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Verizon Faces Consumer Fraud Class Action over DSL Speeds


Los Angeles, CA: Verizon is facing a potential consumer fraud class action filed by a California woman alleging the company talked her into buying a faster internet plan even though it didn't have the technological capability to deliver what it promised. Patricial Allen filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles on behalf of "all persons and entities in California who are located a certain distance"from a Verizon office."The lawsuit is based on breach of contract and California consumer protection laws.

In the lawsuit, Allen claims that a Verizon sales representative talked her into switching her monthly plan from $24.99 to a $34.99 DSL plan that was supposed to deliver internet at the speed of 1.5 Mb per second.

However, the lawsuit claims that Allen's connection only ever reached half that speed and that when she complained to Verizon, a technician told her faster speeds were impossible because she lived two miles from a Verizon service center. Allen also claims that a Verizon representative told her to downgrade because her line could only accept speeds of up to to 768k per second. Allen also alleges that when she demanded a refund, Verizon refused to issue a refund.

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Published on Apr-17-12


READER COMMENTS

Posted by

on
Never received the speeds on dsl i was promised have letter from technician saying that there is no way i could get those speeds i am to far from the sub station. I am getting half what i was promised.

Posted by

on
Dear Verizon,
Back in August of 2017, we had a technician come by to install internet for our family convenience store. Some of the things discussed were a plan that is best when it comes to cost efficiency and basic functions – similar to the service one would use at home. No need for phone service or TV. Service was installed and for the most basic plan (later known to my knowledge to be Residential Services).
In November, we experienced a city-wide power outage. A persistent and knowledgeable technician came by during the outage and recognized an “upgrade” needed to be done because it is place of business (and requires a static IP…). His sentiment was different from that of our first technician. My father asked this would need to be discussed with me before any further changes could be done as this would surely affect our profits and what we are budgeted for the internet – also, because we had no issues with our current plan.
A few days later after the Technician’s visit in November to fix the internet outage, I visited my store and I am greeted with a Splash Page for the Verizon Business Registration. I was not able to access any web pages other than the Business Registration page. The Residential internet service was abruptly canceled instead of the upgrade – my father and I wanted the Business upgrade canceled and would like to visit webpages other than the Verizon Business Registration Page. I proceeded to chat with Verizon LiveChat. Finally, our regular services returned and were told the business upgrade was canceled. Consequently, the tech did not return to install the Business Services. I continued paying for Residential services until February.
in February, I received a bill in the mail for a charge for $206.64 for account XXX-XXX-XXX-001-16. This is immensely different from the auto payments I made online for the amounts of $39.00 for account XXX-XXX-666-0001. At first, I thought this was a mistake. I did not have both Business and Residential installed at my location; I don’t see how this could even be possible. We were using 50mbps/50mbps speeds which are Residential Speeds. However, I was being billed for both and never used or had Business Services activated or installed by tech. After speaking with reps. from both Residential and Business via a conference call, a plan was finally set in place. There would finally be a transition from Residential Services to Business Services. On February 2nd we’d have Residential services disconnected – ticket# NJDQ0AW1QA. After the weekend, Business Services would be set to be installed February 5th.
On Thursday, February 8th due to immense frustration, distrust in the services, and increasing costs (greater than 2x more than what I was originally paying for); I requested termination on both services to rethink my options or use a different service. Inconveniently, they were not able to access their database on this day and I was promised a call on Friday. This call never came.
Today, February 12th, I spoke with another representative. Raegan was not knowledgeable on the technical side (she was the billing rep) and stated straightforwardly I’ve been using both Residential and Business Services. She stated I accepted the terms and conditions and also that “I read my emails” (Note: I did not complete the registration for Verizon Business Page). She also said I was being billed for 75mbps/75mbps speeds and installation was done for my store in November. I asked how I was given the increase in speed as there were no changes, no tech visits, did not create a business account, or have replacements shipped. No technician came out to make the upgrade (other than the power outage) – I was using the same basic services since August. I also asked her to check if I was ever using Business Speeds, she could not – She had hard time even transferring a call or conferencing Tech in to confirm my speeds (for verification that I was not using Business Services). I repeated I have been using the same 50/50 speeds – “those are not business speeds.” In the end, after the long conversation, she advised the conversation needed to end with a decision to “continue” with business services or terminate the business contract with an early termination fee of $700 for an installation that never took place. I corrected her and explained the early termination fee is actually $711 but informed me she likes the use of rounder numbers. I asked her the termination fee would need to be waived. She explained it would need to be done within 30 days --- Again, I reiterated we never used your speeds and business service was never installed; I’ve only used Residential services.
Understandably and as a final point, Raegan understood my frustration but could not assist me any further. Due to this, I informed her I would be disputing the charges and to “disconnect” the services.
In conclusion, due to immense frustration and distrust in your services I would like, at the very least, have the early termination fee waived. In addition to this, I will inform you again: I did not create an online Business Account, the technician has not installed the services on February 5th – we dismissed him to ultimately terminate your services, and we never had 75mbps/75mbps business speeds.
Best Regards,
Anthony

