Frontier Communications Unveils Florida Action Plan

Frontier Communications has announced an action plan to address consumer complaints that have persisted since the company took over Verizon’s Florida operations April 1. Image via Shutterstock

TAMPA BAY, FL — Tampa Bay area consumers who have experienced issues since Frontier Communications took over Verizon’s television, telephone and internet services in the region on April 1 might soon see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Frontier Communications met on Wednesday with Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to discuss her concerns related to the company’s transition in the Tampa Bay area. That meeting resulted in the release of an action plan to address linger issues.

Since the takeover, customers have complained about such issues as billing problems, a total loss of services, the disappearance of previously purchased movies and more.

On Monday, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services released figures related to the number of complaints it has received since Frontier opened its doors in the Tampa Bay area. The number of complaints over a one-month period, the state said, topped a record of sorts.

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“Since Frontier Communications began providing those services on April 1, 2016, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has received 144 complaints, eclipsing in one month the 111 complaints Verizon had received in a one-year period,” the department announced in a Monday email to media.

Considering those numbers, Florida Commission of Agriculture Adam H. Putnam is urging Frontier to get its customer issues resolved now. The company purchased Verizon’s Florida television, landline and internet operations, along with those in Texas and California.

Frontier’s meeting with Bondi took place on the heels of the announcement from Putnam’s office.

“Communications services are critical to the daily lives of our customers and we apologize to every Tampa Bay area customer who has experienced service disruptions,” Melanie Williams, Frontier’s senior vice president and general manager for operations in Florida said in a statement statement sent to Patch.

Williams said the company has restored service to the majority of customers and is working to resolve any remaining service-related issues.

"At the same time, we are operating and maintaining the network, taking care of business-as-usual issues, and clearing up the backlog of customer issues and orders that transitioned to us from Verizon as of April 1," Williams said.

During Wednesday’s meeting with Bondi, Frontier outlined measures it has taken and will take to address lingering service concerns. These measures, according to the statement include:

• Completion of the training of the more than 1,200 former Verizon technicians who are now part of the Frontier team in Florida. This training could only take place following the close of the transaction. Completion of the training has enabled Frontier to address install and repair activities at a higher rate, completing over 2,000 to 2,200 service-related calls each day.
• For Florida customers, utilization of our full-time U.S.-based call center employees as the first choice call response team. As of today, our call answer times range between 30 seconds to 2 minutes, which is in line with our normal targets.
• For Florida customers, the establishment of a special residential customer care number for the next 30 days, 1-888-457-4110, which is available from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm.
• Implementation of a “SWAT Team” to coordinate the rapid response to customer escalations and service outages. This team complements our State and Regional Leaders who are already working field operations.
• Bill credits will be issued to every customer who reported a service outage. This credit will be reflected on the customer’s bill no later than the end of June. We will address other credit issues on a case by case basis.
• In addition, resolution of the temporary, limited availability of content in the Video On Demand (VOD) library for some of our FiOS TV subscribers. VOD content is functioning today and we are working to load more than 100,000 additional titles into the VOD library and placing a priority on loading the most popular content first. We expect to complete this process within the next several weeks. We will also ensure that all content that customers have previously purchased is available to them.

Bondi seems satisfied, for now, with Frontiers' response.

“After a lengthy, productive meeting with Frontier executives, I am cautiously optimistic that Frontier disruptions in services will be quickly resolved,” Bondi said in a statement. “However, my office will continue to work with the company on each consumer complaint until they are all appropriately addressed.”