Having dealt with Verizon’s customer service, I have learned much about the right way to contact them. I compiled information from Verizon’s terms of service and other information from the web into this guide.
To help you get a hold of Verizon’s customer representatives, I’ll cover the following:
- Customer service number
- How to reach a human
- How to contact technical support
- Other ways to contact them
- How to pay your bill
- How to check for an outage
- Troubleshooting your account
Let’s get reading.
Customer Service Number for Verizon
Verizon’s customer service number for residential services is 877-596-7577.
Other Verizon customer service phone numbers include:
| Service | Phone Number |
| Sales Department | 888-231-4099 |
| Repair Issues | 800-837-4966 |
| For New Customers | 800-538-2686 |
| Customer Support | 800-922-0204 |
| Verizon Prepaid Support | 888-294-6804 |
| Check Verizon Account Balance | *611 |
| Inquiries Regarding Buying Phones | 800-225-5499 |
| Verizon Fios Customer Service | 800-300-4184 |
| Accessibility Support (Mobile) | 888-262-1999 |
| Accessibility Fios and Voice Support | 800-974-6006 |
| Accessibility Fios and Voice Support (Video Call) | 508-251-5301 |
| California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) Support | 800-333-3972 |
| Activate a Prepaid Cellular Plan | *228 |
| Automated Bill Payment | 800-922-020 or #PMT |
Unless you reach someone immediately, you may want to schedule a callback. It may take a bit longer for someone to get back to you, but it’ll save you time.
Time that you could use to spend time with your family, play with your pets, or whatever else.
Type verizon.com/support/residential/contact-us into your browser’s address bar. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the button in this section:
Verizon business phone numbers include:
- New Business Customers: 833-483-1696
- Business Fios and Phone: 877-596-7577
- Technical Support (available 24/7): 800-837-4966
- Issues with Verizon business phones: 800-465-4054
You’ll only reach an actual person regarding Verizon business questions Monday–Friday between 8:30 am through 6:00 pm (Eastern Time).
What Should I Know Before Contacting Verizon?
When speaking to a customer service agent, you will need to verify that you’re a Verizon customer.
So you’ll want to have the address (or just the ZIP code) and phone number tied to your account. If resetting your account password, have your username and email ready.
But don’t reset your account or voicemail passwords over the phone. I’ll cover how to do this yourself in a bit.
How Do I Get a Human at Verizon Customer Service
To reach a human when calling Verizon’s customer service, you will repeatedly need to say, “talk to an agent.” The automated agent will eventually connect you to a person.
Otherwise, speak to Verizon through the live chat on their website. It’s the quickest way to reach a human.
How To Reach Verizon Tech Support
Businesses can reach tech. support by calling 800-837-4966. However, residential customers don’t have a dedicated technical support line.
Residential customers can try calling 800-837-4966. Then ask the automated assistant for technical support.
It appears the only way non-business customers can reliably speak to tech. support is by subscribing to the Verizon Home Device Advisor ($15/mo.) or Verizon Home Device Protection ($25/mo.) plans.
Both plans give you 24/7 access to technical support. And you get antivirus software.
Fancy.
You get something that comes free with operating systems.
Other Ways to Contact Verizon Customer Service
Other ways you can contact Verizon include:
- Data removals
- Visiting their stores
- Chat rooms
- Forums
- By mail
- Accessibility support
The following sections will cover numbers for each service.
Data Removal Requests
California, Nevada, and Maine have special privacy rights because of policies. These rights allow residents of these states to contact Verizon and remove their personal information.
If you’re a Nevada resident, you can contact Verizon by emailing [email protected]. In your email, you can request to opt-out of data collection.
Meanwhile, Californians can call 800-333-3972 to exercise their rights. Only call this number if you want to request access to the personal data Verizon has. Or whether you want them to delete your personal or financial data [1].
They don’t show who Maine residents should contact. Call their regular customer service number to ask questions about Maine privacy concerns. Or you can visit their Privacy Dashboard.
Like California and Nevada, Mainers can opt out of Verizon’s data collection or sharing.
Anyone can send questions about their data privacy by emailing [email protected]. But you don’t have the same rights as the states I mentioned.
