Frustrating Order Experience

[dsprague2]

I called to order service this past Wednesday, the lady on the phone said to me that she could get me 2 HD-DVRs for free with the Ultimate Package.

She set me up with the Ultimate Package and free HD for life and 2 HD-DVRs.
She then transferred me to another rep who she said would complete the order for the 2nd HD-DVR. The second rep, a man, answered the phone and told me that he could not give me the 2nd HD-DVR for free and that he would give me $5 off per month for 12 months on top of my first time customer discounts.
I said ok, and he went to put it on and then said to me that the system locked up and he cant add the credit and to call back in 24 hours when the system is fixed. He further stated that he would notate the account.

Meanwhile I told my wife that they would give us the 2nd DVR for free, and she is not one to let some sales reps schmooze us on a BS deal. She works for Verizon Wireless Corporate in the stores. So she said they said they would give you the 2nd HD-DVR free and that is what I expect or no D*.

So I called back today, got into the IVR, I said cancel service twice and got to the cancellations department. From that point i was transferred like a hot potato between 5 reps all saying you are in the wrong department.... Again BS...
Finally get someone and they tell me to think about it for 2 days about cancelling. I said no, you people said a second HD-DVR for free and that is what myself and my wife expect. She said well, still think about it, I said no... If you dont give me an answer when I am done with this call I want to cancel... She said let me see what my supervisor and I can do. So, she put me on hold for 3 minutes only to come back and say.. can you wait 30 minutes and call us back to see what we have been able to do for you.... I told her I would wait on the phone, she said I couldn't wait on the phone and that I had to call back... at that point she hung up on me.

I called back, got to cancellations and the first rep on the phone cancelled my order no problems... I asked her BTW did a rep notate on the account about getting an additional $5 off per month to offset the cost of the HD-DVR and she said no. I also explained to her what happened with the last rep and she told me, that the rep probobly had a really low retention rate and had to do something to get you to stay with D*.
I said to the rep this is a really disappointing way to do business and at this point why should I even go with D*. She said the choice is always yours.

I hung up the phone and continued to ponder what just happened. I realized I needed to call back and enter a complaint against 3 of the 4 reps I dealt with.
When I get back on the phone with another rep, I asked to speak to a supervisor... the lady asked my why and I told her and she said that was horrible and that she would transfer me to a supervisor, she put me on hold for 5 minutes came back on the phone and said I am transferring you now.
Supervisor came on the phone and said I don't want to deal with this and hung up the phone.

I now sit here writing a novel which I did not plan to do, I wanted to voice my frustration here. I do not mean to sound like a crying baby, but I was promised things that were not delivered and given the run around and empty promises.

So to D* I bid adue to them.

 

[Aridon]

Wow.

My experience had been pretty good until recently. I had one total jack ass recently but prior to that seller service. Not sure if there have been some changes but one of my employees had a similar experience a few weeks ago. At the first sign of Bullsh!t she canceled. I think some of the sales people might be getting desperate and promiss the farm hoping you'll still keep the order despite the change.

I certainly wouldn't be doing business with them if that was pulled on me.

 

[Jimbo]

This is the first I've ever heard of them giving 2 HD DVR's FREE.

When I set up service, you couldn't even get 2 HD DVR's, regardless of if you paid for them or now, keep in mind, this was quite awhile ago and a lot has changed.

Personally, if it were me and you are adamant on getting this set up, I would take your post you made above and email it to them.

I bet you get a response.

Btw, what promo are you working with that allows 2 FREE HD DVR's, I would like to inquire.

Sounds to me like you really don't want D* at this point, but if you do, I would send the email.

 

[dsprague2]

Isn't the first time

This is the first I've ever heard of them giving 2 HD DVR's FREE.

When I set up service, you couldn't even get 2 HD DVR's, regardless of if you paid for them or now, keep in mind, this was quite awhile ago and a lot has changed.

Personally, if it were me and you are adamant on getting this set up, I would take your post you made above and email it to them.

