Join Early Retirement Today
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Cancelling Frontier FiOS
Old 01-05-2018, 09:14 AM   #1
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
ronin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 1,319
Cancelling Frontier FiOS

Due to a recent move, I had to cancel my service and entered Frontier's cancellation hell.

Immediately, I was charged for the next month's service although I wasn't on any kind of contract. Ignorantly, I hadn't cancelled autopay before the end of service so they took the payment for services unrendered. I spent a few hours on the phone with customer service and was advised a couple of times by different reps that the charge was being credited. It never was and no one could explain why or why not so I filed a dispute with my credit card company. After a few months, it was resolved in my favor (I believe Frontier never responded to the cc company's inquiry).

Then, I was billed again the next month. Fortunately, I had by now cancelled autopay. So, I entered customer service purgatory and went through it all again and sure enough got the same result, more or less. Finally, I got the nasty letter saying that it was going to collection and my credit score could be negatively affected.

Somewhere along the line, something that one of the service agents did resulted in a new charge for somewhat less than a full month of service and a credit for the same amount. But the other month's bill remained. After being told it was going to be removed, then it wasn't, then it was a mystery... I ended up paying the #^@ thing just to end it all.

End of story, not! Frontier never sent the shipping label and box to return the equipment as they promised when I cancelled the service, now a couple of months down the line. Guess what, I now owe $231 for unreturned equipment. So back on the horn to those helpful folks at customer disservice and requested the label and box again. Never came.

New letter with the same threat. Back on the phone. Finally got the shipping label. Box was 2 sizes too small to ship anything. Worthless. Boxed it in my own box. Dropped it off at UPS.

End of story? No, now they are claiming that they never received it. Repeat of all the above. Hours spent, bottom line, it is my responsibility to prove that I sent it. I didn't get a receipt from UPS. So I have no proof. Pull out last of hair.

Now as it happens, my wife has a nephew who works for Frontier, business side not residential, but is high enough up to get things done on occasion. Turn it over to him. Next day, sure enough the person in charge of whatever (screwing the customer?) verifies that I did return the equipment. I will be credited for the charge (it isn't taken off, I get to wait 1 or 2 business cycles for the credit to show up). Can you get collections off my back in the meantime? He contacts the person in charge of that. Sure, here's 30 days grace period. So, what? Am I supposed to be grateful for that? You aren't going to try to screw me in the next month while I wait to see if you are still going to screw me? While I am grateful for our nephew trying to help, it remains to be seen how screwed up Frontier truly is.

Anyways, maybe in a couple of months, half a year or so from when I moved, I will be out from under the Frontier leeches. Or not.
__________________
We are, as I have said, one equation short. – Keynes
ronin is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 01-05-2018, 09:33 AM   #2
Recycles dryer sheets
fidler4's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 252
Sounds like par for the course when it comes to Frontier. I had my nightmares with them also right after they switched from Verizon to Frontier. Our local city council got involved because of all the complaints by their constituents against Frontiers service . I ended up emailing my local council person who forwarded my email to a VP at Frontier. Within an hour I received a call from some Frontier tech across the country who was able to remotely fix my problem.

There is a reason for this web site: www.frontier-sucks.com
fidler4 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2018, 09:46 AM   #3
Moderator Emeritus
W2R's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,472
Wow, that's terrible! And here I thought Cox Cable (essentially our only high speed internet here) was awful.

My $79.99/month mid speed internet service and F's $84.99/month slightly higher speed internet service were both completely, 100%, dead as a doornail for almost 48 hours earlier this week. No reason whatsoever, and no outage at businesses a couple of blocks away from our homes. Typical Cox.
__________________
Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.

Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
W2R is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2018, 02:33 PM   #4
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 206
I feel your pain! I had Verizon for my office lines when they were bought by Frontier. This was shortly before my retirement date, so I notified them that I wanted service discontinued on the last billing day of the period. I also told them to cancel my account and any access to their website. The service was discontinued as requested, but they sent a bill for $3.00 several months after the end of service. I called and asked them to waive it since I didn't owe it. In their eternal wisdom, they issued a credit for $4.00 and sent me a check for $1.00. Frontier's website and billing were the worst of any utility that I have ever had the displeasure to encounter. The lowest of the low.
rdy2go is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2018, 02:50 PM   #5
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: Northern Virginia
Posts: 7,544
I have a worse story than that. I was going to write a book.
Montecfo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2018, 03:03 PM   #6
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
ronin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 1,319
The tease... let's hear it!
__________________
We are, as I have said, one equation short. – Keynes
ronin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2018, 03:14 PM   #7
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
iloveyoga's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Des Moines
Posts: 1,375
My sister had good results reporting her cable TV issues to the FCC. The cable company fixed the issue that same day. It had been going on for two months.
__________________
Retired in 2013 and we are living the dream!
iloveyoga is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2018, 03:18 PM   #8
Moderator
Walt34's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Eastern WV Panhandle
Posts: 25,299
There is a reason I don't autopay anything....
__________________
When I was a kid I wanted to be older. This is not what I expected.
Walt34 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2018, 03:54 PM   #9
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Dawg52's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Central MS/Orange Beach, AL
Posts: 9,067
Quote:
Originally Posted by ronin View Post
Due to a recent move, I had to cancel my service and entered Frontier's cancellation hell.

Immediately, I was charged for the next month's service although I wasn't on any kind of contract. Ignorantly, I hadn't cancelled autopay before the end of service so they took the payment for services unrendered. I spent a few hours on the phone with customer service and was advised a couple of times by different reps that the charge was being credited. It never was and no one could explain why or why not so I filed a dispute with my credit card company. After a few months, it was resolved in my favor (I believe Frontier never responded to the cc company's inquiry).

Then, I was billed again the next month. Fortunately, I had by now cancelled autopay. So, I entered customer service purgatory and went through it all again and sure enough got the same result, more or less. Finally, I got the nasty letter saying that it was going to collection and my credit score could be negatively affected.

Somewhere along the line, something that one of the service agents did resulted in a new charge for somewhat less than a full month of service and a credit for the same amount. But the other month's bill remained. After being told it was going to be removed, then it wasn't, then it was a mystery... I ended up paying the #^@ thing just to end it all.

End of story, not! Frontier never sent the shipping label and box to return the equipment as they promised when I cancelled the service, now a couple of months down the line. Guess what, I now owe $231 for unreturned equipment. So back on the horn to those helpful folks at customer disservice and requested the label and box again. Never came.

New letter with the same threat. Back on the phone. Finally got the shipping label. Box was 2 sizes too small to ship anything. Worthless. Boxed it in my own box. Dropped it off at UPS.

End of story? No, now they are claiming that they never received it. Repeat of all the above. Hours spent, bottom line, it is my responsibility to prove that I sent it. I didn't get a receipt from UPS. So I have no proof. Pull out last of hair.

Now as it happens, my wife has a nephew who works for Frontier, business side not residential, but is high enough up to get things done on occasion. Turn it over to him. Next day, sure enough the person in charge of whatever (screwing the customer?) verifies that I did return the equipment. I will be credited for the charge (it isn't taken off, I get to wait 1 or 2 business cycles for the credit to show up). Can you get collections off my back in the meantime? He contacts the person in charge of that. Sure, here's 30 days grace period. So, what? Am I supposed to be grateful for that? You aren't going to try to screw me in the next month while I wait to see if you are still going to screw me? While I am grateful for our nephew trying to help, it remains to be seen how screwed up Frontier truly is.

Anyways, maybe in a couple of months, half a year or so from when I moved, I will be out from under the Frontier leeches. Or not.
I was just watching a Larry David episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Your bad luck would make a perfect script for his show.

__________________
Retired 3/31/2007@52
Investing style: Full time wuss.
Dawg52 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2018, 03:59 PM   #10
gone traveling
 
Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 255
No worries... with Net Neutrality gone, the increased investment and innovation in this sector will make troubles like this a thing of the past!

Curmudgeon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2018, 04:24 PM   #11
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 2,525
Quote:
Originally Posted by Walt34 View Post
There is a reason I don't autopay anything....
Same here. Autopay sure looks easy peasy as long as all is well but when it doesn't...
ejman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2018, 04:56 PM   #12
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 3,876
I could use autopay and spend time and hair recovering money improperly sucked from my account, or I could push money to pay bills and spend only time. My scalp prefers the latter.
GrayHare is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2018, 05:19 PM   #13
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Beaverton
Posts: 1,382
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dawg52 View Post
I was just watching a Larry David episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Your bad luck would make a perfect script for his show.