You could also write Verizon a letter with your question and send it to this address:
Verizon Privacy Office
1300 I Street, NW Suite 500 East
Washington, DC 20005
Visit a Verizon Store
You can visit a Verizon Wireless store as a mobile, 5G Home, and 4G LTE home customer. Or you can go to a Verizon Fios store for Fios internet, TV, and landline support.
Don’t use this method unless you want to waste gas money.
You’ll likely receive an answer you could have gotten over the phone or through a live chat.
Social Media
You can reach Verizon through Facebook Messenger by typing m.me/Fios into your browser’s address bar.
It doesn’t appear you’ll get a response from Verizon through other social media platforms. But you can see their posts for updates on billing, outages, and more. These platforms include:
- Facebook: facebook.com/verizon
- Instagram: instagram.com/verizon/
- Twitter: twitter.com/verizon (@Verizon)
They seem to mostly post ads on these platforms. But it’s best to have every resource available.
DON’T Tweet to @VZWSupport. The account doesn’t exist anymore.
Verizon Live Chat
Here are ways to contact their live chat support depending on the type of Verizon service you use:
- Business customers: verizon.com/business/support/contact-us
- Residential (home) customers: verizon.com/support/residential/contact-us
You can only reach Verizon customer service representatives between 7:00 am and 9:30 pm (ET). It appears they’re available every day.
If you already have an account, logging in may help expedite getting your answer. Because they’ll have the information they need to verify your account.
Otherwise, when speaking to a representative, they’ll hound you for personal information.
To only get answers regarding Verizon’s service, tell them you’re just shopping around. And that you don’t want to hand over personal information.
Verizon Community
While waiting for a call, you can explore Verizon’s forums to see whether anyone has had similar issues. You can find the community by visiting community.verizon.com.
It seems like primarily other community members will help. But I haven’t seen many posts from Verizon staff. If you’re using forums to help you troubleshoot your issue, I recommend browsing Reddit (/r/Verizon)
You can enter this link into your browser too: reddit.com/r/verizon. Verizon staff won’t ever reply in this subreddit, but it’s a helpful place to find information.
Snail Mail
You can send Verizon a letter to the following address to let them know they have a website issue [2]:
Verizon Wireless Internet Operations
One Verizon Way
Basking Ridge, NJ 07920
Or you can write a letter declaring bankruptcy and send it to:
Verizon Wireless Bankruptcy Administration
500 Technology Drive
Suite 550
Weldon Spring, MO 63304
Verizon Accessibility Support
You can contact Verizon accessibility support through these methods:
- Email: [email protected]
- Videophone: 508-251-5301
- Fios and landline service: 800-974-6006
- Verizon Mobile: 888-262-1999
You can reach their traditional phone and Fios services 8:30 am through 5:00 pm Eastern Time (ET). Monday–Friday.
You can contact their mobile service accessibility customer support Monday-Saturday 8:00 am–7:00 pm. And on Sunday, 8:00 am–5:00 pm.
How To Pay Your Verizon Bill
You can pay your Verizon bills by using one of these methods:
- Online without logging in: visit vzw.com/paymybill, then enter your account number and billing ZIP code
- My Verizon mobile app or account: Bill > Payment Options > Choose Your Payment Option
- By calling their customer service: don’t do this if you value money
- * Snail mail: send them a check or money order
- Automated call system: dial ‘#PMT’ or 800-922-020 and follow their prompts
- Bill Pay Kiosk: check verizon.com/stores to find the nearest store with a kiosk
- In-store: talk to someone in a store and pay your bill that way
* Here’s the address you’d mail the money order to:
PO Box 408
Newark, NJ 07101-0408
If you need to set up payments for your plans, don’t call their customer service or use their live chat. Also, don’t pay your bill when speaking to their customer service. Because Verizon has a hidden fee that comes with doing so.
They’ll charge you a $10 ‘Agent Assistance’ fee. Set up payments and pay your bill through any other method instead.
You can skip these steps and get a $10 monthly discount by enabling Auto Pay.
To enable automatic payments through your My Verizon online account. Then log into your account and navigate through these settings:
Bill > Auto Pay > Get Started
Follow additional prompts, and you’ll be on your way to dealing with one less thing in your life.
If you’re using the My Fios or My Verizon mobile apps, select ‘Bill’ then tap ‘Enroll in Auto Pay.’
Before using this “feature,” ensure you have enough money in your bank account or credit line to pay your bill. Otherwise, you may end up with an overdraft.