I bet you get a response.

Btw, what promo are you working with that allows 2 FREE HD DVR's, I would like to inquire.

Sounds to me like you really don't want D* at this point, but if you do, I would send the email.

I was not really working with a promo, I figured I would call in and see if I could get any hidden specials.
When I talked to the rep she asked me how many TVs and how many need to record. When she first said $100 for the second DVR I said no way, then she said let me see what I can do about the other $100. She came back on the phone and said I will have to transfer your to ?? sales department (?? is some sub sales department) to have them setup the second DVR for free.




We were D* customers and signed up almost 4 years ago. My (then and now) fiancé/wife signed up for the service of D*. We had problems with the installer who started threatening me with my 1 year old daughter in my hands. I had to force-ably remove him from the apartment because he said he didn't have to leave because I did not own the apartment. She paid $199 for the HD-DVR and was supposed to get a $100 visa gift card for getting it, which she never did. That was a big fight to try and get that. Then everything was fine until the last 6 months of our contract.
We had our then HR21-100 go out, and were told they would send us a brand new one and that it would not be refurbished. Get one in the mail, it was the HD-DVR with the off-air antenna still on it. Called and complained, they said we will send out a tech with a brand new hr22/hr23 and for the inconveniences they were upgrading our bedroom std receiver to a DVR and giving us showtime and starz free for a year and that there would be no contract extension.
Tech came out installed SWiM (because it was a national historical society building he couldn't run new lines) the 2 DVRs. The tech finishes and says please sign this, I say to him that this is not a work order and that this is a contract.
Call customer service and they apologize and they would give me $20/mo in billing credits and that they apologize that other people said things that weren't true.
I asked my fiancé/wife if that was ok while the tech is still there if it was ok, and she said fine as long as they were still giving us starz and showtime free for a year along with the $20/mo in billing credits for 12 months. The rep assured me that if it ever comes off the bill to just call back and that it is all notated on the account.
After that no problems.....
Then 6 months later and 3 days before Christmas we get a bill missing the starz/showtime and missing the $20 bill credit. I waited till the next day after Christmas thinking it was a billing error... I called in and 15 reps told me that there was no such notation on the account... EVER!!! BTW my wife and me were calling in to try and get facts straight.
During the first week of the new year we get a letter from D* stating that our account is maxed out on lifetime credits and that we can no longer get any discounts on our programming.

My wife and me were furious!
The best instruction we got was to email some review board or something and to wait up to 200 days for a response. At this point I said forget it!! Cancel the service and I called in and they refused to waive the termination fee so we kept it for 3 more months before calling in again.
I called in to initiate a movers package because my now wife and I bought a house.
They told me that we had already used a mover's package and we cannot use it for another 3 more months. I said to them so you want me to pay for service for 3 months and not get TV service, and on top of that I have never used a mover's package. Come to find out all the courtesy's were coming from the mover's package at the time and that extended our contract and our contract ended at such said date.

So I called someone over here to come out and just mount the dish and I will wire my home, because I have all the tools for compression fittings and so on from doing whole house wiring jobs.

3 months later I went into my local ATT store and ordered UVerse since they were giving me $575 in rewards cards. Called D* and said cancel me in 7 days I dont want the service and what is my cancellation fee. The gentleman on the phone said you don't have a cancellation fee!
I was SOOOOOOOOOOOOO PISSED!!!! D* has been lying to me for almost 1 year saying I have a contract every time I called in.
The gentleman on the phone apologized, and said that they were just scaring us to not cancel.

The next day after the cancellation went in I got 1 phone call per hour for 10 hours despite me telling them not to call me on trying to retain me as a customer. Each time they called they tried offering me free service and the whole kit and caboodle.
The next day a Sunday, they called me 6 times trying to retain me and i just started telling them stop F***ING calling me. On Monday they called me 2 more times and on the second call I said you call one more time I WILL CALL THE BBB, CONSUMER PROTECTION AGENCY, FCC, AND MY ATTORNEY AND PRESS HARASSMENT CHARGES!!

