This is not a rant, but it's close.

Question

I will be careful not to rant, but I must summon the strength.
Instead, I want to continue to share my ongoing nightmare difficulties with Verizon HSI, Verizon customer service, and Tech Support.
For the previous two years, I was blissfully using Verizon HSI at the 7mb tier with no problems.  I won't go into how it had a messy start (wrong pricing, web offer hand doesn't know what the phone offer hand is doing, etc). 
There were some uptime issues due to some bad copper pairs, but overall the past two years were okay.
Little did I know that my move to a house one block away would start me on a path of frustration and despair.
If you are so inclined, you can read about the initial move debacle here.
To summarize, I needed to move my service to a different home in the same subdivision, but was forced to go through the entire application process for the new home, as if I was a new customer.  After spending more than an hour on the phone the first try, all I (unknowingly) ended up with was a disconnect order for the old service.  I called back a second time and finally got an install order, but the install was to be several days after the promised date from the first (failed) call.  Customer reps on this forum were not able to expedite the second install order, though I appreciated the attempt.
This background info is important for a couple reasons.  First and foremost, I gave my credit card info over the phone to Verizon reps for both install attempts.  I gave them a credit card I rarely use.  Coincidentally(?), within a couple days, the card was being used for fraudulent purchases at Itunes and Walmart.com.  Luckily, the card company was able to recognize the fraud early, and cut it off.  Now, I know that is a serious accusation to make, but I stand by it.  That card was tucked safely away for years, with no problems.  Then, within a couple days of giving the number to two Verizon reps over the phone, it starts being used fraudulently.  Not cool, obviously.  I'll let the reader decide if I'm being paranoid.
Now, that's not where the fun ends.  Since the install, my internet service has been absolutely horrible.  The DSL connection to the Verizon Central Office has been beautifully solid, but my internet keeps dropping intermittently.  (Let me sneak in a complaint that Verizon will only give me the 3mb tier at the new house, though it is only a block away from the old house that had the new 10mb tier available).
I put a trouble ticket in the second day after the install complaining about slow service and the dropouts.  I must have dialed the magical support number, because I spoke to an American who immediately accepted my complaint and filed the ticket.  I say that, because I got a diffent call center, when I call later.   While the speed issue improved, the dropouts did not, and I was going to have to call again.  As a tech myself, I know how difficult it is to troubleshoot an intermittent problem.
So....two days ago, it went down hard, and would not come back up.  Remember, the DSL connection is solid, it's the internet that is gone. 
Since I have a dryloop with VOIP, and I don't get cell service at the house, I had to walk a block to a public phone to call in my trouble ticket.  Unfortunately, I ended up getting the call center in the Philippines.  I have no ill will toward hardworking folks in any country, but foreign call centers are so tightly beholden to the scripts, that is virtually impossible to reason with them, person to person.  He insisted I go call him from my house, so he could trouble shoot the modem.  I explained that I had done the common sense reboots, I had removed the router from the equation, and the DSL connection was solid; there was nothing I could do from my end.  He refused to escalate my complaint, because I wouldn't  (and couldn't from the pay phone), log in to the modem, to "check the settings".   I explained the my settings were fine, because everything was working, before the dropouts.  Common sense dictated that the problem was not on my end.  Even the copper pair was good, because the DSL connection was solid.
Anyway, he ended up promising to transfer me, but just kept me on hold, indefinitely, until I hung up.
So, I walked back to my house, borrowed the neighbor's cell phone (with a different carrier that has coverage in my house), and dialed back.  His cell is  a prepaid phone, that I ended up using an hour's worth of time on hold, and pushing through the worthless steps that proved what I already told them.
Finally, I was transferred to stateside support, where they transferred me to an actual technician.  He quickly realized I knew what I was talking about, so quickly asked if he could work it from his end and called me back.  Much can be said for sharing a culture with your tech rep.  Things are more easily understood through nuance.  I happily agreed to wait for a call, and had to hold my neighbor's cell hostage for a while longer.
He called back to state that while troubleshooting, he found that I was the victim of a router outage, and he was just learning that others were affected.  He said techs should have it up and running in four hours.  By now, this is almost the whole day, with no internet, a week after installation, in addition to the frequent intermittent outages.  He apologized, but I was relieved that my complaint was validated, and seemed to be on the road to correction.
The connection did come up within a few hours, and everything seemed fine.  Then, the next afternoon (yesterday), it went down hard again.  DSL connection was still solid.   I grabbed the neighbor's cell, and received an automated message stating my complaint was ongoing.  I opted to speak to a Philippines rep, anyway.  He told me  (for the first time) that a tech was scheduled to see me the next day (which is now today, Saturday).   It was an "all day" appointment, which meant I have to be here all day.  I was dumbfounded.  How can a bad router at Verizon's Central Office require a visit to my home?  I hung up confused, but relieved my ticket was still open.
This morning, the internet is back, though I don't know for how long.  I've been copying and pasting this complaint to wordpad as I go, so it's not lost, if my internet drops.
I have a very different IP than I've ever had before, so I suspect I won't see a tech at my door anytime soon.  No doubt it was a router that HOPEFULLY has been replaced.
I am really spent.  I have dim hopes this long winded story can do some good, because I know big companies can be way too clumsy to make positive changes quickly.
I hope my internet connection stays up.  One more debacle, and I'll just have to switch to Comcast.  I mean, how much does one customer have to put up with?
It's not supposed to be this difficult.

Answer 1

Thank you for the reply.
I realize Comcast is far from perfect, and I'm going for the lesser of evils, here.
The lesser evil is the one I can actually rely on.
I would not agree that I've been treated with respect.  Oh, they're polite alright, (except for the one who put me on terminal hold).  However, beneath the illusion of politeness, the geographically and culturally-removed call center people are simply whacking moles.   I realize they are answering phones for hours, and are doing the best they can under the circumstances.  That is why I do my best to not use them as a target of my frustration.  At the same time, I want to convey how fed up I am with the system.
In the old days, you called in a problem, and you'd eventually get a tech to come out and talk to you, face to face.  He would explain what actions were being taken, and the customer was reassured that ACTUAL work was being done to correct the problem.  You'd at least get feedback over the phone that made you feel like real people are taking real action.  I'm tired of the scripted "I'm sorry to hear that..."  
I am half tempted to sully the copper pair connection at the terminal, to get a real tech at the door.
The feeing I get talking to the call center is a surreal sense of paralyzation.  I'm trying to move my arm, but it won't budge.  I start vocally telling the arm to move, and it replies "Expect a result within 48 hours."     Seriously, it's like I might as well be calling AT&T to report this problem about my Verizon DSL.    It is that effective!
My internet was down again, last night, from 4:30pm to 6:00 am, EST. (This is my window of opportunity to check this forum and research Comcast's offerings).
This is after repeated assurances that "everything has been fixed."
Calling in another trouble ticket gets me the "it will be addressed within 48 hours" line.  Well, hey, I've been waiting a lot longer than that, already.  The only concession I got for my frustration is a credit for one month of service.  At least I have that.
The struggle for reliable internet continues...