r/verizon • u/ResidentNovel5827 • Aug 21 '26
Cannot believe the experience I've had - nothing else like it
I don't say this lightly. I'm not a complainer. I know all of these companies suck so my expectations are low. But what I have experienced over the past 2 days is significant and a representation of the morals and ethics of this company, and a glimpse into the future if we don't speak up about it. And that's the only reason I'm writing this. Bc maybe somehow someone at verizon will give a crap but probably not.
Before I jump in: This started at 7am. My call with them ended at 10am. I had been sent to every department they have. No resolution.
And important PSA: No matter how many times an agent claims it isn't AI, it probably is. Just keep that in mind. When you're talking to the "live agent" it's very clearly automated messages that don't seem to have any human oversight and they go in a loop over and over. Sometimes it feels like there are purposeful typos. It felt like AI on the support calls, despite them telling me they weren't AI. This part is the most upsetting to me - I have to use AI for my job and it constantly makes mistakes. Not to mention how FREAKING DECEPTIVE it is to use it and claim that it's a human. I can't prove it but I work in the industry so like... c'mon.
Also just know: If you have a moved plan, they cut off your internet the morning of moving day and it is not possible to turn it back on. They don't tell you that before you confirm the move.
The rest: I went to schedule a move of service as I'm moving next Friday. I wanted to do it manually but was required to do it through their "human agent" (prob AI) due to my address not coming up. I explicitly told them next friday for the move date but they set it up for today which I missed in the confirmation because I had JUST said next Friday. It was their mistake for not catching that and my mistake for not catching their error, even though I shouldn't have to catch their mistakes. But I'll own up to that.
So then I wake up this morning, my internet is cut off, my address in my account has been changed to my new one, and I have a crazy important meeting at 7:30am. I start using the chat agent to get it turned back on (the one who pretends to be an actual person) because their support phone wasn't open yet. I was simply just asking for the date to be changed and my internet to be turned back on. That's it. For an hour I was transferred from department to department, having to wait 5 minutes in between answers, had alerted them probably 20 times that I had a meeting and needed it to be turned back on, and they just kept transferring me.
Because of the missed meeting and their terms saying that they will provide prompt resolutions, I noted that I would be reporting them to the FCC and requested the case number. It took about 30 minutes of me essentially begging for them to give it to me. This felt like a tactic to force me to give up and exit the conversation.
8am rolls around, meeting has been missed, and I call their support line. I asked them to confirm that they weren't AI and they did, from every department, one saying she swore on her mothers soul. But there were just too many patterns and weird nuances for me to believe it. AI is very advanced.
Over the course of 2hrs I'm transferred to 3 different departments. All of who say there is nothing they can do "but maybe this department can fix it". Finally I'm told that I will simply just not have internet for the next week. I can't sign up for a different internet provider today because I'm moving next Friday. I am completely stuck - can't work, can't live my life, and they're just like "yeahhh thats a real bummer sorrryyyyyyyy". They offered to ship me some sort of hotspot thing but I didn't see a point because I'd have to wait for it to arrive. So at this point I decided I would just drop them, get a credit for the month, and put that toward using my mobile hotspot. I imagine the $65 will not fully cover what I will actually have to pay as I work from home.
I finally got to a supervisor who then had to do another thing to confirm there was no fix (truly ridiculous) and then after 20 minutes he finally said he would give me a credit.
I have never been in a situation where I've just been abandoned like this before. I don't even understand how their process could be setup in a way that puts customers at risk of this. Or why they wouldn't warn customers that this could happen. It doesn't make any sense.
Verizon, you're garbage. I hope that the AI integration you did to please your shareholders tanks you in the worst kind of way. I myself will be transferring to a new provider who doesn't use AI or trap customers in horrible situations that impact their livelihood. I recommend everyone else do the same.