THEY NEVER CALLED AGAIN, and I did not receive a cancellation fee.
1 year later I decided to give them another shot. Under my name and SS# and this is the same crap all over again!

Again I am not whining about this I have just had it with empty promises and lying and no stories are the same between reps.

 

[mitchflorida]

Look at it this way. If they gave you two free HD DVRs, they would have to give all new customers the exact same thing. No can do.

It might have been a misunderstanding. You can access the DVR with two receivers.

Oh well, your loss . .

 

[boba]

If your wife works for Verizun why are you even talking to D*?

 

[dsprague2]

Look at it this way. If they gave you two free HD DVRs, they would have to give all new customers the exact same thing. No can do.

It might have been a misunderstanding. You can access the DVR with two receivers.

Oh well, your loss . .

I can guarantee it was not a misunderstanding, I got off the phone with a supervisor and they confirmed that the rep did notate the account that I was to get a free 2nd HD-DVR.

If anything it is their loss, not mine...

 

[dsprague2]

If your wife works for Verizun why are you even talking to D*?

She works for Verizon Wireless... and we only get Uverse, charter cable, E*, and D* here. Also, out of curiosity what does her working for Verizon Wireless have to do with D*... Verizon Wireless and Verizon Land Line are 2 separate companies...

If I misunderstood what you are saying please let me know.

 

[Jimbo]

She works for Verizon Wireless... and we only get Uverse, charter cable, E*, and D* here. Also, out of curiosity what does her working for Verizon Wireless have to do with D*... Verizon Wireless and Verizon Land Line are 2 separate companies...

If I misunderstood what you are saying please let me know.

Verizon landline is no longer.
The damn cowards.

 

[Jimbo]

I can guarantee it was not a misunderstanding, I got off the phone with a supervisor and they confirmed that the rep did notate the account that I was to get a free 2nd HD-DVR.

If anything it is their loss, not mine...

IF, you do get both HD DVR's for free, I would expect them to NOT be HR24's at least one of them.

 

[dsprague2]

IF, you do get both HD DVR's for free, I would expect tehm to NOT be HR24's at least one of them.

My expectations from D* are 0 I dont expect anything from them and now my wife doesnt even want to go with them anymore... she said she would rather deal with sh***y Charter Communications... at least they dont have a contract and she is willing to spend more money...

But we are just sticking with Uverse as we have no problems with them and I dont get the runaround... for now.. lol

 

[Jimbo]

My expectations from D* are 0 I dont expect anything from them and now my wife doesnt even want to go with them anymore... she said she would rather deal with sh***y Charter Communications... at least they dont have a contract and she is willing to spend more money...

But we are just sticking with Uverse as we have no problems with them and I dont get the runaround... for now.. lol

So if you have U-Verse and all is well, why were you looking to change ?
I'm just curious as I sell U-Verse.

 

[stonecold]

1. why are you calling the normal number verizon employees have a line to call to get there discount it goes for verizon and verizon wireless employees.

2. We nevergive out 2 free hdddvrs . the 2nd person is known as a Third Party verfier, they are a new process dtv trying out figuring if two different people read you the disclaimers and tpv calls are never deleted they are permantely archived that it keeps down on customers saying I was never told about ( fill in the blank )

3. There simply is not a 2nd hddvr free promotion. I looked. Also if you alled in to order ther eas no way for the sale people to notate the account they only have access to our order system not our billing system that holds all the account notes.

4. Sorry to hear so many people hung up on you I am more then willing to pass your infomration up to my boss as a complaint, about being hung up on we do not hang up on people it a matter of policy so if people did they need to be corrected.

 

[dsprague2]

Verizon landline is no longer.
The damn cowards.

They are just trying to back out of a multi-million dollar contract with the FCC on deploying fiber.... they company now is Frontier and they were a mom and pop shop that was bought out by Vodafone in Europe.... Also, when you go to Frontier's site and order service you go to a verizon.com website with really cheesy rebranding of Frontier...

