ad hoc board > I want out!

I want out!

No worries.... GTEI (verizon Online) doesn't enforce their year contract. There's a one time fee of $35 to change though.

said by pezpunk:

---

There's a one time fee of $35 to change though.

---

reply to ZWill
I don't know for sure what the penalty is, I'm on a different division of Verizon/GTE DSL. Your best bet is to give them a call and ask. 1-877-483-5070 (Verizon Communications Residential DSL sales)
--
Any views or opinions expressed are the sole opinion of the author, not necessarily the views or opinions of Verizon Select Services or any of it's affiliates.

Yeah, I sent them an e-mail. If I don't hear anything back within a reasonable amount of time, I'll call them. It's not that I don't mind the line provided by them, it's just that their ISP department sucks (I'm sure you know that VerizonCLECTech). At any rate, thanks for the phone #.

I dunno, I've heard of very few issues with GTEi, but I also deal with a separate frame relay and set of circuits than Verizon Communications does. It might be that we have just under 4000 customers, where the ILEC has closer to 40,000. *shrug* who knows...

--
Any views or opinions expressed are the sole opinion of the author, not necessarily the views or opinions of Verizon Select Services or any of it's affiliates.

reply to ZWill
I know that verizon charges a $35 fee to upgrade your service to a higher speed. See, I'm 18,350 feet from my co. I have the 768k/128k package for $39/month. I usually pull about 720/121k. I'm satisfied with that. But if you want to know my only complaint, is that if I upload a file, while downloading, it cuts the download by 60-70%. Tech support says I am the only one to report this problem, and its the first time they've heard of it. Maybe it's my ethernet card, or config? I'm not sure.

reply to ZWill
Threaten them with changing your phone service to Sprint if they want to charge you a penalty. Residential service is their bread and butter.

said by chelman:

---

Threaten them with changing your phone service to Sprint if they want to charge you a penalty. Residential service is their bread and butter.

---

When I signed up for Verizon/GTE DSL, they said that if I pull out of the contract, I will have to pay for the remainder of the contract anyway!! =( Is that the case?

Not necessarily. If there is an issue that Verizon cannot resolve or you move within a Verizon area and are unable to get DSL you will not be penalized. If you decided you just don't want the service or move to another providers area then yes, you have to pay the remainder of the year. However if you follow VerizonCLECTech's advice you will find that many representatives are willing to work with you (not against) as they are more interested in keeping a customer happy than getting a few extra bucks out of you.

reply to CircuitBreaker
Sometimes people forget they're talking to a human being on the other end of the line

it's not our job to be people, but sometimes we forget we're robots
--
Any views or opinions expressed are the sole opinion of the author, not necessarily the views or opinions of Verizon Select Services or any of it's affiliates.

reply to vlads4
Vlads:

Verizon has been charging the customer the penalty fee:( If you have an issue with the speeds/service not up to their promise, you may get out of it. But if you tell them you are moving...the next thing they will want to know is what is your disconnect date

Good luck!

reply to ZWill
I work with VerizonClecTech, and have to agree entirely about how people treat the Tech support people and how the tech people will treat the customer. I have been in ADSL longer than him and remember when we had no system for getting things done, we had to invent one from the ground up, at that point we just did what we could. It also gave us a lot of background to help people out and contacts to make things happen in a much smoother manner. We use these resources as best we can, but will be more likely to do so for someone who is civil to us and willing to accept we have limitation to what we can do and that we are doing our best.

--
Any views or opinions expressed are the sole opinion of the author, not necessarily the views or opinions of Verizon Select Services or any of it's affiliates.

For those who work at Verizon:

I would suggest showing your supervisors/managers these posts, since the majority of the posts seem to be from disgruntled customers and, hopefully, they will get the idea that the current support (and, most likely, network) infrastructure is inadequate for dealing with the current demands.

Regardless of the relative state of humanity on the customer and/or company portions of the equation, several truths remain self-evident:

• Customers expect what they pay for and will, rightfully so, b*tch when they do not get it. After all, who is willing to pay $[price of service]/month for only half of what is promised? Are you? If so, I have a Swiss Bank Account number for you to deposit to!



