Live Chat

I had a question for Verizon this evening and thought I would call technical support for advice. I was immediately informed by their voice mail genie there was an unusually heavy call volume and it might be a while before anyone could help me.

I stayed with it anyway and pressed some more numbers and actually thought I was going to be connected to a live agent. As soon as the phone stopped ringing, however, a voice on the other end announced the call was being terminated. How's that for support?

Not to be daunted, I thought I'd try their “Vz In-Home Agent,” which is an online site that's supposed to be helpful. And it was, sort of.

I selected their Live Chat window which is somewhat misleading because you don't actually “chat” with anyone but exchange typed messages in a Q-and-A format. My contact at the other end was identified as “Ismael” and we had a few back and forths and he was able to answer my question. So I guess this works in a pinch.

I'd still rather talk with someone directly. It just seems companies are putting more and more obstacles in the way of direct contact with their customers. I don't like that.