# Why, Why, Why???



## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

Why is it when I call Verizon tech support to let them know I _*can't connect to the internet*_ that I get the voice recording telling me to visit www.verizon.com.  That drives me up the wall and my kids laugh at me when I start yelling at the recording telling them I'd be more than happy to visit their website if they'd just fix my internet!

I've had intermittent internet for the last week (it's my modem, I tried to tell them that on Friday, but did they listen to me? NOoooo...) I lost my cool with the tech today. He had me do exactly what the tech on Friday told me to do, and what the tech on Wednesday had me do..It didn't work on Wednesday, it didn't work on Friday and it didn't work today. I very forcibly suggested that he let me speak to his supervisor. Well, the supervisor admitted that it was most likely my modem (DUH!), but wanted to run another line test and send a tech out to look at my line (again), so it will be another 24-48 hours before they'll even send me one..So I might have decent coverage again by oh, Friday (hopefully)

Don't they understand that I sold my Kindle and need my Kindleboards fix?? Reading/posting from my cell phone just isn't the same.

I'd switch providers, but sadly they're the only thing available in my area unless I get satellite internet.


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## Vegas_Asian (Nov 2, 2008)

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!


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## drenee (Nov 11, 2008)

I had a similar problem with Comcast.  Internet and computer worked fine before I hooked up to Comcast service, and then after, problems.  I would call and be told the same thing over and over again.  And the same recording, to go to the website.  Infuriating.


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## Gruntman (Feb 9, 2009)

I'm sorry to hear you had such trouble, the one time I had to get them out here they came in an hour( tech was in the area) and replaced my set top box in five minutes.

But asking you to visit the web site when you reported your internet out is just ridiculous, the rep must be reading a script and doesn't know enough to skip the question or simply answer it himself automatically.  Customer service is dead in America.(except amazon)


that was close, wouldn't want them to delay my delivery out of spite.(not that they would).

man this won't end.


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## Kathy (Nov 5, 2008)

I was reading this out loud to my husband and he is still talking. He had the same thing happen Monday and when he called to tell them that our internet was out the tech told him to check the website to see if there was an outage. Needless to say he wasn't very confident that they would find the problem. He works at home and needs the internet. They had made our account inactive, no one knows why and all they had to do was reactivate the account.


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## sjc (Oct 29, 2008)

Luvmy4brats: I understand your plight. Welcome to my world: At work I am on the phone arguing insurance claims for clients all day long...all accidents are* never* anyone's fault. Sometimes it takes over an hour to get the claim reported and they still can't generate a claim number for followup...forget trying to set up the appraisal appointment. Please press one, press two, please wait while we connect your call. He said, she said.

Good luck.


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## Anju  (Nov 8, 2008)

Well y'all - I really feel sorry for you - I honestly do - but my problem is when I report something it is usually in SPANISH and my Spanish does not work on the phone   and my DH does not help at all and he is fluent, but does not understand technical words, like broken, does not work, internet, modem (what's that?) so he is no use if he is not working.    Just be glad it is in English and you can fuss back in the same language, just don't lose your temper, doesn't work.  But I understand I really do.


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

Luv, can you just disconnect the modem and take it in and switch it? I started having problems with my Internet on Super Bowl night. I put up with it for a few days (the weather was bad, that can be a factor) and then I finally called. They did this and that, had me do a reset and so on. Finally, I just disconnected the modem and went to the service center (only a mile away) and got a new one. The woman said, "Oh, this is an old one, we are switching all of them out!" Duh! Why didn't the guy on the phone say that? Sometimes it is worth it to take the bull by the horns.

L


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## DawnOfChaos (Nov 12, 2008)

Three points, then I gotta go to bed 

1. I dislike Verizon customer service, love their cell phone coverage. 

2. I really dislike (trying not to use the word 'hate' but it fits) Comcast all around.

3. You all need to see this website, which I love. http://gethuman.com/us/ Because sometimes you just want to talk to a human being and really don't want to listen to 'The Sounds of Silence' in musak form while you're on hold forever. LOL!


