1.

miyna
December 18th, 2006 at 5:24 pm

that’s interesting! i’m really interested in getting their DSL service, but i’ll be honest, if i can’t get the dry loop, i don’t want it at all. it doesn’t seem worth it to me.

2.

Stephanie
December 28th, 2006 at 10:54 pm

I too, have had problems with Verizon. I just disconnected their service yesterday, after being with them for two years. I had disconnected my home phone nearly 7 months ago, their system finally caught up with my line and realized I had to dry look connection. They had notified me to call back and convert my non existing line to dry loop. I call back and it is not available in my region. They were shocked that I have been having an internet connection the last 7 months when the line doesnt exist. And they claim dry loop is unavailable. HA! So I figured out why I had received a credit collection agency letter on be half of verizon. Apparently my payments posted to my non existing account but were never inputed in their records. Verizon now owes me over $100 in money that I forked over to the collection agency in which Verizon cant explain why the collection was ever made when outstanding and prompt payments were kept up. Screw Verizon!

3.

Jason
March 23rd, 2007 at 4:51 pm

Just called Verizon and because I have a landline with MCI and have DSL with Verizon. When the query was put into the system Verizon said that Dryloop DSL was not avaialble for me. The put my address in as a new account and it was available. The suggested I drop my MCI phone provider and then call back and I should be able to have the Dry loop option available on my account. We shall see………

4.

Keith
April 17th, 2007 at 4:52 pm

I had the same experience. When I first signed up I told Verizon I did not need a phone line, just DSL. They told me too bad, you have to have the phone line for DSL to work. I believed them, paid for a year of it. Then when it was time to renew, the rep let slip this magic phrase: “dry loop.” I explained that was exactly what I had asked for a year before, but had been told there was no such thing. Maybe it wasn’t available then, maybe they were lying, maybe they train sales reps not to volunteer it unless you know the technical name for it and my person goofed. Either way, they do not volunteer this info unless you specifically ask for it. (Why would they? That was $360 in pure profit for them, pure waste for me.)

DRY LOOP. Ask for it by name.

5.

minivuvu
June 1st, 2007 at 12:32 pm

yeah I had a problem getting my broadband when I checked the at&t website for dsl which said it was unavailable in my area… well a few blocks down in my neighborhood there is full of at&t dsl. so I decided to call them and they told me there serviced my area for about 5 years… also I had already chose cable from Time Warner which switched to Comcast and I wanted to check their price but wouldn’t you know, even though I have internet under them it says they don’t provide internet in my area… which I will take partially true due to how slow it is. well maybe I’ll have to chat with them on the phone or their online chat thing.

These companies are such rip offs. I hear there’s a video phones now like 007 stuff.

6.

Jacqueline
June 3rd, 2007 at 7:02 am

I recently tried to get DSL. Verizon is the only kid on the corner for DSL where I live (Erie, PA), although there is pricy cable high-speed Internet offered through Roadrunner. I wanted to go w/ AOL high speed so I called AOL. I placed the order on 5/29/07 and got a confirmation number after several minutes on hold, and was told I qualified for AOL DSL service through Verizon.

Verizon sent me the modem and a welcome letter the next day. The following day, Verizon called with my Service Ready date which was supposed to be 6/1/07. Then, with NO notice or anything, Verizon cancelled my DSL order less than 24 hrs before it was supposed to be turned on. Of course, not one live body at Verizon was able (or willing) to tell me the truth as to why my DSL had been cancelled before it was even installed! It was the AOL service tech who took the time to investigate as to why my DSL service was cancelled and he told me that Verizon cancelled it and that I would need to contact Verizon billing.

Apparently, I have bad credit from being poor directly due to not getting a chance for any “real” job because I am middle-aged lady who graduated college in 2001 and tried to re-enter the workforce, after being out for 16 years. So I am penalized for having been down on my luck through no fault of my own: Verizon wouldn’t give me the DSL service plan that I could afford that they said they would.

As an aside, Verizon was one of the many employers who denied me a chance for an entry level job as a 411 operator after I graduated college. Gee, discriminate against people for a job who are down on their luck and need a job, then further punish them for being poor!

