Verizon - an Army of Friendly Idiots...
This is my verizon wireless story, dumbed down with numbers rounded off.
In January, we moved all 4 wireless phones to Verizon from AT&T. Mid-way through the transaction, though, the geeks at the store convinced us to do this all through my wife's account (rather than mine) since her employer got her a better discount and free activation charges.
This rocket science move resulted in us having 2 accounts rather than 1, and payments ended up being applied to the wrong account.
75 days later, I've got one account with a $300 credit and another account with a $300 past due balance. After countless phone calls, I finally get them to apply $200 of the credit to the past due account. The last $100, though, is the credit for activation charges and Verizon tells me they can't just move that money, but instead must send me a check. (Never mind the fact that the credit should NEVER have been applied to that account in the first place.)
So... 1 week ago, I have a zero balance on one account, a $100 past-due balance on one account and 1 check for $100 coming from Verizon to me. The end of this mess (I've left out the dozen phone calls w/ Verizon to get to this point) appears to be in sight.
Until today, when they turned off the phones. And asked for more money to re-connect the lines.
The funny apart about all of this is how unbelievably nice Verizon's customer service reps are... They KNOW their billing department is run by a bunch of monkeys.. they know their systems are pathetic... they sympathize greatly. But when they can't seem to do is fix the problem. Oh, they want to. They promise they will. But as of yet, they haven't.
Here's the kicker: When I asked to be transferred to the rep. who I last worked with (whose info. was visible on the computer screen of the person I was talking to), I was told, "Sorry, we don't have her number." The phone company doesn't have the number of one of its own employees? That's almost cute.
Almost.
In January, we moved all 4 wireless phones to Verizon from AT&T. Mid-way through the transaction, though, the geeks at the store convinced us to do this all through my wife's account (rather than mine) since her employer got her a better discount and free activation charges.
This rocket science move resulted in us having 2 accounts rather than 1, and payments ended up being applied to the wrong account.
75 days later, I've got one account with a $300 credit and another account with a $300 past due balance. After countless phone calls, I finally get them to apply $200 of the credit to the past due account. The last $100, though, is the credit for activation charges and Verizon tells me they can't just move that money, but instead must send me a check. (Never mind the fact that the credit should NEVER have been applied to that account in the first place.)
So... 1 week ago, I have a zero balance on one account, a $100 past-due balance on one account and 1 check for $100 coming from Verizon to me. The end of this mess (I've left out the dozen phone calls w/ Verizon to get to this point) appears to be in sight.
Until today, when they turned off the phones. And asked for more money to re-connect the lines.
The funny apart about all of this is how unbelievably nice Verizon's customer service reps are... They KNOW their billing department is run by a bunch of monkeys.. they know their systems are pathetic... they sympathize greatly. But when they can't seem to do is fix the problem. Oh, they want to. They promise they will. But as of yet, they haven't.
Here's the kicker: When I asked to be transferred to the rep. who I last worked with (whose info. was visible on the computer screen of the person I was talking to), I was told, "Sorry, we don't have her number." The phone company doesn't have the number of one of its own employees? That's almost cute.
Almost.
my feelings towards cell phone companies may be almost reach those I reserve for bad health insurance companies, which is saying quite a bit. I'm sorry but not surprised at your troubles. There is a "This American Life" on this topic which is sadly amusing.
ReplyDeleteI'll say nothing. It will be nothing but hate talk. I *hate* dealing with that type of nonsense. I hope you have a punching bag nearby LOL
ReplyDelete