Last Updated on September 21, 2023 by Christopher G Mendla
- Updated Sat 8 2 (See Bottom of Post for updates)
- Updated Mon 8/4/08
- Updated Mon night 8/4/08
- Updated Tues Morning 8/5/08 – Call Forwarding SUCCESS – after 25 agents and 18 hours of calling
About 2 months ago, we switched our internet and one phone to Verizon Fios. That went fairly well with some minor glitches (ie, they gave us a ‘dying on arrival’ modem that resulted in more down time in one week than I had in the past 7 years with my previous DSL provider)
About a week ago, our other phone line, which was still on copper, went dead. We called MCI, which I understand has merged with Verizon. We called MCI support and they said that someone will be out on Saturday. I waited all morning on Saturday. No one showed up. We called MCI and they said that they couldn’t make it so they would be out on Tuesday.
We decided to get rid of MCI and move the other line from copper to the Fios on Verizon. We called that day and they set up the move…. supposedly. … We went through the third party verification process. Verizon said that they would be out Thursday between 9 and 11. So, I took another day off. Guess what, …. yep.. Another no show.
I called support and the message said “We are experiencing a heavy call volume, do you want us to call back”… That was after listening to the ‘press whatever for espanol’ garbage. Like an idiot, I opted for the call back. They problem with their call back system is that if you don’t grab the call immediately, it assumes you aren’t there and hangs up on you, even if you are screaming “I”M FREAKING ON THE FREAKING LINE YOU FREAKING MORON”..
I decided to call and wait for an agent. It takes a couple of minutes till you can get to the part where you can ask for an agent. Agent #1 couldn’t help, he passed me to Agent #2. Agent #2 had to pass me to Agent #3. Agent #3 didn’t have the authority, brains or whatever to deal with the problem so they passed me to Agent #4. At this point, I’m starting to get hungry and need to use the facilities.. It’s only been about a 45 minutes to this point. So, Agent #4 can’t help either and needs to pass me to Agent #5. OK, pass me. Agent #5 can’t help either. At this point, I’m beginning to think I’ve got a really good chance of meeting Agent 86 and Agent 99.
Agent #5 can’t help either So Agent #5 dutifully passes me to Agent #6. I’m really getting excited about the possibility of getting to Maxwell Smart at this point. Agent # 6…. guesss what…. Can’t help either so they transfer me to Agent #7…. AAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHH… Agent #7 is obviously challenged in the use of a device as complex as a telephone…. and my call is disconnected. …. An hour and a half of my life goes down the crapper. Of course, Verizon won’t call you back to resolve the issue.
So, I call again. I’m beginning to find out that no one seems to have a record of the order we placed to convert the phone number from MCI to Verizon. As I start the process again, Agent #8 passes me to Agent #9. Agent takes some info and puts me on hold with some horrendous elevator music. I mean stuff that even John Bolton wouldn’t use on Osama bin Laden. After 36 minutes and 17 seconds on this phone call, we have accomplished precisely…… nothing.. Nada, Zilch, Zippo… At this point I’m wondering if the batteries on my cordless will last long enough to get the issue resolved.
After an hour Agent #7 finally got back on the line. She was a little, shall we say snotty. Yes, I might not be the most cheerful customer at this point but, at this point, I had spent about 5 hours TRYING TO GET ONE FREAKING ANSWER.. According to the illustrious Agent #7, the transfer was not going through because there was a “Local Freeze” on the phone number and there was nothing MCI could do until we got MCI to release the phone. OK, another hour of my life down the crapper.
I called MCI and they said “There is no freeze or block on that line”
OK, Now I’m back with Verizon Agent #10, Daniel. I explained to Daniel that I’ve been trying to resolve this for over 5 hours counting the time I waited for the service call that was never coming. I’m beginning to hope that perhaps the agent number has a positive correlation with IQ and I’m getting closer to a resolution.
Some progress is happening at 15 minutes into the call, I’m speaking with a supervisor who is ‘going to check with the department that handles portability”.. Wow, by the time this gets resolved I’ll qualify for a senior citizen discount.
Well, we are now 45 minutes into this call with agent #12 (i’ll count the interim supervisor as an agent just for giggles). I’m dealing with more agents than existed in the CIA and KGB.. I’m still listening to hideous elevator music.. My mind is getting numb, Hunger is happening.
At about 75 minutes into this call, it seems we might have a resolution. According to #12, the problem was that the 3rd party verification didn’t go through. She set up an appointment for a week from now for a Fios technician and put me back into the 3rd party verification autonoman.
So, where are we to this point.
