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Frontier Communications

Frontier Communications review: fraud and cheating 51

J
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7:24 am EST
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Frontier Communications is a pure rip off company, with their own self serving concerns in mind. Their end users or customers are merely pawns to them, whom they rape on a regular basis. They are a capitalist money scrounging parasite that preys on rural citizens as a result of their monopolistic strangle holds resulting from the FCC not allowing fair market competitiveness. The Federal and State Governments do what about it? Well nothing of course….no wonder this country is in such dire straits.

Frontier does not promote fair market competitiveness as a result of union strangle holds in geographical areas. Unions – there another topic of discussion! THE END RESULT OF THIS IS EVER INCREASING PRICES. The same services from other communications competitors (not allowed in these geographical areas) are 35 – 50% lower in costs. Talk about a monopoly – wow! Talk about a consumer rip off – wow, and Federal and state agencies standing by letting it all happen. The good ol' boy policy.

The quality of service and mean time response to repairs from Frontier is deplorable and an embarrassment. It would be one thing if costs were a gradual creep. Even the fast rise of gasoline costs late in 2008 seemed like a deal compared to Frontiers pricing structure. I was told (prior me canceling DSL) that my high speed internet connection would be 3MB. I was lucky to get 256K on a good weather day. Their service should be called CPSL as opposed to DSL (Carrier Pigeon Service link). Then they have the gawl to increase prices on this poor performance? All because they can get away with it.

I have made numerous attempts at getting another DSL provider. But ALL other ISP companies tell me they can not provide service to my area due to Frontier having total control in these geographical areas. What ever happened to the FCC ruling of geographical diversity of communications carries? I think that was is all BS!

I have now decided to forego internet service in my home. I would rather do without, then feed Carpathians.

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51 comments
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Diana
Bonnie, US
Jan 20, 2009 5:22 pm EST

I just received my Frontier phone bill. Surprise a charge for something I didn't order
I called Frontier, they said that they had several calls about this service. But refused to take it off of my bill. They are not suppose to let 3rd party companies do this. I did not order this service.
Frontier did give me this number to call [protected]. They said that they would take off the charge and gave me a confirmation #
We'll see!

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bluesgirl22
hanover, US
Feb 03, 2009 7:54 pm EST

I have the same thing on my Frontier bill for 19.95 for Voicemail. I've tried to call this 800 number and it won't let me get through to a real person. What a scam!

Please update and let us know what happens. I wonder how many other Frontier customers were subjected to this mess! I'm in Michigan BTW.

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Greg
Elcho, US
Mar 20, 2009 11:40 am EDT

I agree Frontier is a bad company. I had business class DSL with them. I had an inexcusable amount of billing problems. Rates being increased while rate locked in a contract. Thank goodness the small cable company started internet in my town.

Another thing. They scam customers into contracts and agreements. Local phone plans with unlimited long distance for $49.95 a month, or 100 minutes of long distance for $19.95 with a couple of calling features. It all works great until the day you want to change your plan.. You later find that your agreement auto renews, they give you a hassle to cancel. You call a month or two to change and they tell you its too early. "call back in another two weeks".. Two weeks comes and goes and they tell you the same thing when you call. If your a day or two too late then it already auto renewed. I changed my plan to go month to month, told the CSR I did not want ANY agreement to go month to month. I looked at my bill and I am under an 12 month agreement. Hopefully the cable company will get local telephone service soon and I will be able to cut all ties to Frontier.

Frontier is constantly pushing Dish Network for $9.99 a month, pushing people to bundle internet, phone, and TV. Then offer you $125.00 gift cards, free laptops, if you sign up for the deal. Buyer beware.. If the deal looks too good to be true.. It is.

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helpmjd
US
Jun 22, 2018 9:09 am EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more
Replying to comment of Greg

I agree with you completely. Raising my bill without notice. Security for internet talked into and billed but they did not activate. I did the email to do this a year ago, they said it was my fault. They collected money every month for security. We are suppose to have 4 to 6 mbps only get 1.3 to 2.0 in our area. They will not upgrade and have no answers to help. Call supervisor to check if we are to get upgrade, said she would call back. She did not.

I really think they should not block other isp from coming in. We are trapped and they know it. How do we get help from the state?

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Brittney,Dakota, and Maddies Mommy
powell, US
Mar 20, 2009 11:48 am EDT

I had them 3 yrs ago... It lasted 2months b4 I was feed up with charges I asked about and they couldnt answer...Maybe with enough complaints we can get something done about it!

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Zombiwoof
US
Mar 20, 2009 11:56 am EDT

What the FCC requires is that local telcos allow other providers to use the local loop.

If you don't understand what that means - dsl is not for you.

Yes - you can get dsl service through other providers, but it's still going to come through the same copper pair owned by the Frontier - or whomever your local telco is.

Sometimes, it *is* better to go through another company.

Qwest owns the copper at one location I manage, but the dsl service is through another company.

It's still Qwest's local loop - but our dsl company has more pull with them than I do and can correct errors faster.

And it means we have no business relationship with Qwest, so they can't telemarket me.

See if you can get Covad or another of the nationals.

What they essentially do is act as your agent.

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Wayne
Coopersburg, US
Mar 20, 2009 7:13 pm EDT

Just got off the phone with Frontier to try to get out of my "contract" which is up in August. I want to switch to RCN for phone, cable and internet. CSR told me in order to get out of my phone is $200 and then my internet $200 and about the dish, they would have to check. What a friggin ripoff. The RCN rep told me that if they can not PROVE that I signed a "contract" it is not enforceable. He said to have them fax you a copy of the signed contract. I will call them back and see.

The only reason I had Frontier (Commonwealth Telephone) since I moved in 3 years ago is because they were the only phone company. Like you said, no one to complete with. Well now I want to give cable a try for everything.

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alien.sanctuary
FRM, US
Aug 14, 2009 10:43 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

In June 2009 I purchased Frontier's "High-Speed Internet" service at the advertised price of $29.99/month + modem fee of 4.50/month. The modem was installed on July 16, 09.

