Complain about a product or service

Verizon Local Service

Claudia of Brooklyn, NY September 26, 2009

In April 2008 I realized an increased charge on my local phone bill - I called Verizon to invesetigate. I was informed by a supervisor that it is supposedly common and legal for 3rd parties to charge Verizon's customers through their monthly bill for unauthorized services. Further that Verizon could not remove the charges but that I would have to contact the company OAM directly - in addition I could put a block on my account to prevent this from happening again.

I did block my account, and asked with every single complaint I made to Verizon to make a note on my account that I dispute the extra charges -however the charges remained: a total of 111.76 for Miscellaneous Charges and Credits, Billed oh behalf of More Yellowpages Inc as a Directory Listing for 39.95 per month. I thought I will contact this peculiar OAM company to complain and inform them about my dispute, however it was impossible to reach someone under the number listed on my phone bill. I gave up on trying, but I am still not planning to pay for these unauthorized charges!

f. of woodbine, MD September 23, 2009

i lost telephone service on 9/11/09. i called verizon on that date and requested repairs. i again requested repairs on 9/15. i was told at that time that they could not schedule a repair until 9/29. my phone service has been intermitent at best. usually there is no dial tone, or if i do get a dial tone, i am usually disconnected in the middle of the call. it required 20 minutes and at least 15 dialing attempts to get a dial tone so that i could bring up this web site. i think it is unconscionable that i would have to wait almost 2 weeks to have any repair service on this phone. why the hell am i paying for this kind of poor service anyway? will my bill be pro-rated for the portion of the month i have not received any telephone service?

Sheryl of Nesconset, NY September 22, 2009

i HAD 2 ACCOUNTS WITH VERIZON, ONE CELLULAR AND ONE LANDLINE, tv AND INTERNET. tHE lANDLINE PROVIDER DRILLED A HOLE INTO MY SIDING AFTER i HAD TOLD HIM NOT TO AND LEFT A WIRE HANGING DOWN THE FRONT OF MY HOME. HE DAMAGED THE SIDING AND SOMEONE WAS SUPPOSED TO COME TO RESOLVE THIS. THEY NEVER SHOWED. I got the estimate and waited home on several occasions for their appraiser to show, he never did they did not repair the damages.I have called and called and have gotten nowhere with this company. I cancelled my service with them and they charged me over 800. for less than one month of service, they added back on everything I canceled this was not the agreed upon 149. per mth. I got angry and cancelled my cell phone with them, 4 times I have called and cancelled and they tell me today they have no record of my cancellation, again. I told them every month I cancel and every month you bill me. Let the buyer beware you never cancel with this company and they will continue to bill you. Today I am going to small claims court to resolve this matter once and for all, let them tell the judge I do not want to cancel.

Glenda of MATTAPAN, MA September 22, 2009

I received an outrageous bill with 3 international calls which total 200.56 not including taxes. It happened on August 13,2009 while I was at work... first call 3:25, nd call 3:43 and 3rd call 4:13. Why on earth would someone call three times internationally with these prices? I live alone and Mr. P insisted those calls came from my home phone. This is crazy... He would not give me an address or a chance to dispute his decision. He stated I am obligated to pay. He also stated they do not investigate since it came from my home phone.

I have been with verizon for over 30 years and have had this same number. Never, have I made an international call. I don't even know how to make those types of calls never mind call Santodmgo Dr. Please help me solve this problem as I am not paying for a bill I never made. Your prompt attention to this matter is greatly appreciated.

Eric of sarasota, FL September 16, 2009

Sedgwick is a claims company that in this case is representing Verizon FIOS. They sent me to Sedgwick after two weeks of phone calls because lightning hit Verizon's equipment and fried everything in my house wired to it. This includes my HP desktop(valued at 849.00), my 40" LCD tv's high definition inputs(tv was 799.00), another tv (old and pretty much worthless but still working) and a dvd player(valued at 50.00). The funny thing was that even though lightning ultimatly hit my house, there was no evidence of a strike anywhere outside of my home, and not a single breaker was thrown, and not so much as a light bulb was blown in my home. The lightning that traveled into my home came thru Verizon's equipment, and it fried everything of verizon's, and only things that were wired to it.

So after much discussion with Verizon they referred me to Sedgwick. After two weeks of run around Tom G tells me that this has happened alot to other clients of Verizon, especially in florida, and that he, his supervisor, a grounding specialist, and a verizon supervisor were going to have a conference call about this problem. Tom said I would here from him that friday or the following monday as they would make a decision on the multiple claims they had for an identical problem. After not hearing from Tom until wednesday he told me that my claim was denied, when I asked him why he stated that this was an act of god.

Now I have been told that what happened to me should be impossible if the equipment is properly grounded. When I first talked to Verizon the very first day I expressed my concern about lightning as there were storms around that day, and I was told(I didn't write down their name) that a field supervisor was going to come out the next day with a repair tech to inspect for problems. My wife told me(i was working) that only a tech came out and he replaced ALL of their equipment in and outside of our home. He then left and went across the street and next door to the other two homes that were affected by the lightning. They only lost service and not equipment, so my home took the worst of it. The fact that it affected three homes at the same time suggests to me that the actual lightning strike didn't hit my home directly, but maybe some kind of box or wiring connecting multiple homes.

