A few months ago, Verizon (VZ) launched a risky solution to a growing problem that impacted customer trust and loyalty.
Verizon Consumer Group CEO Sowmyanarayan Sampath revealed in an interview with CNET in June that customers have been emailing him “every day” about their frustrating experiences with customer service.
Eighty percent of the time, he said, customers would get their issue resolved the first time they contacted customer service, while 15% would have to call again.
“The last 5% go into a doom loop, and they are the most dissatisfied,” said Sampath. “It’s a very rough journey for them. We see it, and it’s not fair on them.”
As a solution, Verizon announced in a press release that it will further increase its use of artificial intelligence to provide “personalized customer service.”
It said it will use Google Cloud’s AI to “ensure full resolution” of customer issues. The technology will also “keep the customer updated” through the My Verizon app, text messages or callbacks on how those issues are being addressed.
“The new, personalized experience provides greater transparency and control, giving consumers the ability to easily become a customer, manage upgrades, add new lines, ask billing questions, take advantage of savings and more,” said Verizon in the press release.
Verizon also extended its customer service hours, making live agent and live chat support available 24/7.
Verizon customers raise red flag about a major problem
While these changes aim to make the customer experience more seamless, customers are starting to beg to differ.
In a recent Reddit post titled “Is anyone else really upset with Verizon’s AI Customer Service?” Verizon customers claim that it has become harder to speak to a human when contacting customer service.
“Bill keeps getting bigger and bigger, yet we are paying for them to have a robot not a person,” wrote one customer.
“It’s awful. 11 different bots tried to help me. I kept being passed around. Issue still not resolved,” wrote another.
“Customer service at Verizon simply does not exist,” read another comment.
Related: DirecTV customers threaten to leave after latest warning
The complaints come after Sampath emailed customers a few months ago claiming that Verizon would be “raising the bar” on customer support.
“Across the industry, customer service hasn’t evolved the way it should,” said Sampath in the email.
He said that Verizon will improve its customer service by making it “faster, easier, smarter,” which involves leveraging its AI assistant to provide “instant, accurate answers.”
“You’re not a customer number or a case file,” said Sampath in the email. “You’re the reason we’re here.”
Verizon is battling an alarming consumer trend
Verizon’s big bet on AI comes during a time when it is losing customers, so any issues with this new initiative may further exacerbate the concerning trend.
During the second quarter of this year, Verizon lost about 51,000 postpaid phone customers. Also, its wireless postpaid phone churn (the number of customers who pulled the plug on phone service) remained flat at 0.9% compared to the previous quarter.
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The mass exodus of customers follows the phone carrier’s decision to increase its phone plan prices over the past year. It also recently cut its loyalty discounts, which usually ranged between $10 and $40, further angering customers.
Verizon is currently facing heightened competition not just from rival phone carriers such as T-Mobile and AT&T, but also from cable companies, which have been offering consumers discounts on bundled phone, internet and TV services.
According to a recent report from MoffettNathanson, Spectrum, Comcast and Altice USA have added 886,000 new phone customers during the first three months of 2025, and an increase from the 804,000 they added during the same time period last year.
Related: Verizon quietly backtracks on harsh change that angered customers
