{"id":703,"date":"2017-03-01T17:31:38","date_gmt":"2017-03-01T17:31:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peterkreutzer.com\/blog\/?p=703"},"modified":"2017-03-01T16:44:53","modified_gmt":"2017-03-01T16:44:53","slug":"the-spectacular-awfulness-of-verizon-customer-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peterkreutzer.com\/blog\/?p=703","title":{"rendered":"The Spectacular Awfulness of Verizon Customer Service"},"content":{"rendered":"

I wrote this in January, but didn’t post it then because I was too angry and wanted to let it sit. Then I got distracted by other things, and it sat waiting for attention. Reading it today reminds just how screwy our world can be. So, I hope this provides a laugh. Plus, I got a bill from Verizon the other day. It said I owed .75 cents plus 8 cents tax for a Three Way Call between 1\/13 and 2\/12, though our service was disconnected on December 20th. I struggled to find a phone number and I struggled to get through the voice-activated phone tree, but eventually spoke with a charming woman in Finance (I had been misdirected). She said (before transferring me to customer service), “Don’t tell anyone I said this, but just tell them that this is too small an amount to write and mail a check, and they’ll take it off. Just don’t tell them I said so, she laughed wonderfully. And I did, and so did they.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\"goodbye-verizon-featured\"<\/a>I’m on hold right now, having finally found a way to contact a person at Verizon. The issue today? I cancelled my Verizon phone service on December 20th, but today they pulled money from\u00a0my bank account automatically for December 13 to January 12. I want a refund for the days after I cancelled service.<\/p>\n

Here is what happens when you go to the Verizon website:<\/p>\n

It takes you to a page with no login link.<\/p>\n

You click the Phone link and it takes you to the home page. There is a login link in the upper right corner of the screen, where it should be.<\/p>\n

You log in, but it doesn’t recognize your password. I know it didn’t recognize my password last time and the time before that. I figure this has to be my fault, I must be entering the wrong password, but I can’t think of another website where I have to so methodically reset the password every time I visit. I have an entry in my password list for Verizon, could it be outdated? No way to know what the matter is, but this happens every time at this website.<\/p>\n

It asks me\u00a0a security question. Where did I meet my wife? I know the city name, the restaurant\u00a0name, the security answer I usually enter to answer security questions, the answer which has nothing to do with the truth. All are wrong.<\/p>\n

It offers to reset my password. I enter my username and zip code. It prompts me to text or email a temporary password. I say Text.<\/p>\n

I’m texted a temporary password.<\/p>\n

I enter my username and temp password. I am then prompted to enter my a new\u00a0password and confirm it. I enter the old password twice, meeting the requirements of capital letter, lower case letter and at least one number. At least eight characters overall. Now my password list is right, I think. I press enter and am prompted to choose a security question.<\/p>\n

I do so, choose a new one not involving my spouse, and am prompted to log in. I type my username, click sign in, and am prompted for my password.<\/p>\n

I enter my password and am told that the user name\/password combo doesn’t exist. I want to scream, then notice that autofill is adding a y to the beginning of my username. Maybe this is on me, my browser, some past typo. I don’t know. I have to click the x on the autofill tab to advance to the password page.<\/p>\n

I type in the password, click sign in, and am taken to the security question page, which I answer flawlessly. I’m finally in!<\/p>\n

I click Billing. I’m given the choices to\u00a0View Bill, Pay Bill, Payment History, Auto Pay, Paper Free Billing.<\/p>\n

I click View Bill and am told my account has been disconnected, and I will remain in Auto Pay for my final bill(s). My final bill should have covered 12\/13 to 12\/20, but instead covered 12\/13-1\/12, so I need to arrange a refund.<\/p>\n

I can’t find a telephone number to call, there isn’t a telephone number to call, so I contact the automated Virtual Chat. I type\u00a0“I need to arrange for refund for overcharge on bill.”<\/p>\n

Nothing happens. I realize this might be an issue with Chrome, with a security setting that suppresses popups, so I move over to Safari. I am able to log in directly. I ask the virtual chat the question and am given a link to the View Bill page. Grrrr. I was there already.<\/p>\n

I find a menu item at the bottom of the page for Billing Disputes.<\/p>\n

The link takes me to a page called<\/p>\n

Billing Disputes.<\/b><\/span><\/h1>\n

It tells me I need the date<\/strong> of my bill, the amount<\/strong> of the charge, the label of the charge<\/strong>, the page number<\/strong> from the bill, and the reason<\/strong> for my dispute.<\/p>\n

There is a link to contact Verizon. Clicking it takes me to a page that shows this (click to enlarge):<\/p>\n

\"screenshot-2017-01-02-09-50-59\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I click Billing & Account, which brings me to this:<\/p>\n

