Join the Fight!

17 comments (closed), posted on february 27, 2003, tags: verizon

Here are a few anti-Verizon images for your linking use. I'd still like for people to post at least one text link to Verizon (necessary for Google-bombing), but if you want to put a semi-permanent link on your site (say, in your sidebar), here are some images you can use.

     
     This badge fits the style of the RSS badges from Antipixel.
     URL: http://graveyard.maniacalrage.net/pics/ap_verizon.gif

     
     This badge is just plain fantastic.
     URL: http://graveyard.maniacalrage.net/pics/jones_verizon.gif

     
     This badge is the same size as MT's and would look fine next to or below it.
     URL: http://graveyard.maniacalrage.net/pics/mt_verizon.gif

Please do not use these images directly off my server. Download them and place them on your own server before using them. Also, all images should link to:

http://www.maniacalrage.net/archives/catihate_verizon.php

Join the fight now. Damn Big Red. Spread the word.

Worst Company Ever

13 comments (closed), posted on february 26, 2003, tags: verizon

I just got off the phone with Verizon. That call was number 3,812 I think. I was told by the customer "service" rep that DSL is, in fact, not available for my apartment. It never was, and never will be. I'm 22,000+ feet away from the central office. Note that last time they ran this loop check I was 19,000+ feet away. And two other times I was around 15,000+ feet. Apparently someone has been moving my apartment around when I'm not there. That's the only way I can explain it. And the CSR had nothing more to offer as far as an explanation goes.

Long story short, he said definitively that I cannot get DSL service. This after the provisioning department called me this morning and told us we could, but it would take until the 6th of March to start. I found out during the phone call with customer service that the provisioning department has been billing me since February 14. So basically, they've has been lying to me and pushing back my start date so they could charge me for the service I wasn't getting. The CSR confirmed this.

I yelled at the guy for a while. Took out some of my frustrations. Called him a fucking moron, told him Verizon was the worst company I'd ever dealt with and everyone who worked there was a fucking stupid bitch, and then I cancelled every bit of the DSL and told him I better not see any charges. He gave me two confirmation numbers which I'm sure would be meaningless if I ever called back.

And so with that my DSL possibilities are over. Every other company providing DSL in my area uses Verizon's lines. No options there. TimeWarner cable has yet to lay cable for Internet service for my side of the block (yes, that's correct—across the street on our block they all have it). So I wait. For how long? Who knows. I am in dial-up hell and I'll be here for a long time I'm sure.

Mother fucking piece of shit. Honestly. That's what this is. To a person like me, this is one of the worst things that can happen. My daily life is completely affected. Everything I do I now cannot. It's horrible.

Help Me:
I'm asking anyone out there who can feel my pain to link my newly formed I Hate Verizon category with the word "Verizon," just like this: Verizon.

The URL is:
     http://www.maniacalrage.net/archives/catihate_verizon.php

I'm hoping this will spread the word about how terrible they are (any maybe put my site near the top of their Google result eventually), so that maybe a few people can be spared. Thanks.

More Big Bad Business

5 comments (closed), posted on february 21, 2003, tags: verizon

Verizon has screwed me in so many ways over the past two weeks, I can't even see straight. Just to keep you up to date, after the events of last week, my phone line has been completely destroyed, DSL has been cancelled and reordered, and I've been on the phone for at least 400 hours and spoken with at least 30 people who could care less about my situation(s).

Yesterday a Verizon repair guy came to fix my line (3 days later than he was supposed to), and he couldn't figure out what the problem was. After telling me he needed to string a new line, he left and scheduled a return visit for today. A few hours later, my landlord and I had the line working. We simply found the line in the basement, saw that it was damaged, and rewired it. Now I have a phone line. No thanks to big red.

A few days before that, I was told that my DSL service, which Verizon cancelled because of the problems last week, was being reinstated. I asked how long that would take. They said because I had already had it, it would only take two days to turn it back on. After an hour on the phone last night holding, I was told by another representative that that information is bull shit. My DSL service won't be activated until February 26.

At least I have a phone now, though, so I'm not completely without the Internet. Remind me again why I went with Verizon? And furthermore, why I didn't cancel with them the moment this stuff started happening?

Oh, and in case anyone wants it, I'm gonna go ahead and post the number to the executive office for Verizon in the NY Metro area. They are at least better at handling problems: 1-800-483-7988. Yeah, they don't want people to know that number.

Absolutely Ridiculous

11 comments (closed), posted on february 15, 2003, tags: verizon

I was supposed to have DSL two days ago. In fact, it had been turned on. But, you see, I'm going through Verizon. That alone should tell you there would be problems. Oh, and there were. A multitude, actually. Let me just quickly tell you that I don't have DSL right now.

When I called Verizon to set up this service two weeks ago, they checked my phone line and told me I was able to receive DSL. They started the ordering process, and my equipment was sent on its way. Verizon told me to wait for an email notification of the DSL start date. And so I waited. Until last Friday. February 14, at 6PM, my DSL would be 'clicked on,' and I would be able to set up the modem and start using it. Then, on Thursday, February 13, I got an email stating that my start date had been pushed back until February 24. Almost two weeks later. I was angry. I called Verizon and yelled at four different people, all of which told me it didn't matter if I was angry. I asked to talk to someone in charge of this, and they told me those people didn't talk to customers. "And even if they did, they would say the same thing to you—wait your turn, pal." I told them this was the worst customer service in the world and that I hated them. "Would you like me to transfer you to cancellations, then?" I couldn't believe it.

Four hours later, I guess they finally decided I was worth having as a customer, because I got an email stating that my service had been turned on. Thank god. I went home and set everything up. I plugged the modem into my computer, plugged the telephone line into the modem, and went about the setup process. But I couldn't get a signal.

I spent an hour on the phone with Verizon DSL Support, which eventually ended when they did a "real-world maintenance ping" on the line. They told me they didn't understand it, but I was way too far away to get service, and that I never should have been told I could have it from the beginning. I was furious. I spent the next day on the phone with other companies, trying to find someone who could provide service. I checked on DSL Reports, and was surprised to find that a distance check was well within range to not one, but two Verizon COs (central-offices). I signed up with Covad, and they said that even if Verizon couldn't do DSL, they might be able to. At least that's something, I thought. It's possible.

Then, by random chance, Katia called me from our apartment. When the number popped up on my cellphone, I was confused. I answered it, and asked where she was calling from. She said, "Home, where do you think?" I said that couldn't be true, because the incoming number wasn't our phone number. And then, quite suddenly, it all starting coming together.

See, three days prior, a Verizon guy came to our building to do some checks. Shortly after, we started receiving hundreds of calls from Asian people looking for someone named Sung. I kept telling them they had the wrong number, and asked them what they were dialing. They all said the same number, one that wasn't ours. I thought they were all just idiots. But they weren't. Because somehow, we had our phone number crossed with a 65 year-old Asian man who lives in Sunnyside, Queens. I bet you've already guessed that Verizon's "real-word maintenance ping" of our phone line had actually checked for a distance in Queens. And I bet you understand now that this mixup means the following: I can get DSL, Verizon is the worst company in the word, this is all their fault.

Needless to say, it's being fixed. Today our phone number issue was fixed, and I'm told DSL will be working by "the middle of next week." If any of you out there are going to have to choose a local phone company in the future, I urge you—do not choose Verizon. They could care less about you as a customer*. Their customer service is sub-terrible.

But thank god almighty, I will have DSL next week.

* As a glaring example of this, please take into account that Verizon charges you a $55 returning customer fee. This means if you go back to them after leaving, they actually charge you for your business. Disgusting.