Verizon’s recent betrayal doesn’t hurt as much as it should have

Recently, Verizon made a move that has left a sour taste in most people’s mouths. The carrier has shuttered the Verizon Community Forum, wanting its user base to instead rely on AI for most tech support problems.

However, as it turns out, this might not be as big of a betrayal as you might have initially thought.

Most people didn’t even know about it

In a recent poll, we asked you how important the Verizon Community Forum was to you. Interestingly, over 56 percent of you said that you hadn’t even ever heard of it.

This does make sense, as many customers still prefer to call customer support directly if they have a problem with their service. However, with so many people not even aware of the forum, its closure won’t nearly be as big of a problem as some might have thought.

Other places serve as adequate replacements

For many people, other online forums are more appealing than the Verizon Community Forum. A little over four percent of respondents said that they prefer to seek out technical support on platforms like Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and other social media websites.

In the same vein, over 26 percent of voters said that they had Reddit to turn to. Reddit has large communities for the three major U.S. carriers as well as MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators) where queries are answered by fellow customers as well as staff. Just like on the now-shuttered forum.

Very few people frequented the Verizon forum

Only a little under 13 percent of voters said that they frequently visited the Verizon Community Forum. It just wasn’t as regular a place to hang out for the carrier’s user base as it might have seemed.

However, that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t a very helpful place to get help. Verizon’s closure of the forum speaks volumes about the company’s new direction. Will this move affect you in any way?

A decreasingly satisfying customer experience

Verizon’s pivot towards more AI-powered customer support might mean that the carrier doesn’t want its problems broadcasted on the internet. It might also mean that the company is wanting to get its customers used to relying on AI for help, which is something that CEO Dan Schulman is heavily in favor of.

This reminds me of T-Mobile forcing everyone to use the T-Life app for everything, and we all know how well that has gone down with customers.

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