Da-Chief
03-28-2008, 09:21
http://i.dslr.net/urls/49/4249.gif (http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Verizon-Insider-Leaks-Extent-Of-FiOS-Billing-Issues-93067)
Yesterday we were discussing how while Verizon deserves high marks for their FiOS service, their billing and support for the speedy fiber service still needs some work (http://www.corpsman.com/shownews/Tampa-Tribune-Highlights-FiOS-Billing-Problems-93028). A Verizon insider has leaked information to the Consumerist (http://consumerist.com/372921/leaks-insider-says-verizon-isnt-fulfilling-advertised-discounts-for-tens-of-thousands) that documents just how bad the billing mistakes have been. The employee says the company frequently advertises promotions before they're supposed to, sends promotions intended only for new customers to existing ones, incorrectly lists prices and promotion dates (which we've discussed (http://www.corpsman.com/shownews/90325)), and fails to train billing support reps properly. On customers not getting proper bundle discounts (which we've also been discussing since last year (http://www.corpsman.com/shownews/86464)):What happens if you are promised a price, and then your bill doesn't reflect that price? Shouldn't you get credit that month? Not according to Verizon. Employees were told to refuse to credit these charges because the discount, once applied, would last for 12 months. You would get your discount in months 2-13 rather then 1-12. Or 3-14 or 4-15, whenever we finally got it right. So your discount was deffered because of our inability to properly process the discount. Service reps who did credit customers in the 1st or 2nd month were called "offenders" in one email inadvertently sent to everyone.
The employee goes on to dish information on Verizon's problems with their free HDTV promotion (http://www.corpsman.com/shownews/92440). While Verizon PR insisted the problem only impacted a "handful" of customers, the leaker says 30,000 users were actually impacted. He goes on to state that Verizon has been forced to dole out twice the customer credits they did a year ago in order to compensate for the company's poor billing systems. Now, they're cracking down on credit:At a time when we are screwing up like never before, Verizon has decided: no more credit. That's right: we screw up, but you still have to pay. Service reps used to have the discretion to issue up to $250 of credit without needing to ask permission. Then they started cracking down on the "offenders" and two weeks ago reduced our credit limit to $150 and last week to $50. Today we got an email from our director Erica Kelly saying that "our adjustments are tied to our revenue" so no more credit is to be issued by anyone (including management) for any reason till after March 30th.
For what it's worth, Verizon seems to be taking the hint (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6545658.html) that some serious support reform is needed.
read comment(s) (http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Verizon-Insider-Leaks-Extent-Of-FiOS-Billing-Issues-93067)
More...
Yesterday we were discussing how while Verizon deserves high marks for their FiOS service, their billing and support for the speedy fiber service still needs some work (http://www.corpsman.com/shownews/Tampa-Tribune-Highlights-FiOS-Billing-Problems-93028). A Verizon insider has leaked information to the Consumerist (http://consumerist.com/372921/leaks-insider-says-verizon-isnt-fulfilling-advertised-discounts-for-tens-of-thousands) that documents just how bad the billing mistakes have been. The employee says the company frequently advertises promotions before they're supposed to, sends promotions intended only for new customers to existing ones, incorrectly lists prices and promotion dates (which we've discussed (http://www.corpsman.com/shownews/90325)), and fails to train billing support reps properly. On customers not getting proper bundle discounts (which we've also been discussing since last year (http://www.corpsman.com/shownews/86464)):What happens if you are promised a price, and then your bill doesn't reflect that price? Shouldn't you get credit that month? Not according to Verizon. Employees were told to refuse to credit these charges because the discount, once applied, would last for 12 months. You would get your discount in months 2-13 rather then 1-12. Or 3-14 or 4-15, whenever we finally got it right. So your discount was deffered because of our inability to properly process the discount. Service reps who did credit customers in the 1st or 2nd month were called "offenders" in one email inadvertently sent to everyone.
The employee goes on to dish information on Verizon's problems with their free HDTV promotion (http://www.corpsman.com/shownews/92440). While Verizon PR insisted the problem only impacted a "handful" of customers, the leaker says 30,000 users were actually impacted. He goes on to state that Verizon has been forced to dole out twice the customer credits they did a year ago in order to compensate for the company's poor billing systems. Now, they're cracking down on credit:At a time when we are screwing up like never before, Verizon has decided: no more credit. That's right: we screw up, but you still have to pay. Service reps used to have the discretion to issue up to $250 of credit without needing to ask permission. Then they started cracking down on the "offenders" and two weeks ago reduced our credit limit to $150 and last week to $50. Today we got an email from our director Erica Kelly saying that "our adjustments are tied to our revenue" so no more credit is to be issued by anyone (including management) for any reason till after March 30th.
For what it's worth, Verizon seems to be taking the hint (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6545658.html) that some serious support reform is needed.
read comment(s) (http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Verizon-Insider-Leaks-Extent-Of-FiOS-Billing-Issues-93067)
More...