When I received the first bill including internet service, in August, I was charged 44.99/ month plus an unadvertised 44.99 fee for High Speed Internet Max Term 6/23/09 - 6/23/10.

The customer service representatives said either I would pay $44.99 per month for Max, or $24.99 for Light, which is half the speed of Max. I didn't want to pay the $44.95/month fee so I chose Light. They adjusted my bill to $100.66 from $187.65.

The Frontier brochure clearly states "Mega-fast connections to download music, games, photos and more". When I called the number listed on the flyer, [protected], Dustin said the $29.99 was for Max, not Light.

I believe Frontier should stand behind its advertising and provide me with the service I expected to receive, Max, at the advertised price for the 1-year "Price Protection Plan", $29.99.

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NDborn
US
Sep 07, 2009 7:35 pm EDT

We inherited a house in Balaton MN, so I was looking into my options for internet. I see frontier owns the town. they are charging $50 for a 3mbps connection. Unacceptable ! As of now I have Midco Max 25mbps @ $60.

I called Midco, they said they bought the cable in Balaton but its to old to use. They stated within the next two years they will have their fiber dug in and lines replaced. I may have to wait to move. I don't think I could handle going back to almost dial up speeds.

It wont be long and frontier will be selling green pine tree air fresheners.

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Sir Batson Belfry
Kingman, US
Sep 08, 2009 5:31 pm EDT

Frontier appears to be the only game in rural Mohave County for High Speed Internet service. The other options in this town? Go to dial-up services and risk being ripped off when the rates are raised after a "Trial Period".

A 76-year old friend contracted with Frontier for the "Special High Speed Internet Package" at $29.99 per month. When the price of this service mysteriously climbed to $44 and change, he began sending a minimum payment to the company. His original contract began in mid-November, 2008. It would appear that his telephone service was bundled with the DSL as a package, because a couple of weeks ago Frontier cancelled both his internet AND telephone service.

Friend stops by to ask for help in solving the problem. He is looking at a bill in excess of $300 (!). As it is a Saturday, I telephone and am unable to get through to Tech Support. So instead, I go through the Repairs department. I speak with a very nice rep who informs me that my friend has indeed been overcharged a total of $159.19 -- he has been paying at least $15 per month too much for the High Speed Internet, which indeed should cost him just $29.99 per month. I am assured by the rep that if my friend pays the "current amount due" of $75.98, all his services will be turned on within 15 minutes. So I am given authorization and information to act on my friend's behalf and request they deduct this amount from his checking account. The same rep assures me that the $159.19 will be credited to this man's account...she just needs to speak with her Supervisor on Monday. Since then, my friend received a letter acknowledging the $75.98 payment AND a Past Due notice in the amount of $216.39. Ergo, his account has not been credited the $159.19 that the rep in Repairs stated the company overcharged for services (plus Federal, State and Local taxes on the magically increased monthly High Speed Service charges, as stated in the contract). So I must go higher up the food chain to get this problem resolved (or so it would appear).

Since service was restored, my friend's "High Speed 3MBps" internet service has slowed to a crawl. Intermittently, he achieves the sort of speeds one would expect from High Speed DSL. I have run utilities which check for every sort of Malware, without locating, isolating and destroying any such critter. The service (in XP Pro) is totally unacceptable. I've booted Linux from CD and gotten much better and consistently quick performance. Nothing changed on this man's PC between the time service was shut down until it was restored. He continues to assert that Frontier "has done something deliberate to sabotage his machine" and "they're deliberating screwing with me because they do not want to do the right thing." At first I thought my friend was speaking out of frustration and aggravation and a bit of paranoia. Now I'm seriously beginning to wonder about the ethics (such as they are) of Frontier.

I've also noted that his DSL modem rapidly heats up to the point of becoming a fire hazard. I will need to call Frontier on this problem, as this man has been paying the monthly Modem Rental fees and Frontier needs to fix or replace the Modem. And of course, there should be no costs involved, as Modem Rental is the price one pays not to be charged out the yazoo in the event of equipment failure. Would that I were a telephony expert and also knew how to take apart and repair problems in the related hardware: I could recommend that my friend simply go out and purchase his own third party modem, as it's a better deal in the long run and you own the equipment.

Frontier's sign up "deals" are rather shady. You opt in for one year at what is supposed to be a set rate for the Light or High Speed, or pay an extra $100 to have the DSL cable run for a dedicated line and an additional amount (neighborhood of $10, when you include all the taxes and various nickels and dimes for inexplicable charges) if you opt for month to month service. But wait! The rules of what installation costs are arbitrary. I was told it would cost $34.99 to installation of a cable for the DSL Light service. When the fellow arrives, he TELLS me there will be an additional twenty dollar charge to "run a second line." I have made it plain to Frontier that I wanted ONLY a dedicated data line, as there is already a telephone line in place and I did would not be using the data line for anything other than internet service. In the recent past, there was a second line that had been run into this place. So already, I'm questioning the integrity of "what I was told by a company rep" versus "what actually happened during the installation process."

I will say that the Technician who did the installation was polite and professional and did a very neat job of running cable and strategically running wires so they would not be hazardous and used a minimalist rather than an extreme approach to wiring. Everything looks very tidy. But where did this magic twenty dollar charge creep in?

You will also note that, with the exception of emailing tech support, it is extraordinarily difficult to find an email address for people working in a Supervisory capacity. As I learned long ago, "getting it in writing" is the ideal form of communication -- especially with companies that seem content with saying one thing and doing another. Frontier appears to prefer doing business in such a way that no proof of the conversation exists. So? Either record the conversation yourself (and by law you must warn whoever answers the call that you are recording this conversation "for quality purposes"... essentially feeding back the same message you receive when you phone into Frontier). And keep a notebook and pen handy, as well.

FYI: there are laws in the state of Arizona regarding consumer complaints about utilities overcharging. And if you do the research, you're likely to find a similar law in your state or county. I fully intend to get email addresses of those who function in a Supervisory capacity and quote Arizona law and, if necessary, keep going until I'm exchanges email with the Regional Manager, the VP (the VP always tends to be much more knowledgeable about the consumer than the CEO or President of a corporation ever is).

