While house shopping in Berkeley Springs WV, I called Verizon to verify that the homes I was interested in were able to connect to the internet via DSL service. Verizon sold me DSL and telephone service at my new home, I bought the house, they sent me the DSL box but when the installer arrived, he laughed at me and said there was no way Verizon could provide DSL service to my new home. I now have a house and home office with no internet service. It has negatively impacted my income, and cut me off from social and business networks.
My property is situated in such a way that connection to satellite service is also not possible. It is a rural area, but I live only 1.5 miles from a major state highway. This is not as if I am on some remote mountaintop. Verizon simply chooses to refrain from installing the necessary equipment in the box that connects my telephone service. The installer says there are over 300 houses in the area that are in the same situation, yet somehow the sales department doesnt know that and sells service they can't provide.
Verizon encourages their sales people to slam sales without really knowing if the service can be connected. Verizon still sends me bills for DSL after 5 months. Every month my Verizon telephone phone bill offers internet service they cannot provide. Numerous calls to Verizon have revealed that not only are they not exactly positive where they can provide internet service, they also do not reveal their expansion plans internally. A customer service rep actually told me that they have no idea where new service will be installed, only the engineering dept does, yet somehow they still sell service to anyone who calls.
The damage to my business and income from this deceptive practice is huge. I purchased a home with the assurance that I would be able to continue my internet based business. Verizon went as far as to send me the connection kit before the installer arrived to say that there was no possible way to connect me as the required service equipment is not even installed in my service area. The fact that Verizon allows customers to make decisions about their financial lives based on information that cannot be substantiated is criminal.
Additionally, not only does Verizon engage in bad business practices, they cherry pick the low hanging fruit and ignore rural America. They profit on the easy access and refuse to serve rural Americans who desperately need internet service. Believe it or not, in today's world, there are people who cannot connect to the internet. After moving from Dallas Texas to West Virginia, I assumed that Verizon had the same level of service across it's network. That was a very bad assumption.
Verizon should be ashamed of their deceptive and poor business practices and held accountable for ignoring rural America
0 comments