Verizon FiOS Internet and Cable Television Deals

Eden

January 2nd, 2008 at 4:26 pm

I’ve heard great things about FiOS. Plus, it’s really cool to have fiber coming to your house!

I would have switched already, but sadly it is not yet available in my area.

Max

January 2nd, 2008 at 5:04 pm

I just switched from Comcast/Vonage to Fios after also asking if Comcast would match Verizon’s basic plan and they refused. I went really basic to keep the Fios to $105/month–a big change from the $150 Comcast + $60 Vonage I was paying.
I switched after my neighbor got the service and experienced none of the cable and phone service disruptions that have become the norm with our Comcast service.

MonkeyMonk

January 2nd, 2008 at 5:48 pm

Too bad about your attempt to get Comcast to lower their fees. I was able to shave $30 off my combined internet/TV package a few months ago by threatening to switch to Dish Network if they didn’t get their prices in line.

I actually have had a mostly great experience with Comcast over the past 5 years — I just think they’re way too expensive compared to their competitors.

Money Blue Book

January 3rd, 2008 at 10:00 am

I personally dislike Comcast’s customer support or lack thereof as well as their truck crew ….they’ve also wised up about the call and threaten to cancel bit. However, sometimes you can still get lucky and get your bill lowered a little bit…you just have to be persistent and call a few times. One time I ended up talking to the same rep after trying a few times. When that happens…try the next day!
-Raymond

Amanda

January 3rd, 2008 at 1:49 pm

I wish I COULD switch! Our building has a deal with Comcast, so we’re forced to use them even though I think we could get a better deal elsewhere!

Livingalmostlarge

January 3rd, 2008 at 11:05 pm

Just to let you know I hate, hate, hate VERIZON FIOS! I have had to replace our HD-DVR box 3 times, there are issues with the internet. I plan on switching when my year is up.

Also the customer service is terrible! They claimed to not have my contract on file so I had to fax it 2x. I had to fax in all OLD bills because they had misbilled me! But apparently talking to another customer service rep, they do, but that first rep just didn’t want to talk to me! Or pull up all bills! Jerks.

I cannot say enough negative things about them. I hate them with a passion. Also I’m always on hold forever.

I realize that all cable companies are like this however. It’s finding the lesser of two evils.

By the way I stopped paying for cable about 4 months ago. Because of so many issues, I have it for free, but I still hate them.

My DVR box does not properly record in HD. Also it isn’t as easy to use like Tivo. Also it’s hard to watch in the bedroom upstairs because the box is downstairs.

Atul

January 8th, 2008 at 7:18 am

I’m about to switch to FIOS even though I’ve never had ANY problems with Comcast. Just want the Fiber to the house. Should I do it?

Also, I’d like to have a static IP address set up to host my own server (using a business account) but I hear that you can’t get FIOS TV with that option. Have you heard that?

Howard

January 12th, 2008 at 5:59 pm

The bundle seems like a good deal, but I can’t get a straight answer on what the charges will be after the first year. Unless it’s a large savings, I’d be reluctant to sign up with Verizon because it is such a difficult company to deal with. I’ve had problems with them since the days when they were NY Telephone.

Darnold

January 19th, 2008 at 7:05 pm

Ok . Any cable company out there is all about making a deal these days… Whichever company anyone signs up with you have to listen carefully and write everything down to get the best deal. I only know about Verizon Fios. It is a great product if installed properly…. The network is hooked up to the existing phone lines in the house so if you have had an ongoing inside trouble on your phone lines in the house get the wire maintenance contract so you will not be billed for any inside problems…. Internet is 20 meg always, end of story… It is not shared with anyone. It is staight broadband right to your computer. Test your speed with a speed site… Try speakeasy speedtest. If you are not running at the speed you are paying for then you are having computer issues.. You must optimise your computer!!!! delete cookies , old files etc . Also you must defrag and disk cleanup…. Simple tools of the trade to get the computer up to snuff…… As far as the TV… Fios works best with all RG6 cables with as little splitters as possible… The more splitters the worse signal the tv will get….. 1 splitter and all home runs from each tv is the way to go…. Also all of the fittings in the house should be compression fittings, if outside they should be outside compression fittings…. I do not know why Verizon will not give a business account the Tv’s in home . That seems a bit crazy. You pay more for a static ip don’t you…. And what is the difference a tv is a tv who care who pays for it…. I know the HDDVR only tapes in HD but cannot’ be reshown in HD. That is the way it is….If the service tech does not run a wire to each individual tv then you are open to wiring issues….. If the install is done properly and you can relax until the set top boxes are worked out, it is really the best product out there…. It is totally different than dsl which only gives you a 1.5 speed depending on how close you live to the central office that is providing your dial tone… Fios broadband data is totally different… You either have the light or you don”t…. At the ONT terminal…. There is a network light that will be green… That means you have connection with light….. It is a totally different principal than copper wires to your house that break down from weather…. Good Luck

