topic Re: Frustration With Phone Company - Venting in Community Chat

Frustration With Phone Company - Venting

Catty2 — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 04:26:26 GMT

I am "old school" and still have 3 landline phones in my home. I do have a basic Tracfone cell phone for emergencies. My home phones have had a lot of static the last week or so. On Monday morning I did a service request and the guy came out that afternoon. After 1.5 hours he couldn't figure it out and said that he thought it was something with the cables and he'd add it to the service ticket. He made it sound like somebody would be out today and said "you don't even have to be home when they do the work". This morning I checked and my service ticket had been closed. I went to the phone company's website and did a live chat with a customer rep and after 45 minutes he/she started another service ticket. The tech is coming out tomorrow morning. The tech on Monday said he couldn't reconnect my phone so I've had dead phones for over a day. This is so frustrating. I hope whoever comes out tomorrow will be able to fix the problem and reconnect my phones. I really like having a phone in each bedroom and one in the kitchen so am not interested in going to a cell phone only. Thanks for listening.

Re: Frustration With Phone Company - Venting

Desertdi — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 06:52:30 GMT

@Catty2 I am in AZ........and my "telephone box" was connected to the outdoor WEST side of the house. I had the same "static and fading reception" as you. Turns out, my wires were "fried" from the heat. They put a new phone box INSIDE the house..........a real eyesore in my master bedroom. What is a person to do???? Ya can't fight the phone company. di

Re: Frustration With Phone Company - Venting

shaggygirl — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 12:43:48 GMT

I have 2 landlines in my house. In other words 2 separate phone numbers. One is in my son's room, been there a very long time, since when he was a teen and lived here full time. The past 6 months or so I had a recurring problem with mine, where I have the base phone w/answering machine in the kitchen, then 2 with just the handheld and the charger thing in other rooms.

Soooooo, for the past 6 months my line would intermittently not work and on the digital readout it would say Line in Use and sometimes No Line. Couldn't call out, would just hear static, no one could reach me, they would get a message "the person you are trying to call can't accept your call" or something like that. A couple of times my phone service would do whatever they would do remotely and it would fix it, but not permanently. Within a month bam, it would happen again. FINALLY got to the root of the problem just a couple of weeks ago when a tech came into the house and down in the basement found corroded wiring on the line that connects to a phone outlet in the room where my washer/dryer/furnace is that hasn't been used in so many years I forgot it was even there. The second he disconnected or cut or whatever he did to that wiring the phones immediately worked again.

I asked him why would they have started working for awhile when they did whatever they did remotely. He said it wasn't 100% corroded so when they rebooted it gave it just enough juice to kick it up for awhile. My purpose in relating this whole story to you is because prior to this particular tech doing what he did even when my phones would work I would sometimes hear a wee bit of static when using them so make sure they check your inside wiring if you have any coming into a room where there is no ceiling, in other words when you look up it's just the wood beams, (as in that basement room of mine) where years of some dampness or humidity can wreak havoc on the wiring. In my case the phone line in my son's room was fine as it comes from outside right into his room.

Re: Frustration With Phone Company - Venting

Travone — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 13:12:08 GMT

About 4 years ago my landline died after having a new roof installed on my house. I'm sure the roofers cut a wire. I had a cell phone but liked the land line. I called the phone company, someone came out and told me they couldn't fix the problem. I was told I had to be home for someone to come out. I took a day of vacation from work....nobody showed up. My best friend works for the phone company. She contacted a supervisor on my behalf and again nobody showed up. I refused to take any more vacation days for the phone company. My best friend then contacted a friend of hers who was a lineman. He said he would come out on a Saturday. On Saturday he called me and told me he was in my neighborhood and would be there in about 30 minutes....we confirmed the address. Guess what????? Four years later and he still hasn't shown up. Needless to say, we are now a cell phone only family.

Re: Frustration With Phone Company - Venting

Othereeeen — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 14:17:17 GMT

The phone companies are on an active campaign to eliminate wire ( hard wired land lines)....

The REAL reason they don't "do anything" about the problems is that they don't want to pay the ENORMOUS cost of labor and benefits to maintain wire systems.....poles, wires, clearing or obtaining right of ways, paying overtime to go out an repair lines taken down in storms, etc.).

