Consumer warning: Frontier customer’s six-month battle for promised free battery backup ends in victory

A mild-mannered man named Joe has been a Frontier Phone customer for 40 years. When Frontier made him a great deal to upgrade to the new fiber optic internet with voice over internet phone service, he switched and was thrilled. But there was one downside: When the power goes out, you can’t use your phone, not even to call 911. You need a battery backup for that.

All of Frontier’s promotional mailings, flyers, and emails stated that a free backup battery would be included with the connection. However, this is not the case.

“Before the installation, I had called Frontier to ask about the battery backup solution and they said the installer knew about it and had a battery backup solution with them,” said Joseph Mele, a Frontier customer. “But that was not the case. The third-party installer did not know about the battery backup solution and said, well, you have to call Frontier for that.”

And that’s exactly what he did. He chatted with them for hours, made phone call after phone call, and even spoke to a customer service representative in Colombia. It’s now the end of June – and Joe began his search for his battery backup in January.

Deanna Dewberry: “It’s been, uh, seven months here. And you still don’t have a spare battery. So you decided to call me.”

Joseph Mele: “Yeah, yeah, I thought, I’m probably not the only person in this situation, so this might be a good place for a consumer advocate, and in Rochester I thought of Deanna Dewberry as our consumer advocate.”

I’ve studied the email Mele received from Frontier. It lists a number of things that come with the installation, including a battery backup solution. At the bottom, in small print, it says to purchase it and then get credit.

I contacted Frontier’s corporate office. On Wednesday, a spokesperson told them that battery backup is available in Rochester, but that you have to buy it. On Friday, I was told that’s not the case. Any Frontier customer who upgrades from their old copper landline to another will get a free battery backup, just like Joe. Frontier has already sent his out via express delivery, and a technician is coming to his home to install it.

Don’t you love happy endings?

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