. I agree that Verizon's service has been failing miserably as of late. I am not able to get DSL service at my address because as the sales rep told me, "We are spending all our time and money making FiOS available." So pretty much what he said is that DSL customers can suck it. I used to have DSL at the house, rented it out while I moved out of state for a year, and my renter had DSL. I move back in and magically there is no DSL. It disappeared. MAGIC! | |
| Reviews:
·Verizon Online DSL
| Verizon POS...+ taxes! VERIZON DSL? forget about it. get rid of them, ive had problems for a month now and still no fix even through the direct forum here and hours of tech service (no joke). theyre all a bunch of stupid lazy good for nothing POS that dont care about DSL customers because they wanna push everyone to Fios. I'm switching to cable next week. Oh, there goes the connection again. Yeah, def. switching to Optimum. Good luck with your situation. | |
| | | Go figure? Well, when someone wants to sell you a (one time or yearly contract) "service fee" for fixing THEIR service when the problem is obviously on THEIR end - there really isn't anything more to say but goodbye. | |
| | dataicePremium
join:2002-10-27
Crisfield, MD
1 edit | Re: Go figure? Obviously if changing providers were an option I would not hesitate. They are the only option for broadband in my entire county. | |
|
| | FIOS anyone? I can't help but think that Verizon wants their customers to switch to FIOS. To that end, they neglect their DSL customers and provide poor service support. While this is unethical (after all we are still paying for a promised level of service), it is unlikely that they will ever be held accountable. We live in a corporate state. Get used to it... | |
| | |
| | VERIZON! 
Have been a home and DSL customer for over 8 years.. my internet bill keeps creeping up... and have been a cell phone customer for the past 3... all the while the keep promising to have FiOS in the Ranch Cucamonga for the past 3 years, but nothing!
I have recently moved and have taken a day and half off work and spent 5-6 hours on the phone in order to get my land line and DSL hooked up at my new residence. It has been a nightmare dealing with the online support... the right hand has no clue what the left hand is doing... I am continually transferred to extensions with long hold times only to find out it is the wrong department... it is a joke! They have hired a bunch of minimum wage clowns and they dont give a shit! I had a supervisor hang up on me as he did not want to listen and insisted that i was wrong!
I am shopping for another high speed internet cable company (ideally packaged with an affordable home phone and HD TV) deal... any suggestions??? | |
| | | verizon is the worst for customer service I agree with the latest post that Verizon is swell until something goes wrong. I have had Verizon for at least five years and all has been well until recently. But the measure of a company is the quality of their customer service once the inevitable happens. My connection has been abysmally slow for about two weeks. I believe I've yelled at everyone in India. I demanded a North American phone number, but was told they don't have access to any. Two tech appointments made--two no-shows. Tech finally came on a Saturday and told me it was my laptop--even though it is about a year old and it works fine everywhere else and doesn't explain why all the other wireless devices in my house are having the same problem. He left with this sage advice, "Good luck." I have a feeling he says that a lot. My speed was miraculously restored about 3 hours after he left. That lasted until Monday afternoon--back to slow speeds.
Does anyone have a North American phone number to share? | |
| | | | Re: verizon is the worst for customer service You can switch to DSL Extreme in any Verizon area. It may be a few bucks more a month but well worth it IMHO.
-Or- for $50 a month you can PM me and we can switch you to our DSL service. | |
| | | |
| | My blood is boiling just reading of your ordeal... 
I was just about to purchase Verizon DSL, it's faster and cheaper than Comcast from what I hear. I've heard nightmare-ish stories about both companies' customer service, so I was going to cross my fingers on that aspect and just make the seemingly economical choice. I think when companies get too big this is almost inevitable and even competition between companies can't save customers from the lack of accountability - there's always a new customer like me who will sign up for service when some other schmuck gets fed up and cancels. Well, time to bite the bullet and order my DSL. Hopefully I will not regret this. | |
| | dataicePremium
join:2002-10-27
Crisfield, MD | Re: My blood is boiling just reading of your ordeal... I wish you the best of luck. I hope you don't experience the same mess I had to deal with. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy! | |
|
| | Phone calls 3 hours Verizon OMG, I felt like I was the only one! 3 to 4 times a year since I was dry-looped. Sorting out billing issues. I have recently overpaid more than 600.00 to get service of DSL restored after being disconnected for nonpayment??? One-bill and wireless department both had payments logged showing no balance due...DSL claimed I had over $900.00 due!!!! Trying for a year to get off the one-bill, with no success- The "Indian" supervisor...no help. My Brother works for the Business unit, he can't even find a person for me to attempt a resolution or to get my 600bucks back! | |
| Reviews:
·Verizon Online DSL
 ·ooma
·VoicePulse
1 edit | so, it's not just me wow, i thought i was having a hard time with verizon dsl (see my review »Review of Verizon Online DSL by postjosh). i'm very impressed with how well you documented your ordeal. a few thoughts...
