Can you hear me now? Verizon FIOS, where customer service apparently doesn't exist.

First let me apologize for using a blog specializing in fire & EMS topics to air my personal grievances on a mostly unrelated topic. It is not my usual style, but if Verizon FIOS won’t let me reach out to them via the telephone, this may be my only option.

I have had an intermittent phone problem for three weeks and have been dealing with my phone provider, FIOS, since December 15. The problem still exists and makes running a business out of your home quite difficult.

Until now, I loved FIOS. It is the best TV, Internet, phone provider I’ve had. I think I was the first in my neighborhood a couple of years ago to switch over from the awful service from Cox Cable. The problems with FIOS have been almost non-existent. My early dealings with customer service/technical support were wonderful. I encouraged my neighbors and many others to make the switch.

But now I am left with a problem where my phone calls are cut off four or five times each day and no one in Verizon will take ownership of this to try to solve the problem. Poor customer service is exactly why I left Cox.

To me, the most bizarre part of all of this is that even when your case is escalated you can’t get back in touch with the people you are dealing with. You must start over each time and spend the better part of an hour talking with technical support. They then escalate you to someone new.

What I am saying is that the people who supply my Internet and phone service will not let me communicate with them via email or a phone call. When questioned about this, I am told by each and every person, Verizon doesn’t operate that way. Don’t call us. We’ll call you.

By the way, it isn’t like they don’t believe me about there being a problem. They experienced it first hand. At least four times while talking with technical support my calls have been dropped.

If you care, here are the gory details. Essentially, in the middle of calls I will suddenly be cut off with a fast busy signal. It happens randomly, multiple times a day. The person on the other end will also hear the same sound. When it happens, the fast busy signal will be on both of my phone lines. It takes about a minute before the lines are clear again. I’ve had it happen as many as three or four times in one conference call.

The first technician arrived on Saturday December 18. He checked things out and insisted the problem was in my phone instrument. I was skeptical, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt and swapped phones just to be sure. The same thing happened. I called Verizon FIOS customer service/technical support again. They then escalated this to someone who decided my Optical Network Terminal (ONT) box needed to be replaced.

This technical support person took lengthy notes that he said would be sent to the technician who would be there to do the replacement on December 22. The same technician arrived. He had not read the notes. He said, once again, there was nothing wrong that he could find either inside my house or outside. He only decided to change the ONT box after I told him that’s what technical support thought should be done.

The next day the same problems occurred. Back to technical support. This time, at my insistence, they escalated the call. They forwarded me to a man named AJ who sounded like he was going to take ownership of this case (finally). Because of the holiday AJ couldn’t get another technician out here until Sunday December 26. That I understood.

I suggested rather strongly to AJ that maybe it is time to have a supervisor out here rather than the same level of technician that can’t seem to solve the problem. AJ agreed.

In each of my calls to the main Verizon number, due to the intermittent phone problem, I have either been cut off while waiting for help or, as I mentioned, while talking to a support person. Because of this, I stupidly asked AJ how I could get in touch directly with him. I pointed out that it was also getting old spending 45 minutes to an hour on the phone trying to re-explain the problem, having them read the notes and asking me all the same questions before I was deemed worthy enough of escalation. And even then there is no way to reach the same person I talked to before.

This is when AJ told me that you can’t reach him directly either by phone or email. That’s when my head started swimming. I was doing my best not to channel Lewis Black or Billy Goldfeder and scream WTF! If you come away from reading this with nothing else, please remember what I said earlier: The people who supply my Internet and phone service will not let me communicate with them via email or a phone call.

But AJ promised to call me back on Sunday morning. And he did. At that time AJ said there will be a supervisor at my house soon. AJ was mostly wrong.

The part he was right about is that someone soon arrived at my door. But it was just another technician of the same level as the two previous visits. He checked things out and said there is nothing he could do except possibly have the line department come out. No supervisor came, but he did give me the supervisor’s numbers. A breakthrough (or so I thought). I was feeling great. Finally, 11 days after my initial call someone at Verizon I can call who will be familiar with my problem.

The supervisor told me he will work on the problem and have someone out there in the morning, along with the line department. I reminded him if you send the same level of technician you will end up with the same results. He told me that won’t happen.

Skeptical of this, I again called technical support. The first thing I told the woman I was speaking to (as I always do)  that I am having this problem and we may be cut off. I asked her if she could please call me back if that happens. She said sure. She sounded like a very nice person who wanted to resolve my problem. About 20 minutes into our conversation the fast busy occurred. She has yet to call me back.

Now for today’s episode of, “As Verizon Turns”. I didn’t get a call back from the field supervisor I talked to yesterday. In fact, I haven’t heard a word from him despite two messages left on his voice mail. So maybe it doesn’t help to have a direct way to contact Verizon’s people. I am starting to understand their thinking on all of this.

I did get a call, as promised, from one of AJ’s colleagues, who wanted to know if my problem was solved with Sunday’s visit. I told him no. That nothing of what AJ said would happen, happened.  So, he made me go through the whole thing again. He took notes and promised to send the notes to dispatch. At that point I started to lose it a bit. I nicely, but rather firmly insisted on speaking to his supervisor. His answer in a nutshell is that they have done everything they can do to solve this problem and insisted his supervisor won’t be able to help me either. But I said I wanted to speak with the supervisor anyway. That’s when I got cut off again. This time I don’t think the phone line was the problem.

Amazingly, a supervisor from the technical support department called me back. His name is Sammy. He insisted they will take care of this issue and that a supervisor will be at my home later today.

A short time later another technician showed up. He said he was here to replace my ONT box. Yes, if you are reading closely, the same box that was replaced on Wednesday. He too hadn’t read any of the notes that customer service told me the technicians always read. After getting him up to date, he talked on the phone with his supervisor. A short time later I then saw him walking outside my house. I found him changing the ONT box. When I asked why, he said because his supervisor said there was nothing in the notes about the box being changed. I pointed out this is a brand new white box that was put up Wednesday to replace an old gray box. He just shook his head and kept on working.

This technician gave me the phone number of his supervisor. She is busy and couldn’t come out to my house today. But he told me I should call her in the morning.

So that’s where I am. Still no resolution. Two field supervisors who won’t step up to the plate (apparently the first one who didn’t return my calls after the first contact pushed my case off to the second team). Customer service/technical support people who take hours of my time writing notes they erroneously think are being read by the technicians. And a Verizon policy that we can’t contact their people directly.

After 38 years in broadcasting I understand intermittent technical problems. I’ve dealt with them. They can be frustrating and difficult to find. I expected that with this problem. What I didn’t expect was the total indifference, incompetence and bureaucratic BS that I would have to deal with from Verizon FIOS. It is a great disappointment.

Verizon take note: All I have really been looking for is someone who will take ownership of this problem and be an advocate for trying to get it solved. Someone who I can actually call and provide an update to without jumping through the same hoops I have jumped through for 12 days.

Like many of you I have dealt with lots of awful customer service/technical support situations. At this point, this one is heads above any I’ve experienced. I am guessing this could be good material for my next Xtranormal movie. I know Fireboy from Roanoke would welcome the break.

To the folks at Verizon, if by some slim chance this makes it your way and you would like to dispute any of my facts, the blog is yours. But unlike you, I will give give you my email: dave@www.statter911.com. I think you know my phone number.