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

Leslie said:


> Luv, can you just disconnect the modem and take it in and switch it? I started having problems with my Internet on Super Bowl night. I put up with it for a few days (the weather was bad, that can be a factor) and then I finally called. They did this and that, had me do a reset and so on. Finally, I just disconnected the modem and went to the service center (only a mile away) and got a new one. The woman said, "Oh, this is an old one, we are switching all of them out!" Duh! Why didn't the guy on the phone say that? Sometimes it is worth it to take the bull by the horns.
> 
> L


That's my plan for tomorrow. I just have to figure out where the nearest center is. The supervisor told me I needed to buy a new one. At this point I'm willing to do whatever. I don't know what's more frustrating not having it at all, or it going in and out constantly.


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## Kathy (Nov 5, 2008)




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## frojazz (Feb 10, 2009)

LOL!  I feel your pain; my husband had the exact same problem with Comcast the other day...


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## Gables Girl (Oct 28, 2008)

I just tell them it's dead and nothing will happen no matter what I do.  I have already run the tests and know what the problem is all I need a tech on site.  I don't' have time to mess with their scripts.  If I think they will push to connect from their end I unplug it so it is dead.  Then I plug it in before the tech shows up. Sometimes you have to be deceptive to get service.


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## Sandpiper (Oct 28, 2008)

DawnOfChaos said:


> Three points, then I gotta go to bed
> 
> 1. I dislike Verizon customer service, love their cell phone coverage.
> 
> 2. I really dislike (trying not to use the word 'hate' but it fits) Comcast all around.


Dawn, I so agree with those two. Few years ago I had Verizon cell service. Had to go into a Verizon store for something. Some of the worst customer service.... I've had T-Mobile for a few years now and occasionally need to go into the store. No problems. Very helpful.

We have Comcast in this area for cable. The things I've heard about Comcast.... And I'm an Angie's List member. I've read the reports.... I've never had cable (or satellite). I won't give my business to a company with that kind of customer service.

I've had AT&T DSL for a few years. Knock-on-wood, so far OK.


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## Neversleepsawink;) (Dec 16, 2008)

Sorry you had such trouble....I had Comcast too (horrible company)  and changed to Verizon (Fios Package)....love it


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

Neversleepsawink;) said:


> Sorry you had such trouble....I had Comcast too (horrible company) and changed to Verizon (Fios Package)....love it


Oh, FIOS. I would to have that out here. If this continues to be a problem, the kids and I will be doing school work at Panera this week.


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## Gruntman (Feb 9, 2009)

luvmy4brats said:


> Oh, FIOS. I would to have that out here. If this continues to be a problem, the kids and I will be doing school work at Panera this week.


 No Fios? So when you say modem you meant it. Tell them to get on the ball and get to your area asap.


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## Glynnis (Nov 25, 2008)

luvmy4brats said:


> ... the only thing available in my area unless I get satellite internet.


You might not be happy with that either. We had Starband from 2002-2008. Started out very good but bandwidth kept shrinking and problems became so bad that we just switched to Verizon wireless. Checked out the other satellite services in our area first, Hughes and Wild Blue, and found users had the same troubles with them. When Starband's satelllite got knocked off track (2004 or 2005) it took over a week to get a recorded message with any information and we were advised to get an alternative service (dial-up was our only option). Before we finally dropped Starband last year, I was getting better service from dial-up. So far (8 weeks) the Verizon wireless service has been great, but we haven't had to deal with tech support yet.


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## Angela (Nov 2, 2008)

Just be glad you can get anything other than Hughesnet... with the satellite dish we lose signal every time there is heavy cloud coverage or it is too windy outside... much like our satellite TV! BUT, it does beat dial-up! Oh the joys of country living!!


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## Guest (Feb 17, 2009)

I never play with the voice recordings.  I just keep pounding 0 until i get a real person.  

I used to have satellite TV and I miss it but cloudy days and stormy days were a PITA.  I'd hate to have the same problem with my internet.  

I have cable TV now because there are too many trees around me and they block the signal.  I hate the local cable company.  They put the anal in anal orifice.