Again Verizon Landline/Verizon Comm and Verizon Wireless are 2 different companies...

In fact Verizon Wireless owes Vodafone $150 Mil for some sort of payout in 2011/2012 and Verizon Wi gave Vodafone the middle finger... :S

So now Vodafone is trying to do a hostile takeover of Verizon Wi... of which Vodafone owns 41% of Verizon Wi and had owned 48% of Verizon Com (aka Frontier cough)
Vodafone plans to buy an additional 13% to make their share 54% of Verizon Wi, terminate all employees in some way or another (which is already happening here in the Midwest region of Verizon Wi) and dismantle the company piece by piece... Also, when the new Verizon Wi commercials came out for the first week after Frontier took over Verizon Land Line/Comm at the end you would hear "Rule the air with the new Frontier"
that was verbatim of the closed captioning for the commercial.... later the same week a memo went out to all employees to show opposition of the attempting take over of Verizon Wi, and emergency conferences in stores were held the following week...
Couple days later all employees were lining up for trumped up crap of all employees, managers, and district managers being on final written warnings on anything and everything that would be legitimate.

Also, 2 weeks before there was the press release about frontier buying out Verizon Comm the CEO just up and left with no warning to anybody... JUST LEFT!!

Now my wife is seeing it in her regional office... with long term employees from even Prime Co just up and leaving and early retirements...

This is all true for Illinois and Wisconsin... we do not know about anyone else outside of these 2 states... but the midwest regional office is in Chicago, IL so i assume the same thing happened throughout the whole region.

Verizon Wireless is starting to be really sketchy as well

 

[dsprague2]

So if you have U-Verse and all is well, why were you looking to change ?
I'm just curious as I sell U-Verse.

Because I really like satellite over cable and Uverse.... It is a system that works... I was just wanting to go back... so yea about that...

 

[stonecold]

Verizon only sold 14 terrories out of 78 that they lay clam to. Verizon Communications is still very much around and kicking and totally separate from Frontier.

 

[dsprague2]

1. why are you calling the normal number verizon employees have a line to call to get there discount it goes for verizon and verizon wireless employees.

2. We nevergive out 2 free hdddvrs . the 2nd person is known as a Third Party verfier, they are a new process dtv trying out figuring if two different people read you the disclaimers and tpv calls are never deleted they are permantely archived that it keeps down on customers saying I was never told about ( fill in the blank )

3. There simply is not a 2nd hddvr free promotion. I looked. Also if you alled in to order ther eas no way for the sale people to notate the account they only have access to our order system not our billing system that holds all the account notes.

4. Sorry to hear so many people hung up on you I am more then willing to pass your infomration up to my boss as a complaint, about being hung up on we do not hang up on people it a matter of policy so if people did they need to be corrected.

Thanks for your reply!

1. that is exactly what my wife was told and she was given a special number to call from HR and the number was disconnected... so she called HR back and they said call the main D* number and ask for someone... I forget now... so we did and they stated that we had to call another number... which just looped us back to the original IVR and got to a sales person and told the sales rep everything... they said we dont give discounts to Verizon Wireless anymore...

That is just what we were told almost 4 years ago... So i havent done anything about it since and havent bothered... so if you have a direct number I can call I will

2. I really dont know what happens a D* for promos or sale closer deals so... that is what the rep told me and that is what i pursued... also good to know about that oher party thing

3. I do get what you are saying and they notated something or another on my order/account.

4. I am willing to give you my account information.. just PM me and I will give you all the stuff you need. I have 1 supervisor already "supposedly" filling whatever she needs to do.

I appreciate your response

 

[dsprague2]

Verizon only sold 14 terrories out of 78 that they lay clam to. Verizon Communications is still very much around and kicking and totally separate from Frontier.

