Umbrella Coverage Lets Customers Turn to Verizon to Ease PC, TV, Phone Woes

NEW YORK, Oct. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Call it the digital nightmare: Your laptop freezes in the middle of creating a critical document. Your expensive, flat-panel TV stops working the day before the Super Bowl. Your equipment warranty has expired, and although the phone directory is full of repair shops, you don't know whether you can trust any of them. If only one company could just make it all right!

Verizon is now providing its customers with peace of mind in the form of new Expert Care service plans that offer 24 x 7 in-depth technical support for computer software and hardware problems, as well as repair or replacement coverage for computers, TVs and telephone equipment.

'Because customers trust us for their home entertainment and communications needs, they also want us to help them resolve problems with the growing number of sophisticated consumer electronics devices throughout their homes,' said Peter Castleton, executive director of Verizon corporate marketing. 'We developed Expert Care to give customers the kind of support they need to keep their digital home networks humming.'

Expert Care offers three types of service plans providing consumers a wide range of choices in coverage and support for low monthly or one-time fees that can be added to consumers' Verizon bills. The plans are:

Device Protection -- Provides repair or replacement of multiple computers, TVs and telephones regardless of age, size or place of purchase. The plans range from $4.99 to $19.99 a month, depending on the equipment covered, and may also include repair or replacement of original equipment remote controls, keyboards, mice, monitors and backup batteries for Verizon's FiOS service.

Premium Technical Support -- Offers a 10-month subscription plan, priced at $14.99 a month, which includes telephone and online support for issues such as virus and spyware detection and removal, virtual private network problems, help with firewalls, problems with computer operating systems, gaming connectivity problems, and software and hardware help.