i now start my customer support process by posting to the verizon direct forum here. i then report back to the forum what the phone support people did to follow up. this seems to help.
i'm wondering what's going on with the pricing. i was told less than a month ago that the $45/mo was for no contract but that if i signed up for a year, they would do $35. it sounds like they're not offering that to you. maybe you need to ask again or maybe they are phasing it out. it may be regional. i'm in nyc. i hope i can still get it, if they fix my problem. they already reneged on the $27 for life deal with me. i had the pots billed separately from the dsl but they claimed that by cancelling pots i was changing my service and my lifetime contract was cancelled. i think that's bull but what am i going to do, get a lawyer?
i haven't seen any evidence of them intentionally lowering my sync speed. i think my speed issue is the result of their network issues. they provide advertised speed in my office consistently.
also, why is that the techs ask you to test my using speedtest.net? that makes no sense to me. shouldn't the first thing they look at be the sync speed listed on your modem's home page (192.168.1.1)?
it's clear to me that verizon is no longer interested in dsl. they are pushing fios like crazy and i may have no choice but to give in and pay the higher fees to get decent broadband.
again, sorry for your pain and thanks for logging it so carefully.
- josh | |
| | | | | Reviews:
·Verizon Online DSL
·ooma
·VoicePulse
| Re: so, it's not just me just to let you know... i posted to the verizon direct forum last week about my upload speed issues. they set up a ticket for me on the 18th. i received a voicemail last night (aug 21st) saying that the problem had been corrected. not bad, considering that verizon has been out on strike. anyhow, the problem does seem to be fixed. my upload speed been upped to the advertised maximum. i will wait a week and then try to get a contract if it still working properly. so it seems that at least in big cities they are making some attempt to maintain their dsl service.
3358 Kbps / 863 Kbps on the modem w/ fastpath
2830 Kbps/ 710 Kbps & 35 ms ping w/ qos at speedtest.net | |
| | | | dataicePremium
join:2002-10-27
Crisfield, MD | Re: so, it's not just me Congrats on getting your upstream increased. I may try again to get under a contract in a week or two once the workers get back from the strike and get ahead on the back log of issues. | |
| | | | | Reviews:
·Verizon Online DSL
·ooma
·VoicePulse
| Re: so, it's not just me they're still offering the contract at least online. i don't know what the asterisk about taxes is about. there have never been any on my past internet bills. i think that they just automatically put that on the bottom of everybody's bill. | |
| | | | | | |
| | verizon dsl sucks Verizon DSL is horrible. Hasn't been working so i called tech support. What a joke. Canceling with Verizon now. This is my third time having these issues in the last 4 months. | |
| | | Customer service is hideous!!! I've never seen anything like it!!! You have to follow up on every single request or ELSE!!! I've just had FIOS installed all I can say is UGGGHHH. | |
|
| |
| next review in page (previous review)
 Review by Madness
member for 12 years, 2459 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 9 days ago
- Quincy,Norfolk,MA
- $32 per month
- Verizon
- "It's working...most of the time!"
- "Awful slowdown in the evening."
- "3000/768"
| |
My service had been trouble-free for years (not kidding!). But since about the last week of December, my downstream likes to choke, in the evenings, after about 7pm. Goes from normal average of 2800 down to low as a pitiful 190. Plus I get occasional loss-of-sync, in the mornings, between about 7-9am. If you can hear me Verizon, FIX THIS!!!!!!
Comments:
| next review in page (previous review)
Review by Mr T
member for 11.3 years, 1577 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 11 days ago
- Lancaster,Los Angeles,CA
- $40 per month
- about 7 days
- "Fast Setup!"
- "Connection speed drops to very low levels in the evenings."
- "Looking to go back to DSL Extreme"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
I've had it for about 2 months. So far at 3 megs/second it does what it is supposed to, provide basic browsing and one video stream at a time. Latency is always around 39 milliseconds. I just came from Time Warner where I was getting >20megabits/seconds and I was able to have 3 video feeds at a time! (teenagers). I have dry loop and according to DSl extreme they can get me 7 megabits/ second on my line. I might try first on month to month to see if it is true.