Something is still going on with the remaining territories that Verizon Comm holds though.. what it is IDK

What i do know on frontier's site is if you order from any of the overtaken territories (since i only tried them) it does take you back to verizon.com to order service with frontiers logos on the pages.

 

[Jimbo]

They are just trying to back out of a multi-million dollar contract with the FCC on deploying fiber.... they company now is Frontier and they were a mom and pop shop that was bought out by Vodafone in Europe.... Also, when you go to Frontier's site and order service you go to a verizon.com website with really cheesy rebranding of Frontier...

Again Verizon Landline/Verizon Comm and Verizon Wireless are 2 different companies...

In fact Verizon Wireless owes Vodafone $150 Mil for some sort of payout in 2011/2012 and Verizon Wi gave Vodafone the middle finger... :S

So now Vodafone is trying to do a hostile takeover of Verizon Wi... of which Vodafone owns 41% of Verizon Wi and had owned 48% of Verizon Com (aka Frontier cough)
Vodafone plans to buy an additional 13% to make their share 54% of Verizon Wi, terminate all employees in some way or another (which is already happening here in the Midwest region of Verizon Wi) and dismantle the company piece by piece... Also, when the new Verizon Wi commercials came out for the first week after Frontier took over Verizon Land Line/Comm at the end you would hear "Rule the air with the new Frontier"
that was verbatim of the closed captioning for the commercial.... later the same week a memo went out to all employees to show opposition of the attempting take over of Verizon Wi, and emergency conferences in stores were held the following week...
Couple days later all employees were lining up for trumped up crap of all employees, managers, and district managers being on final written warnings on anything and everything that would be legitimate.

Also, 2 weeks before there was the press release about frontier buying out Verizon Comm the CEO just up and left with no warning to anybody... JUST LEFT!!

Now my wife is seeing it in her regional office... with long term employees from even Prime Co just up and leaving and early retirements...

This is all true for Illinois and Wisconsin... we do not know about anyone else outside of these 2 states... but the midwest regional office is in Chicago, IL so i assume the same thing happened throughout the whole region.

Verizon Wireless is starting to be really sketchy as well

As far as Verizon goes in MY area here in NW Ohio, now Frontier, Thier Internet offerings are JUNK, it took them till about 4-5 years ago to even GET HSI here, I lived here with DIAL UP from about 2001-2004-5, Could not believe it.
I was one of the VERY FIRST in my town to get HSI thru them.
The fastest they offer is 3.0 speed, which we all know is pathetic and it's $ 35 p/m at that.
I waited and waited for them to increase there speed, talked with several V techs as well as GM's and was told that 7 mg would be here soon and businesses would go to 10 mg, I waited 2 years after THAT conversation ...... Do you know what they are pushing around here now ?
1 mg, yup, thats right ..... 1 MG and they are calling that HSI.

Then in the last 6 months I've had V out here for phone line issues , they fix it and it comes back a week or so later.... I work in the REPAIR dept at AT&T , I KNOW what the problem is, but I'm not allowed to go out and fix it.

Then Frontier came along and offered NOTHING any better of different, no promo's for the NOW Frontier subs, do deal on HSI or a new bundle or nothing.

I finally gave up and went to the competition for HSI .... who I haven't had service with for 20 years now, because of the crappy service and attitudes I got back then from them.

I only have 8 mg and it's slightly more a month, but at least it's reliable, so far.

 

[dsprague2]

Verizon only sold 14 terrories out of 78 that they lay clam to. Verizon Communications is still very much around and kicking and totally separate from Frontier.

My wife just notified me that as of late last week you no longer get redirected to Verizon Comm...

However Since Vodafone owns Frontier and owns 48% of Verizon Comm and 41% of VZW they both have a very strong correlation.

The structure goes as such now according to my wife

Vodafone -> VZW
-> Verizon Comm/Landline
-> Frontier

Also, several other companies including Verizon Landline/Comm have stake in VZW as that is only it's DBA the actual name of VZW is CellCo Partnership.