Frontier Still Overbilling Some Customers More Than A Year After Aquiring Them From Verizon

In 2015, Frontier announced it would be acquiring Verizon’s old-school, copper-wire landline networks in California, Florida, and Texas for a cool $10.54 billion. The transition took place in early 2016, but some subscribers say that 18 months later, they’re still having trouble with the handoff.

Overbilling Galore

Customers in Florida tell their local ABC affiliate (warning: autoplay video) that they’ve been having troubles with their Frontier bills for months or years.

“The very first bill was wildly wrong,” one customer told WFTS in Tampa Bay. She was supposed to be charged roughly $100 per month; instead, the bill came in at $340.

She called, and Frontier promised to fix the mistake. And yet she was somehow overcharged repeatedly in later months.

Ever time, she called customer service; every time they promised a fix that never came, she said, telling WFTS, “It’s just really frustrating. Businesses should do what they say they’re going to do.”

Another customer echoed the sentiment. “Ever since Frontier took over, our bill has gotten exceedingly more each month, now up to $260,” she said, adding that the company also charges her for equipment her account has never had.

She has tried repeatedly to get customer service to fix the problem, she told the TV station, but has gotten so frustrated trying to get through to them that she gave up and now just pays the incorrect charge.

A Rocky Road

For many customers, the change from Verizon to Frontier went poorly from the start.

We reported last year on many of the woes customers were facing.

For starters, many Verizon customers had no idea that the sale was taking place, or that their accounts were among the assets being transferred between the companies.

“My landline telephone, Internet and TV services are now with Frontier,” one Dallas-area customer said at the time. “I’ve never heard of Frontier. I thought it was a prank until other customers I know received the same email.”

One Consumerist reader first heard about the change on a Reddit post, and had to call Verizon to find out that he was one of the affected customers. Verizon told him the shift would occur in April or May of 2016 and that he would get “plenty of notice.” However, he received an email in March, on Easter Sunday, giving him less than one week’s notice that he was going to become a Frontier customer.

Customers who didn’t know their provider was changing, though, sure did notice a change in service: The transfer immediately led to widespread outages in many of the new Frontier markets. And even when internet, TV, and phone service was restored, many customers were told they might have to wait “weeks” for video on demand service to be restored.

Time To Complain

WFTS suggests that Florida customers should contact the FLorida Attorney General’s Office to file a consumer complaint. That’s good advice for customers in other states, too.

If you’re having trouble with Frontier (or any other company) consistently overfilling you and not responding well to customer service calls, search for [your state] attorney general consumer complaints to find yours.