• Customers call Technical Support because they have problems. Bottom line, this is the whole reason for your being at Verizon. When people have problems, they want solutions - not run-arounds. Generally, people are stressed when they have issues. Therefore, it is your job to take/escalate ownership of the issue and ensure that it gets resolved in a timely manner. The longer a problem persists, the more customers will call and the more pi$$ed the customers will be. If there is a sense that the issue is being dealt with, tensions would be lessened. However, building trust in your customers in this respect will take time, as this trust relationship has been, obviously, tread upon far too many times in the past.



• Customers will vent their frustrations on whomever they can reach. Since you are it, presumably, you are being paid to be a 'shoulder to cry upon'; saving your management the headaches of doing the same. Get them more involved in servicing the customers and/or seeing your side of the equation or else this will continue.



• Take the time to get to know the Customer's unique situation before responding with scripted responses (aka LISTEN to the customer). Nothing pi$$e$ people off more than to explain the situation, in detail, and have the tech ask if the computer/modem is plugged in, what pretty lights are/are not glowing, etc. As you handle more and more support calls, you should begin to identify patterns in the requests and be able to resolve them in a more timely manner. Experience not training, per se, is your best weapon. Use it to your benefit.



• Remember: Each customer is an individual. Not all customers are going to be novices nor are all going to be experts; you will find a myriad of different people in your dealings with customers. Treat them with the level of understanding that they have. Do not talk over a novice's head nor beneath an expert's level of understanding; you will invariably make a tense situation worse. If you feel the customer is more technical than yourself, it is your job to escalate it to the appropriate Technical Support level. You should not have to deal with issues you cannot resolve. It is bad for your reputation as well as the frustration level of the customer. Customers should not have to pull teeth to be escalated. After all, the Customer pays the company that pays you. Therefore, the Customers are your ultimate employers; since no company could exist without customers purchasing the product(s)/service(s).



• Communication is the Key. So many problems would be resolved if Verizon and other companies actually were pro-active and called customers back when the issue that was reported has a change in status. As it stands, the onus is usually on the customer - who is paying for the product/service - to followup on their issues. In a perfect world, companies - who are getting paid for the product/service - would keep in constant contact with the customers regarding their issues, not the other way around.



• Take every opportunity to learn what your customers expect and do whatever is possible to fulfill their needs; within reason, of course. These (and other public) forums are a perfect example of where customers and companies alike can come and discuss their views, thoughts, suggestions, questions, etc. However, discussing the issues is only half the battle. Solutions need to be reached and implemented to avoid the same mistakes being made over and over. You are in a better position than the customer are since you are already within the company and, presumably, have the ability to contact any member of the company in response to a perceived flaw in the current processes. Customers are, generally, limited to calling Technical Support and/or Billing. It is up to the people in the customer support positions to identify trends, etc, and suggest resolutions to their supervisors/managers. If your supervisors/managers do not followup with you regarding your suggestions, then this indicates a more serious issue and it should be escalated internally until someone does rectify the situation.

Your posts sounds nice, but in reality it will not happen. To give the level of CS you talk about would need an far larger staff than most companies now have. The staff costs money and the price of DSL would go way up. People want the service to be cheap and the companies need to provide the service while still making a profit, so they strive for a happy medium.
Most managers are aware of the problems and are unable or unwilling to change things, most do not understand what DSL is, or how it works.
His comment about the trump card is reality. When you call tech support it is up to the agent you get how the call is handled, they have parameters, but also have a lot of leeway as to how they wish to handle the call. If the person calling is reasonable and willing to work with the agent, they will get the same in return. If they call and are abusive and unreasonable they should expect the same in return.
Now to start with specific points.
Most tech support agents are well aware people call when they have a problem and want it resolved. We do our best with the tools we are provided to resolve the issue or get it to someone who can, we don't want the customer calling back repeatedly with the same problem. As the old saying goes: Don't blame the messenger, the tech agent is doing their best.
Sure they want to vent their frustrations, but a lot of people will make it personal, that is wrong, if the agent you are speaking to, did nothing wrong why blame them. As I said before management really doesn't care too much, they just want the calls answered.
If people are willing to take the time to explain the issue, the agent can do their best to resolve it. This can be like pulling teeth at times, as people want it to be resolved immediately, a little patience goes a long way.
Tech support agents do not know if the customer is a computer whiz or not until speaking with them. Agents need to assume people know little then adjust accordingly.
Calling customers back for every problem falls in with my above statement about costs.
Many people in the DSL world follow the forums and what is going on in the DSL. We can make suggestions to management all we like, until they decide to implement them, there is little we can do.

