We purchased a brand new home about a month ago, right before Christmas. I went home to Illinois for the holidays so we waited until I returned home to finalize our moving plans. After figuring out the best deal and the lowest price for utilities and extras (like phone, tv, internet), I started setting up utility services.
First off, I knew that broadband internet was available where we were moving, so I went ahead and signed up for a VoIP (voice over IP) telephone plan. I ended up finding a smoking deal from ViaTalk where I got 2 complete years of telephone service with all the bells and whistles (free long distance, calling features, etc) for $199 (buy 1 year, get 1 year free). Can't beat that! As of right now, I've had this service for about a month and haven't used it yet (we haven't moved.. read on).
Next, I signed up for DirecTV. They had a promotion running for $100 cash back, a free portable DVD player, and a free HD receiver upgrade. Seemed too good to pass up. As of right now, I've had this service for over a month and haven't used it yet (we haven't moved.. read on).
Finally, I setup our DSL service from Verizon. I called Verizon on 1/2/07 to get everything setup. Since we were moving in to a new home, they had to send an "engineer" out to make sure our house was real (???). After a week of calling and speaking to several different people who never returned phone calls, our telephone was finally setup. Now, I had to wait to setup DSL service until our phone line (that we aren't using) was established. So on 1/9/07 I setup our DSL. I was given a "service ready date" of 1/25/07. This really irritated me because I'd already wasted a week because Verizon can't return phone calls.
Our entire move is planned around this day, January 25th, which you'll note, is today. We've already scheduled the moving truck. Our telephone service at our current house is scheduled to shut off today (which it has). Basically, we have scheduled everything around Verizon DSL.
Today, at about 4:30pm, I receive an email from Verizon stating that our "service ready date" has been post-poned until 1/29/07. This just sets me off. I've already been waiting almost a month and now they're pushing it back further! Completely livid, I call Verizon, talk to three different people before I finally get a supervisor. The supervisor tells me they had a problem with the line, he doesn't know what for sure, but there's nothing he can do unless my "service ready date" has been pushed back at least once. He says, "if the 29th rolls around and they push it back again, then you can complain and I can make it a high priority ticket." That's just ridiculous.
I explained to this man that our entire move has been scheduled around Verizon and that I cannot move without internet service because I go to school online; if I don't attend, I can get kicked out. So meanwhile, I've already rented the moving truck, things are boxed up, and we're just waiting for Saturday. Come Monday morning and we don't have internet, all hell is gonna break lose in West Virginia. I would stay clear if I were you. ;)
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Comments: 15
I had my internet shut off because I was moving into a hotel until my new house was ready for a few weeks. When I had my internet turned back on, I was charged for that 2 months of no service because they "had saved my ID and password for me". This did not make me feel warm and fuzzy for Verizon.
I complained and was told, just like you, that there was nothing that could be done and I would just have to pay it and shut up.
The company does not understand customer service at all.