And one more item of note: you can test the speed of your connection's download and upload times using various free utilities. Simply google "test internet speed" (quotes unnecessary) and choose from a long list of sites. Do this test a couple of times per week just for jollies and keep a log, in the event that Frontier claims you got the "screamingly fast" 3 MBps rather than the "Light" service, which I must tell you is 14x faster than your best dial-up speeds. And back in the days of dial-up, I never once achieved a connection of 56kbps from *any* service provider. The absolute best it ever got in any location via any dial-up service was 44kbps, which (at the time) I considered a miracle of sorts. More typically, speeds ranged from 33kbps to 36kbps. And of course with dial-up, there is always the joyful experience of the dirty, noisy phone lines causing one's connection to drop with a fair amount of frequency. Thus I learned very quickly to copy text in an email message prior to clicking Send, as this was most typically when the connection would drop and result in data loss.

Actually, I found that logging in, copying text from a message that required a response, pasting the body of the message into a Text Editor, saving the text file, logging out of the connection and typing my reply to the message into the same document, saving again, then dialing up and logging in again with a copy of my response on the Clipboard ready to be pasted was the Best Practice when using any dial-up service. And this can also be the case with some DSL services, as well... if it bites you once, use the Text Editor method, as it almost certainly will clobber your data again.

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Jeani325
US
Aug 16, 2019 12:12 pm EDT

Almost all of your comments have been my experience, both with Optimum (the main reason I left them and went with Frontier) and now Frontier! I noticed early on in April when we switched from Optimum to Frontier that I could not find the emails I had sent back and forth to Frontier! My red flag went up with that one. I was also promised a $100.00 VISA card. Don't want to go into the particulars, suffice it to say that I just screamed into the phone with someone who tried to give me his version of what had happened. I told him I had already checked to see if others had filed complaints, and out of 100 complaints, only app. 5 did not apply verbatim to my own complaint! They are now insisting that I need to pay $6.95/month for the sports package, (the same thing that also prompted me to leave Optimum), that it is necessary because some of my few choices were attached to sports! As for speed ... you stated my case exactly. I will test my speed soon on Google. As for the phone, this was a win for me ... we are using an old phone that we never used the mailbox for. When we switched to a landline number with Frontier, of course, the messages would go to the mailbox. We were/are not being charged for the mailbox usage according to our plan. However, I called them after I had done my research on how to not use the mailbox and have your messages go to a recording on your own phone. I did just that and called them when I had and voila! my messages go directly to my phone recorder. BTW ... when my phone calls were being directed to the mailbox, my callers were not given the option to leave a message!

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Elsie Fedup
US
May 17, 2010 1:54 am EDT

Here is an article on the internet called, "New York Attorney General Smacks Frontier: ‘Early Termination Fee’ Controversy Could Net Hundreds in Refunds"
"The New York State Attorney General has slapped Frontier Communications with a $35, 000 fine and ordered the phone company to refund up to $50, 000 it wrongfully charged consumers in so-called “early termination fees” for telephone and broadband service — fees consumers were never properly informed about at the time they ordered service." If you want to read the rest of it just google the title above.

Yup, Frontier is one screwed up phone company. They continue to put long distance charges on our phone bill at almost $3.00 a minute ( my long distance company charges less than .05 cents a minute.) I never switched long distance carriers, but they decided to send my billing to this company, after two months of bickering with them I finally told them that I was going to file a complaint with the FTC (Federal trade commision) then they took it off my bill. ...Then this months bill came and now they put a $2.00 fee on it for sending me a bill!
Well, I went down to Walmart and they have cell phones for $30 a month with internet included (no contract). Also an unlimited plan for $45. I am already paying about $50 a month plus my long distance bill... Well, it looks like I will just buy one of those plans instead of putting up with this on going hassle. Frontier is the worst company I have ever dealth with!
I have heard that other people in Crandon and Rhinelander, Wisconsin are haveing problems with with as well.

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tooo
US
Aug 31, 2010 6:03 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I don't trusted frontier. They are sneaky as comcast with hidden fees and scams. I got rid of comcast along time ago and I think. I found me another twin brother of comcast. I like verizon. Also, verizon sold us out. Now, frontier got their dirty hands on us. Their internet sucks bad with blocks.

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Basstronics
US
Oct 04, 2010 8:05 am EDT

Frontier is a rip off company. They recently bought out Verizon in my area. I was signed up with Verizon for phone & DSL. Before the buyout I canceled my services with Verizon. I got and paid a final bill from Verizon. Then a month month and a half later Frontier bought them out. Then 3-4 months after the buyout I get a bill from Frontier for DSL. I called them to explain that I canceled with Verizon only to argue with 3 different reps/supervisors. The scariest part of my ordeal is the last lady thought this was funny and laughed at me over my anger and frustration. I told her this is the first and only bill from Frontier and thus my call on it. She said "Well then who was been paying you bill then? Its been paid until the last one. If you havent been paying it then you should owe a lot more then, right? **laughs**"

I lost it then.

I have since filed against them with the Better Business Bureau. I have also contacted the regional President who started an "executive complaint". I havent talked to the "billing specialist" yet but intend to tonight to get it squarred away. I refuse to pay their $14.99 + tax fleecing bill. I have never done business with Frontier and now I never will. Its a $14.99 mischarge. Eat it Frontier and move on. I will cost you more than $14.99 in time!

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hoosiermandarin9
ladfayette, US
Oct 05, 2010 8:59 pm EDT

Ordered a WI FI router. Upon receipt wouldn't work in spite of highly qualified installer.

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tremor77
Waterville, US
Oct 05, 2010 9:33 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I am in Waterville, NY and sadly no service available other than Fronter DSL for internet. I opted for the 3 MBPS Plan at $59.89 per month (Modem rental fee wtf?) I suffered through frequent disconnects for a long time and several calls to support - waiting in excess of 30 minutes to get a human answer. Finally it appeared my problem with disconnects had been solved. I was busy over the summer months with other things that I didnt notice, until just now in October, that my speed is JUST 1 MBPS and I've been paying the full 3 MBPS plan price. When I called to complain their excuse was that I am 22, 000 feet from the office, and they reduced my speed to fix the frequent disconnect issues.