Comments:
| | Dsl? Why do you prefer dsl over cable or wireless internet? Just curious. | |
| | Mr T
join:2000-10-06
Lancaster, CA | Re: Dsl? I have no choice. No cable available. | |
| | | | | Re: Dsl? Ahhhhh OK. I am surprised you don't have it in CA of all places!!! | |
|
| |
| next review in page (previous review)
Review by brianmacy
Fair warning: reviewer joined this month
lodged 11 days ago
- Lovettsville,Loudoun,VA
 Business customer- $92 per month
- (24 month contract)
- about 14 days
- Verizon
- "It generally works and the local service guys are great"
- "Verizon is a PAIN to deal with and the CO is overloaded"
- "It is essentially your only choice if Comcast doesn't service you"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings below consensus)
|
I have their Business DSL service so I can get a static IP. During the day it works well but when people get home from work the performance drops from 3Mbps to .1Mbps with a large amount of packet loss. At times it is so bad I can't even pull up the google.com search page and it certainly impacts my ability to work with my international teams in the evening. The big problem is the CO is overloaded and since it is completely sold out with a waiting list there is no incentive for Verizon to do anything about it.
Calling into Verizon is an entire other chore. They keep sending technicians out for stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with the line... even for sales/profile problems. I have to explain the same things over and over and over again every time I call back in. If there was any other choice for me I would jump at it.
Comments:
| next review in page (previous review)
Review by jagger247
member for 24 days, 0 visits, last login: 24 days ago
updated 24 days ago
- Sunset Beach,Orange,CA
- $64 per month
- Verizon
- "Can't really say anything good about them."
- "Absolutely no continuity between departments. Employess have minimum knowledge.."
- "It turns into a bigger headache once you call them."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings below consensus)
|
Employees work off scripts without any real knowledge of what they are talking about. You are transferred multiple times, and each time you have to repeat yourself and the steps you have already taken, and each time you will usually get different answers. From my experiences there are major communication issues with understanding employees due to their English skills being very poor, coupled with them reading the scripts too fast. It is not uncommon to be put on hold and end up "somehow" being disconnected from the call; and never receiving a call back. With all the information you end up giving them, by the time the tech gets to you they are completely uniformed as to what the issue is.
Comments:
| next review in page (previous review)
 Review by lunghd
member for 358 days, 42 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 27 days ago
- Elliston,Montgomery,VA
- $44 per month
- "They were available and cable was not."
- "They were available and cable was not."
- "Customer service SUCKS until you reach the LOCAL techs - they're great."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
There are times I wish the CEO, Directors etc of Verizon were to suddenly find themselves floating in a sea of molten lava with their lives about to end in 24 hours as their little chunk of solid earth slowly melts away... and the only way they can save their lives is to call Verizon Tech Support using the same phone numbers and trying to communicate with the same "technicians" that we do.
All archaeologists would find is charred corpses holding a phone receiver to their ears from being stuck on hold while some idiot flow-chart jockey from Bongladong is telling them to power off their modem then wait for the "line test" to complete.
It's just a fantasy mind you... but one a lot of Verizon customers share.
Yes - Verizon DSL is what I have.
No - there are no alternatives unless I go with satellite.
Would I switch if there was a comparable alternative? - IN A HEARTBEAT.
Pre-install service was great - phone rep did try to upsell Direct TV package but didn't push too hard and overall was knowledgeable about the packages offered.
Install was for new construction so we had some hurdles there but the install guys were great - they even strung me a temporary line nearly 800' thru the woods... literally strung thru the trees and bushes until they could bury a bundle in the driveway. Line burial was fast and efficient even with having to cut through some solid rock to make a channel for the bundle.
Minor issues after install were handled promptly... but then again I had a voice line then which seems to get better response for service.
Once the voice service was shut down (too damned expensive!!) service went out the window... and performance has steadily declined. We are constantly having to reset the modem, experience slower and slower speeds, lagging during video games etc. Where we once could watch NetFlix on a computer while my son watched YouTube etc we now watch NetFlix "adjusting picture for your connection speed" and net videos stutter while playing 5 seconds of video... then buffering for 30 seconds. Some days internet surfing consists of an error message telling us the dns server cannot be resolved (or somesuch message) The gateway logs show a loss of sync (according to a member here who is helping us) while I'm about to lose my mind.
I really, really despise the pissants who designed the customer "service" system at Verizon... it's obvious that their strategy is to just make it not worth our while to complain and insulate themselves as much as possible from the people they're screwing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------
Edit: After beating my skull against the Verizon Support Brick Wall I finally managed to get the folder jockeys to escalate the issue upwards to someone who speaks fluent Gibberish rather than heavily accented Gibberish. Somewhere along the line they accidentally connected me to someone in the US who didn't speak Gibberish and we had to resort to English.
Imagine that - two people actually able to communicate. I'm sure it was an accident but I'll take it.