Kelly Melnyk

January 26th, 2008 at 4:19 pm

Let me preface this by saying that I am very pleased with my phone and internet service provided by Verizon Fios. That being said, I am completely dissatisfied with their cable service. First they promised me services they cannot provide. It seems that no one has been properly trained on how the equipment works, one person will tell you a feature is available and the next will tell you it is not. No two people under their employ will give you the same answer.

I wanted HDTV service in 3 rooms with a multi-room DVR so they can all access the same recorded programs, the representative processed the order as such and the technician installed it. As soon as I attempted to use the multi-room DVR I discovered it did not work. The same day as the extremely lengthy install, I spent an eternity on hold waiting to speak to a tech support representative, who informed me that the multi-room DVR will only work with standard set-top boxes, not with other HD boxes. So I decided to swap out the HD boxes for standard ones. The representative told me I would have to go to my local Verizon location (about 15 miles) and make the swap. I made the swap and upon hooking up the new receivers discovered that neither of them worked. I, once again, had to spend an extended amount of time on hold only to be told that they would have to send another tech to my home. The technician came out, replaced and programmed the receivers and apparently while doing so disabled one of my other receivers. I made the dreaded phone call to tech support who explained to me that the receiver in my possession (based on the ID number) was, according to their system, still in their inventory. Additionally he told me that I was still being billed (2 billing cycles) for the 2 additional HD receivers that I returned. He corrected the billing and said my next statement would reflect a credit and told me he would have to connect me to tech support to fix the receiver. Tech support was unable to correct the problem and said another location would have to handle it and that they would call me the following day. That evening alone, I spent 1 hour and 20 minutes on hold and on the phone with the representatives. The following day, I did get a phone call and finally it seemed all my receivers were working.

Now let me briefly tell you all the things that are wrong with their DVR. The scheduled programs all cut off about 2 minutes short of the end, so I have been forced to extend the recording time. The pause button is nearly for show, 3 out of 5 times if you pause a program, when you attempt to resume it, it starts over from the beginning. The fast forward feature works very similarly. I fast forward and when I attempt to resume play, it starts the recording over. The DVR does not recognize that a particular episode/movie is already on the DVR and will record it over and over, so that you will find it taped the same exact thing three times. Pause, rewind and fast forward live TV only works in the room with the DVR. You can only program the DVR (delete, record, etc..) from the room with the DVR, cannot access these functions from satellite rooms. Actually it seems the remote TV’s that access the DVR don’t work particularly well at all. I previously had Dish Network satellite service with the multi-room DVR and all of these functions were available and worked perfectly. Additionally, one of the phone representatives told me, “it would be ideal, but this is not an ideal world”.

Lastly, my bill has come in at nearly $300.00 two months in a row, when they told me the total amount for all of my services would be $210.00. Now even with the $60.00 credit that they are going to issue for the last 2 months of over-billing, it is still substantially higher than I was originally quoted. Unfortunately, in order to speak to billing you have to set aside an hour during the week between 8:00 am and 6:00 pm (the same hours that I work). It seems I have spent so many hours with their technicians and on the phone with their customer service that I should be on their payroll.

Verizon has many kinks to work out with their cable service. They seem to have bitten off more than they can chew. I agreed to a 2 year contract and desperately hope that they can fix their many issues in a timely fashion. Finally, on a positive note, their HD picture is great, it’s just a shame I cannot enjoy it on all of my hi-def televisions.