Just one last comment. Don't judge a man till you have walked a mile in his shoes. Remember that the next time you make comments about tech support agents.

--
Any views or opinions expressed are the sole opinion of the author, not necessarily the views or opinions of Verizon Select Services or any of it's affiliates.

reply to CyberStretch
Nothing pi$$e$ people off more than to explain the situation, in detail, and have the tech ask if the computer/modem is plugged in, what pretty lights are/are not glowing, etc.
I forgot to respond to this particular part. Asking questions like this may seem silly but eliminates a lot problems, start with the obvious then work from there,it shows god logic. Why go through a bunch of things only to discover it is something as basic a loose cable or an unplugged modem. Believe me it happens more than most people are willing to believe.
--
Any views or opinions expressed are the sole opinion of the author, not necessarily the views or opinions of Verizon Select Services or any of it's affiliates.

reply to CyberStretch

said by CyberStretch:

---

For those who work at Verizon:

{SNIP}

Customers need to keep in mind that we hold the trump card here.

This comment should get you fired! Customers hold the ultimate trump - your paycheck!!! You need a serious reality check and a good swift kick in the nether regions of your anatomy or, better yet, a new 'career'. You definitely do not have the mentality it takes to deal with the public.

---

Homer J,

Apologies to Felix for the mis-quoting!;)

To give the level of CS you talk about would need an far larger staff than most companies now have.

BS! If the 'Techs' knew what they were talking about rather than reading scripts from a manual, you would have a lot more efficient and proficient Technical Support Department without the need to increase staff.

Most managers are aware of the problems and are unable or unwilling to change things, most do not understand what DSL is, or how it works.

I guess you missed the part of the post about "If your supervisors/managers do not followup with you regarding your suggestions, then this indicates a more serious issue and it should be escalated internally until someone does rectify the situation." If you allow incompetent supervisors/managers to run the department, you will get nowhere, and neither will the customer and/or company.

Tech support agents do not know if the customer is a computer whiz or not until speaking with them. Agents need to assume people know little then adjust accordingly.

The problem I was mentioning is that the Techs do not seem to know when they are dealing with someone who is/is not a novice. They still read their little scripts and follow the manuals like so many trained monkeys; usually without a full understanding of the product themselves. It would be great if non-novice users had a method of skipping over the almost asinine Tier-1 'Techs' and actually get escalated to someone who knows what they are talking about.

Calling customers back for every problem falls in with my above statement about costs.

Again, I respond with BS! You are getting paid to resolve customers' issues. If the customer's issue is not resolved, your job is not finished. If the customer does not know that the issue has been escalated/resolved, your job is not finished.

You guys seem to have a very skewed idea about what it is to serve the public. From reading your posts, I gather that you are there just to collect your paycheck and throw out a line of corporate BS in the forums to make yourselves look good. That is not customer service/support! Customer service begins and ends with the customer; period!

Don't judge a man till you have walked a mile in his shoes. Remember that the next time you make comments about tech support agents.

Only a mile? How about 20? I have supervised/managed Customer Service Departments, Technical Support Departments, Help Desks, Network Operation Centers, etc. I have earned my way up from the Technical Support ranks by providing excellent internal and external Customer Support and by taking the time to actually understand the products/services my companies have offered; as well as the customers. I know what I am talking about because I have been there; and still am! Here again, your presumption that I have not had prior experience in the field has led you to misconceptions.

• Money! (Why else be in business?)


• Market Share (How else do you get your stock prices to soar so you can retire a millionaire or get bought out by a company offering you a Golden Parachute?)


• Customer Headcount (It does not matter that 99% are discouraged with the service, so long as they can fill in their little spreadsheets with numbers to make themselves look better to the Board and/or the private sector.)
  
• etc