Verizon Might Lose My DSL

have a painful and frustrating history with Verizon. Two years ago I rejoiced that DLS was finally available at my location and I could drop the totally infuriating DirecWay.

Wringing Out the Line

switched from Sprint to Verizon for land line and requested DSL. I got the new land line and DSL about one month later. You see, it takes one month for them to "wring out" the line and make sure it works. Does anyone really believe in today's world that it could possibly take more than a couple of days, and those two days only to get a work order to the technician.

I had DSL services for three days and it went dead. It turns out that Verizon had switched my land line without a proper release from Sprint, whatever that means (actually a company that had just bought a Sprint territory). This, they carefully explained to me, required that they "wring out" the line again. On a line that had already worked? I griped and they rushed and I got my DSL back in three weeks. BTW, I had no dial-up during this period. Not a good start with someone that wants my business.

Disconnect in Four Days

ne year later, I scheduled web payment of my Verizon bill but apparently was distracted and didn't hit the final submit payments button. My mistake. But my only notice from Verizon was a letter received on a Friday afternoon requiring payment by the next Tuesday. Even web payment wouldn't arrive in time, nor would snail mail. I made a web payment anyway and then doubled up by using my credit card to pay by telephone. Now - get this. In order to use my own credit card on Verizon's telephone payment costs me between $15 and $20 (I forgot the exact amount). And that was an automated system.

How Verizon Does Business

made the mistake but Verizon has my credit report and they could have an automated system that check when payments are late and evaluates whether the customer is a risk. If so, they would have found that I had absolutely no late payments in the 15 years that the credit bureaus maintain (it has been more than 25 years for me). I griped and Verizon rescinded the fee. I asked if there was a mistake and that I should have received earlier warning. No definitive answer. Frustrated, I asked if this was the standard way they do business. The answer was definitive - "yes, that's the way we do business."

No Dial Tone

ow for today. A week ago last Friday, I lost my dial tone. No dial tone a the box outside the house. I placed a service order by cell phone to their other automated system for losing service orders. They couldn't send a technician for five days. I don't know. Maybe I'm confused, but I thought Verizon was a telephone company. Five days?

Five days passed and no technician showed up. After 6PM, I placed a work order via their web site (note that my DSL still worked). It was scheduled for the next day even though I had no human to gripe to. No technician ever showed up. However, my phone magically had a dial tone that morning. Shortly after that, someone associated with Verizon called on the land line to ask if our phone was working. My wife was sarcastic.

I had noticed that the phone line coming down the telephone pole to a box there (the line goes underground from that box to the one at my house). It was flapping in the breeze and I suspected that might be part of the problem. I returned the call to that local Verizon person. A lady answered by saying, "Hello." She didn't say Verizon or some-Verizon-subcontractor, just "Hello." I noted the flapping wire problem and she said she'd get someone on it. That was six days ago and it's still flapping.

No Dial Tone, Again --- And Slow DSL

lost the dial tone again about one week later, last Thursday. I called the automated system and asked for an agent as soon as the system could understand the difficult word agent. All I could get was another promise of a technician in another - you guessed it - 5 days. I couldn't explain that this was a second event and I couldn't talk to a supervisor. I couldn't even add anything about that flapping wire.

I had noticed that my Internet was slower on Saturday but didn't get around to checking it. My download speed was about half of normal and half of what other Verizon customers in my zip code were getting. I took ten valium and called Verizon for DSL trouble. I was connected to that wonderful country that speaks native Vulcan but we call it India.

The tech support was quite good but they couldn't do anything. They promised that I would get full speed back when I got a dial tone. The supervisor also passed on through the phone guy that I would probably lose my DSL before the dial tone was repaired.

Verizon Wants to be Your Communications Center

o I expect a technician to show up or otherwise repair both the dial tone and the DSL? Given Verizon's history, it's not promising.

I constantly get ads to get my DLS, land line, cell phone, and DirecTV (thankfully I've had that for 11 years and not through Verizon). Anyone who falls for this package and misses one payment will lose all communication with outside world for a period of time to be determined or not determined by Verizon, after payments of course.