I had a year long fight with Verizon here in PA, because my internet connection was SO poor. EVERY DAY it goes out for a mintue to an hour, many times a day. Overseas customer service that would promise the moon and nothing got done. They DID credit my account and they DID lower my monthly bill.

ONE cell tower costs a TON less to maintain than miles and miles of wire, poles, etc.

It got SO bad here last year, I finally signed up for HughesNet basic service. Now I have TWO satelitte dishes, but at least I have reliable internet for what I use it for. I don't stream or download, so thier basic ( Hughes) system is OK for me. I have yet to use up all my monthly allotment... But I'd go INSANE if I had to depend on Verizon for service, especially in the long winter months!

Every time you call them to report an outage, it's "You service will be fixed within 48 hours" ( NOT!!!) And many time it DOES get fixed at the 47th hour).

Re: Frustration With Phone Company - Venting

software — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 14:19:20 GMT

One of the reasons I finally ditched my landline.

I live in an area with many mature trees, which means we have a healthy squirrel population. I was often having a problem with my lines.

One time, someone came out, said he fixed it. Called me from his cell phone. Big mistake on his part. He wasn't even down the road when I tried to make a call, the line was still dead. I called him personally every time I had a problem.

I hardly ever used the phone but it rang all day--- sales calls. I think that the person who makes the call should pay for it. That would stop many unnecessary calls. I felt like I was paying for them to call me!

Re: Frustration With Phone Company - Venting

Group 5 minus 1 — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 14:19:43 GMT

When you all say you have 3 Land lines do you mean that you have 3 different numbers or just 3 phones around the house?

Re: Frustration With Phone Company - Venting

Nataliesgramma — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 14:22:19 GMT

I got tired of people telling my landline phone was always "busy'......My service would go out...but if you called me, it would ring busy.

Went out SO MUCH that I figured no one would be able to reach me without calling on my cell phone anyway....so I got rid of the landline...

Re: Frustration With Phone Company - Venting

NicksmomESQ — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 14:32:11 GMT

I have three extension phones in my home using one phone number.They are powered through my cable provider. About 18 years ago I gave up my Verizon landline.

When I signed up with Cablevision I got a bundle that included phone,internet & t.v. It was a lot cheaper that way.

Re: Frustration With Phone Company - Venting

shaggygirl — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 14:45:05 GMT

I like having my landline w/the 3 handhelds because they're spread out, one in the kitchen/dining/living area, one in my bedroom and one down in the family room. So when I get a call I'm always pretty close to a phone. If I had to carry my cell phone with me all around the house to be sure I didn't miss a call I'd never know where the phone was because I'd take it to a room, sit it somewhere and forget about it before I moved on. I'd have to wear it around my neck. Plus I'd forget to track it down and put it in my purse before leaving the house...which is really all I have it for, to use it when needed when not at home. Call AAA if I have flat or need a tow, order a pizza on the way home....or any needed call I had to make or receive while being out. So it stays in my purse and turned off 95% of the time. Sure did come in handy though on those days when my landline was not working.

Re: Frustration With Phone Company - Venting

SeaMaiden — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 15:47:03 GMT

I also have had a land line phone connection for going on 30 years. A couple of years ago I also had stactic on my land line phone lines... they came out and did something in the box on the street and it went away. I had very good service and they even called to ask me if the problem had been fixed.

I hope that they come out and fix it for you and that your phones are up and running again.

My internet is connected to my land line so if my phone went out so would my computer connection.... that would drive me bonkers!

Re: Frustration With Phone Company - Venting

BirkiLady — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 18:14:10 GMT

All the wiring for this home is underground. I love a landline with extensions throughout the house and have never had an outage with it. Yes, it is more expensive than my cell phone but it's so much more dependable and clearer . . . and I'm able to chat for hours with friends if we feel like it (no batteries dieing). Don't even bring my cell into the house anymore; it lives in my car and is seldom even turned on!

Re: Frustration With Phone Company - Venting

lovesrecess — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 19:12:02 GMT

We dumped our landline five years ago....so glad we did because we had similar problems as others posted here. Now we are having problems with completely incompetent employees with our iPhone carrier. I don't think it's possible to have any kind of phone service without problems, especially when the person you are speaking to is sitting at his kitchen table halfway around the world. Yesterday I gave my acct number three times to the guy online....they have no actual phone number, of course, and he typed that there was no account with that number. Does that mean I don't have to pay the bill then?

