3/21 Update: My Conversation with Executive Support

This morning, I had a nice conversation with a woman in "Executive Support" for my region. She has taken ownership of this issue, and has promised to see it through to completion. Ultimately, I still plan to pursue this through Verizon Corporate, as I think there are a lot of takeaways from my experience.

We were on the phone for nearly 45 minutes, so I won't remember everything, but here are the highlights:

1) It is going to be very difficult for Verizon to track my issues back to the specific representatives who I spoke with during my long ordeal. Apparently account tracking, particularly for TV and Internet customers only, is particularly lacking. It sounds like they have a bunch of different systems, and none of them seem to get along with each other. That being said...

2) The woman indicated that if I had been a "Freedom Bundle" customer, I would have been in much better shape. Ironically, that's exactly what I was trying to do! I was trying to add the darn phone line so that I would have been. Oh well, c'est la vie.

3) Turns out, Verizon would never have been able to port my old phone number from Vonage. She indicated that within 2 minutes of knowing my existing phone number and address, the representative should have known that it wouldn't work. She acknowledged that halfway through my battle I said that I didn't care about my phone number anyway, and that they should have been able to cancel the order and start a new one for a randomly assigned phone number. Another missed opportunity for Verizon to fix my issue down the drain.

4) What ever happened to the 2 rounds of shipping labels that I was promised? Well it turns out the lady who canceled my account indicated that I wanted a technician to pickup the equipment. That lady must be hard of hearing, because in no uncertain terms, I said that Verizon techs were not welcome in my house. Oddly enough, when the service representative selects the option for "technician pickup," she is supposed to schedule the appointment window (4 hours of course). Obviously that never happened. Such a basic thing, but one of the many deceptive moves by Verizon...

5) All this deception...Why was I never given a single returned phone call that I was promised? Why did someone say they were sending me shipping labels (twice), and then input the order as a technician pickup? Why did someone promise me an email at 6:30pm when the call center closes at 6:00pm? Why did someone promise to email my coworker on a SUNDAY, when obviously customer service isn't even open on Sunday? The whole thing makes absolutely no sense. I suggested there might be a rogue call center that gets their "jollies" from making the most asinine promises just to get people off the phone. At some point, you think something sounds so ridiculous that you couldn't possibly make it up, right? Wrong. This is the issue that still makes me the most frustrated.

6) Apparently the problems I was having with the online payment apps was 1) because my account was FIOS and not another Verizon product and 2) final bills are apparently more complicated than standard bills. Either way, if that's the case, write that in the error message!! Save yourself a bunch of confused calls to the call center! It's certainly cheaper to address these issues over the web than to handle phone calls. Verizon doesn't seem to get that.

7) She disputes the "15 minute average handle time" mandate that was chronicled in the article on Consumerist.com.

8) She was absolutely flabbergasted that I got a bill in a handwritten envelope. She said she couldn't actually believe it until she saw the picture.

9) Obviously she is a Verizon employee, so she can't come out and say it, but I get the sense she fully enjoyed my blog.

10) I'll add more things as I remember them.

Apparently this nice woman tried to send me my bill last night. Well it didn't work, and she acknowledged that it seems their system is broken. In fact, I might be getting a copy of a January bill in the mail soon with a -$0.06 balance (which will obviously be another hilarious post). She shared the same frustration with their billing system that I have. There is seemingly no way to view, download, or print any bill after January. I jokingly suggested that she try calling their call center to see if anyone knew what the deal is, but we all know that would be a waste of her time. Besides, she wants to have a "Good Friday," right?

She mentioned that she and her colleagues were discussing how it might make sense to just credit my account for the amount of the final bill and be done with me. But having read my blog, they know that I am actually ENTHUSIASTIC about paying my final bill, even if I have to mail it directly to the CEO's office.

So here's where I am at. This very nice woman has promised to track down this final bill and get it sent out (fancy paper, return envelope, the whole nine yards). I truly kinda believe that she will get this figured out.

But I really feel like I want more out of this. Throughout our conversation, she kept refering to my situation as an opportunity to address training issues. She referred to individual training issues, while I contend that given the number of people that I have spoken with, this is an epidemic of bad service and useless billing/customer tracking systems.

Also, as a training tool, I think my blog could be motivation for call center employees - "The Power of One." If just one of the folks that I spoke with had stepped up to the plate and solved my issue, I would be in a very different position right now. In fact, I would have likely been so relieved, that I would have sent a letter to Verizon corporate indicating how this one "superstar" had solved my issue. Can you imagine how happy that person would have been if he/she received a phone call from Mr Seidenberg commending his/her efforts? That employees enthusiasm for providing service would have resonated through that entire call center. Instead, everyone chose to pass the ball and make my issue someone else's problem. Frankly, if Mr Seidenberg wants the name of someone to commend, I will gladly pass along the contact information of the woman I spoke with today.

Along those lines, a question I asked that so far cannot be answered is: What could I have done differently to resolve this quicker - to get that phone installed, or to return my equipment quickly, or to pay my final bill promptly? What resources does a Verizon customer have when ALL attempts to go through the proper channels have failed? Heck, I had to go through the Director of Media Relations just to track down someone who could help me get a copy of a bill. Surely, it is in no one's best interest for that to seem like the only viable option. People should not have to deal with this type of terrible service. Can you imagine those folks who live in apartment buildings where they have no choice? Makes me sick.

As we wrapped up, I indicated that I planned to escalate my remaining concerns to the Corporate Headquarters in New York. While I expect to have my final bill issue resolved by then, I think my story needs to be considered by the highest levels of management at Verizon, both for Verizon's sake and the sake of their customers. Basic stuff, man...Figure out the call routing system. Empower customer service reps to help people. Make your web applications work, or at least explain why they don't. Provide an outlet for people who have escalated issues.

So for now, thanks to the nice woman I spoke with today. You seem to be the "light at the end of the tunnel." I look forward to hearing from you again.