Why was I not told of this lowered speed? AND... More importantly why am I still paying the full nearly $60 per month! I am outraged! Not to mention that even this 1 MBPS barely nets me 20k download speeds and as a web designer, my upload speeds are slowing than molasses, 3 minutes to upload a 50k jpeg. I pay $60 a month for this?

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NDborn
US
Oct 06, 2010 11:46 pm EDT

Ive since moved to Balaton and with in the first month my 3mbps connection was no more than 2mbps.
If you go to your modem by 192.168.254.254 then go to gateway health then statistics. Scroll all the way down to LOGGING right below that there is a link called System. in the mess you'll see this, |Link up 1 US 448 DS 3712 (FAST:G.dmt). Now US aka upload speed 448 and then DS download speed 3712. these are the speeds at which they allocate you. You restart your modem, they send these numbers to your modem. Well guess what any lower then "DS 3712" and you'll never get 3mbps, ever! Never ever ever! FRAUD?
You have to call tech support, they will send a tech to your house that wont know a damn thing he'll have you do a bandwidth test, but alas the numbers are here|Link up 1 US 448 DS 3712 (FAST:G.dmt) . You have to tell that tech to fix your bandwidth allocation. they do this at their hub or server in town. Don't back down and let them tell you your wires are old. there admin will be the one that will fix your modem sync.
My neighbor was also being ripped off. Fix your neighbors too.

Hurry up with the fiber midco!

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Fathe21
Edwardsville, US
Dec 21, 2010 10:17 pm EST

I worked as regional manager for company that contracted with frontier for d2d (door to door direct sales) and worked in Illinois training salespeople till frontier told us we couldn't write what cost before tax was on contract. They raised modem prices to $4.99 a month but I recommend reading back of contract where it still says $3.99. I left job because they lied to us to get people to sign up then change pricing. Always make sure you get everything in writing because by law, they have to honor it. I would also recommend filing a complaint with Attorney General office.

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creneep
US
May 17, 2011 1:49 am EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I am in a simular situation. I apparently owe $204 for their service that I never had. For that matter, could not have even used at the time because I had no land line or a computer!

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AuntieX
US
May 22, 2011 12:06 am EDT

I have a similar complaint on Frontier's fraudulent billing practices. They continue to bill me on a service I cancelled over a year ago, although they were sending me no bills.

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DoubleDodge
owego, US
Sep 29, 2011 4:23 am EDT

i signed up for a tv promotion it was suppose to be a sony instead i got a dynex 3 months later i get told i'm a lier in normal bussiness customers are right but to frontier we are all ###s

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zxzxa
US
Oct 17, 2011 11:47 pm EDT

I sign up for internet and phone bundle deal and i was told i would be charge at my bundle rate.They said my first months bill would be more for my 1month and a half of service and then my second bill will be for my regular bundle price.Well my second bill came and it was about another $40 more than my regular bundle price.They told me that they did not charge me for the internet on my first bill, so they added to my second bill.Said it was not pro- rated.Even though i paid my month in a half at my bundle rate.They just keep saying no.Well while they are saying no, the paper work the paper work when i sign up with them said it is suppose to go to my bundle rate on my second bill.So what type of scam are they trying to pull.?

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FTR employee
Anywhere, US
Oct 20, 2011 3:00 am EDT

I don't know if you are interested in this but it’s worth a try. I work for a major well known utility company and I feel ethically compelled to inform someone that there are practices within my corporation that are being done without the consideration for the consumer. My employment there has extended well over 3 years now and I have been turning a blind eye to what they call customer service. I believe that I have the duty to expose some of these inner workings to the public. I work for Frontier Communications.
I do not want to be named nor am I going to divulge any names of my fellow employees. I will give detail in some of the misinformation given to customer, issues with systems that cause billing problems, and a few other known issues that upper management overlook. The biggest issue we are experiencing right now is appalling. The ‘blackout period’ and the result of it is causing chaos. Recently there were a few groups of the employees that were force fed training on the new Frontier’s systems. It was crammed in an eight day course. The majority of the time the training systems were down, a handful of subject learning material & systems were over looked-stating we’ll get how to do it on the floor. Anxiety and panic swept the call center, worried faces riddled with anger and frustration stood out everywhere. All accept the higher management. They kept saying, ‘don’t worry you guys will be ok’ or ‘we have to get this call volume down’. But the statement that never failed was, ‘don’t forget that you need to offer a wide array of services on every call. That’s your job.’ Regardless if a customer is calling in because she/he cannot afford their services as it is we are required to up sale them.
I was employed with Verizon prior to the acquisition to Frontier. It was an exciting day for us because we felt like the iron hand was being lifted. But to our dismay the same type of mentality still existed. Also the changes FTR made caused a lot of panic as well. We are trained for sales 1st rather than customer service even though the values are People, Product, and Profit. Customer may call in with an major issue even at times irritate and frustrated-we are excepted to entice them to purchase an additional product that may or may not work. I will enlighten you on that subject-our ‘network congestion’ issue with HSI has caused a tremendous volume of calls to the call centers and tech support. There were periods were the handling time for these departments exceeded 30 minutes and even at times close to an hour. Numerous customers within the 13 states acquired have experienced an issue that was coined ‘network congestion’. These issues caused a great deal of frustrated customers calling in about their HSI service dropping. Some of them experience up and down periods over a few months. I even witnessed some customers that were out for weeks at a time.
How do you sell a product that is not reliable? Netflix made the comment that Frontier has one of the worst HSI service in the nation. Some of us here feel guilty when we sell certain products because we know it may or may not work sometimes. The newest greatest selling tool we have for HSI now is we have to still sell it even though it may or may not be available in their area. Customers call in livid and frustrated because they were told they can get a service and now they are being told their area is not available for that upgrade to HSI quite yet.
Another odd situation we have going on right now is our new phone systems are voice over IP. We are the phone company right? Then why are we using that type of system? Numerous issues are going on-dropped calls, noise one the line, unable to fully understand what the customer is saying & vice versa, and the total system freezing up while on a call. There are some of us who just have been sitting around because we are unable to access anything. One rep became concerned because their training for the phone systems consisted of a learning document they were given minutes before they actually used the new phone systems. A coach was made aware of her concerned and his comment to it was more or less ‘well then you need to ask if you need help’. That reply was heard from a few different reps and they were taken back. Why can’t we get the training we need to navigate through all of the madness? Call volume. How are we going to be able to handle issues like repair and collections, write orders properly, and steer through a calling system that just doesn’t seem to be working correctly? Apparently it doesn’t matter as long as we up sale our customers.
One of the last issues I’m going to share with you is a critical issue that a new rep has brought to our attention and higher management as well. When an appointment, regardless of what the nature of it is-repair, new install, or anything else-is not fulfilled the customer is NOT called back to inform their appointment will not be made or efforts to reschedule it. Management and other departments know about this and still no efforts have been made to fix this. I have seen this on my end as well. What do you say to a customer who asks, ’why didn’t anyone call?’ There’s no real honest why to answer that properly.
I don’t know what’s going to happen with the pending lawsuit that Frontier has from the 1.50 surcharge for HSI service but I do know that a lot of us here don’t agree with the charge and how it was handled. We were given a document on what to say when the customer calls in and disputes the charges. It was like a paragraph more or less stating we are imposing this surcharge and there’s nothing we can do to waive it.
I now realize I have a made a poor choice in my career. I have great empathy for the customer and I’m fed up with how they are treated as well as the employees.