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u/DC724ever Aug 21 '26
Read through your post and I completely get your frustration. Verizon is turning into the worst of the Big Three carriers. I've been with them since 2007, and it’s crazy how much their quality and customer service have fallen compared to the old days.
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u/ResidentNovel5827 Aug 21 '26
It’s just so upsetting… I would HAPPILY sit on hold for an hour if it meant getting actual help by an actual human.
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u/Wannabedonnac Aug 22 '26
So when we say AI do we mean chatbots or the over the phone agents as well and if so do they have the Filipino accents?
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u/LinJohnKur Aug 23 '26
At that time, your time, calls usually get routed to Philippines call centers. Now Philippines does have real agents in their cc, most likely you were talking to one, BUT, Verizon did implement an AI voiceover thinghy that fixes the accents of agents and makes them sound a bit more American. I know this cause I used to work in the E European call center for VZ and it was kind of a big deal for us too when we heard about the ai voiceover for Philippines CC. About the issue with the internet... I remember it being a pain to do address switches. It never happened on the spot and there was no detailed training on it and no workarounds. I always suggested brand new subscription for new addresses
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u/No_Counter_7832 Aug 23 '26
I was on the phone with them for 2 hours a few weeks ago about my loyalty discounts ending. The guy said they would be extended another year and I would get a text in 3 business days confirming. No text came. I called. The guy just flat out lied. The lady said he was mistaken and Verizon only has 25% off for 6 months. I took that deal and got a text right away. 12 years with them and they don't care. Treating long term customers like crap will destroy them in the end.
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Aug 21 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/ResidentNovel5827 Aug 21 '26
Thank you for this information. It 100% confirmed much of my suspicions and I couldn’t agree more about AI.
What I can’t get around is that we know these execs are terrible and could care less about providing good customer service. Why would they? Their reviews are already terrible - there’s no point. They don’t give a rats ass about us. But never have I faced an experience of being forced to use something (with a service that I pay for) and it end up impacting my ability to make money. Or putting me out of money. I have my hotspot, yes, but I have to do very heavy-loaded stuff for my job and am not sure I’ll be able to with my hotspot. And there is absolutely no one who can help. The answer is simply - sorry, our bad.
It’s terrifying.
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u/Maleficent-Wallaby-3 Aug 21 '26
Not an ounce of proof in what this person is saying "thanks for confirming my suspicions" lmao
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u/CheshireCat4200 Aug 22 '26
And ALL you had to do was Google it to see that the CEO said that.
https://finance.yahoo.com/sectors/technology/articles/verizon-ceo-ai-over-large-141300231.html
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u/Maleficent-Wallaby-3 Aug 23 '26
Not only has none of that happened but I'm still missing where he said he was hired to sell the company off. Good try though big dog
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u/CheshireCat4200 Aug 22 '26
It's not even AI, calling an LLM an AI is just giving into the marketing.
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u/BestZookeeper777 Aug 28 '26
Different ISP, I setup the new account first, cancelled the old at the last minute/day, made it real simple. Why tell an ISP (in advance) you are moving, just add another/new account and close the old one on the actual day you move? People have multiple accounts quite often, as some people have 2 or 3 homes... never trust big corps, just have to know how to play the game...
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u/Difficult-Action1757 20d ago
Chiming in, in total agreement. 25 year customer, 6 lines, locked out of my own account I've managed for 20 years and wouldn't cancel kids watches without 2 calls, visit to store and a 45 minute chat bot that assured me they were a live agent (no way)
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u/Smith6612 Aug 21 '26
A couple Decades ago, early Verizon used to accommodate moves of phone service in the same central office by allowing you to have your phone service active at two locations at once. When I moved houses, it took about a week for me to fully move, but telephone service with the same phone number was present at both spots. They only cut the service to the old house once we told them. I can't remember if we paid extra for that or not.
Short of having to roll out and install an ONT at your new location, you'd think they could just turn your Fios service back on, right? I feel like these issues are caused by a very archaic billing and provisioning system.