Verizon FIOS what a horrible experience​!

Question

God I feel so appalled and disappointed at Verizon​ FIOS beyond disbelieve.
I had been a Verizon customer for several years and sadly the customer service has gone down the drain in recent years. My biggest dilemma started after some of the channels I paid for stopped working for an unknown reason. After spending several hours with technical support and tearing my rooms apart, flipping my five (5) set- up boxes upside down in order read the serial #’s to Verizon support so that they can do something with my account, they finally told me they needed to dispatch a technician to fix the issue. While I was on the phone with support and checking the information I realized they had been charging me for 7 set-up boxes and I only have 5???
Anyway, a technician showed up in my house a couple of days later and ran some tests and said the problem was the outside wiring so he went outside to fix it. He got three of my boxes fixed but the one located at the attic (my son’s room) he could not fix. He said the issue was the small COAX to RJ45 converter box my son was using to connect his desktop computer and X-Box to the internet. Mind you this small converter box was given to me by Verizon about 5 years ago so I don’t have to run Ethernet cables to the attic for Internet access and it had been working just fine for all these years. After a long testing period with the set-up box in the attic the technician came to the conclusion the issue was actually the set-up box itself and therefore he replaced it. What really bothers me is he never put the little converter box back and instead took it with him, leaving my son without Internet?
The following day I realized only 4 of my 5 set-up boxes were working and after tracing cables outside my home I found out the technician changed the existing coax splitter with a 4 Way Coax Splitter instead therefore leaving the cable for my fifth set-up box hanging (disconnected)??.
So after calling Verizon again and after a very long phone call they finally agreed to dispatch a technician to correct the problem with the fifth set-up box. Needless to say a new technician came to my home and despite me requesting them to bring back my son’s little converter box, they never returned it, leaving me with a very unhappy, upset, and Internet-less teenager at home.
Few days later I accessed my Verizon FIOS account to check my bill and make the payment for the new month, but just to notice my bill doubled?? It was a bit over ~$549.03 and I had no idea why?? So I called Verizon AGAIN and after escalating this issue to the manager (Sue employee ID: {Edited for privacy}) she informed me my account was closed and a new account was opened?? (without notifying me?). After she reviewed my account she informed me, several times, my current balance was $0 (zero) because I was given a credit of $544 for the times Verizon was charging me for extra set-up boxes and because they have changed my account without notifying me. She said my online account was not in sync with their database and this is why I was only able to see the ~$549.03 balance, even though her database showed a zero balance. She kindly promised to call me back as soon as the new online account is in sync with their databases so she can inform me that everything has been taken care of. She also said it would only be a couple of days before she can call me…
Needless to say I never received a call back from her and it has been more than two weeks now.
To top it all up I received a bill from FIOS today (4/1/2013) where Verizon is charging me $979.50???
I called Verizon support immediately (around 9:17 PM EST) and after the customer service rep. (a lady with initials MC) could not figure out my bill, I requested to speak with the manager. So she placed me on hold and politely told me she would find a manager who could assist me. What she didn’t realize is she did not MUTE her phone and I heard how disrespectfully she made fun of me, my tone of voice, my accent and how laud she was laughing with her co-workers at my expense???.
After all the “fun” she had at my expense she came back to the line to “politely” tell me she was still looking for a manager…
Anyway, finally she put Tracy {Edited for privacy} (Desk ID: {Edited for privacy}) on the line whom claimed to be the manager, but now I am not sure anymore. She took a quick glance at my account and after I told her I just want Verizon to remove their equipment from my home because I just had it with them, she asked me if I could give her until tomorrow noon to check my account again and get back to me because she was seeing charges in my “NEW” account for new equipment and labor costs???
As you can tell I am extremely frustrated and disappointed at Verizon FIOS because not only they are playing with my bill, my account, my servicers, but they are also disrespectful, making fun at their customers who just happened to call and ask for help with their bill. This has become a nightmare for me and I just want Verizon FIOS to come and pick up their boxes so I could go back to some other service provider that could at least treat me with respect, they way customers should be treated, after all we are the ones who PAY for their services.
I am also afraid since Verizon FIOS doesn’t seem to care about anything they may push to rip me off and attempt to collect the $979.50 they are now charging me so I am seeking for legal help. If anyone knows how I should best handle this situation please let me know.
Regards,
Angel.

Answer 1

Dear AnneS,
I don't need to go to any other "private" forum to request what is my right to challenge my outrageous bill.
I had asked Verizon to remove their equipment from my home because I am closing this account.
Fortunately I am now working with consumer protection support to challenge the incredibly high bill Verizon is still attempting to collect from me.
Angel.