Thank you for listening,
Anonymous

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Lissa Smith
Wellsburg, US
Oct 27, 2011 6:57 pm EDT

I started my service in August under a $200 gift card promotion for starting service. My bill was going to be 106.00 a month. My first problem was immediate when I saw that they did not have all my tv's set up for the right services. Then I find out that a dual hd dvr box only offers hd on one tv. Then I had to add an additional hd box in order to get my services set up right. The internet was not set up right and I spent the first week of my service on the phone with them trying to get it all set up. When my first bill come it says 269.34. Another part of my agreement was free installation, another phone call to customer service to get that fixed. My next bill is 175.00, another call and they said that I was misquoted but I saved my quotes and told them that that is not my problem. In this time my Internet has gone out 3 times for several hours at a time. Now it is October and I have not received my gift card so, once again, I have to call customer service for them to tell me that they will get my $100.00 gift card right out. I said what; I signed up under a $200.00 promo and I was told that there was no such promo and that the paper that was addressed to me that came in the mail in August was I figure of my imagination. So now after all this bull I have to search and find A piece of paper to prove that I am due a 200 dollar gift card. This person actually said that I was lying to try to get money that simply don't deserve. If anyone happens to maybe have this promo it would really help me to prove that I am not a liar and make them honor their agreement and also by doing this I want to have all papers in order to get out of this agreement without fees and I will hire an attorney to deal with this issue, I have never been treated so badly and had such terrible service. If anyone may have that promo or had the same problem please e-mail me at smithfamilywv@me.com. I would greatly appreciate it.

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tincan sailor
Franklin, US
Dec 13, 2011 10:40 pm EST
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I have had Frontier's bundle plan for seven months now and have had nothing but problems with this company. Worst one I have ever had to deal with. The billing changes from what you understood it would be. You get told to update to a better plan for a little more money to correct some of your problems and you still get the same run-a-round. You can not talk to anyone in higher management to discuss your issues. I have spent hours and hours on the phone, mostly on hold, trying to get billing, internet service, or telephone problems straightened out.
I wish I had never contacted Frontier Communications to start with. I have filled a complaint with the Utilities commission in North Carolina because of these issues. I would like them out of my life so I can enjoy my retirement and get off of the phone.
If you know what else I can do in dealing with these crooks, please let me know.
contact me at: sailor2@frontier.com

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frontiercansuckit
near jackson, US
May 05, 2012 11:26 am EDT

My complaint is similar to others. They lied about the level of service I was getting (what it could actually provide). They then wouldn't just let me switch back to what I was using with them. They force us to use a phone line, when we haven't had one for two years. They had fees on our bill that should never have been there -- for instance, a bill for installing internet service. We've had internet with them 2-years previously.

Frontier is full or fraudulent practices. If there were any alternatives in my area, I'd switch. As it is, I think we're just going to shut off the internet... I work in the software industry and rely on it a lot. My kids will be deprived of learning opportunities. At this point I'd rather give it all up then continue to get screwed by a dishonest company.

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piper2006
Butler, US
May 31, 2012 2:35 am EDT

I just started with Frontier. We had a technician come by and locate our line, ( we are renting a basement and our landlord is upstairs). when he found it, he tested it and set up the modem for us. THAT WAS IT. We've been here now just about 2 months, and Yesterday Frontier calls us saying our billing is overdue. Which is odd because we have our phone internet and cable bundled with Dish Network!. LOL Frontier stated we now owe them close to $500 for installation fees! for what? plugging in a modem?

MikeL DISH
MikeL DISH
Denver, US
Jun 16, 2012 7:30 am EDT

piper2006,

I came across your post and saw that you have our service! Just to inquire about it, how is everything going? I hope you're enjoying the programming and I'm always open to any questions you have about it! Take care and have a great weekend!

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jv1979
Martinton, US
Oct 03, 2012 11:31 am EDT

Frontier has been a problem ever since they took over the area. They would call at all hours of the day and night, and most of the time hang up. When they did talk they tried to talk me into upgrading packages, which I already had the best so how can I upgrade? I switched to using cellular service and since then they like to send me up to 13 letters in the mail per week. I filed a Better Business Bureau complaint months ago and they agreed to stop. It lasted a few months and now they are doing it again. This company needs to get shut down.