\"screenshot-2017-01-02-09-53-35\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I click Billing Questions, which brings me to this:<\/p>\n

\"screenshot-2017-01-02-09-59-19\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Grrr! No phone number. No link to Billing Disputes after many links starting with the prompt Billing Disputes.<\/p>\n

I’ve already been given the runaround by the virtual helper. Forums won’t help. Chat is busy! Hmm. More contact options. I click that.<\/p>\n

Click that and the button changes to this:<\/p>\n

\"screenshot-2017-01-02-10-01-16\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I click that and am given this:<\/p>\n

\"screenshot-2017-01-02-10-02-16\"<\/a><\/p>\n

But I don’t think the one I saw said Call Me in 29 Minutes. What I know is that I entered my phone number, but made a typo in the area code box, and it would not let me delete it. Not by back spacing, not by using delete, not by highlighting and typing. Nothing.<\/p>\n

So I X’ed out, reopened the form and made sure to type my phone number correctly. I clicked the Call Me button and my phone rang immediately.<\/p>\n

Wow, that was fast. But it wasn’t a person. It was a voice recognition system which asked me if I was calling about the number I was calling from.<\/p>\n

No, I said.<\/p>\n

What is the number you’re calling about?<\/p>\n

I give the number. There is a whirring sound, like a robot thinking, and then I’m told that the account has been found and I’m prompted for the four number PIN attached to the account.<\/p>\n

I don’t know the PIN. This happens every time I contact Verizon, no one ever tells me what the PIN is, they can’t tell me what the PIN is, but after a really frustrating time we always proceed. In this case, the voice prompts for the PIN. I give the PIN I often use for low-security accounts (not banks etc), and am told that’s not right.<\/p>\n

Will I give another PIN?<\/p>\n

No, I say.<\/p>\n

Okay, the voice says. We’ll proceed without a PIN, but you may be prompted to answer some security questions later.<\/p>\n

I’m given a list of menu items that seems familiar: Hear billing amount due, pay bill, recent transactions, anything else.<\/p>\n

Anything else doesn’t help. I say Customer Service.<\/p>\n

Would you like to speak to a customer service representative?<\/p>\n

Yes.<\/p>\n

I’m then prompted for the three digit number that appears on my bill next to the phone number. I start to say One and the voice interrupts me. I stop, listen to the prompt, then say One Seven Six.<\/p>\n

The voice says back: DId you say One One Seven Six?<\/p>\n

No.<\/p>\n

Please read the three digit number that appears on your bill next to your phone number.<\/p>\n

One Seven Six.<\/p>\n

I’m transferred to Ashley, who answers the phone, Verizon Financial Services.<\/p>\n

Ashley listens to my problem, says she’ll take care of it and puts me on hold. I’m on hold a long time, listening to terrible music, but she jumps back in a few times to apologize for the delay. It is okay.<\/p>\n

After about 10 minutes she tells me that Autopay has been turned off. I ask if my card will\u00a0be charged back for the balance I shouldn’t have been charged for and she says it\u00a0will.<\/p>\n

She’s very nice and helpful. Just as the man was who turned off my service two weeks ago, the man who said I would be billed for the useage in a final bill and I didn’t need to do anything else, was.<\/p>\n

So, we’ll see.<\/p>\n

Verizon is a giant company offering services to vast numbers of consumers. In my experience, over many years as a phone, wireless and internet customer, the website has always been a user interface\u00a0disaster. The thing you need is always hidden, the pages take you to endless loops of not the information you want. The account page is sparse and not helpful.<\/p>\n

On my page, a view of past bills, shows no past bills.<\/p>\n

The messaging system deletes messages after 15 days, so you have no record of \u00a0your interactions.<\/p>\n

The chat system, when it’s working, doesn’t allow you to easily save the chat.<\/p>\n

This utter disregard for the customer experience has to be designed into their service intentionally. It must be working for Verizon, in some cynical bottom-line way, but it is lousy and I’m glad to have finally moved on.<\/p>\n

Spectrum, the new combined Charter-Time Warner service, is paying attention to customers now.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I wrote this in January, but didn’t post it then because I was too angry and wanted to let it sit. Then I got distracted by other things, and it sat waiting for attention. Reading it today reminds just how screwy our world can be. So, I hope this provides a laugh. Plus, I got … Continue reading The Spectacular Awfulness of Verizon Customer Service<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,20,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-critique","category-memoir","category-tech"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peterkreutzer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peterkreutzer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peterkreutzer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peterkreutzer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peterkreutzer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=703"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/peterkreutzer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":715,"href":"https:\/\/peterkreutzer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703\/revisions\/715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peterkreutzer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peterkreutzer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peterkreutzer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}