HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – A Sun City Center man turned to 8 On Your Side after Frontier failed to solve his billing problems.
Tom Montgomery, a former Verizon customer, became a Frontier customer after the changeover in April and had no issues.
No issues, that is, until he decided to upgrade his Internet service the following month. He claims the Frontier customer service representative told him he’d be charged $64.99 a month. Montgomery claims the representative repeatedly said, ‘No’ after he asked repeatedly if there would be any additional fees or taxes. A month later, he received a bill for nearly $300.
He said he spoke with numerous customer service representatives who apologized and said the $64.99 a month offer was for new Frontier customers only and that they couldn’t do anything about the billing issue since he had already used the service.
Finally on July 18, Montgomery told 8 On Your Side that he terminated his service with Frontier. However, even though his service was shut off, he insisted he was still being billed and the company, he claimed, said he still had service.
Montgomery calls the whole experience a nightmare. “This has to be true,” he told 8 On Your Side. “Nobody could make this up.”
He recounts one of his dozen or so phone calls with Frontier representatives. “I said, are you telling me that you can promise me $65 a month and then send me a bill for four times that amount, tell me your sorry, you made a mistake, but I’ll have to pay it anyway?” he asked the rep.
Later on, he told 8 On Your Side, “This can’t be legal. You can’t do this to people.”
8 On Your Side brought Montgomery’s billing issues to Frontier spokesperson Robert Elek who said the issue would be resolved.
“Customer complaints made to Frontier since April have dropped significantly since that first month,” Elek said. “The trend continues to go downward toward a normal level that is more common for the industry in general and our historic experience locally. We recognize however that even one customer complaint is one too many.
Any customer who feels their service needs are not being met, whether it is with their home services or billing, should call us at 1-888-457-4110 to speak with our Florida-based service team and we will address their issue as soon as possible.”
8 On Your Side was there as Montgomery called a consumer hotline set up by Frontier after executives met with Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi about customer service issues during the transition. A representative apologized profusely and also said the situation would be resolved.
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi released this statement to News Channel 8:
My office continues to regularly engage with Frontier to ensure that all complaints arising from the transition from Verizon to Frontier are addressed. While some consumers report that they continue to experience service-related issues since the Frontier acquisition, the bulk of the complaints my office is receiving appear to deal with billing-related and credit issues. Since this matter came to my attention in April, I have assigned a dedicated team from my Consumer Protection Division that continues to proactively interact with Frontier on a daily basis regarding consumer complaints. Frontier has assured my office that all billing concerns are being addressed as quickly as possible, as well as any remaining service-related issues. I will continue to hold Frontier accountable until all complaints arising from the transition are appropriately resolved. In response to our efforts, among other things, Frontier has agreed to the following:
A dedicated Florida-specific toll-free customer service number staffed by Florida-based representatives (1-888-457-4110);
An expedited billing credit response time to customers; and
An individualized customer complaint resolution process for any complaints submitted to my office.
Late Thursday afternoon, Montgomery called us to tell us that hours after 8 On Your Side got involved, Frontier called him and the months-long billing dispute has now been resolved.
But, there are plenty of other Frontier customers out there experiencing similar problems. We’re told the number of complaints to the consumer hotline for service issues are down but for billing issues, they’re still getting a large number of calls. 8 On Your Side received a stack of emails from viewers about Frontier complaints this week alone and that doesn’t include the number of phone calls.