Working your way through Verizon Fios customer service doesn’t always solve your problem, but consumer arbitration gives you the opportunity to present your case in front of a neutral, third-party arbitrator.
Your contract with Verizon FiOS includes what is called an arbitration clause which effectively prevents you from suing Verizon in most courts and forcing you to bring a large or complex claim through a binding arbitration process. Small claims court and be time-consuming so arbitration is usually a good alternative for you.
Arbitration can take a few months but most of it is handled through emails or speaking over the phone with an arbitrator. You can go through the entire process on your own, or use a claim processor like FairShake to simplify the process for you.
Here’s what comes next…
Before you begin this process you need to have a clear and concise description of what your issue is and what you want as compensation. You will have to provide this information when you file your claim.
Your contract with Verizon FiOS requires that you send them a description of your claim before you file for binding arbitration. Contractually, Verizon FiOS has 30 days to resolve the claim before you can file a claim with an arbitrator. In order to initiate this report with Verizon FiOS, you can go here.
Your Verizon FiOS contract says that you have to initiate binding arbitration using the American Arbitration Association, the organization in charge of arbitration and appointing neutral arbitrators. You can download the filing form for an AAA-administered Consumer Arbitration here.
Enter a description of your dispute, as well as the relief that you want in the provided space at the top of the form. Then, put in your your contact information, and put in the contact information for Verizon Wireless:
Verizon Dispute Resolution Manager,
One Verizon Way, VC54N090,
Basking Ridge, NJ 07920
Now you have to calculate the amount of money you need to pay up front to get the ball rolling. In some rare cases, Verizon might compensate you for these fees, but not until after the resolution is reached.
The AAA provides a document that lists all of its current filing fees here. Your fee will vary based on the size of your claim.
In order to file for arbitration you will have to provide the AAA with a copy of Verizon FiOS’s arbitration clause. This can be found in your user agreement.
Once you have the user agreement, download a copy of it and then save the document under the new title “Verizon FiOS Customer Agreement with Arbitration Clause”.
With all of the documents and information readily at hand, it is time to file your claim with the AAA. To do so, go to the AAA’s “Fast File” option available at the following online address:
Enter your contact information in the boxes allocated, and specify that you are requesting arbitration. Then use the final bottom box to upload the Demand for Arbitration that you prepared earlier as well as your Verizon FiOS contract that you downloaded.
Finally, enter the filing fee that you have calculated at the bottom of the page.
Once you have finished submitting the right documents, the AAA will reach out to you via email with the confirmation email including all of the information that you submitted to them. This could take a few days so be patient. Once you receive it, print the email and send a hard copy to:
Verizon Dispute Resolution Manager,
One Verizon Way, VC54N090,
Basking Ridge, NJ 07920
Within a few weeks of submitting your demand for arbitration, you should be contacted by a case administrator from the AAA who will reach out to yourself as well as Verizon FiOS to arrange for an arbitration hearing. The case administrator will help you to submit all of your documents in a timely fashion, and they will help you and Verizon FiOS to schedule any necessary phone calls or meetings for the rest of the arbitration.
You should anticipate the arbitration process taking several months to complete.
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