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## intinst (Dec 23, 2008)

You sure you aren't a neighbor of mine? Exact same trouble with satellite TV and same with the local cable co.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

You guys are great. I needed a smile.

UPDATE: The tech is coming out tomorrow to check my line. If it's deemed my modem I'll have to order one at that point and wait for them to mail it to me <sigh>

Option 2 is to drive an hour to the nearest Best Buy with one in stock and buy one outright today. I suppose if I do that and they decide it is my line, I can always return it. Just not looking forward to the drive on my day off (It's out by where I work).


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## robin.goodfellow (Nov 17, 2008)

> I've had T-Mobile for a few years now and occasionally need to go into the store. No problems. Very helpful.


I have T-Mobile too, but I have a deal with the phone center people that I will never, ever go to one of the stores unless it's to buy a charger. I called to cancel my T-Mobile service after a particularly bad episode in one of their stores. ALL I needed was a replacement phone, b/c the speaker in mine blew out or disintegrated or moved to Taos. But no. So I called their call center to cancel the frickin' service all together, and the very nice man said you always get better results calling in than going to the stores. In five years since then, he has not been wrong.

lol, apparently everyone gets that customer service is bad all over, but it's just like an abstract idea for them. The T-Mobile people are always shocked when I call in and they see I've been a customer for 10 years. They're always like "No kidding? Here? Ten years? That has GOT to be some sort of record. Were you like Customer 0?" lol


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## Mikuto (Oct 30, 2008)

What I hate is when you actually get to a real life person, they assume you're in imbecile! Not only am I an "advanced user" and know how to do a power cycle, but my roommate sets up networks for a living! 

But what's the first thing they ask you? "Can you unplug the modem?" 

Yes! I've done it a dozen times before I called! 

I had an awful experience with Comcast myself. We were having terrible intermittent internet problems. It crashed once an hour or so, and was slow when it wasn't crashed. They came out dozens of times, switched our cables, switched our modem, and nothing changed. After at least a year of not being able to stay connected for more than 45 minutes at once (which made gaming completely impossible) we switched to AT&T DSL. No more problems.


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## drenee (Nov 11, 2008)

I was having similar problems with Comcast when I first signed up.  One day a tech was at my house working on my cable service.  I was chatting with him when he mentioned to me that all of the wires, and I'm pretty sure he used a more technical term, were very old and outdated; they needed upgraded.  A few days later when the problem arose again I called CS and after going through their exercises I asked politely when they were going to upgrade so I could get what I was paying a fortune for.  Our area was upgraded a few short weeks later.  I doubt that my call had anything directly to do with the upgrade, but it was nice to use a bit of information to prove it wasn't my computer.


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## Mikuto (Oct 30, 2008)

Drenee: That turned out to be the problem with ours, except we couldn't change them out because we live in an apartment building and the manager wouldn't call a contractor to change the lines. 

DSL works much better for us now. Not only is it infinitely more stable, it's actually faster.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

Yes! I've been dealing with that too Mikuto. I've had enough problems with my internet over the years, that I know how to configure my router and modem and reset. I know how to type commands in. Even after you've told them excatly what you've done, they want you to do it again while they walk you through it.

Sunday, I had an internet connection for about 30-45 seconds every 15 minutes.  It's better today, but it still drops out every few minutes. I have to keep going downstairs, turning off my modem for 45 seconds and turning it back on. After I do that, I can get anywhere from 1-15 minutes of uninterrupted service.


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## Gables Girl (Oct 28, 2008)

luvmy4brats said:


> You guys are great. I needed a smile.
> 
> UPDATE: The tech is coming out tomorrow to check my line. If it's deemed my modem I'll have to order one at that point and wait for them to mail it to me <sigh>
> 
> Option 2 is to drive an hour to the nearest Best Buy with one in stock and buy one outright today. I suppose if I do that and they decide it is my line, I can always return it. Just not looking forward to the drive on my day off (It's out by where I work).


Order it from Amazon and you will have it tomorrow with one day shipping.  If you don't need it you can return it.


