The takeover of Verizon’s landline, TV and Internet services by Frontier Communications has some Southern California customers upset.
Some are without phone service and others say they have been put on hold for hours.
Eighty-three-year-old Santa Fe Springs resident Marlene Vernava said her service was out for seven days. On an oxygen tank 24 hours a day, Vernava said her landline is critical because it is connected to her medical alert system that tells family and doctors if something is wrong.
And she is not the only one complaining since Frontier switched over more than a million Verizon customers on April 1.
"I’m going crazy here between not having a cellphone because it keeps going out and not having a LifeLine,” Vernava said.
Vernava says it could be a matter of life or death for her if her phone service isn’t working.
"I can't push my button because there is no one to help me,” she says.
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Vernava’s sister Pat Dunlevy says the family has been calling and communicating with Frontier since service went out April 8.
“My niece has been on the phone with them for over seven hours,” Dunlevy says.
Techs have come out, checked out the service, said it would work after a reboot, but still nothing until April 14, when Dunlevy says a tech arrived and fixed the problem after the company was contacted by NBC4.
On Facebook, customers echoed similar concerns including long waits, uncooperative sales representatives, loss of Internet and/or TV and other services.
More than a dozen viewers emailed NBC4, including Zona Landress, who wrote “several people including myself have been without Internet, phone service, as well as television accessibility. We have encountered rude customer service.”
Frontier Communications issued the following statement to NBC4:
"As you know, Frontier Communications is in the process of completing the transition of over one million voice, video, data and FiOS customers in California to the Frontier network. We are working quickly to restore any service issues. We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience. If any of your viewers are expressing concern over Video on Demand (VOD), please let them know VOD content has been available since Saturday, April 2. We are working to complete the transition of more content to our VOD library and the most popular titles are available now.
"Residential customers in need of assistance should call 1-800-921-8101. Business customers should dial 1-800-921-8102. Customers can also contact Frontier Customer Service via Live Chat, by going to the Contact Us page in the Help Center at www.MeetFrontier.com."
