Consumer Gripe Open Thread
I’ll get this started.
I’ve been a Verizon customer for the last seven-plus years, home and cell, but that may soon end. For the second time in less than a month, my home service has been cut. Get this: my balance is $85. So, they get to add another re-installation charge and I’m beginning to believe that’s how they make their money down here in Virginia.
Of course, their 24-hour line is automated. A customer service person in Massachusetts told me I can’t talk to a Verizon person in Virginia until tomorrow.
Cory suggested we go Vonage. We just may….
November 9th, 2009 at 7:58 pm
FWIW, I’ve been a Verizon Wireless customer for over ten years now and I’m basically satisfied, though I don’t really have any way to compare it with Sprint, AT&T or anything else. I’ve used Packet 8 for over two years and I’m real happy with them for IP telephony at home.
The Google phone looks nice, but I just can’t justify giving them any money. The iPhone is not available on Verizon (and I can’t afford it anyway). The Motorola Droid is out now (or very soon), but it’s pricey as well. Looks like the HTC Hero will be available on VZW soon, at a much better price than the Droid, and it has nearly as many features — way more than I’ll use, that’s for sure.
November 9th, 2009 at 8:10 pm
have you had any experience with AT&T? we have it out here in California, and it’s fine. That could be another option..
November 9th, 2009 at 8:31 pm
Dude – EVERYONE I know who has joined Vonage now regrets it. I am on Sprint and have not had any issues at all.
November 9th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
I’ll remember that.
Just got back from the ER. Cory’s shoulder dislocated again (3rd time this month) and I had to come home to get his sling. They’ll probably have to put him out again to put it back in place. I’ll check in when I get back… probably around 3am.
bp
November 9th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
yikes…we’ll keep Cory in our thoughts, Bob
November 10th, 2009 at 12:13 am
Here is my little Verizon story…
When my wife and I were dating we got Verizon phones. Everything was great except every time we needed to up our contract minutes (we were in the process of opening a business) Verizon would reset our 2 year agreement. So we got stuck with Verizon for 5.5 years in a 2 year deal and a plan we couldn’t afford with no hope of getting out. So I finally payed the cancelation fee to get out.
We decided to join Altel and 1.25 years into our contract they sellout to Verizon and we become Verizon customers again… I call to complain and am told that I am still an Altel customer even though all the payments are made to Verizon and our voicemail has to be moved over to their system. So I finally went down to AT&T and signed up with them. Now Verizon is trying to collect on my ‘broken’ contract on behalf of Altel according to them… Altel won’t take my calls because I am a Verizon customer and Verizon insists that I am still an Altel customer that owes them money for breaking my Altel contract. Like this makes any sence at all… So I told Verizon that I already paid them one cancelation fee and they can try to bring this to court if they so choose.
AT&T is working out well for me.
November 10th, 2009 at 12:18 am
Haven’t had experience with their land line but their cell service in NC was horrible. Roaming charges applied in the local calling area and some customer service droid basically told me tough s**t. They ranked right up there with ALTEL who told me obviously I “didn’t understand how to use my phone” when follow me roam would not activate as it should automatically. Did I tell you I installed and maintained the original cell systems? Went to Sprint and for the last 8 years have not had any problems.
November 10th, 2009 at 12:27 am
I have had Verizon for my Cell Phone for about 12 years & I had Sprint for a little over a year. I went back to Verizon, as there are a lot of areas there is no service if you are not near a major Interstate Highway. The only place I had a problem with Verizon was when we went to Alaska as there are hundreds of miles in the Yukon Territory there is no phone service at all or even electric service. All Campgrounds have their own Generators & Satellite Phone.
Bob, tell Cory to get his shoulder fixed, or he will be in the same position I am now in. Believe me, it will get worse & might cause more damage if he puts it off. I hope he is smarter than I am, as I am now paying for a bad decision in not having a disk problem fixed sooner. A PAINFUL BIG BAD DECISION!
November 10th, 2009 at 12:32 am
Right now, he has no insurance so he can’t get his shoulder “fixed”. If he can achieve staff status at his intern gig, he’ll be in better shape come January.
November 10th, 2009 at 1:42 am
I have been fairly happy with Vonage. I live in Eastern Europe and have a local NC number that was somewhat strained to change to Vonage. Magic Jack is also available and many people prefer the quality and ease of use (it is also much less expensive. There are many choices out there.
Sorry to hear about Cory.