Having the DSL for me and my disabled husband would have meant all the difference in the world for a chance to become successful being self-employed selling auto insurance versus having no chance or hope at all. All of the insurance companies want agents to have DSL before appointing them to allow them to sell. These big corporations have nothing but contempt for those who are struggling. They don’t want to hire you if you have bad credit (so you can earn an income and be able to pay your bills), a gap in your work history or are 40+ yrs old. And they don’t want to be a good business neighbor by at least not yanking the only opportunity out from underneath you to be able to make it as you struggle as a self-employed, after no one else would give you a chance. But the icing on the cake is that they are too cowardly to even come clean about why. Nice.

7.

mahana99
June 16th, 2007 at 12:42 am

There is a company that not many people no about called ACN (myacn.com). They offer lower prices for many phone services including DSL. They don’t have DSL dry loop but their prices are lower than anyone else. They also have video phones and I’ve seen one work. It is pretty cool.

8.

darby
August 14th, 2007 at 9:05 pm

I just moved into a new house located in an area serviced only by Verizon. Since I first called on July 26 to set up service they have been giving me the runaround.

My first order was never processed. I re-order and was due to have service 8/4. No DSL package came. I called and they rescheduled for 8/10, no DSL package came. I called and they rescheduled for 8/17, but so far they haven’t processed my DSL shipment. They blame the dry loop situation. They are “having technical difficulties” setting up because we don’t have a landline. It looks like we won’t have DSL until after August 20. I think they are just waiting for us to give in and get a landline we don’t need.

Aren’t there laws against monopolies? Verizon is a monopoly here because I CAN’T take my business elsewhere. It sucks when corporations have our legislators in their coat pockets because no one will take this to the courts or make these companies fess up. I declare a revolution against Verizon. Any backers?

9.

Nick
August 14th, 2007 at 9:57 pm

darby, I’m totally with you! The best bet for fighting telecommunications monopolies like Verizon or Comcast is going to your local or state government. This happened in my county, and Comcast is finding that it may soon have some additional competition on its hands. Granted, that competition will probably be Verizon, but two sucky companies competing can only help their customers.

10.

Nobody who has power
October 10th, 2007 at 4:31 pm

The main reason we can’t fight these guys? Mainly, because they are all related. I’m not saying they’re all related. I’m just saying they think the same, work together, eat together, Play together and enjoying all the conforts of the world at the expense of the powerless. Chances are, If you contact your local counselman he’s already in their pocket.

11.

Ninfa
October 11th, 2007 at 11:14 am

Verizon is not the only one that lies. AT&T lied to me too. Turns out that DSL and phone lines do not go hand in hand.

12.

John
November 16th, 2007 at 7:00 pm

Listen to this debacle, I just moved in to an apartment, got my computer all set up and I still go to school where as I need internet access. I decided that DSL was fast enough for my needs, but noticed he room where my computer was only had an a/c cable jack in it. I went to Verizon and explained this to their sales rep. He told me that the DSL modem would work with this jack. Even though I tried to explain that this was not the case. Their Fios that was 50+ dollars a month would but I didn’t need that kind of bandwidth. So I think maybe I’m mistaken and accept their service. Big Mistake!

The modem arrives ready to be installed with a Phone Line, Ethernet cable or DSL cable. No a/c coaxial cable output or input on the modem. I call them and have to go through their call center in the Philippines, where the guy reading from the script tells me that that I need to go buy a longer cable to run down the hallway to the only phone line in the house to make it work. I tell them that is not an option and I refuse to buy another cable to run 30ft down the hall to make their service work for which I was mislead when there is a a/c jack 2 feet from my computer. I informed them their options are send a technician to install a dry loop connection or phone jack or lose a customer to Comcast.

They said they would send a technician after 30min of them trying to sort out this mess. Telling me the technician would call within 24-48 hours and schedule a time to install this jack. The day arrives and no phone call to schedule only a phone call saying the “repair was done” I didn’t ask for a repair!!

I called the technician back and he tells me that they can’t install lines in an apartment. And tries to tell me that I need to buy a wireless router and modem to connect to my jack and just go wireless. I let him drone on about all the different ways I could connect to the internet by buying an additional piece of equipment. The apartment complex doesn’t seem to mind installing of jacks and what really pisses me off is that when you call their “technicians” They answer like they are own their own time. “Yeah” (silence) me-“hello I’m looking for Ken the technician?” “Oh this is Ken” INTRODUCE YOURSELF!!!! Let me know that I’m talking to a person with a brain not a wrong number.