To remove yourself from Verizon Auto Pay, navigate to the ‘Bill’ section, then tap or click ‘De-Enroll.’
How Do You Check for a Verizon Outage?
Sign in to your My Verizon online account, and they’ll tell you whether your area has an outage. You should receive network outage notifications if you’re using Verizon mobile.
If you see outages, you can see the repair status by visiting verizon.com/CheckStatus and logging into your account.
There is no Verizon outage map. So you’ll have to rely on a third party to check whether you have spotty service or outages. I recommend Downdetector (sort of).
They aggregate information from problem reports, social media, and other sources to detect potential cellular network or internet service outages. Since it’s not a primary source, you may want to use this website as a “guide.”
Verizon Troubleshooting
In some instances, you may not need customer service. Because the following are somewhat simple troubleshooting you can do yourself:
- Resetting Verizon password
- Fixing slow internet
- BBU issues
- Fixing your bills
Let’s fix your issues.
Reset Your Account Password
To rest your password, navigate to your Verizon account’s login page by visiting secure.verizon.com/vzauth/UI/Login. From there, click “Forgot your Info?”
Follow the prompts that appear on your screen. One of them will require your user ID, Verizon phone number, or ZIP code.
Once you navigate through these prompts, they’ll give you a few ways to reset your password:
- Reset your password through your email
- Mail a letter to your home: why would you do this?
- Receive a password reset request via text
Double-check the information you provide (for instance, your email address).
Choose your preference and click “Send Password.”
If it takes longer than 10 minutes to receive the password reset request through the method you selected, try to reset again with a different approach. After trying all these methods and finding no success, you will need to contact Verizon customer service.
Reset Voicemail Password
You can change your voicemail password by opening your My Verizon app and following these pages:
Click the three lines in the upper-left corner > Account Setting > Security > Manage voicemail password
Type your new password, confirm it (by typing it again), then click “Update.”
You can also dial *611 on your phone. Upon reaching an automated assistant, say, “Reset voicemail password.” Follow the given prompts, and you’ll have a reset password in no time.
Slow Internet
You can try to fix slow Verizon internet by following these methods:
Check whether you have a virtual private network (VPN) enabled. NordVPN claims that a VPN can slow your internet by 20% [3]. Even when using an Ethernet cable.
If subscribed to VPN software (or made your own), disable it and test your speeds. Or you can try various encryption methods and servers. Find a combination that yields better internet speeds.
Use an Ethernet cable. These cables give you direct connections from your device to the internet. With this perk, you’ll bypass Wi-Fi weaknesses like their susceptibility to building materials.
Reboot your router. Your router may have accidentally stored an error in its short-term memory. This can affect your network speeds. Unplug your router for 30 seconds to reset your device’s short-term memory.
Your internet could have a million issues impacting it. So the only way to speed up your internet is to try various troubleshooting methods. I wrote a piece on additional ways to fix slow Verizon internet.
When checking your internet speed, use the Verizon Fios internet speed tool. They’ll test your speeds with servers closer to your location. That means more accurate results.
Battery Backup Unit Issues
Use Verizon’s ‘Fix Battery issues’ tool to troubleshoot your Verizon Fios Optical Network Terminal’s (ONT) BBU.
The Battery Backup Unit (BBU) makes it so your ONT works during power outages. However, it can encounter issues because of its age. Or electrical issues.
The tool will carry you a series of prompts that cover rebooting your battery unit, replacements, and whatever else.
That’s the extent of troubleshooting I recommend before contacting a Verizon Fios specialist. If the tool doesn’t fix your BBU issue, it’ll redirect you to a customer support person.
FAQ: Verizon Customer Service
Keep reading, and I’ll cover frequently asked and answered questions about Verizon’s customer service.
What Are Verizon Customer Service Hours?
You can reach Verizon customer service 8:30 am–5:00 pm (Eastern Time) Monday–Saturday. And 8:00 am–7:00 pm on Sunday. You can also reach technical support 24/7.
Can You Contact Verizon by Email?
You cannot contact Verizon customer service by email. Unless you need accessibility support. You can contact them at [email protected].
Wrapping Up
Verizon has plenty of ways to contact them about data privacy, accessibility, and general help. But they give residential customers a difficult time to reach technical support.
If you want an alternative to Verizon, explore other providers we recommend.