November 10th, 2009 at 3:00 am
let’s HOPE so, Bob. How did it go with Cory though?
November 10th, 2009 at 3:29 am
We just got back, an hour an a half break and it’s off to work. Cory has a shoot on the Hill today, is in a sling again, but will make do.
November 10th, 2009 at 8:42 am
I wanted to mention something about Vonage, just so you’re aware. A lot of those types of internet-based phone service companies, they have a bit of a problem wherein if you were to call 911 from a Vonage phone, emergency services can’t recognize your address and information the way they can on regular landlines. I don’t know if they’ve resolved that issue yet, but a friend of mine a couple years ago who was a Vonage customer here in VA ended up canceling their contract when they realized the problem. They were a bit frustrated that Vonage hadn’t been clear with them about the issue, so they switched back to a regular landline.
Like I said, though, that was a couple years ago, so I don’t know if that issue’s been resolved or not. But that’s still something you might want to ask them about before ditching your regular landline and switching to a company like Vonage.
Good luck! And I hope Cory recovers soon!
November 10th, 2009 at 10:05 am
Bob–
See if Cavalier Telephone can cover your area.
Put your money where there are conservative businesspeople if possible.
EXCELLENT service.
http://www.cavtel.com/
November 10th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
I had no problems with Verizon until I swapped to AT&T to get the iPhone. I swapped in the last week of my 2 year contract and I ported my number over after talking to a person at their store. I was told then I wouldn’t be charged a termination fee because I was at the end of the contract. Lo and behold, a few weeks after I ported my number, I got a bill from them for 300+ dollars for a broken contract fee. I spent the next 2 months arguing with them about it. They finally dropped the fee.
On another note, I had a phone in my barracks room when I was in the USN in Norfolk, VA. It was from Bell Atlantic. I had gone out on a deployment and I had paid for a service disconnection/activation when I was going to be away for the deployment. I had locked up the phone, but when I got back from the deployment, 2 weeks, the locker was broken into. Didn’t think much of it at the time, but then I got a phone bill for about $5,000. Seems that the reason my locker was broken open was to get to the phone I had in there. Add to that, the phone had not been disconnected and reconnected as I had been charged for. Guy I was sharing the room with, found out called a TON of 900 numbers. Here’s another kicker, I was paying for a 900 number block on the line. The funny end to this story, I had it settled with Bell Atlantic that it would just go away, lawyers are good for something, I got a letter from a collections company a few months ago saying I needed to pay about $3500 to Verizon for a phone bill for that. I’m glad I kept the paperwork from all that crap.
November 10th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
A few things:
Verizon iPhone: 3rd quarter 2010
Vonage: Many complaints I’ve heard about Vonage are their customer service, and quality issues. However, the quality issues usually stem from the customer’s bandwidth usage and availability. i.e. you need to have a minimum upstream and downstream or it’s going to sound like crap.
While AT&T and Sprint are available here in Iowa, their coverage sucks. Not too bad in Des Moines, but anywhere else and you’re roaming on a non-3G network. Verizon has the best coverage. Also, bear in mind that Verizon is split into different chunks that are all somewhat separate from each other. You’ve got Verizon cell, broadband, landlines, business, FiOS, video, etc. There’s a lot of hands that don’t necessarily know what the others are doing.
VoIP is my area of specialty and if we offered any DIDs in VA, I’d sell you some, but we’re Iowa-only. I do know there’s tons of providers on the east coast that can hook you up.
E911 with VoIP is generally up to the user to keep up-to-date if the provider even offers it. Some choose not to and do a CYA by making the customer sign a waiver saying they won’t use it for 911 services. Often a VoIP service comes with a web page to adjust settings, and the user would out his/her current location in that page for 911 location. This is used to route the call to the correct PSAP. If there is no information, a national answering service gets the call, and asks for the location. If the caller is unable to provide such an answer, the provider gets hit with a giant fee, and the answering service generally tries calling the provider to find out where the user is. This is obviously not ideal, hence the fee to try to encourage the provider to keep updated info.
November 10th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Stuff like this makes me rejoice at the fact that I don’t have a cell phone. I hate them! If it weren’t for possible veterinary emergencies involving my two much-loved basset hounds, I wouldn’t have a phone at all.
November 10th, 2009 at 11:10 pm
Verizon bought out Alltel and they’ve just switched. Lucky for me my contract expires 01/25/10. That’s when I dump Verizon. Oh come January, come.