How Bad Can Customer Support Be?

My relationship with Verizon goes back a decade or more, since I installed Verizon’s FIOS in my house in Reston VA. FIOS is a good service and I really had next to no problems with it until 2010, when everything got interesting.

To make a long story short: Verizon wants us to pay a $200 ‘early termination fee’ to close my dead father’s landline account.

My mother and father lived with me, my wife, and our sons in Reston for 20 years, and when we transitioned to FIOS from Comcast, we switched the landline and cable to Verizon at the same time. The account was in my parent’s name, although we paid the bill from a joint household account.

In early 2010 my mom passed away, and we tried to change the name on the account, which led to a huge mess (see A Take Of Two Companies; Verizon And Verizon) where our landline, cable and internet were temporarily cut off by the dumb side of Verizon, and we were rescued by the smart side of Verizon.

This is about the dumb side of Verizon, again.

In July my dad moved to an assisted care facility. So that my dad could continue to have land line phone service, my wife called Verizon to move the landline number to the facility, and to direct the bills to us, and not to my dad. However, instead of just changing the name on the bill, Verizon insisted that the the only way to continue land line phone service for my dad would be to open a new account, one with a two year contract. In the heat of the moment, we created the account, having no idea how long my father would be with us.

My dad died at in October, and we’ve tried to close the account. Verizon continued to bill us for several months, and insists that we owe a $200 early termination fee.

My wife, Sarah has had three conversations with Verizon reps, and each time they promise to close the account and send the final bill. At the end of her last conversation with them, they refused to reverse the early termination fee, and suggested that she speak to someone in the “escalation department.” She left a message for someone in that department to call, and they have not returned the call.

I understand that customer support is difficult and companies need to make money, but this goes way over some important line. Honestly, this makes me despair for the human race.

If there is someone in Verizon reading this, please take steps to clear this up. I will print a follow up in a few weeks, one way or the other.