FIOS SUCKS

February 28th, 2008 at 1:46 pm

I have phoned I have written this company is insulated against any and all attempts to have meaningful contacts to resolve any issues. If you have Time Warner Cable or Cablevison or DirectTV or Dish Network… KEEP IT you are better off… I have tried all but Dish Network but a friend is very satisfied with the price and quality of the image… I can live with any of the other services (especially cable) but not FIOS. firstly the picture quality was not visibly better… same as cable. The FIOS internet …the Verizon DSL is
just as fast for web browsing and (yes it is somewhat faster on downloads but unless you are an iTunes junkie… who downloads all the time… mostly you surf (and $17.99 for DSL vs. about $50 (or more) for FIOS is a waste of money. Now the Verizon Freedom Phone service… my old phone service with Verizon was fine… this new digital service has all sorts of crackle and pops in the line and an annoying rhythmic rumble. All of that disaster is nearly meaningless… YOU CAN’T BELIEVE HOW BAD THE FIOS TV IS they take 4 hours to drill holes in your garage and attach several electrical devices and backs ups which you have to bear the energy cost on….for what… for nothing beneficial.
THE YOUNG SALESMAN WHO WENT DOOR TO DOOR TOLD ME MY SIGN UP ACTIVATION COSTS (ABOUT $50) and would be reimbursed either through a $200 gift certificate at Best Buy or they would give me a Sharp HD TV… my choice of bonus… that was 5 months ago now… and they just about don’t acknowledge I even exist as a customer when it comes to a bonus… THEY DO however ACKNOWLEDGE THAT I AM TO PAY FOR THIS SERVICE MONTHLY. Originally the THE YOUNG DOOR TO DOOR SALESMAN ( be smart …. slam the door in his face!) TOLD ME MY COST FOR 2 Years would be $94 a month. Plus $10 for the 2 extras boxes I ordered. My bills have been out of sight for the past several months about $162 for February…. $270 for January …. and $140 for December (APPARENTLY before they really got the SIR CHARGE BALL ROLLING)… unlike Vonage Phone service or Cable phone service… you have about $35 dollars in taxes minimum each month. Now as to the FIOS picture… because it is optic as opposed to good old copper cable… there are momentary lapse… in picture and sound delivery because of the either tinny Motorola cable box can’t keep up with the optic cable or the optic cable has small imperfections along the route.. which cause sound to break up (words to be lost) and pictures to glitch out (as if you had a defect or scratch on a DVD
you were watching.) This almost never happens with cable.
NOW I HAVE SAVED THE BEST TO THE LAST… AND BELIEVE ME… YOU BETTER BE READING THIS FAR!!!!. Effective April 2008 FIOS TV WILL BE ELIMINATING ALL THE BASIC BROADCAST CHANNELS AND EVERY OTHER CHANNEL FROM THEIR TV SYSTEM UNLESS YOU HAVE A BOX..THATS RIGHT THE 40 CHANNELs MY OTHER TV SETS GET WILL BE ELIMINATED AFTER THEY PROMISED ME I WOULD HAVE THEM…THIS SEEM TO VIOLATE THE VERY CONTRACTS WE SIGNED… I WOULD HOPE OPENS UP A CLASS ACTION AGAINST THEM. Every set whether new HDTV or not will not work without a stinking little energy wasting Motorola box… they won’t even display what channel you are one… and gets hot as hell to fry an egg on… I currently have to turn my Motorola 2500 boxes off at night because they get so hot during the day of usage… you can’t even keep your hand on top of them… (I can only imagine what a hazard they will present in July!!!). Now… every set will need a box that will be 6 boxes for 6 sets in my home and each box is drawing energy. Friends three of my TV sets are less than a year old. two are less than 3 months old … yet they are incompatable with Verizon starting in April 2008. A new 32 inch HDTV Sony Bravia … no good… a new 27 inch Samsung HDTV no good…a 12 month old 37 inch Sylvania HDTV no good… according to the new rules laid down by Verizon.,,, all will need boxes in order to get even a local channel. KNOW THAT BEFORE YOU ARE AN IDIOT LIKE ME AND SIGN UP.
Oh yes, all the Motorola boxes (every make and model) work on the same remote control signal… so if your are watching something on ABC and want to tape something on CBS at the same time you are screwed…. the same remote controls all 6 boxes… it will shut the box off every box and change every channel… don’t think for one second you can switch over during a commercial on ABC to see how your show on CBS is recording… YOU JUST CHANGED THE CHANNEL ON BOTH BOXES… OR SHUT BOTH BOXES OFF …and you screwed up the DVD of the show you were recording… nice… really smart folks at Verizon. Remember these stupid little Motorola VT 700 boxes don’t even have a CLOCK or LED channel display to know where you are actually on.
P.S. It should go without saying I never order Pay-Per-View …or any Verizon On Demand services …I have only the basic channels USA TNT Turner Classic Movies etc…. no HBO or even Encore or Starz
Oh, I forgot to mention how bad their on screen guide is… it is bad… and very jittery…it can skip 20 channels ahead and you won’t be able to go back very easy… my wife say’s not at all…she gave up.
We have to keep our online TV guides set to Cablevison set up because none of the regular TV listings
AOL, MSN, YAHOO you name it… NONE OF THE REGULAR WEB TV LISTINGS BOTHER TO GIVE YOU THE FIOS CABLE LINE UP… CHECK IT OUT.. perhaps that was THEIR hint not to go with Verizon FIOS? Don’t be part of a small minority that is getting screwed with FIOS. just because I was stupid don’t means you have to be as well. Yes, I am locked into a 2 year contract with tremendous penalties if I try to discontinue FIOS service…(my local cable does not do that)… the story never ends.. but my letter does…. good-bye.