Long story short: Finally able to convince them there was a problem. Line tests on their end confirmed an issue & a new gateway was sent out. New gateway improved things but still had wild speed swings and disconnects. Another (rather heated) call finally got me escalated up (again???) and Verizon promised to send a tech out to physically check my line.
They actually called this time and a tech came out. In addition to the gateway they'd already replaced (losing sync etc) there was a problem with their splitter module in the NID box itself.
Local service tech was great - prompt, knowledgeable & courteous. He was the tech who did my original installation and had the same "hustle in motion" he had then. Diagnosed, fixed, tested then was out in about 1/2 hour. A+ for Verizon local service technicians.
Long story short: It appears fixed. Bad gateway + bad line module inside the NID box = a lot of frustration dealing with Verizon phone support. I found two decent phone techs out of all the calls and less than half of the reps could speak understandable English. Verizon gets an F- on the phone support side of things.
I'll give it a few days and update my connection rating if it remains working.
I bumped up my service rating because of the EXCELLENT service tech who fixed things on-site but it would take 10,000 techs like him to overcome the hoards of heavily accented, gibberish speaking phone reps who are a part of the service process. Phone and physical support should be rated seperately.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------
A brief update - like most Verizon customers the challenge on giving a review is in finding words that don't peel the paint off of nearby walls.
Any Verizon customer (emphasis on "cuss"-tomer) has an almost weekly need to update any review depending on which Ouija board the phone support people are using. I'm in the midst of screwing up the courage to call "support" again to run down another intermittent issue... I say intermittent because it only happens when we use the internet. If we stay offline, we have no issues with the dsl. (Kind of like having a car with great fuel economy because the motor fell out on the highway last month)
Since the tech replaced the splitter in the NID box last trip, speeds have been fairly good with some frustrating hiccups along the way. Overall - speeds running 1.2kbps for an advertised 1.5 line. I can live with that, the issue now is random and frequent disconnects and often long delays in looking up websites. The thought of wasting another day contending with some folder jockey who cannot speak comprehensible English is already getting my blood pressure up... and I haven't even dialed the phone. If only there was a 'taser phone rep now' button we could push when they start spouting the 'reboot mantra' - the bug zapper sound followed by a scream and curses in a foreign language would almost make the need to call Verizon "support" (I almost typed suppository... a subliminal typo?) something to look forward to. Or perhaps the voltage could be tied to the difference between the advertised and actual line speed? Just a thought.
Again, phone and physical support should be rated separately.
Comments:
mist668
join:2011-02-15
Middleburg, PA Reviews:
·Verizon Online DSL
| +1 Finally someone agrees with me that their customer service is very very terrible.
I wonder how long customer service reps in india will need until they end up killing themselves from their job. How exciting can it be to be the 4th rep helping the same customer in the same day because the other three ahead couldnt do anything to help. Thats assuming that the 4th will do anything. | |
| | lunghd
join:2011-02-13
Elliston, VA | Re: +1 I don't think they'll kill themselves... they're all probably giggling insanely everytime they pretend to "help" us and while listening to us scream ourselves hoarse at the damned automated phone menus... | |
|
Reviews:
·Frontier Communi..
1 edit | Yes Verizon/Frontier leaves a lot to be desired. I just got done blogging about it.
»www.pokerperambulation.com/2011/···me-here/
I may or may not get satisfaction. I have an open ticket. I know that because a recording told me I had one and would not let me back in the actual support system after the system had put me on permanent hold. It directed me to another number. Dumb me called it and got a voice version of Window's help. If this then press that to get to the next layer.
My lost packets according to SmokePing are running around 10% and "Server Not Found" messages abound. | |
|
| |
| next page (previous review)
 Review by DC DSL
member for 11.5 years, 5132 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 28 days ago
- Washington,District Of Columbia,DC
- $55 per month
- (12 month contract)
- Verizon
- "Generally reliable, no caps, and it isn't Comcast"
- "Dreadful, useless tech support"
- "Still the best option for residential copper"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
I have had Verizon DSL since 2000, currently the Double Play bundle (Freedom Essentials and 15/1 DSL). Other than the occasional "roving mystery slowdowns" that have been plaguing VZ for years, my speed is pretty consistent between 9 & 11M/800K. Don't install any of their "performance" software (or uninstall it immediately after if it's required for activating service.) And, avoid calling tech support unless your service is completely down (and even then, only if it has been more than a couple of hours and turning-off-the-modem for 30 minutes and then rebooting everything doesn't work for you). If they make you install their remote access agent on your computer, uninstall it as soon as your problem is resolved. Also, avoid using a direct computer-to-modem connection...it's much better if you have one of the wireless routers (their combo or buy one on your own especially if you use Skype or other VoIP service).
Comments:
|
|