I’ll post again when/if this is resolved. In the meantime, don’t call me, email me because our phones are foobar.
UPDATE – Sat Aug 2 2008. After the hour long call on Friday, I was promised that a “supervisor will call you on Saturday between 8am and noon to resolve this”. I waited all morning unable to do anything productive and, you guessed it folks, I never got a call.
I then called from my Verizon Cell phone so I would not miss the incoming call and got to meet agent #15. Agent #15 said that the phone had migrated from the MCI platform to Verizon on Aug 1 (Friday). All I need now is for Verizon to put a call forward on that number so that we don’t miss any more calls until they finally mosey around to actually connecting the number.
After 45 minutes with Agent #15, we established that we could not do call forwarding until Monday. However, he did come up with a possible alternative which was to send someone out to reconnect the copper service which should give us service.
That didn’t work either. Apparently one of the largest companies in the country runs a skeleton Staff on the weekends. So, we went through another 2 days with no phone service and calls going into our other
Update Monday Aug 4 2008 – I’m starting to put the year on the update dates because I’m beginning to think we might not get see service until 2009 or later. I’m on the phone with Agent #17. Apparently the line is on Verizon but there is some other glitch. He’s checking things out. At about 20 minutes into the call, the line went dead… HOWEVER, he promptly called back to re-establish contact.
Agent 17 passed me to a tech person, Agent 18. Agent 18 seemed to really care. However, it appears that once again, the order was input incorrectly, That means that they can’t do anything. Agent 18 passed me to Agent 19. Agent 19 was saying the the number was still on the MCI platform. Ok, almost 16 hours of effort and we have accomplished ZERO. I think I’ll move to Havana Cuba. Fidel’s decrepit 1950’s telco system run by commie apparatchicks would have to be better than what I’m getting from Verizon. So, Agent 19, passes me to Agent 20 who is supposedly setting up a repair order for the copper so we can get dialtone. Supposedly they are going to call me back
Mini Update – I just found out that the “International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers” which represents a whole bunch of the verizon workers is threatening a strike for “Job Security” and “No outsourcing”.. Yeah, it takes a union mentality to take what should be a simple 1 hour job and turn it into a nightmare that takes about 20 hours and 20 people to accomplish nothing. How many IBEW union workers does it take to get a phone line installed properly… ? “Twenty, Tirty, Forty.. Wadever… You gotta problem wit dat?” Hey, Union folks, do you think that you might want to try to get your workers to be competent?? Maybe then they will be a little more efficient and the company won’t want to outsource overseas.
U pdate Monday night 8/4/08 – OK, once again the promised call to me never occurred. It’s monday night and I am now trying to get a hold of Agent 21. The voice prompt system really stinks and tends to get you into a loop. I’m calling using my fios number, the one that is working, as the reference number. I seem to get a little faster service that way (HA HA HA HA HA HA )
OK, after 64 minutes on the call, Agent 21 assured me that a ticket had been created and that we should have the call forwarding in place “within 23 hours”.. We’ll wait and see….
Update Tuesday Morning 8/5/08 – Well it is tuesday morning and we still don’t have the line working nor do we have call forwarding. We almost missed an important call from a doctor who is caring for a relative. Fortunately, after getting an unanswered ring on the one number, the doctor was smart enough to look us up and found the other number. This isn’t funny any more. I’m now on the phone with Agent #22 trying to determine the status of the trouble ticket. Agent #22 passed me to the copper folks – Agent #23. Agent 23 was in billing and couldn’t help. Agent #23 dutifully passed me to to repair… IN FLORIDA… duh, I’m in Pennsylvania So Agent #24 in Florida passed me to Pennsylvania’s Voice prompting (not counting that as an agent.) I’m speaking with Agent #25.
Call forwarding success – Finally, after 25 agents and 18 hours of effort, we finally got call forwarding established so that we are no longer missing calls. Now, the repair guy is supposed to be out on Monday some time between 8 and 8.
Running total of time wasted
1 hour – Saturday to place the order
3 hours – Thursday waiting for a tech visit that never happened
1.5 hours – Thursday – Call 1 for agents 1-9
1 hour – Thursday – Wife called agent 16
1.25 hours – Thursday – Call 2 with agents 10-12
1 hour – Friday Night – Call 1 with agents 13-14
4 hours saturday – Waiting for a promised ‘call from a supervisor’ Never received
1 hour with agent 15
2.5 Hours on Monday with Agents 17, 18, 19 and 20
1 hour on Monday Night with Agent 21
.75 hour on Tues Morning with agents 22, 23, 24 and 25
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18.00 hours investing in trying to get one steenking line moved to verizon and still no service on that line…