Re: Frustration With Phone Company - Venting

chrystaltree — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 19:36:11 GMT

I think that's just the price you pay for living like it's 1968. I'm floored that people have so many landlines in one house. Our printer/fax is hooked to the landline, that's the only reason why we have it. We don't even have a phone for it. I do know one or two older people who have s landline....one single phone....just in case. I do wonder if that makes much sense. I think if the cell phone towers are down in a catastrophe all the telephone lines will be down too.

Re: Frustration With Phone Company - Venting

Group 5 minus 1 — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 19:59:37 GMT

I,m confused. When one says they have 3 landlines do they mean three different phone numbers or just three telephones?

Re: Frustration With Phone Company - Venting

viva923 — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 21:13:45 GMT

I am a land line person here, don't like cell phones unless emergency calls.

last week my internet went wild, it would work then not work then work then wouldn't connect. i could not hook up any of my ipads or dh couldn't hook up his small lap top either, it was just going wild.

I went to facebook and put the problem out on facebook for my community I belong too. I got 20 replies all the same the box on the outside of the house went bad replace and you should be back in business. it took 2 calls to verizon to get someone to take me seriously to come out and replace the box, but i got a new outside fios box and am back in business again, no problems.

verizon sometimes does not take people seriously and you have to really get angry, for them to send out a tech to fix the problem.

Re: Frustration With Phone Company - Venting

Catty2 — Thu, 30 Aug 2018 02:09:37 GMT

@Desertdi

I am also in AZ. My 3 phones are all the same number. Today another tech was supposed to come between 8 am and noon. At 12:30 I got a msg on my cell phone that he would be there around 1pm. At 1:30 I got another msg that he was starting work on the problem, but not on the premises. I assume he was at the big box thing they have with all the connections. I never heard from him again. Around 4pm 2 phone company trucks were parked in front my house. I went outside and 2 guys were working on the phone line on the side of my garage. One guy said they were called because the other tech couldn't fix the problem so they were just getting started. In a few minutes both of the trucks were gone so I assumed they went to the big box. Finally, around 5:45 my phone rang and the tech said "Your phone is working for now." I am relieved but still upset about all this and how it was handled. As someone mentioned, the cost to maintain landlines is going up - so is my phone bill little by little. It makes me wonder how their techs are trained that it took 4 different techs and over 3 days to fix this problem.

Re: Frustration With Phone Company - Venting

Catty2 — Thu, 30 Aug 2018 02:16:53 GMT

@shaggygirl

Like you, I like having 3 different phones around the house for convenience. I have a basic Tracfone cell which I've had to carry around with me since Monday afternoon with my landlines being dead. Normally, I just keep the Tracfone in my purse for emergencies. But at this point I don't want to go to a cell phone for my main phone.

Re: Frustration With Phone Company - Venting

Desertdi — Thu, 30 Aug 2018 03:22:49 GMT

@Catty2 wrote:
@Desertdi

I am also in AZ. My 3 phones are all the same number. Today another tech was supposed to come between 8 am and noon. At 12:30 I got a msg on my cell phone that he would be there around 1pm. At 1:30 I got another msg that he was starting work on the problem, but not on the premises. I assume he was at the big box thing they have with all the connections. I never heard from him again. Around 4pm 2 phone company trucks were parked in front my house. I went outside and 2 guys were working on the phone line on the side of my garage. One guy said they were called because the other tech couldn't fix the problem so they were just getting started. In a few minutes both of the trucks were gone so I assumed they went to the big box. Finally, around 5:45 my phone rang and the tech said "Your phone is working for now." I am relieved but still upset about all this and how it was handled. As someone mentioned, the cost to maintain landlines is going up - so is my phone bill little by little. It makes me wonder how their techs are trained that it took 4 different techs and over 3 days to fix this problem.

@Catty2 It's not "just" the phone company. I have had a number of repairs on the house that had to be re-done. In 2 cases, the original repairman actually walked off the job....and I had to find someone else. I don't know what to say. Poor training -- lack of interest in their job? di

Re: Frustration With Phone Company - Venting

Still Raining — Thu, 30 Aug 2018 14:02:29 GMT

Got rid of the landline about 20 years ago and have no problems. I would put my money on the fact that the phone company will maintain the tower better than an individual line. Plus you can patch the outouts and have a prettier wall.