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Review by Liz8 See Profile

  • Location: Potomac, Montgomery, MD, USA
  • Cost: $125 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 14 days
Internet is stable, fast and low latency.
Router runs hot, sales & billing play fast & loose with truth, CS is no help.
Verizon drove me back to Comcast with billing errors and arrogance.
Pre Sales Information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)

--March 2010--
When I added Verizon TV, the billing errors began. I spent hours over 5 months trying to resolve these errors. I went with Comcast triple play.

Verizon FiOS internet is the best, but Comcast is close. Verizon copper line phone is best, FiOS and Comcast about the same. Comcast has better SD TV, DVRs and on demand.
--June 2007--
Six months without a single problem. Install was done well and on time.

member for 23.7 years, 4231 visits, last login: 7.6 years ago
updated 11.8 years ago

blk_al_bundy
join:2009-08-26
Richmond, VA

blk_al_bundy

Member

IM HATING

im hating i have 1 damn hbo hd channel 4 comcast .............i need fioss

MOMcc
@fthcm.org

MOMcc

Anon

Comcast vs Fios

Can you tell me more about your Comcast vs Fios experience? I have signed up to get fios (I can still cancel) and actually have called to cancel twice and each time they lowered the bill for 12 months so that now it truly is cheaper than Comcast for the first two years.

My concerns are regarding things that are probably nitpicky, but I know they will bug me

1) guide -- I read things about the guide on the fios TV forum that seems like it sucks -- that it's small, that it's not accurate, that it sometimes doesn't record properly (repeats, etc) Can you tell me anything about that?

2) channel availability - I too live in DC metro area. Do you know if they have the Comcast Sports channel in HD? I couldn't find it on the list, and not really sure its in SD either.

3) Universal sports. I think that's the name of it. It's a channel that is currently running Olympic reruns and carries a lot of figure skating during the season.

Anything you can tell me about the fios/comcast experience would be helpful. I have Verizon DSL and phone and fine with that but feeling very cautios about switching tv.
Liz8 (banned)
join:2000-06-24
Potomac, MD

Liz8 (banned)

Member

Re: Comcast vs Fios

Both Comcast and Verizon have great networks capable of delivering excellent service. The challenge for each customer is to get this level of service consistently.

Four family households in the DC area have experience with Verizon FiOS and cable(3 Comcast & 1 Cox). Two are currently with FiOS and 2 with Comcast. The following observations assume properly working service. We all agree FiOS internet is the best but cable is more than adequate for residential use.

My brother was the first to go with HD TV and likes FiOS. I have 1 HDTV and use the regular Comcast DVR. None of the rest of us will go HD until we replace existing sets so I can't give a good assessment of HDTV options. We all rate Verizon DVRs at the bottom, cable in the middle and DirecTV TiVo at the top. Comcast on demand beats Verizons. My sister is at the end of a Verizon bundle agreement and would rather go back to Comcast or DirecTV video unless the FiOS price is right. She would rather keep FiOS internet but would switch for a better price. The other 2 of us are back with Comcast triple play because of Verizon errors, arrogance and refusal to fix our issues. Verizon made a real effort ... after we quit. Comcast has been good with both of us for the past 18 months. Verizon would need to offer a much better price to get us to go back.

Verizon copper phone is best because of quality and its own power. FiOS quality is as good but each of us has experienced outages beyond the battery capacity. Cable phone is so close in both quality and battery I don't think it matters if you have a cell for backup.

Both Comcast and Verizon can be difficult to work with. If you have an issue, Comcast will make a real effort when they realize you are ready to drop them. Verizon simply won't budge until after you drop their service. Then they call and overnight expensive offers. We both would have kept Verizon had these efforts come before we switched.

Without billing problems or package discount, I'd go FiOS internet, DirecTV or Comcast video and VoIP for phone. I'd never package cell with phone service from either company.

MOMcc
@fthcm.org

MOMcc

Anon

Re: Comcast vs Fios

Thanks so much for your detailed reply. That was VERY helpful.

I found Comcast customer service to be subpar until I moved into another service jurisdiction. Now they are always helpful and polite. The only reason I'm thinking of switching is that I'm about to come off of a promotion and my service will be going up quite a bit. I know they will probably give me another promotion but at this point I don't think they will be beat Verizon's offer to me.

On the other hand, according to what everyone is saying about billing, they say one thing, then bill another! I really don't want to go through any long drawn out billing wars.

I'll just have to decide if it's worth before I go through with the install -- at this moment it doesn't really appear to be worth the trouble.
grecord
join:2002-01-06
Germantown, MD

grecord

Member

Fios VS Comcast

The overall trend that seems to be emerging is that CSR's words mean nothing and are primarily a waste of time. Nothing can be had in writing to confirm agreements. I recently had a lengthy conversation with a wireless provider when I called to cancel that in a nutshell was, 'you have promised, 4 times, the changes I require for the last 6 months and they haven't come to pass, why should I believe you now? Will you send me something in writing to confirm this agreement?' Reply was the changes will be reflected on your bill. Funny how you only get ToS prior to commitment when you are a prospective customer.