Anonymous

March 3rd, 2008 at 10:23 am

I wish I had read some of these comments concerning Verizon FIOS, before I changed TO Verizon. The customer service REPRESENTATIVEs

LaVerne

March 3rd, 2008 at 11:27 am

I WISH that I had read some of the comments BEFORE I committed to 2 years. I originally had Fios TV, internet, installed a year ago in Feb. 2007. After receiving my first bill, the internet was costing MORE than I was told it would be, so I cancelled that. After having 4 boxes, I found 2 TV’s were NOT being used as they once were, so I decided I didn’t need but 2. I called after a month to return 2 boxes, after being given 2 dates that someone would pick them up & nobody came, I asked if there is somewhere I COULD TAKE them..they said no, & set up another date. The person who was to pick them up called the day BEFORE to see if it would be ok to pick them up then, MARCH 27, ‘07, I agreed, they WERE picked up, a receipt was left for me. My bill KEPT coming charging me for the FOUR, instead of TWO. I wrote 2 letters to the correspondence dept of Verizon. I just kept paying my bill, deducting $9.98. THEN..during August ‘07…I got a call from Verizon that ”we have an ORDER to pick up 2 STB” ..my response was “My God, after all these months, told them they had been picked up in March..5 months earlier.” Well, I KEPT being charged for the FOUR, so in December ‘07, I was fed up, I called to CANCEL THE ENTIRE THING, that’s when the very nice rep told me “Mam we don’t want U to do that, we have a triple play bundle offer.” ..at a lower price than I was paying for the TV service..with a gift of a TV or Best Buy $200 card, with a 2 year contract, so I took that deal b/c it would cost me LESS, PLUS a gift I’d get also. I told them since they were already charging me for 4 boxes, might as well BRING ME THOSE 2 back, BUT…I was leery of that b/c thought they might begin to charge me for SIX. Well, that was supposed to be installed on December 22, 07.. the installer called me during the day to ask if it would be ok to install on Christrmas Eve…he was backed up..I said YES, he came first thing the day of Dec. 24th, after doing whatever he could that day, he said he’d have to come back the day AFTER Christmas to finish, b/c they had given him 2 analog STB, he needed “analog/digital”.. The next day he came first thing in morning, had already programmed from office so he didn’t have to stay long.
Well after one day’s usage, I noticed that there was no program guide info, I had a hard time signing onto the internet. I called, they asked me questions about the router, determined the router was bad & sent someone w/a new router. Most service works fine, even though one of the boxes has lost program info twice, but that was corrected from the office…so I have no complaint about that. I have NOT had good comfortable service from the internet, ONLY the SPEED in signing on. I DO NOT like the Verizon e-mail screen, I cannot SEE to check any mail that I’ve sent, I still use AOL for e-mail. Whenever I have tried to send an e-mail FROM A WEBSITE…in clicking on “send by e-mail” and BEING ON AOL…it always comes up with
MY FIRST VERIZON SCREEN NAME. (even with me being online with AOL)….BUT when I fill in w/my information, it WILL NOT SEND…I get message saying…”STP” (or whatever it is) server NOT responding”. so I just cancel that out, go back re-do it and send it from clicking the “write” screen on AOL.
They told me I’d get a letter in the mail concerning the “Bundle gift”..THAT had not come by mid Jan,08.. so I called, someone told me it would come probably next week. Another 2 weeks went by and I was called by a Verizon SOLICITOR to offer me an upgrade on the TV service, I told them I did NOT WANT to upgrade, I have had a few problems since getting the service, told him about the letter concerning the gift HAD NOT come, I was transferred to another rep, who took my info, told me I’d get a letter in about 6-8 weeks, well THAT came March 1st, & I went online to claim the gift, which should come in about 6-10 weeks. NOW I am betting that I won’t get that in THAT time frame…IF I GET IT AT ALL … OR IF I’LL BE ABLE TO USE IT WITHOUT ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENT THAT I’LL HAVE TO PAY FOR.