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oldsoul1989
Rainelle, US
Aug 12, 2013 6:21 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I have been with them for about 3 weeks now, and no problem with the internet. However the phone service is horrible. A lot of times i can answer the phone and have this sound coming in on my end (or just no tone at all) and the caller's end as well. this has already happened to me several times, and today as well. I have called them numerous amount of times and they always have to set me a ticket number, then when they claim they have fixed it. it goes right back to that very same sound. They keep trying to tell me also that it could be my phone, but i know it isnt because one i never had that problem with my prior home carrier carrier, and two i hooked up a traditional telephone to the modem and to another phone jack and it still makes that very sound. Sometimes they even would tell me it could be because of the rain but even if its not raining, I still have that very problem. They are supposed to come by tomorrow to fix it and if i have this issue once more, i will either go with my current cell phone provider's home phone service or look into something else because i am fed up with this crap, and paying $30 a month for this kind of service. and just to add i have made at least 8 or 9 calls since i gotten with them about the phone service.

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SlowDSL
Rochester, US
Jan 19, 2014 4:30 pm EST

We have had Frontier DSL internet and phone for the past 11 years. A few months ago we began having problems with our phone line. We were not able to receive incoming calls but we could call out. (and no we didn't pay the bill late). A tech came out and found a short on our line outside the house. Said he thought he fixed it BUT if our internet continued to be slow, cut out with damp weather to report it because the drop to our house was really old and should be replaced. Ok...we do continue to have slow interenet speed, dropping of dsl entirely off an on, worse with damp weather. We submit another request for repair. Guy comes out and climbs the pole and says he gets 5-6 MPBs at the pole so there is no reason for the DSL problem. It was a nice dry sunny day. Forward a few days later, its snowing, and sure enough DSL is up and down and slow. Can't even watch a video online.
We replaced out wireless router and modem with new equipment. We tried testing DSL speed using their speed tester directly from the modem and still can't break 2mpb.
We report the issue. They schedule another appointment for repair. We get automated phone call cancellation of the appointment. Said they'd come the next day. No show. No call. Nothing. Two weeks go by We find a door tag in the driveway, (not on the door) that someone had finally come by and tested the line at the pole and it was 5-6. We were home, sitting in the living room all day, and the guy never even knocked. He notes on the door tag it's probably a "congestion issue in the house" . How can that be if you only have one computer online, running a speed test and no one else is using the internet?

Their customer service is terrible for internet issue. Anytime we call they want us to unplug the modem which of course disconnects the internet chat customer support window you are in with them. Almost seems deliberate to me. But you can unplug and plug all day long and the fact is, they don't deliver the speeds they promise. And you are stuck with it in a 2 year contract. So read everything and don't sign up for internet with this company.

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wirehanging
West Salem, US
Feb 06, 2015 6:58 pm EST
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Frontier...your wire is hanging in my driveway. We called to inform you that your wire is loose, to come and fix it. You said
you would send someone. No one came. This wire is now laying at the end of my driveway. If we have to leave the house,
we will be running over your wire. We called you back...you informed us that someone will be out...and wanted to know
if we want to switch to frontier...are you serious! We have had Time Warner for internet service and have had no problems at
all ! We don't even have you and your a pain. It has been almost 12 hours now and no one has fixed the wire that is laying
at the end of driveway. Really, you think people will switch to your product with this kind of service...

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wirehanging
West Salem, US
Feb 07, 2015 1:07 pm EST
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I tried calling Frontier again this morning to come and fix this downed wire. She said she had to put me on hold so that she could
e-mail the general manager and let him know! So, I hang on the phone for a few minutes and she comes back on to tell me
that whenever she hears from general manager she will call me and let me know when someone will be out.

This is very strange. How many people do they have working there...two?
Anyways...wire is still in my driveway and I haven't heard back from this lady and now it is 2:06 in the afternoon.

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DASHLPN
Letart, US
Jul 21, 2015 4:14 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

We are sick of the poor service that we have been receiving as well. We have had internet service with them for approximately 10 years. It started out OK, they had a problem for a short period and fix that and was OK - but now?! All Frontier has to do is UPGRADE THE "TRANSFORMER" out where we live and we would be alright. At least the technicians that work out here are great (and they know that I am knowledgeable so we communicate well), and they have tried to get an upgraded "transformer". THE COMPANY WILL NOT ALLOW THEM TO INSTALL AN UPGRADE! Isn't this against the law since they are not providing the service that we were at least getting. I was told AT ONE TIME when we first received internet that we were guaranteed 1Mb. They have since changed their attitude. The last 5 years has been BAD! 42 minute show on Netflix takes 1 hour and 20 minutes! They should be embarrassed! I cannot even run my business through this service. The only thing we can do now is go to SATELLITE. Two year agreement and more junk (Hughes Net) ?! The stuff that is being allowed in this country now is sad. (I am a veteran.)

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Duke56
US
Feb 26, 2016 2:55 pm EST
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I have been waiting nearly 3 months now for a credit from Frontier in the amount of about $100 plus dollars.
I discontinued their service back in early December 2015 and here it is at the end of February 2016 and I have received 3 statements showing the credit and NO REFUND CHECK. I just got off the phone with them and they tell me I should be receiving my check within 21 days.
REALLY? If you don't pay them on time they shut your service off but they can make you wait 3 to 4 months for you to get YOUR money AND they consider 3-4 months to be "a timely manner". Let's see what your mortgage company thinks about that when you don't make a payment in 4 months and they start foreclosure proceedings.
STEER CLEAR OF FRONTIER!
How cool is THAT? It rhymes!