After hearing every excuse why they can’t do this or that I hung up and then cancelled my service. It seems to me that companies don’t want to do anything in the customer service department because that costs them money! So they have every way out of doing something to help you.

This is from someone who is a graduate of Business and Information Systems and Accounting and has worked in an industry where I have built cables, and in construction where I have ran lines power and phone and stereo, and every other kind of line. Customer service for many companies is their last priority. Verizon seems to be one of those companies.

13.

Zach
November 26th, 2007 at 8:10 pm

Here is all of the ridiculous stuff that verizon has done to me, I really hope that someone reads this. Some of this is my fault, I suppose, but even that is open to debate.

Called verizon asking for dry loop as advised by a friend. No problem, they signed me up. 2 speeds available 1.5meg and 3.0, priced $29.95 and $39.95 respectively. I chose 3.0 with the first 3 months being 19.95 a month as a promo. Equip took a week longer to arrive than told, hooked it up and line did not work. Technician came 3 days later(earliest avail date) hooked up line and told me i was only running 1.5 meg speed and to call and make sure i was not being overcharged.

The next day I received a bill charging me for my new phone line! The best part was the charges were by-the-minute and the charges were all from before I even had the dsl hooked up! I called and they removed the charges after some explaining. They say the person who signed me up accidentally entered the order as dsl and phone service.

Now here is where I may be partially to blame because I took the action which caused the problem. The dsl service itself works fine. After activating the account i get a verizon notice saying i am eligible to try their antivirus software (”pc checkup”) for free as a trial. Not knowing any better and with no warning notice from them, I downloaded and installed it. As soon as I did that my computer began to constantly freeze , internet explorer was barely functional, I could no longer open “my computer” or “my documents” and a few other problems.

I called verizon tech service and after 3 tries found someone who even knew they offered “pc checkup” everyone else tried to tell me I was an idiot and downloaded some 3rd party scam virus. This last tech hooked up to my computer and insisted on reinstalling the program which i had uninstalled as soon as I noticed the problem(which didnt fix it by the way). He then gave up and gave me dell’s tech service #.

Dell told me there was no other option but to backup all of my files and reinstall the entire operating system! I was furious and had to purchase an external hard drive to copy everything to. I understand that I should have known not to have installed additional antivirus software but if it was going to cause a problem this massive there could have at least been a little popup warning!

Anyway, 3 days later , i have it all backed up and dell helps me to reinstall windows and everything. I decide to call verizon and politely explain my problem and see if they will compensate me for any or all of my troubles. After a half hour reexplaining my problem to 3 different people i am transferred to the “supervisor” who apologizes for my inconvenience but is very clear that it was my own fault in downloading the software and that they were not liable. I further went on to tell him all my problems mentioned above and he looks it up and tells me that there are actually 3 available speeds. 786, 1.5 meg, and 3.0meg . The first priced at 29 and the last 2 at 39 based on availability. He also mentioned that i was not eligible for the 19.95 promo as a dsl customer and took it off my account. He told me if i wanted to upgrade to 3.0 it was not more expensive but i would have to call tech support. For my troubles I was offered 2 months free service which i eventually accepted. As for the price discrepancies he told me rather bluntly to take it or leave it.

The next day I called tech support to up it to 3.0 since it was the same price as the speed i was already getting and the girl laughed at me for calling them. She asked around the tech support office and told me that anyone in the company knows that tech support does not handle that kind of account change. I was told that either the “supervisor” was an idiot or he was just trying to get me off the phone.

And to end my story I received an automated call from verizon today telling me my speed was upped and that the bill may or may not go up. I’m scared to even check if the price has changed for fear of getting more bad news. I can’t stand another phone call of people telling me “the last guy was wrong, deal with it” because i dont know who to believe.I am so sick of this company but I need internet access and this is absolutely my only option in my particular case. So my advice is, if you choose verizon dsl make sure you keep an eye on everything they do (because they will screw it up) and prepare to be horribly frustrated for several weeks at least.

14.