In ADDITION TO ALL OF THE ABOVE…I just got a phone message the last week of February that….”YOU NEED TO CALL VERIZON CONCERNING THE PICKING UP OF VERIZON’S SET TOP BOXES”". I tried to ignore it, but thought well maybe I’d better set them straight on this..so I called, I was told by a recording that “IF YOU HAVE RECEIVED A MESSAGE CONCERNING PICKING UP STBOXES AND YOU STILL ARE A FIOS CUSTOMER, THEN DISREGARD THE CALL’…WELL LO & BEHOLD..after a few days.. I NOW get a letter in the mail…with a big black hi-lighted topic…saying VERIZON FIOS TV ”OUTSTANDING EQUIPMENT’ telling me that “OUR RECORDS
INDICATE THAT YOU HAVE VERIZON OWNED SET TOP BOXES AT YOUR PREMISES. UNDER THE TERMS OF YOUR CONTRACT, YOU ARE REQUIRED TO RETURN THE SET TOP BOXES TO VERIZON WITHIN 30 DAYS OF TERMINATION OF YOUR FIOS TV SERVICE OR BE CHARGED AN EQUIPMENT FEE IN THE AMOUNT SET ON THE RATE CARD INCLUDED W/YOUR ORIGINAL FULFILLMENT KIT. AS OF 03/08/07, THAT 30 DAY WINDOW HAS EXPIRED.
PLEASE CONTACT OUR BUSINESS OFFICE AT ##### TO ARRANGE FOR RETURN OF YOUR FIOS TV SET TOP BOXES.”

I have been a customer of the same company…first C&P, then THE name changed to AT&T, now Verizon every since I’ve had a phone, & that goes back to 1963, I’ve had NO complaints about anything before, only when this new hi tech communication comes in. I will stay with them for my phone service..BUT I have DOUBTS about the other parts of this package.
The customer service reps are VERY NICE, the installers are VERY NICE
and as someone else said…Verizon probably has “BITTEN OFF MORE THAN THEY CAN CHEW” right now. The company that handles the equipment is NOT in sync with the VERIZON COMPANY. I am ready to give it all up except the home phone service.

James

April 28th, 2008 at 1:05 pm

I called Verizon FIOS to order phone, internet, and cable prior to my move in. My Consumer Order Summary was dated 3-28-08, and the scheduled installation date was 4-7-08. I reviewed the e-mail and all looked well. I move into my new house and install date comes. They setup an 8 AM-noon window. I already had the Optical Network Terminal unit (ONT) in my house, so I figured this would be cake for them. I am a Sys Admin at an ISP, so the internet stuff I could do myself with ease.

On install day, no one showed, no one called. I had my mobile with me at ALL times. So around 1:30 PM I called Verizon to see what was going on. If something came up, I had a week off to move in and if they needed to come by in a day or two, I was totally cool with that. After about an hour on hold I got in touch with a “state level” dispatcher. That said that there were “no facilities available for my order” and I was called. Nope, I wasn’t called; they did have my cell (which I had with me all of the time) in their records. I wanted them to come out later in the week if possible since I was home. They said that their next available time for me was 4-12-08, which was a day where I was going to a wedding. The next available time after that was at the end of the month, on a work day for me.

Basically because they did not show up, or even notify me with a reason, they put me at the back of the line. I was trying to escalate my request and the support only gave me unreasonable dates and that “no facilities available for my order” BS. I later wanted to get my copper line put back so I could at least get phone service, and after a long wait in hold they gave me the end of the month as a date. Basically I was being run around in circles and being shoved to the end of the line because Verizon screwed up my installation. I was told the only way I could get it sooner is if I “knew an installer who’d do me a favor,” and I was pretty much screwed with the window of time I had to get the service installed. The salesperson fed me a load of bull and the installer didn’t even call me with a reason. I tried to figure out what “no facilities available for my order” meant, and why this was such a problem since I already had the ONT in my house. Half of their work was already done.

The same day, I called a local cable company who installed my phone, internet, and cable the next day. They showed up on time and did the normal pre and post appointment verification. I unplugged the ONT in my house and let the battery go out. Verizon gave me such a lousy customer experience I swore I would never do business with them, and be sure to let other people know about their awful customer service and commitments they setup and do not honor. Verizon screwed up prior when they bought Bell Atlantic, and screwed up our perfectly find DSL service I had around 98/99. My money is going to a competitor, and Verizon won’t see if because they have abysmal customer service. I am certainly interested in fiber optic lines connected to my house, but so long as Verizon is the only provider, I will happily do without.

Herndon, VA