Few things are more frustrating than being thanked for "patiently waiting" when there's no alternative to waiting, hold times approach or exceed 30 minuts, and Verizon staff is either unfriendly or of questionable competence, or both. A billing supervisor, {edited for privacy} epitomizes this.
This morning and early afternoon, I've spoken directly with two different people in technical support, a first-line billing agent, and her supervisor, and indirectly (via the second technical support person) with another first-line billing agent.
Here's my situation.
Recently, I upgraded my system from MS Windows XP Pro to 8.1. Shortly thereafter, my computer begain experiencing internet connectivity problems. Specifically, the ethernet connection between the router and the computer stopped working reliably; the external Linksys WUSB300N adapter, which I'd been using only to communicate with a wireless-capable printer, would lose the connection after a period of time and have to be reset.
Before calling Verizon technical support this morning, I tried several different ethernet cables. All but one did nothing; one produced some sort of message about a limited connection.
The first technical support person had me do a "loop test," which involved plugging both ends of a cable into the router. With the first cable that worked, that is, lit two LAN Ethernet lights, he had me connect one end to the computer. Success. Except that, within minutes of my thanking him and hanging up, the ethernet connection was lost. Neither that cable nor the five other ethernet cables I tried passed the loop test.
I called technical support a second time. After trying the loop test again without success, a very friendly woman arranged to drop ship me a refurbished replacement router. Apparently, I have a version 1; she's sending me a version 3. BUT, she said, she didn't think it would work because the router uses a WEP security key and Windows 8.1 uses something different. And, Verizon will not provide a compatible router unless I pay $90 or more.
Saying that I thought Verizon ought to provide a router that works with the current Microsoft operating system, I asked her to arrange a three-way conversation with someone in billing, whom she said might have authority to waive the charge. After some additional hold-time, the technician reported back that the billing agent confirmed the additional charge and would not waive it. I asked the technician to arrange a three-way conversation so we could speak with a supervisor with the technician available to address any technical issues. Unfortunately, the billing agent had disconnected.
At this point, perhaps foolishly, I allowed the technician to transfer me to billing without her staying on the line. The first-line billing agent blithely told me there was no compatibility issue, said that Verizion would not provide a new router for free, and explained that it already had given me a router for free. After I established that, even if she wanted to, she did not have the authority to waive any additional charge, I asked to speak with a supervisor.
After another hold, Jessica {edited for privacy} got on the line. Aggressively, including interrupting me before I could explain my conversation with the second technician, Jessica said again there's no compatibility or OS issue. She may very well be right. All I know is what the Verizon technician told me. She also said Verizon is not responsible for my decision to upgrade my computer system. Well enough, but, I asked her, suppose someone this week buys a new Windows 8.1 computer at Best Buy. Here, she interrupted to repeat that Verizon is not responsible for a decision to upgrade a computer system. I asked her to please not interrupt. She said she knw what I was going to say. Actually, I said, my question involved someone who was not a Verizon customer. If that person called and said, I've just bought a new computer system with Windows 8.1, I want FIOS, would you tell them Verizon was going to charge for a compatible router? No, she said, because there's no compatibility issue.
At that point, I reminded her that there seemed to be a conflict on the compatibility issue between her, in billing, and the technician. Not wanting to get the run around, with each department blaming the other, I asked her to arrange a three-way conversation with a technician. She refused. I asked her to arrange for me to talk again with a technician without having to be on hold again. She refused..
Frankly, I was surprised at being told that there's a compatibility issue. Perhaps the technician gave me incorrect information. In that case, the refurbished router should work, and I'll just have wasted a couple of hours. If not, perhaps someone here can offer a work-around. If not, as I told the billing supervisor, if Comcast will provide me with a working solution at no additional cost, I just may be telling Verizon I want to terminate early without any penalty.