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Tried switching from TW Cable to Fios. Lots of crazy stuff (like BBC HD is available on the lowest tier TV package but not on the next one up). Finally agreed to everything and submitted the request. Now they cant verify my credit even though a long term verizon wireless subscriber. After 2 days and 10 people, their service people said I have to talk to the disconnect dept for an account that isnt even active. They then transferred me to a closed office that hung up. Worst part is my billing date starts today, and they wont even schedule an install (let alone provide service). The last person I spoke to today (10th person at verizon) said I should have called yesterday to disconnect. I DID! THEY PROMISED TO CALL BACK YESTERDAY (and didnt, of course) Verizon= simply not worth the hassle. Burned 2 days and have more calls to make tomorrow. Hard to believe they make Time Warner seem easy to work with member for 18.3 years, 31 visits, last login: 10.6 years ago lodged 10.6 years ago
I want to warn everyone considering switching to Verizon FiOS what a nightmare it is. Yesterday they (Verizon) came and installed my business lines. After Installation, my "Enhanced Call Forwarding" feature which I paid $11 extra per month has never been working properly. I got my line forwarded to another number and was stuck there eversince. I have spent at least a total of 2 hours (including wait time) on the phone with them to fix this. I must have talked with every department they have. All said, The conclusion is: "Verizon people don't know what they are doing. Each person gives different advices which mess up the flow of process". My veridct on how good Verizon product is still out to the jury, BUT their service SUCKS. The wait time is long, and it's like roulette if you get a smart one, a dumb one or somewhere in between. If you are only saving less than $50 a month and unless it's much faster than what you have, DON"T CHANGE. I'm still trying to get my problem resolved. (review was emailed from domain yahoo.com) lodged 10.6 years ago
Services: FIOS Double Play - 50mbps down / 10mbps up + Select HD Cable Price: $45/month + $7/month set top box rental. I initially only wanted internet. However, using Verizon's build-your-own-bundle tool, I found out getting internet + cable was cheaper than getting just internet by itself ($45/mo vs $70/mo before taxes and fees). Verizon also waived all setup/installation fees and threw in a $100 Visa gift card. There's a $7/mo set top box rental fee, but it's still cheaper than just getting Internet. Installation was fairly straightforward. I scheduled the installation for 1pm - 5pm. The tech arrived at 1:30 and finshed at ~6:00. He initially had some trouble finding something related to the cable connection, but he was able to find it eventually. FIOS comes with a free wireless router, but I told the installation tech I wanted to use my personal router and he hooked it up to the modem for me. My first bill was much higher than expected: $80 before taxes and fees. When I called customer service I had to provide proof that I was offered $45/mo for the services I was getting. As it turns out, I was being charge for 75mbps/35mbps, even though I ordered 50mbps/10mbps (because that was the fastest speed available to me when I ordered), and my bill even said 50mbps/10mbps. Once that was cleared up Verizon updated my bill. Update: Apparently, that was bullshit. They claimed they would fix my bill, but they didn't. They also sent me another bill for the wrong amount. I spent 5 hours on the phone trying to get it fixed. Verizon gave me the run around. They told me to fax them the order confirmation with the price I was offered, but they gave me non-working fax numbers. I'm seriously considering going back to Comcast. I had to make complaints to the BBB and the FCC and send an email directly to the CEO of Verizon before they took my complaint seriously. member for 11.5 years, 11 visits, last login: 10.5 years ago updated 10.8 years ago
EDIT: We upgraded to Quantum 50/25 because of upload speed issues on the 15/5 line. The deals change constantly, and we were able to get it for just the extra $10/mo during a promotional period. Service has been stable. EDIT: I moved 1 mile, and for a lower tier of net service (15/5 instead of 25/25) I am now paying $15 more per month with no contract. I inquired about upgrading to the 50/25 tier, and was told that because their pricing has changed again I would either pay $25 more per month or $10 more per month on a 2-year contract for what is a one-tier upgrade on part of a triple-play bundle. They are also adding $11 in phantom fees to my monthly bill on top of tax, all of which they have some explanation for. I am generally pleased with the channels, DVR unit, network speed, Android apps, and picture quality of the service. The installation was a total debacle due to the strike, and I understand that was an unusual circumstance but their handling of the situation during the strike was inexcusable. Comcast would have been $25 more per month for slower Internet speeds and fewer bells and whistles. Price is for no contract but a 2-year price lock. member for 23.3 years, 5333 visits, last login: 3 years ago updated 10.9 years ago
I've deleted my old review back from 2010-2011 to provide an updated one for 2013. I used to only have good things to say about FiOS and my only complaint was their customer service. Starting late 2012 I began to notice many problems with the service and I'm beginning to think they are over subscribed in certain areas. A quick look at the Verizon FiOS forums and you will start to find a pattern of problems across different states. Since late 2012 I have now experienced the following as I get closer to peak times (afternoon/night): packet loss, increased latency, inconsistent speed tests, & poor upload speeds. I have ruled out the router and I don't believe swapping the "ONT" will help. I even bypassed the router at one point and went straight Ethernet from the ONT to a workstation. 75/35 package. member for 23.4 years, 458 visits, last login: 21 days ago updated 10.9 years ago