Michael Martino
January 26th, 2008 at 10:36 am

Wow man, I hear ya. Similar situation happened to me, and I will share if you don’t mind.

We finally got dsl up and running with our land line which was through IDT, though the dsl service was Verizon. This took almost a year as the external modem had issues, bad cables and a poor connection. Constant freezing of my computer occurred as well. Finally talking with a supervisor and threatening to go to a cable line, I was offered two months free as well for my troubles. (which ended up being only one by the time it started working.)

After 6 months of use, we saw an ad to get the Vonage phone system which worked “directly through your dsl” line. This gave us phone options for much cheaper than IDT, so we signed up. (bad decision)

Our land line was disconnected as soon as we signed up, and we then lost our dsl connection as well. Calling the “computer technitions” for hours until a person could be contatcted, and retelling the story at least a hundred times,(all pointing the finger at each company… IDTs fault… Vonage’s fault.. Verizons fault…) as well as racking up hundreds of dollars on my cell phone b/c my land line was cut… no one could helpt it seemed. Enter the dry loop number.

I was told by Verizon that I needed to get a dry loop service because the land line, now, didnt exist. We were charged for a disconnection fee, and a service charge for switching service lines, and then the cost of dry loop installation fees, which cancelled any “credit” I was offered by Verizon.

No where on any brochure or website..(which we also lost due to the cutting of our land line) did it say we needed to contact our land line operator/service to make sure this didnt happen. Every tech person, just like your scenario, laughed at the people before and stated “I was in the wrong department”. The worst part is that after waiting w/o phone service or internet… I tried to take care of the problems myself. By calling different operators and tech support people, my dry loop service was set up and cancelled and set up again..by different operators (more charges)

The date of my final setup ended up being 3 weeks after my line was cut, all w/o phone service and no possible contact with my family except my cell phone which was maxed out by this time.

Compensation was stated, then ignored and I ended up being charged for the termination fees and reconnection fees, and new service fees, and a dry loop service that worked quite poorly.

I feel your pain. Forget trying to get help from tech support, as their help will only drive you crazy. Repeat the problem to 20 different people before someone will attempt to help… This from the Verizon monopoly that gives the customer no choice but to use them for connection: beware to anyone else looking for dry loop… and do your homework before you sign up!!!

15.

Sherry
March 9th, 2008 at 9:33 am

I found that Verizon has the WORST customer service EVER! They have no problems telling lies to their customers. It took me over 2 years for them to credit back money that they OVERCHARGED me for and reported to my credit reports before VONAGE helped me to correct the double billing by Verizon.

16.

Fred
March 19th, 2008 at 5:21 pm

Verizon and Vonage should be sued and reported to the Public Utility Commission.
I purchased Vonage and was told I could my Verizon number. I called Vonage and was told I needed a dry loop internet. What they didn’t tell me is that they would call Verizon/ I called Verizon with the Vonage rep on the line and ordered a voice disconnect (I had Verizen voice and DSL for over 3 plus years). Verizon gladly disconnected me and then I had no voice line. The next day I called Verizon and requested reconnnect of my voice, DSL service.
The next day I had voice and no DSL. It’s been a week and still not Vonage phone and no DSL. I’ve called Vonage and Verizon everyday. I’ve had no DSL from 3/11 to 3/19 and was told it would take another 8 days to reconnect a service that was fine baefoae I mentioned Vonage as my LD provider/
Vonage should be sued for incompetance and Verizon for fraud and tampering.

17.

Diane
March 28th, 2008 at 11:58 am

Wow, I knew I could not be alone in feeling there is a major scam or fraud being committed by primarily Verizon. I think a class action lawsuit is in order.

I have been a costumer of Verizon Landline and DSL for years..however Verizon’s land line fees where getting way to expensive - for a phone used way to infrequently. So I switched to Vonage with the understanding that I would need a DSL line - Verizon or otherwise. I shopped around and I responded to an Verizon On-line offer for a DRY LOOP service for 24.99. for one year. Which I applied to on line. I received a confirmation of my order.

Mind you the transfer of my Verizon number to Vonage went smoothly and my Verizon DSL continued to work. Weeks go by and I get a email from Verizon saying that Dry Loop service is not available in my area. So now instead of thinking I have a 24.99 one year commitment for a dry loop service - I’m told it will cost double that..? Why ? What the heck am I using now but a dry loop service? So how can you tell me it doesn’t exist in my area?