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## Mikuto (Oct 30, 2008)

luvmy4brats said:


> Yes! I've been dealing with that too Mikuto. I've had enough problems with my internet over the years, that I know how to configure my router and modem and reset. I know how to type commands in. Even after you've told them excatly what you've done, they want you to do it again while they walk you through it.


My roommate gets particularly annoyed with this. He sets up and troubleshoots private networks for businesses 5 (sometimes 6 or 7) days a week!


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

Gables Girl said:


> Order it from Amazon and you will have it tomorrow with one day shipping.  If you don't need it you can return it.


Why didn't I even think about checking Amazon? THANK YOU! (I should have done this Friday) I just ordered and even with Next Day shipping it's still cheaper than what Verizon was going to charge.


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## Gables Girl (Oct 28, 2008)

luvmy4brats said:


> Why didn't I even think about checking Amazon? THANK YOU! (I should have done this Friday) I just ordered and even with Next Day shipping it's still cheaper than what Verizon was going to charge.


Glad to help.


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## Angela (Nov 2, 2008)

Mikuto said:


> DSL works much better for us now. Not only is it infinitely more stable, it's actually faster.


Oh how I miss my DSL... I'm jealous!!  Why did I move to the country?? Oh yes, so I could look out my windows at nature without my neighbors looking back at me from their windows!!


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## Mikuto (Oct 30, 2008)

Angela said:


> Oh how I miss my DSL... I'm jealous!!  Why did I move to the country?? Oh yes, so I could look out my windows at nature without my neighbors looking back at me from their windows!!


Ironically when I lived in the country my cable internet worked just fine.


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## MamaProfCrash (Dec 16, 2008)

Comcast is awful. I had my cable through them for five years and had problems with continual outages. Verizon was fine for my home phone and DSL. I never had a problem with them.

I am glad that you found a solution to your problem.


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## Jesslyn (Oct 29, 2008)

luvmy4brats said:


> Why is it when I call Verizon tech support to let them know I _*can't connect to the internet*_ that I get the voice recording telling me to visit www.verizon.com.  That drives me up the wall and my kids laugh at me when I start yelling at the recording telling them I'd be more than happy to visit their website if they'd just fix my internet!
> 
> I've had intermittent internet for the last week (it's my modem, I tried to tell them that on Friday, but did they listen to me? NOoooo...) I lost my cool with the tech today. He had me do exactly what the tech on Friday told me to do, and what the tech on Wednesday had me do..It didn't work on Wednesday, it didn't work on Friday and it didn't work today. I very forcibly suggested that he let me speak to his supervisor. Well, the supervisor admitted that it was most likely my modem (DUH!), but wanted to run another line test and send a tech out to look at my line (again), so it will be another 24-48 hours before they'll even send me one..So I might have decent coverage again by oh, Friday (hopefully)
> 
> ...


I've been reading the new Stimulus plan and there is a LOT of $ to establish broadband to areas where its currently unavailable.


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## patrisha w. (Oct 28, 2008)

ProfCrash said:


> Comcast is awful. I had my cable through them for five years and had problems with continual outages. Verizon was fine for my home phone and DSL. I never had a problem with them.
> 
> I am glad that you found a solution to your problem.


 A Verizon horror story. Fred and I lived in an upstairs apartment where we had Verizon and DSL. All was well. If there were any problems, we called our landlord who did all sorts of helpful things for us.
Then the house was sold. The new landlord wanted the upstairs apartment for himself so we moved downstairs. We told Verizon we were at the SAME address, just in the apartment below. Simple concept, right?
Not to Verizon. They took two MONTHS to get round to getting the DSL connected again, TWO whole months!
And we only got the DSL back after two months because Fred called someone in Montpelier {the capitol of Vermont} who then contacted Verizon for us. Now Verizon has become Fair Point and I was expecting more problems. But I will say they were on the ball for me. I called for help with email {and got someone NOT in India} and my new email address was set up quite quickly. {"Quite quickly" means about 50 minutes!"
Patricia


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## hazeldazel (Oct 30, 2008)

i truly believe that comcast are managed by demons from the 3rd or 4th level of hell.  i am stuck with them, get this, because there's no CO in my area.  I live in the middle of Sillicon Valley.  In like, a city.  Not in the desert.  Not in the mountains.  Not in the country.  No CO.  *shakes fist*  And I'm in an apartment (that we chose, partially because hey, look at all the satellite dishes they on the buildings - we can keep our Dish Network!) but no one is allowed to hook up the existing dishes and actually use them.  So, um yeah.  WTH?!?  Okay, I get it already, apparently the universe loves irony.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

I have a stable internet connection! And wow! It's SO much faster!