3-15-2013 Update: Verizon service in 2013 has really gone downhill. Over the past two months, I've had a plethora of problems, including massive internet slowdowns (downstream speeds were crawling at 3 Mbps), connection reliability issues, and high pings during peak hours. These issues were practically non-existent in 2012. To make matters worse, the tech support has been abysmal as best. They insist on having me do 1 hour of "troubleshooting", including resetting the router, etc, before they'll even look at my issue. It's like they only know how to read through a script. I'm lowering my review given the VERY poor service I have received from Verizon in the past 2 months. ----- My original review below for reference ---- I've had FiOS since December 2010, when I switched over from Time Warner. Initially, Verizon offered me FiOS for $55 per month for the first year, including DVR, Fios HD Extreme and 15/5 internet. This was by FAR cheaper than any of Verizon's competitors, so I jumped on the offer. The main difference I noticed with FiOS vs. Time Warner was in: 1) Speed 2) Reliability 3) Latency 4) Service (tech and customer service line) 1) Speeds - The speeds are great, and faster than promised. I was initially getting 20/5 (vs. the 15/5 I paid for), but about a year ago, Verizon bumped that up to 24/5. This was MUCH better than what I had been getting at Time Warner, and the speeds were very consistent, which I didn't get with TWC. 2) Reliability - One of the biggest change I noticed from FiOS was the highly reliable internet speeds I received. Time Warner often went down late at night (usually around midnight) for some odd reason, and during peak hours, the service often slowed to a crawl. I'm guessing this has to do with the nature of copper and the software updates TWC needed to do on the head end. With FiOS, downtime became a thing of the past (mostly), although to be fair, it does go down on occasion, but only once in a blue moon. 3) Latency - My CO is two blocks away, and my pings to the first Verizon hop is around 6ms. This is probably due to my router being connected via MoCA vs. Ethernet, but either way, it's much better than the latency I got with TWC. My SpeedTest ping is around 10ms. With TWC, this would be around 20-30ms. Big difference a little fiber makes. That said, Verizon has become more popular in NYC, and my ping times are starting to increase and jump around. This is most noticeable during holidays, when most Manhattanites leave the city. My pings get as low as 7 ms around then, which implies some congestion issues going on. Hopefully Verizon fixes this soon. 4) Service - For me, this was the big clincher. First, let me start by juxtaposing my experience with Time Warner. Service with Time Warner was absolutely HORRIBLE. I dreaded calling their customer service line, as getting ahold of their customer service rep took at least 40 minutes, and I felt the reps gave very little care/attention into any of my questions or issues. When I called to cancel, TWC even claimed I never returned their modem (untrue), and wanted to charge me extra for a modem I had purchased myself. Furthermore, the field techs at TWC are all outsourced contractors who cared little about doing the job right and more about running to the next job. It was exactly how a business should NOT be run. Verizon, on the other hand, was a 180 degree experience. I almost ALWAYS have received great service from their reps, and am rarely on hold for very long when I do have issues. In addition, the installers are all Verizon employees, and most have been with the company for a while (union workers) and do a MUCH better job with installs and follow-through. That said, I think some Verizon techs could work more efficiently and faster (my first install took a whole day, when i could've done it myself within 3 hours). I guess that's the curse of the unions, but at least they do a better job than the temps at Time Warner. Cons: Installation lead time - Since Verizon is a unionized company, installation may take a few weeks or more, and this is assuming all the fiber is already hooked to your premises. I live in a Manhattan apartment, so there's no trenching involved (buildings are wired with FiOS to each floor), but suburban homes are another story. To top things off, the Verizon union guys take their sweet time with installs (read above), and while they're usually very thorough, most of the cable competitors hire contractors that promise to install within two days. My FiOS installation took a 3 week lead time, which is on the border of being way too long. Conclusion: All said, I'm very happy with the service I've received from Verizon. I do have grips about the high cost, however. The naked internet starts at around $75/month, which is the SAME as internet / TV combo. Plus, Verizon's DVR is a whopping $17 a MONTH! Highway robbery, IMO. Given Verizon's rising prices, I'm tempted to try RCN, which is offering 50/5 internet for $35 / month, and TV/Internet TiVo combo for $90. I like FiOS, but money is money, and by switching Verizon may get the hint that competition does exist. But I'm afraid RCN's customer service may be as poor as Time Warner's, and I may be back in Verizon's camp before long. But at least then, I'll be treated as a new customer by Verizon, and might score some nice promotions Verizon throws at new customers to encourage them to switch, like the $55/month DVR/Internet combo package I received when I first signed up. Equipment: Verizon Actiontec F series router, Motorola QIP7232 HD DVR member for 14.8 years, 621 visits, last login: 17 days ago updated 11 years ago