Posted by

on
I have the same problem here in MA. Verizon openly admits there is a problem but refuses to fix it. Then they cut my no to slow bandwidth from 1.1-2.4 down to .4-1.1 but I still have to pay the full price. I filled a claim with the BBB but they just sided with Verizon and closed the case.

Posted by

on
Good luck I live about 100ft from one of their dsl co's I get exactly the min to keep them from violating their min speed for enhanced dsl and I have a direct line from their main line ran with cat 5e straight to my router. After hrs on the phone and with a tech and talking to corp office the tell me its because the co is over taxed. That's interesting since their own tel tech guy tells me their is a whole other board with about a 1000 hookups not being used but Verizon won't let them activate it. O and it seems business's get a better sig even though they are about 1 mile down the road on the same circuit I'm on. Here is my stats
Connection Status:
CONNECTED
Downstream Speed:
3360 Kbps
Upstream Speed:
768 Kbps
Retrains:
0
Retrain Timer:
1 Days, 4H:48M:17S
ATM QoS class:
UBR
Near End CRC Errors Interleave:
0
Near End CRC Errors Fastpath :
N/A
Far End CRC Errors Interleave :
6
Far End CRC Errors Fastpath :
N/A
30 Minute Near End CRC Interleave :
0
30 Minute Near End CRC Fastpath :
N/A
30 Minute Far End CRC Interleave :
0
30 Minute Far End CRC Fastpath :
N/A
Near End RS FEC Interleave :
0
Near End RS FEC Fastpath :
N/A
Far End RS FEC Interleave :
0
Far End RS FEC Fastpath :
N/A
30 Minute Near End FEC Interleave :
0
30 Minute Near End FEC Fastpath :
N/A
30 Minute Far End FEC Interleave :
0
30 Minute Far End FEC Fastpath :
N/A
30 Minute Discarded Packets Downstream :
0
30 Minute Discarded Packets Upstream :
0
SNR Downstream :
36 dB
SNR Upstream :
10 dB
Attenuation Downstream :
4 dB
Attenuation Upstream :
3 dB
Power Downstream
5.2 dBm
Power Upstream
11.8 dBm

Posted by

on
My Verizon DSL speed is not close to what I pay for. There is constant buffering, outages, unexceptable Mbps. I have upgraded my package with absolutely no improvement. I feel as if they cannot provide me the service that they "offer", not too mention the horrible customer service and wait time just to speak with someone that ultimately won't be able to help. There are just too many people on our hub. They are well aware of this situation but do nothing to resolve it. Unfortunately they're my only option for I internet service as I live in a rural area. Highly disappointed in Verizon.

Posted by

on
In November 2015 my internet charges went from $26.99 to $34.99. I never requested a higher speed internet. In fact, the speed is very slow and I get booted off of the internet many time. I am no longer able to receive emails. It states that my email or password is invalid.

Posted by

on
Every evening after 6PM, my DSL performances drops to well below 1.0 MB per second. Both the tech support on the phone and the technician that came to my house said the problem was due to capacity limitations and would require a significant investment by Verizon.

Posted by

on
I have checked my DL and UL speeds regularly under many different conditions. While there is considerable variation, the average is WAY below advertised speeds - about 50%. Often it is 20%.

Posted by

on
I have verizon fios internet and was promised 50/50 mbps and have never gotten close to that speed. i was told that if i expected to get that speed that i would have to buy a new router, even though when it was installed, the service tech told me all I would have to do to get higher speeds was call Verizon to increase my plan. I am reporting this to the BBB but do not know what else to do.

Posted by

on
My Internet speeds are inconsistent, lower than promised. Service is usually waiting on the phone for 20 minutes to an hour to be told it's hardware or my wiring, which ends up being wrong. Problems persist and Internet speeds remain between almost 0 and 50% of promised speeds.

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