Try to call and speak to someone .. that’s a joke..countless attempts to call - to no avail..you simply can not get through to anyone - or if you do - they can’t help you. One rep after an hour and a half of attempts to get anyone - tells me that because I don’t have my phone with Verizon anymore they have to charge me more for a dry loop service - 49.99. I said I understand I signed on for a DRY LOOP but the offer was for 24.99 - not 49.99 why isn’t that being honored? She couldn’t answer and just hung up on me.

There needs to be some serious unaccountably & investigation into these companies practices. Some authority or legal action or consumer revolt is sorely needed. I just don’t know where to go…or how to start it.

18.

Concerned!!
May 13th, 2008 at 9:38 am

I just had a bad experience with Verizon too!! I have DSL service and thought the price was expensive as it was and then I get a notice that they are raising the price. I called to find out my options about maybe getting a cheap phoneline and dial-up connection, well the prices that I saw on the internet were for NEW customers, who cares that I have been a customer for some time now. Anyways the customer service rep. did not listen to me at all trying to offer me products that I just told her I didn’t want. Finally she said she would have to transfter me to someone else which by the way took 12 or so minutes on hold after I had been on hold for about the same time to talk to the first person. Anyways they came up with a price that I was willing to work with and I just hope that it’s not a scam.

19.

Kathy
June 12th, 2008 at 1:27 pm

Ha Ha Ha Ha - I am laughing because just yesterday I called Verizon to see if they have Dry Loop DSL available in my area because my husband and I both have cell phones and don’t need a land line. We did a bundle pkg. for a yr. with Verizon for phone, DSL & Direct TV. I love the Direct TV and Comcast is way too expensive. We decided to eliminate the land line and go strictly cell phone. As the Verizon apologized for the inconvenience of not having dry loop in my area and how she could certain understand the cutting corners philosophy of getting rid of our land line, she politely examined my account to see if there was any way we could lessen our phone bill… In doing so, she ended up trying to sell me more services which would have increased my bill. She was very nice so I was very nice in telling her that I was trying to save money not spend more. She completely understands…….
The kicker to this story is that while I had her on the phone there was one other item I forgot to address with her, so I called back and got another nice representative who also completely understood (as she read the notes from my previous call) but till we were done she too was trying to save me money by adding other services to my line. I don’t htink I come across as a stupid person, but apparently other people hear me differently. I am still searching for a dry loop dsl service provider but your above letters are scaring me.

20.

annoyed by monopolies
June 20th, 2008 at 1:49 am

My problem with Verizon is they have a monopoly on our area. If we want internet access with our old ISP dial up, from before we moved, or a new DSL - Verizon discourages this by charging higher fees. If we want just a regular landline with Verizon with our old long distance provider that was much cheaper than most companies, Verizon punishes us by charging extra fees. If we want digital phone service with a different company Verizon allegedly has to provide the DSL. But if we want DSL with another company then Verizon allegedly has to provide a landline. Now I’m hearing these nightmere stories about their attitude with regard to dry loop. So how does one get away from their monopoly of the whole telecommunications industry? We refuse to have cable in our home. As a newspaper reporter I need a landline or phone with special equipment to record my interviews. So I don’t want to rely on a cell phone especially with small children living in our home. And at the same time I need DSL to publish my website.

Also when Verizon bought GTE they sold my formerly closed account to an out of state credit collection agency. This was an already paid bill that I had gotten behind on but paid ten years before when I changed to Pacific Bell (now AT &T.) But after ten years I had alredy lost track of the cancelled check or bank statement for the payment and my bank no longer had proof after that amount of time. I looked up on the internet and found out it is illegal to collect on accounts after that amount of time in California so companies get around it by selling the account to an out of state collector. I could have fought the issue but didn’t want to wreck my credit while I untangled the mess being in the process of trying to obtain a mortgage loan, so I paid the swindlers the $250 I already paid. And trust me, this time -I paid with a cashiers check and kept the receipt.

Needless to say I don’t like Verizon.

21.

