Extremely Disappointed with Verizon Wireless
Jay__
Enthusiast - Level 2

When my AT&T contract was up I decided I would switch to Verizon.  My main concern was the signal level in my area.  The salesman assured me that I could "Test Drive the Network" for two weeks and if the signal wasnt strong at my house I could cancel without paying a ETF.

The signal was great for two week and I decided to keep my nice shiny new Android Phone.  After about 5-6 weeks though the signal suddenly dropped from full service to 0-2 bars.  Call dropped constantly and OFTEN times my phone would not ring at all, I would just get voicemails and missed call notifications without my phone ever ringing.

The issue wasnt with my phone as family who lives nearby experienced the dead spot with their verizon phones when they came over to my area.  All of my neighbors also have the same issue.

Dissapointed I called Verizon to see what the issue might be.  One lady told me that sometimes their leases are up on certain towers so the signal might drop unexpectedly.  Another said that sometimes they adjust the direction that the antennas on the towers are pointing so the coverage might move.

I expressed my dissapointed as a new customer that my signal was not what was sold to me.  I told them that my only concern with my phone when buying was the signal level and shortly after signing up for the signal to drop to 0 is unacaptable.

She said they could send a technician out to check what the issue might be in my area.

Today I was notified that a team came out to my area and CONFIRMED THAT THIS IS A BAD SIGNAL AREA.  The solution, it seems, is for them to sell my another device called a network extender for over a hundred dollars so I can make calls over my homes wifi connection.

This is rediculous, if I wanted to make calls over wifi I can do that very easilly without spending $100 every single month on verizon.  Furthermore, I shouldnt have to spend $100 more for a device because your signal has changed in such a short amount of time.  Thirdly, I shouldnt have to use my Internet bandwidth to place phone calls, that is why I signed up for phone service in the first place.

I asked if they could waive the early termination fee and refund me the cost of my phone and they said no, I would have to pay $330 to cancel my contract.

How can you sell someone service with 100% 3G signal during the trial period and then have it drop down to 1-2 bars of Edge service once they are locked in? 

At this point this service isnt worth $100 a month to me, and this doesnt seem legal at all.  Has anyone else been duped like this in their area?

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Re: Extremely Disappointed with Verizon Wireless
Not applicable

Jay__ wrote:

When my AT&T contract was up I decided I would switch to Verizon.  My main concern was the signal level in my area.  The salesman assured me that I could "Test Drive the Network" for two weeks and if the signal wasnt strong at my house I could cancel without paying a ETF.

The signal was great for two week and I decided to keep my nice shiny new Android Phone.  After about 5-6 weeks though the signal suddenly dropped from full service to 0-2 bars.  Call dropped constantly and OFTEN times my phone would not ring at all, I would just get voicemails and missed call notifications without my phone ever ringing.

The issue wasnt with my phone as family who lives nearby experienced the dead spot with their verizon phones when they came over to my area.  All of my neighbors also have the same issue.

Dissapointed I called Verizon to see what the issue might be.  One lady told me that sometimes their leases are up on certain towers so the signal might drop unexpectedly.  Another said that sometimes they adjust the direction that the antennas on the towers are pointing so the coverage might move.

I expressed my dissapointed as a new customer that my signal was not what was sold to me.  I told them that my only concern with my phone when buying was the signal level and shortly after signing up for the signal to drop to 0 is unacaptable.

She said they could send a technician out to check what the issue might be in my area.

Today I was notified that a team came out to my area and CONFIRMED THAT THIS IS A BAD SIGNAL AREA.  The solution, it seems, is for them to sell my another device called a network extender for over a hundred dollars so I can make calls over my homes wifi connection.

This is rediculous, if I wanted to make calls over wifi I can do that very easilly without spending $100 every single month on verizon.  Furthermore, I shouldnt have to spend $100 more for a device because your signal has changed in such a short amount of time.  Thirdly, I shouldnt have to use my Internet bandwidth to place phone calls, that is why I signed up for phone service in the first place.

I asked if they could waive the early termination fee and refund me the cost of my phone and they said no, I would have to pay $330 to cancel my contract.

How can you sell someone service with 100% 3G signal during the trial period and then have it drop down to 1-2 bars of Edge service once they are locked in? 

At this point this service isnt worth $100 a month to me, and this doesnt seem legal at all.  Has anyone else been duped like this in their area?

Yes Verizon delibertly dropped your signal after 2 weeks. You actually believe that? I'm not even sure that would be technically possible even if they wanted to do it. Did it occur to you that they may be working on the towers? That maybe your area might be getting 4G soon? You do realize the workers can not work on a tower with it at full power.

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Re: Extremely Disappointed with Verizon Wireless
Jay__
Enthusiast - Level 2

No, they didnt deliberately drop the signal but they did admit that the signal level has changed and is a "known problem area" and their only solution seems to be me spending hundreds of dollars for another device which is unacceptable.


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Re: Extremely Disappointed with Verizon Wireless
5gears
Newbie

You must be Verizon's biggest fan, some sort of cheerleader. If they aren't paying you, they should. I have read your many posts, defending their fees and service issues. Just because everybody else does it, that doesn't make it right.

>Moderator comment. The only employees on this forum are identified accordingly by the VZW avatar.<


Message was edited by: Verizon Moderator

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Re: Extremely Disappointed with Verizon Wireless
Tidbits
Legend

If one doesn't like the terms they can move elsewhere. Regardless if a person likes the fees or not. It is a luxury and the beauty with luxuries you don't need them to survive. Why stick around while paying the bill and renewing contracts when you don't like the terms? Seems asinine and counter productive to me.