Ellen of Staten Island, NY September 15, 2009

I moved from one side of street to the other on 8/31. Phone wasn't hooked up. Called on 9/l. Fix on 9/3. Started to get buzzing and static upstairs phone. Fixed it on 9/5 and then I started getting buzzing. Between upstair lady and myself for have called at least 15 times from 9/l until yesterday 9/14

Have been promised over and over that someone would be coming 90% of times noone showed up or called. I have told everyone I spoke to that my husband is terminal and we need a working phone. This is the 15th day since we moved. No one ever calls to explain anything just keeps promising that some will surely be there. Can you help

Galen of Hollsopple, PA August 22, 2009

We have been a customer of Verizon (GTE) for over 50 years. Very seldom did we ever have any trouble, and if we did, they were prompt in taking care of it. Not any more.

Over a week ago, our phone would ring, and when we would answer it, there was nothing--just some noise. When we hung up, the ringing would continue until whomever was calling us got tired and hung up. We also then noticed that we didn't have a dial tone. "Call customer service" I thought. "They'll take care of it right away." To my disbelief, I had to wade through an automated system that could not understand me. I speak English, by the way. Finally, I got through to someone and was told that the earleist they could get to me was Wednesday OF THE NEXT WEEK! I complained, and they did promise to send someone out on Friday (which was yesterday.

The technician came out and tested the lines and said he couldn't find a problem. He checked our connection, (we don't have a NID because they've never wanted to take the time to install one) and said he found a loose wire, which he fixed. Yes! The phone now worked! Sure it did. Woke up this morning to find the same problem happening. No dial tone, can't call out, callers call in, but we can't answer. Call Verizon again, and they say "We fixed that for you." "Well, it's still not working" I said. They said they'd send the technician out again ON WEDNESDAY! Why on earth does it take a week to get service? The exchange building is less than 2 miles away. The regional repair hub is about 6 miles away.

You know for a fact that Verizon won't give me a credit for a week or more without phone service, and they'll expect to be paid on time! What if I decided to pay THEM a week or so after I received their bill? I'd be slapped with a late charge.

Verizon has the worst repair service out there. They spend all this money touting how wireless customers will have the largest network of service behind them, but when you need them...where are they? Verizon, I'm giving you one more chance. If this problem isn't fixed on Wednesday (I will have to take off work again!) I will be switching to my local cable company's phone service and ditching you and your worthless network.

Bernard of Little Ferry, NJ August 22, 2009

VERIZON IS A DISASTER AT RESOLVING A SIMPLE SERVICE PROBLEM I am a 69 year old retiree with the responsibility of caring for an 85 year old uncle with multiple serious health issues. Not living in the same residence, our line of communication relies on phone service. On August 6, 2009 a family member noticed that my phone line was inoperative. No dial tone, nothing.

We contacted Verizon for an explanation and got the biggest runaround anyone could possibly imagine. No one could explain why my service was cut off. Complicating the matter was the fact that somehow they listed me as a FIOS customer. They sent a technician who arrived with a FIOS work order and when I told him I don't have FIOS He said he couldn't provide service. I was told a seperate facility handles copper cable service. After further calls to big V another rep arrived, said he could fix the problem and to his credit he did. I had phone service for one day. Now its August 21 and despite many calls to too many individuals at Verizon, I'm still without phone service.

No one in the entire organization has any idea how to correct the problem. Many of those I spoke with were as frustrated as I am in their attempts to resolve the matter internally. They all seem to hit deadends. Going this long without phone or internet service in this day and age is unconscionable in the United States. I've come to the conclusion that they apparently screwed things up so bad with my phone that they cannot figure it out or that they just don't want to be bothered. A hell of a way to treat a customer with the same phone service for over 50 years. I am exploring legal recourse and a new service provider. I will never again consider any product offered by Verizon.

dennis of jacksonville, FL August 16, 2009

I am writing this complaint on behalf of my elderly and ill mother who resides at woodside ny

As you could tell I am here in florida and mother in ny. She needs phone service to communicate with the outside world as she is ill and needd attention. As best as I can remember, this company has promised to take care of mothers problem for the past three months. In June I noticed this problem getting more frequent, so when I contacted the baove company and number I was assured thias would be handled...well as time went on and the days turned into weeks and mother's phone was not geting better I decided to speak to a superviosr. Mr steele stated to me that it was now not a line problem, nor her inside phone but a cable, and 350,000 were affected.

He assured me without fail it would be fixed.On 8/10 then sd it was done, well that was not done then again on 8/13......today, 8/16 no service and complaints filed again with repair orders.........worst of all they went ahead and raied my poor mothers bill for some ungodly reason and her service from this company is still very poor. tomorrow. i hope someone reads this and helps me out.

ralph of newton, MA August 14, 2009

The past 2 months an internet company added a amonthly bill of 14.95/month which I was not aware of until I carefully read my billlast month. I never signed up for there service and the vendor said he would credit me, I told verizon about this and verizon said they would credit me. I asked about how to prevent this from recurring, Verizon said they can't and cannot contact me if another company wants to place their bill on verizon's bill, I requested a block on my account which thay can do. Verizon is going to send that internet company to stop billing me otherwise they will on longer be allowed to charge their bills with verizon.

When I called the vendor I asked where he was located. Answer SE asia. I would think verizon can and should be able to have more reputable vendors or have vendors send their own bills. Why is this practice allowed?

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