OMG! Do you even know how many times I have done this? I was waiting for him to pry it open only to then cut an artery and bleed to death.
__________________
Jump in, the water's warm.
Bir48die is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2018, 05:44 PM   #14
gone traveling
 
Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 255
He just needs one of these:



Good luck getting it open, though.
Curmudgeon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2018, 06:42 PM   #15
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Dawg52's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Central MS/Orange Beach, AL
Posts: 9,067
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bir48die View Post
OMG! Do you even know how many times I have done this? I was waiting for him to pry it open only to then cut an artery and bleed to death.
I laughed my head off when I first saw the clip. That's me in a nutshell. I've actually stabbed myself.
__________________
Retired 3/31/2007@52
Investing style: Full time wuss.
Dawg52 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2018, 08:56 PM   #16
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
harley's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: No fixed abode
Posts: 8,764
Quote:
Originally Posted by GrayHare View Post
I could use autopay and spend time and hair recovering money improperly sucked from my account, or I could push money to pay bills and spend only time. My scalp prefers the latter.
Or you could use autopay, but cancel it before you get ready to cancel service. It's pretty much standard procedure for me.
__________________
"Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement." - Anonymous (not Will Rogers or Sam Clemens)
DW and I - FIREd at 50 (7/06), living off assets
harley is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-06-2018, 08:16 AM   #17
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
ronin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 1,319
Quote:
Originally Posted by harley View Post
Or you could use autopay, but cancel it before you get ready to cancel service. It's pretty much standard procedure for me.
That's a lesson I have taken away from this.
__________________
We are, as I have said, one equation short. – Keynes
ronin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-06-2018, 08:46 AM   #18
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: Northern Virginia
Posts: 7,544
Quote:
Originally Posted by ronin View Post
The tease... let's hear it!
Ok, Ronin, since you are the OP, I guess this is not a thread hijack.

this was Verizon Fios, but still worst customer service in the world.

I had Verizon phone service (the POTS line, copper) and wanted to switch to FIOS cable. So my wife signed us up for a bundle, video, phone and internet.

When the installer arrived, he explained what he was doing, and it became clear they were going to change the phone service to internet phone (over the cable line). I did not want this. The reason for keeping the phone line was security in event of disaster. We have found the copper line, which provides its own power, is more reliable in outages.

He said he could not change the order, but they could change it back once installed. That was easy to say, but almost impossible to do. And it exposed an entrenched bureaucracy of people who could not or would not help me. They really want to get rid of copper!

Long story short, I spoke to over 60 people (no typo) at Verizon over several months time. Of that 60+ probably 2 tried to help me. I began to ask names and tell them e.g. they were the 39th person i had spoken to. It became not just a source of frustration, but a bit of a challenge. What would i be told next? One said he was fixing my problem and instead changed me to another product which also included "FIOS phone" which I did not want. So then I had a sub-task of cancelling that.

There was so much dishonesty (i was told that FIOS phone is neither analog nor digital. I was also told that analog had been "discontinued"). These people appeared to have been trained to lie and attempt to discourage the customer. Otherwise how could they have been so consistently wrong?

I finally contacted the public utility commission and got a response-within a few days. And my analog copper line.

Bottom line: not an honest company.
Montecfo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-06-2018, 12:22 PM   #19
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 1,390
I had my own issue with Time Warner Cable aka Time Warner Ripoff. They are one of the worst. I had quite a time cancelling their service. I do recognize these companies need to make a profit, however the prices they charge are highway robbery. They simply won't do anything in your favor unless they have to.

I hate the fact that these companies make you subscribe to a bundle of channels that you do not want just to watch the few you do watch. The companies themselves say the networks of the channels are to blame yet the cable and dish companies have had years to fix this but the problem only gets worse.

It seems to get any kind of a deal you have to threaten to cancel your service . About all I can do is keep an eye out for better deals that come along from my current provider as well as its competitors and be willing to act on it.

To give an idea of how bad I hated Time Warner I went with Verizon until I left California. Where I used to live they were my only choices.
__________________
Understanding both the power of compound interest and the difficulty of getting it is the heart and soul of understanding a lot of things. Charlie Munger

The first rule of compounding: Never interupt it unnecessarily. Charlie Munger
UnrealizedPotential is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
FIOS setup technical questions donheff Other topics 10 10-23-2017 07:41 AM
Verizon FIOS questions Amethyst Other topics 8 11-13-2009 05:21 AM
I need to rant.....Verizon Fios citrine Other topics 9 11-21-2007 11:24 AM
Verizon FIOS FinallyRetired Other topics 6 10-08-2007 03:23 PM
Include cancelling your CCs in your will MJ Other topics 4 07-05-2006 11:42 PM

» Quick Links

 
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 02:07 AM.
 
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.