The service guy never showed up today, but UPS showed up with my new modem from Amazon...I'm a happy camper once again.


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## MamaProfCrash (Dec 16, 2008)

WOOHOOO


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## Gables Girl (Oct 28, 2008)

luvmy4brats said:


> I have a stable internet connection! And wow! It's SO much faster!
> 
> The service guy never showed up today, but UPS showed up with my new modem from Amazon...I'm a happy camper once again.


Congrats! Glad your internet is back working the way it should be.


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## Angela (Nov 2, 2008)

Mikuto said:


> Ironically when I lived in the country my cable internet worked just fine.


If I lived 2 miles to the west, I could get cable... If I lived 5 miles to the east, I could get cable... If I lived 8 miles to the north, I could get cable... No cable to the south for about 20 miles!!  We kinda live in no-mans-land. BUT, I love my new house and the peace and quiet, so I can live with satellite for the time being!


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

Angela said:


> If I lived 2 miles to the west, I could get cable... If I lived 5 miles to the east, I could get cable... If I lived 8 miles to the north, I could get cable... No cable to the south for about 20 miles!!  We kinda live in no-mans-land. BUT, I love my new house and the peace and quiet, so I can live with satellite for the time being!


Alltel sells a little cell phone modem that plugs into a USB port. It delivers unlimited EVDO 3.1 Mbps service for about $50.00 a month and the device is free if you sign up for a year. I've been using it for some time now supporting a network of 7 computers with no problems whatsoever and it's much faster than satellite. I tried Hughes, DirectPC and Starband before discovering Alltel.


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## Angela (Nov 2, 2008)

Jeff said:


> Alltel sells a little cell phone modem that plugs into a USB port. It delivers unlimited EVDO 3.1 Mbps service for about $50.00 a month and the device is free if you sign up for a year. I've been using it for some time now supporting a network of 7 computers with no problems whatsoever and it's much faster than satellite. I tried Hughes, DirectPC and Starband before discovering Alltel.


We had to get rid of Altel last year because I couldn't get a signal at the house. We are on Verizon now. The hubby has a Verizon aircard that he uses at his apartment in Houston. It works great here at the house, too. We are considering going with just aircards, but are waiting until we can get rid of Hughesnet without having to pay disconnect fees.


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

Angela said:


> We had to get rid of Altel last year because I couldn't get a signal at the house. We are on Verizon now. The hubby has a Verizon aircard that he uses at his apartment in Houston. It works great here at the house, too. We are considering going with just aircards, but are waiting until we can get rid of Hughesnet without having to pay disconnect fees.


Verizon has a cap on bandwidth that my software business can't live with. I quit Hughes and went to Starband because of bandwidth restrictions then Starband instigated the same practices. If Alltel decides to throttle connections, I may have to move back to civilization.


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## Angela (Nov 2, 2008)

Jeff said:


> Verizon has a cap on bandwidth that my software business can't live with. I quit Hughes and went to Starband because of bandwidth restrictions then Starband instigated the same practices. If Alltel decides to throttle connections, I may have to move back to civilization.


We'll have to check into that. Thanks for the info!


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## ogie287 (est. 1838) (Feb 5, 2009)

Jeff said:


> Verizon has a cap on bandwidth that my software business can't live with. I quit Hughes and went to Starband because of bandwidth restrictions then Starband instigated the same practices. If Alltel decides to throttle connections, I may have to move back to civilization.


We have offsite servers for our business. We rent the server space (locked and very secure), and they provide as much bandwidth as we need (expandable for a price though). Our backup servers are in Michigan, far from earthquakes and other possible natural disasters that CA might have. We use DSL for our office to connect to our servers. It's worked out great so far.


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