Big 3 making themselves right at home

Verizon Thursday announced a new service that sells IT and online support and repair services to consumers as a monthly subscription service or for one-time set-up or repair problems. Working with partners Asurion for device or appliance repair and Circuit City for in-home tech support, Verizon’s Expert Care services come in three flavors:

• For $4.99 to $19.99 a month, consumers can buy a service that will repair or replace computers, TVs and telephones regardless of their size, age or original purchase point. Asurion is providing the care here, as it does for Verizon Wireless. The monthly fee can cover multiple devices and also covers computer peripherals such as keyboards and the backup batteries needed to power the Verizon FiOS service.
• For $14.99 a month, consumers can buy a Premium Tech Support subscription which gives them 24X7 access to Verizon technicians, by phone and online, to solve virus and security issues, VPN problems, computer OS issues, gaming connection problems, or other software or hardware problems. After 10 months, the service is month-to-month.
• For $99 to $249.99, consumers can get a one-time visit from Circuit City firedog technicians to set up or repair computer networks, install PCs, connect PCs and TVs in a home network or perform other on-site tech support tasks.

“Our intention was to provide a one-stop shop to customers so they didn’t have to go to multiple places to find support,” said Kathy Conway of Verizon. Verizon knows consumers are looking for help because they frequently call their broadband service provider with problems unrelated to their broadband connection. In the future, those callers will be referred to the new service, said spokesman Cliff Lee.

“This service can help a busy professional, who may have the expertise but not the time to fix a problem, or an older consumer on a fixed income who wants to pay for a monthly service on their phone bill and know what their expenditures are going to be,” Conway said.