Re: Extremely Disappointed with Verizon Wireless
Jay__
Enthusiast - Level 2

Sure, I agree, but when you have a substantial change in the level of service that you agreed to in your contract you shouldn't be forced to pay $350 to leave that poor service.  A slight change would be understandable, but my phone has gone from full 3G service to NOT EVEN RINGING.  And its not a phone issue, neighbors, friends and relatives all have the same issue in this area.  It's not just my house either, its a good chunk of the county, although if it worked at my house I couldnt complain.

Re: Extremely Disappointed with Verizon Wireless
dimap52
Specialist - Level 1

No he CAN'T leave. That's precisely the OP's point. He's bound in a contract subject to ETF. I get so tired of the same old lame defenses of Corporate malfeasance that inevitably sprout on here every time an aggrieved customer posts what he believes to be a legitimate complaint.  "If you don't like the terms, blah blah blah..... Sorry but it's getting OLD.

The simple fact is, the OP's service WAS working well when he got his phone, now it's not. The onus is on VERIZON to fix the problem, not the customer. The customer should NOT have to buy additional equipment, or utilize another provider's pipe to fix VERIZON's problem. Now, doing work on towers, upgrading or other maintenance is a perfectly reasonable justification for some disruption and inconvenience If this is in fact the case, and if Verizon had been honest and upfront about it, I'm sure the OP would have understood and realized that such maintenance was in his best interest and worth the slight inconvenience. But instead, VZW chose to absolve itself of responsibility for fixing the problem and suggests the customer should at his expense. This is unconscionable and unacceptable.

And since this boils down to, as in all things in the private sector, bottom lines, profit and investor appeasement, I believe that deregulation and continued privatization of the telecommunications industry in this country is a BAD thing, and is clearly NOT in the public interest, nor does it properly serve the public welfare. The FCC should grow a pair, stand up to the AT&T/VZW duopoly and REGULATE.

Re: Extremely Disappointed with Verizon Wireless
Jay__
Enthusiast - Level 2

well said dimap52.

I'm not sure if some of these posters on this forum are Verizon employees or maybe they have a 4G tower in their backyard so they have no reason to complain but some of them are just ridiculous.

The simple fact is I signed a contract with Verizon and in my eyes they aren't keeping up their end of the deal.  To send a tech out ad admit that the signal "is a known problem area" but offer no *real* solution is ridiculous.  Using the customers Internet connection is not a solution.  Charging the customer an ETF is not a solution. 

I could understand if they were doing service upgrades in the area, but that is not what is going on.

A "Network Extender" device is not going to fix my issue.  When I joined VZ I had service all over my area.  I shouldn't have to stay around my house to have my phone ring and use my own pipe for that privledge.

For the record, I am not exactly in the middle of nowhere either.  4G is not far from me at all and when this problem first came up I was indeed hopeful that it was just a sign of them upgrading the service in my area.

I also agree that the consolidation of the Telcos in USA is just making things worse.

Especially when you have the CFO of Verizon saying "Unlimited is just a word, it doesn't really mean anything!" Do you really think these people have the best interests of the consumers in mind?

Re: Extremely Disappointed with Verizon Wireless
Tidbits
Legend

dimap52 wrote:

No he CAN'T leave. That's precisely the OP's point. He's bound in a contract subject to ETF. I get so tired of the same old lame defenses of Corporate malfeasance that inevitably sprout on here every time an aggrieved customer posts what he believes to be a legitimate complaint.  "If you don't like the terms, blah blah blah..... Sorry but it's getting OLD.

The simple fact is, the OP's service WAS working well when he got his phone, now it's not. The onus is on VERIZON to fix the problem, not the customer. The customer should NOT have to buy additional equipment, or utilize another provider's pipe to fix VERIZON's problem. Now, doing work on towers, upgrading or other maintenance is a perfectly reasonable justification for some disruption and inconvenience If this is in fact the case, and if Verizon had been honest and upfront about it, I'm sure the OP would have understood and realized that such maintenance was in his best interest and worth the slight inconvenience. But instead, VZW chose to absolve itself of responsibility for fixing the problem and suggests the customer should at his expense. This is unconscionable and unacceptable.

And since this boils down to, as in all things in the private sector, bottom lines, profit and investor appeasement, I believe that deregulation and continued privatization of the telecommunications industry in this country is a BAD thing, and is clearly NOT in the public interest, nor does it properly serve the public welfare. The FCC should grow a pair, stand up to the AT&T/VZW duopoly and REGULATE.

That boils down to is it the device or the network.  Just because he is having trouble doesn't always means the network.  Verizon does not make the device.  Any court of law will see that.  If he can prove it's the network and not the device.  If thousands of people in his area are not having trouble with the network then it would be hard pressed to prove that it is Verizon having trouble with their network.  Also it might not be Verizon to blame.  Construction of new buildings, repairs on old buildings.  Even something as simple as spectrum overhaul which a state may do from time to time causes problems which needs to be adjusted. 

We can go on and on on this "duopoly" but I digress into writing a essay about how we the people are to blame for it.  People get caught up in the marketing and some other things.  We as consumers have more power than we realize, but often give up that power without realizing it.  It's a shame...

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Re: Extremely Disappointed with Verizon Wireless
Jay__
Enthusiast - Level 2

As I've already stated, it is not a device issue.  Not unless me, and all of my relatives and neighbors all had our phones break at the same time.  The signal level has changed and that has already been admitted by the service techs who came out to scan the signal. 

Also, there are no tall buildings in this area or other new obstructions.

It's the Network and it has changed substantially.

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