Hi, first review ever, please edit if I screw it up. Overview: I had Comcast, but was hitting their data cap due to Steam downloads, Netflix, Hulu, Youtube and online gaming. I have a good 200-300 games in my library, ranging from 1gig to 35gigs.. I *loved* Comcast's pings and consistent connections for online gaming, surfing and movie watching, and probably wouldn't have switched, but the cap just killed it. So I picked up a Triple Play FIOS 35/35 package with Ultimate+premium channels and phone. I'm now paying about $25/mo more than CC, have slightly higher speeds and no cap, but slower pings. The good: The order process wasn't bad. I picked what I wanted on their website and set a date/time to do the install. Install took 3-4 hours tops and went smooth as far as I could tell. The installer was very polite too, if that matters. My FIOS download speeds were consistent (*see update below). Every speed test was at least 34-35mbps, so that was nice. And I love not having to worry about downloading 160gigs of games from Steam and/or watching too many movies in one month. The bad: Sadly, my FIOS pings went up right away, but were at least stable (*at the time anyway, see below for update). Comcast was giving me 17-32ms pings to my fav game servers, but they jumped to 30-70ms after the switch to FIOS. It was tolerable but made me a bit sad and affected my play a little. The update: The last few months (2 maybe?), things have changed in a few bad ways: - Pings are completely unpredictable. They vary wildly and I lose connection to game servers many times a day and have to re-connect, crossing my fingers that it loads the map and doesn't disconnect or hang, etc. It's actually pretty terrible. - Websites are timing out constantly. Sometimes it gets halfway through loading a page and stops, forcing a refresh or four until it loads (but when it does load, it loads FAST, so I don't understand it at all.) - I'm getting a LOT more buffering and freezing on Hulu and Youtube, sometimes requiring full-page refreshes. They were amazing before and part of the reason I took the leap to 35/35 in the first place (I got tired of 'buffering' messages with CC). So here I am, trying to research and make sense of all this stuff and hopefully diagnose my own problem. (Past calls to other companies usually wastes time and never fixes anything.) I also just renewed my 2yr with Verizon and got the 150mbps/(something?) package *hoping* it fixes my ping and timeout problems. If it doesn't, I'll be one sad camper out $220/month. I hope I did this right and covered everything you asked for. I don't really know what brands/models i got. The cable box is black and has the code "QIP 7232 2" on the front and the router has the code "MI424WR". member for 11 years, 9 visits, last login: 10.7 years ago lodged 11 years ago
When I first moved in a particular channel was not working at all, tech support and technicians were convinced that there was nothing they could do since the other channels were working. After getting a new technician to visit, he was finally able to get it working by swapping a cable in the basement. We still have lots of problems with the video quality. Some channels never come through and often times there is a black out or sound cuts out for a second or two at a time. I graded the pre-sales information worst because according to the site the internet speeds for my address were severely misrepresented. Only until I was about to checkout it tells me my address wasn't qualified for their fastest speeds and I was stuck with 20/4 Mbps for the same price instead of 50/25. Granted, I often get slightly faster than 20/4 and the internet connection has been reliable despite problems with the video feed. It wasn't until the technician first came to setup that I figured out it was because in my apartment building, they have to run VDSL modems and run the internet over Cat3. I feel like if they're going to use VDSL with such abysmal speeds, I should be paying significantly less for not actually having "FiOS". I got a discount on my bill but it's still not really in the price range I feel is fair and my internet speeds are reminiscent of over 5 years ago instead of cutting edge. Edit: After 1.5 years of "FiOS" I have canceled. Switching to Comcast to see if they can offer something better. My internet speeds will be at least double in both directions because it will run over the coax instead of a Cat3 phone line. member for 21.8 years, 1351 visits, last login: 7 years ago updated 11.1 years ago
Basically from day one my connection has had horrible latency. I have called tech support, posted in the vz direct forums over 94 times trying to get them to fix the lag issues. Basically vz ignores me now. I have sent them phyisical documented proof that the lag is coming from their network and they still refuse to admit it or try and fix it. There are tons of posts in the forums about it yet they still burry their heads in the sand. As long as your internet works they wont help you. This has been going on for 3+ years. member for 13.5 years, 215 visits, last login: 10.9 years ago lodged 11.1 years ago
Trying to resolve the issue with Verizon is slow and like fist fighting a ghost. Coax line they added was cut most of the 100' length and support never saw that when complaining about issues either. Idiot pulled it across sharp metel lathe where he drilled then laid it on top of a bunch of AC wire runs. Ran new line myself instead of dealing with hassle. Still have lagging, freezing, they are sending a new Westell router a90-9100em15-10 to see if it resolves the issue. Thinking now maybe I should have just got FIOS internet from them instead of bundle. Maybe its to much for router. 2 DVR, 2 settop boxes, phone all share router from what I see and understand. member for 11.5 years, 35 visits, last login: 6.7 years ago lodged 11.1 years ago
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