As I write this opinion, I notice the date at the bottom of my PC in my system tray. It's March 9th, 2001, and I'm on a 56k dialup connection, even though I called Verizon on December 22nd to start up a DSL account. Why can't these guys do anything right?

My problems began with Verizon when my DSL was supposedly ready to go. That date, was January 26th, 2001. I received a call from Verizon at approximately Noon on the 26th telling me that my DSL line was activated and the service is ready to be used. I popped in my Verizon CD, and attempted an installation. I received an error message, telling me my line was in fact not active, despite what the Verizon representative had told me. I gave Verizon some time to work the kinks out, approximately 24 hours before I would battle through the worst customer service and technical support I had ever experienced.

It had been more than 24 hours, and after many unsuccessful Verizon software installs due to my inactive line, I called the Customer Support line, which is a 24 hour DSL support line. This call was made at approximately 7:30 in the morning, a time where you'd think a customer support line would be empty, and your call would be answered quickly. Not so with Verizon, I waited 25 minutes early in the morning, and finally I was attended to.

Customer Support Mishap #1:

My customer support representative's name is unable to be said by the human tounge. I like to take down names when I make calls so I can refer back to people I speak to when I have a major problem like what formed here with Verizon. After battling with this person just to get his named spelled correctly, it was time to fix my connection problem. This brainless man told me that since I was running Windows Millennium(ME) that Verizon DSL is not compatible with my Operating system and I would have to switch to either Windows 2000 or Windows 98. This was truly proposterous. In the Verizon DSL installation guide, there is a whole section dedicated to a WinME installation. I asked to speak to this baffoon's supervisor. After calmly waiting another 5 minutes, I got to speak to Abdul. Abdul told me I had called the wrong line, customer support isn't fit to handle my problem, I'd have to call technical support. Abdul steered me towards technical support, where I was ready to be in, yet more problems.

Customer Support Mishap #2: Slipped through the cracks?

For nearly two hours I was on the phone with a tech support guy named Matthew. We tested every possible option on my PC as to why my DSL service is not working. After these two hours, someone in the next cubicle realized this guy must have been under extreme stress, and asked him what's going on and why he can't help me. He put me on hold for about 10 minutes, and then when he came back, he gave me the biggest line of bull I'd ever heard.

"Mr. Chenensky, sir, funny thing here, heh, seems you slipped through the cracks, and weren't entered into our billing system."

After two hours, that's the best excuse you could come up with as to why you couldn't help me? Not being in the billing system?? It's an outright lie. Verizon DSL definitely has me in their billing system. I received my DSL modem and other valuable equipment already. Verizon is just willing to overlook that and give me free equipment? I think not. Matthew had no answer for my barrage of responses as to why I thought he should be fired from tech support for telling me something as stupid as that. After 20 minutes of near shouting, I was transferred to what Verizon refers to as tech support LEVEL 4.

Customer Support Helps?:

The final guy I recently spoke with was in mid February. He came to the conclusion that my Ethernet card was not compatible with the Verizon service. He explained that Verizon DSL was only tested with 3 Ethernet cards, and those are the only cards this DSL service runs on. Tempted to cancel my account because I have an HP Ethernet card I paid $129 for, this techie assured me that once Verizon sends me out a new card, and I install it, the service will work. Well it's almost a month later, and I still haven't received my Ethernet card. Cancellation coming? You bet.

So... Can Verizon DSL do anything right? Seems the answer is no. You'd think with all these problems I'm experiencing that maybe I could get some in-home technical support. Verizon is located in New York so I'm sure it wouldn't be too much trouble. Or maybe there isn't one person in their damn company that understands the service. You decide, I've made my decision, Verizon DSL blows.

Recommended: No