Bev
June 20th, 2008 at 1:11 pm

Wow, I am so with all of you about this mess! Like all of you, I’ve been looking at ways to cut costs - and switching to my cell phone, and cancelling my land line and maintaining my DSL.

Imagine my shock ( I know, you are all laughing, justifiably! ) when I finally got someone to place an order to cancel my land line, and then found out once they do that, which they can do very quickly (almost instantaneously, but they can’t turn anything ON that quickly), that I also have to lose my existing DSL and order the dry loop, which no one can tell me what the cost will be!

WHAT THE HECK! And we are PAYING them for this service? Come on, there must be something we can do? Any ideas, other than cancelling all electronic service?

HELP!
Yep, we are in this together!

Bev

22.

Sarah
June 25th, 2008 at 11:01 am

I ATTEMPTED to get a Verizon bundle in VA. This bundle was an offer of 20.00/month DSL with Direct TV. Now, I would like to say that I got my Direct TV services installed the next day with no problem and their customer service department has bent over backwards with regard to the fact that I have not been able to get my bundle on DSL from Verizon who is supposed to provide a dry loop number for me.

Whenever I signed up, I made it crystal clear to them that there was no land line and that I needed a dry loop. DTV said there was no problem and set it up. Once I didn’t get the DSL service on the expected date, I called Verizon because we had their equipment set up and ready to go but no service although I had got an automated call on my cell phone stating that billing would begin for DSL on June 20th. I’m not about to pay for something i’m not able to access.

REALLY long story short, I spent more than 8 hours total on the phone with these people beginning on Friday June 20th through Tuesday June 24th attempting to get this mess straightened out. Some people were nice and generally trying to be helpful but MOST of them were very unhelpful and just transferred the call whenever I asked for clarification on why they were saying at this point that I couldn’t get service after they had already assigned me a dry loop number–I’d just get transferred several times to another person who would then say everything was well and they would send someone out on monday. They never sent anyone so I called back again asking why and at this point attempting to get them to not bill me for it. Come to find out, I had placed the first initial call to them from my work phone. They had STUPIDLY set up their DSL service for that number which is a land line! I didn’t even GIVE them that number for anything, just on their caller ID from where I called.

Finally, last night after spending more than 2 hours on the phone with these incredibly stupid people I told one of their supervisors that I wanted to speak with a manager. The person I was talking to insisted on transferring me to yet another department for exactly the 8th time during the course of my phone call and just cut me off. I wasn’t too pleased with it so I just canceled the service. They wanted to know why I had chosen to cancel it after such a short time so I told them. They were wasting way too much of my time and if I did ever get their service working, heaven forbid I should have any sort of problem with it and have to call them about it. I’d spend a really long time getting it worked out!

DONT GET VERIZON! THEY SUCK!

23.

louisa
June 26th, 2008 at 8:57 am

WOW, let me just say that i began to research dry loop because T-mobile is launching a $10 a month unlimited home line that works as voip does. t-mobile ports your existing phone number and gives you a hi port router that you plug into your modem and into your existing phone. The problem is DSL customers have to get a dry loop in order for t-mobile service to work. Now im worried because as a t-mobile dealer i dont want my customers joining this new service to get screwed by verizon. we are trying to save people money by providing them the option to keep thier landline number and enjoy unlimited calling for $10, which helps alot speaking since half of america hardly uses their home phones anymore, so why pay more than $30 for this service. it would suck if verizon starts denying customers or charging double.

24.

Sharon
July 6th, 2008 at 6:41 pm

Yeah, I too have tried to get JUST a DSL connection only. I thought the home phone service through T-Mobile sounded GREAT … until I have been experiencing a problem to just have DSL. If DSL is going to cost as much as the phone service, then - I might as well keep it. We ALL KNOW that we are being “snowed on”! DSL service just has to become available in the near future - at a reasonable price. The problem is “we the people” have to take some type of “protest” action and wake up these companies whom are attempting to monopolize with a service - that absolutely should be avaiable, inexpensively to us.

25.

daa223a
October 6th, 2008 at 1:31 pm

Verizon dry loops is avaliable in Walnut, CA 91789.
I just got FIOS and ported my home phone to VOIP.
they came and installed dry loop w/o me asking them.
but I already have FIOS installed so I called them up to cancel my dry-loop.