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Reeve1
US
May 06, 2016 7:18 pm EDT

I don't think I've ever seen a single positive comment about Frontier, anywhere!? I'm in the fiasco that's going on right now when Verizon dropped all of their Texas, California and Florida customers onto Frontier. What a sad excuse for a telecom company, but it goes to show that some things don't change. They have had months to prepare for this and it's so screwed up that most of us are simply either better off leaving and coming back if you want to stay with Frontier, or just leaving! Seriously! I've had trouble tickets opened for weeks and they are clueless about their own netowrk and equipment! They ended up destroying another man's account and told me to use it, it was still being used by him, but he had the same name as me so I guess it was ok in their mind. It's a big circle jerk! Everyone is scrambling and fixing nothing! I was happy with the service from Verizon, just not the channel programming. But, I found something amazing that I may just continue. I do not miss having Cable TV Channels or a landline! I have Netflix, Hulu and a mobile phone that serves me very well, and will save about $150/month kicking these jerks out! Now, to check on Satellite internet!

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Tom Pergola
US
Dec 04, 2016 9:35 am EST
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

To whom it may concern, 12/5/16
I’m writing this letter as a last resort and with complete disgust with Frontier.
Ever since you took over our account from Verizon it’s been nothing short of a nightmare starting with multiple problems initially, and on going and having to talk to the idiots you hired in the Phlippines to handle problems.
Since the beginning some of the many phone and cable problems have been resolved but not all. This is only due to my aggressiveness in trying to reach someone in tech support on the US mainland which I was able to do on occasion through much persistence.
Aside from the countless problems we’ve had in the past, the most recent problem has been to simply try to get the correct time on our phones. It’s been wrong since the last daylight savings time in October. It is now December. It may not seem like a big issue to you but due to my home business I have to see what time calls come in when i’m not home, aside from the inconvenience of it.
I called your tech support multiple times, talked to different people, and all they kept telling me was that it’s a problem with my phones. I continually disagreed. I kept putting the correct time on my 3 phones and every 2 hours or so it reverted back to the wrong time so I kept calling tech support and asked them why do you think it’s my phone problem when all the years i’ve had cable i’ve never had these issues and never have had to reset the time on my phones. You’re sending me my phone signal and along with it comes the time. None of your employees agreed and created a lot of anger and frustration with me for a long time. You can probably look up our account to see who I spoke with. I should have asked them for names and ID #s but initially I didn’t. One of the ladies was named Michelle and she was completely unhelpful as well as were at least 2 other guys. I finally talked to a supervisor named Dillon. I believe his ID is DM862. He issued me a trouble ticket # which is [protected]. He told me that it’s probably a technical problem and that they’d call me the next day and that one of the engineers will reboot the service the next day. No one ever called me. On November 22nd I called to check on the problem. I spoke with a lady named Victoria. She told me that the trouble ticket had been placed on hold on November 22nd when the ticket was issued. She placed me on hold and due to the fact that there was no music on hold I didn’t know if I was cut off or not. After waiting about 45 minutes on hold I was cut off. She never called me back and she did have my phone # which I gave her. On November 25th I spoke with Taliyah in Indiana at about 2:10 PM west coast time. She told me that they were supposed to come to my house on the 22nd. If so they never showed up. She also told me that they were supposed to call me to make an appointment which they didn’t do. I don’t even understand why they would have to come to my house when I kept insisting that it’s a technical problem in your equipment.
She finally connected me to customer service. I spoke with Adam, ID # VTRG57996. He told me that the local technician has been working on it and that he found the problem and that he’d follow up and call me back on November 28th. Adam did call me and told me that the technician had to escalate the problem to someone else in his department to help him. They want to get it resolved and will call me to verify. No one ever called me but the problem was finally resolved a few days later. As you can see I went through hell trying to get this problem fixed as many of your employees gave up on the issue and blamed my phone for the problem. Guess what? I was right all the while and they didn’t know what they were talking about.
Here’s another one for you. On November 22nd I came home to find a recorded message on my phone. It was a recorded message from you which said someone in my household requested a change on our account and to call [protected]. No one called you and asked for a change on our account so this was false. I called the # which was left and spoke to Andre in Georgia, ID # 80293. He said my name was not on the account so I called again and spoke with Kyle ID # 225. Both of these idiots refused to help me as I argued that if I wasn’t on the account and you can see that i’ve been calling Frontier for months about problems, how is it that i’m not on the account. Explain that to me, they couldn’t. They were both completely unhelpful. I asked to be transferred the the complaint department and after waiting for a while a lady named Kristina, a supervisor answered the phone. She said that the phone call I received about an account change was probably a mistake and that she’d make an attempt that there’s no change on our account and my name is now everywhere on the main frame. Another comedy of errors by your terrible company. She was helpful but the other 2 idiots were not. I asked her for the address of the complaint department. She put me on hold and then gave it to me.
Here’s another recent blunder. On November 30th, I tried to turn the TV on in the early evening. The TV went on but the cable did not. The box said that the time was stuck on 3:51 PM which was probably the time that the box went off. So once again I called tech support at 7:33 west coast time. Trevor ID # 9899 picked up my call. He suggested that I pull out the power cable on the box and plug it back in, which is very difficult to reach due the fact that it’s hard to get behind the furniture it’s shelved on. I had to squeeze behind the piece of furniture on the floor with a flashlight to do this. Another inconvenience due to your dysfunctional company. After a few minutes the box started working again. Trevor was very helpful and polite.
One more incident i’d like to address among countless others. A few months ago I tried to save some movies on on demand. I was only able to save 2 or 3 and in some cases none. A message kept coming on the screen stating something about it was timed out. As usual I made multiple phone calls to your tech support. They all told me that there’s a problem with the box. I insisted that it’s probably coming from your end. They all argued that i’m wrong so one of them ordered me a new box. The box arrived a few days later and all of a sudden the problem was not happening anymore so I assumed that I was right once again and that the problem was coming from your end. By the way i’ve already had many new boxes because most are defective but this time I felt it wasn’t he box. Being the problem seemed to be resolved I didn’t change to box and waited to see if everything would work. A few weeks later the same thing started happening so I called tech support once again. The guy I spoke with as usual said it’s a problem with the box and insisted that I put the new one in. He told me that everything I had saved would disappear and it would be like starting all over again. I told him that I had programs saved that were important to my business but he still insisted that the only thing left to do was to put the new box in. I reluctantly did it. It was very difficult to get it into the rack and read the tiny serial #s on it and took some time to do. After it was installed, he couldn’t get it to work for a long time. By this time I was on the phone for over 2 hours and it finally started working but not fully. He told me to hang up and wait a few hours and everything should work by then. Everything started working but guess what, once again I was right and the problem had nothing to do with the box and as of this writing the problem still exists. I lost all my important shows and saved programs and wasted my time, all for nothing.
Every time I turn on the TV I don’t know what to expect from Frontier. There are still more problems including with on demand that need to be addressed but one of the supervisors said let’s handle one at a time which i’m trying to muster up the patience to do.
Frontier is a dysfunctional mess. The right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing and you have employees that don’t really care about helping. The only reason I don’t go back to Time Warner is that I spent so much time with you trying to get it right, which it still isn’t, that I want to give it a little more time to see if you can finally fix all your problems. Every day I say to myself “what will go wrong today? “ There have been so many problems since you took over from Verizon that I can hardly remember them all. Not that you care, but you can probably find some of them in our records. Why is it so difficult just to get it right. You supply a lousy service but you certainly want your money on time every month don’t you.
Tom Pergola, Account name Marilyn Shore, Pin # 1423, Phone # [protected]

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user1638095
US
Feb 15, 2017 4:47 pm EST

I changed to internet only. I went with vontage for phone. When we had internet and phone with frontier we had better service at 6mb only they told thats all we could in our area so we went with just internet. Wham now we can get 12mb of corse for more money when we asked why couldent we get 12mb before we were told that we could of right b s—t so now we just have 12mb interner no phone they changed the price 6 differnt times and we loose our internet at leasr 6 times a day constantly have to reset miss important calls something is fishy about this company i know a new company took over timewarner but i hope they get in our area soon i capitalize this because one pissed off customer in plymouth new york.

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lori
Mar 30, 2017 4:35 am EDT

How to receive emails when your internet service goes down https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XWWX7BG/ref=olp_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1PLRY915VTDDS&coliid=I36RAYMLIPXAOL&me=

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Ashamed of Frontier
US
Sep 07, 2017 8:33 pm EDT

My father is 83 years old.English is not his first language and he is very hard of hearing.
My mother and father were snow birds and have a place in Florida where they live for three months of the year - January thru end March. My mother passed away in December of 2015.
My father returned to his Florida home in January 2016 without Mom. In March 2016 when he left Florida, he put his phone account on "vacation" with Frontier i.e. ~ 0.60 cents per month to maintain phone line. I am not sure how he did this but one of his neighbors probably told him about his "option" and physically did this for him. He had a ~ $55.00 USD credit with Frontier at that time.
If you don't know what putting your phone on "vacation" is: Frontier allows customers to "vacation" their line for 9 months at $ 0.60 cents per month.
My father did not activate his phone in Jan. 2017 when he returned to Florida because he is hard of hearing and he gets a lot of feedback from his hearing aids on the phone. I had urged my father to simply cancel service with Frontier in January 2017 because he wasn't using it anyway; however, for some reason he declined. Looking back now I should have realized he didn't know how to cancel service and was too embarrassed to admit it. His bills continued to come in at the ~ 0.60 cents for the entire time he was there i.e. until end-March 2017 (12 months not 9).
In March or April 2017, Frontier unilaterally decided to re-activate his account again and commenced charging full rates. Even though Frontier did send monthly statements, because he had been receiving $0.60 cent deductions monthly for the past year, Frontier statements were treated like junk mail ... no body opened them. We finally received an IMPORTANT: OPEN IMMEDIATELY notice from Frontier this month showing he now owed Frontier Communications in excess of $250.00. I called Frontier Communications Customer Service and explained everything I have detailed above.
FRONTIER COMMUNICATIONS AS A CORPORATION COULD NOT HAVE CARED LESS.
I feel sorry for Customer Service people at Frontier Communications. It must be horrible working for an employer that needs $250.00 from a partially deaf, elderly, widowed man on a fixed income for no purpose other than simply achieving a corporate bottom line.
To help put this in proper perspective: the President and CEO of Frontier Communications Daniel J.
McCarthy received over 6.2 MUSD total compensation in 2015. I really hope no one will treat Mr. McCarthy's mother or father the same way Frontier Communications treated my father.
For any and all out there ... tell everyone you know not do have anything to do with Frontier Communications.
I have posted Frontier Communications stated Corporate Values:
Put the customer first
Treat one another with respect
Keep our commitments;
Be accountable
Be ethical in all of our dealings
Be innovative; Take the initiative
Be team players
Be active in our communities
Do it right the first time;
Continuously improve
Use resources wisely
Use Frontier products and services
Have a positive attitude
Anyone out there think my father was treated with respect?
Anyone out there think Frontier Communications really thinks of my father as a customer?
Anyone out there think Frontier sees my father as anything more than a $250.00 outstanding balance?
I would be ashamed to work for Frontier Communications

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hatefrontier
US
Mar 11, 2018 5:20 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I have spent at least 2 hours per month fighting with Frontier about our bill continually increasing monthly to $154.55 in Dec. 2017, which they promised to correct. My Frontier bill was $110.62, including tax in January 2018, as promised, increased to $131.00 in February & to $140.50 in February! Several times after spending a couple
of hours on the phone with a claiming they have corrected the situation, I am cut off and then never call me
back and never get the credit refund they promise.

A 92year old widow is charged $44.99 for unlimited calling she doesn't want or use and $40.00 per month for
internet service and has never had a computer! We need government regulation to stop this robbery.

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SeBe99
US
Apr 11, 2018 10:19 am EDT

They cheat even with the final billing when you close your account and charge you for the services they do not provide. The pure example of a company that just asks for a class action suit - with an extremely bad service, too!

  1. Frontier Communications Contacts

  2. Frontier Communications phone numbers
    +1 (877) 339-5161
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    +1 (855) 593-7404
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  3. Frontier Communications emails
  4. Frontier Communications address
    18700 33rd Ave. W, Ste D, Lynnwood, Washington, 98037, United States
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    Oct 29, 2024
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