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to socialworker
Re: [Optimum Voice] Verizon land line vs optimum voiceI am sorry so many people here had issues with their Verizon service. $85 seems excessive. In my home we stick with a Verizon landline because to us its the most dependable one.
Cellphones failed for many during Hurricane Sandy, so much so that carriers had to share networks in an unconventional way. Not to mention when something happens cellular networks get slam. I recall in certain areas they could only receive calls and not make them.
If the op goes with basic phone it should not be anywhere near $85. Basic should be less than $20.
Cablevision's phone service Optimum Voice has many more points of failure than traditional phone service.
Consider what works best for you in non-ideal situations. |
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» www.huffingtonpost.com/2 ··· 664.html" Yet the flooding caused by Sandy destroyed 95 percent of Verizon's landline network in lower Manhattan, and the company is still working to replace its aging copper phone lines, which were badly damaged, with new fiber-optic cables that it says will provide faster Internet service and be more resilient to future floods. Time Warner Cable already offers digital phone and Internet service via fiber-optic cables and sustained less damage during the storm." |
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to dudeman456
said by dudeman456:I am sorry so many people here had issues with their Verizon service. $85 seems excessive. In my home we stick with a Verizon landline because to us its the most dependable one.
Cellphones failed for many during Hurricane Sandy, so much so that carriers had to share networks in an unconventional way. Not to mention when something happens cellular networks get slam. I recall in certain areas they could only receive calls and not make them.
If the op goes with basic phone it should not be anywhere near $85. Basic should be less than $20.
Cablevision's phone service Optimum Voice has many more points of failure than traditional phone service.
Consider what works best for you in non-ideal situations. Perhaps the OP should reevaluate his/her existing Verizon landline bill. Perhaps there are features and/or packages that are no longer needed. There are definitely at least a couple "non-basic" charges on that bill. No way a straight line-in with limited local will bill that much per month. As far as basic being less than $20, yes that is technically correct. But once all the surcharges and taxes are factored in, the basic bill is closer to $30 per month. |
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said by SirQAM :As far as (Verizon) basic being less than $20, yes that is technically correct. But once all the surcharges and taxes are factored in, the basic bill is closer to $30 per month. Right. That's why I can't figure out how the OP is paying $85 for Verizon. Even adding on voicemail and caller ID and some type of calling plan, it shouldn't be $85. And I was a longtime customer. The OP should not hesitate to go to OV. Millions of people use OV. It's actually quite a conservative choice. A little bit more on the wild side, many people use 3rd party VoIP providers such as Vonage, Basic Talk (a Vonage brand), Voipo, and CallCentric. I gave up Verizon at home and at work long ago. I do have an OV line but mainly use 3rd party BYOD VoIP providers especially CallCentric. |
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I just checked the bill and I'm paying 57.00 in voice package which includes unlimited nationwide calling, plus calling waiting and caller ID. On top of that I'm paying 20.00 in taxes. It appears I'm getting taken to the cleaners.
Voice Federal Excise Tax.30 NY State and Local Sales Tax6.10 NY State and Local Sales Tax.16 911 Surcharge1.00 Federal Universal Service Fee1.02 NY State and Local Tax Surcharges.56 Federal Universal Service Fee2.47 Federal Subscriber Line Charge6.34 NY State and Local Tax Surcharges1.56 NY State and Local Tax Surcharges.20 NY State and Local Tax Surcharges1.11 Federal Universal Service Fee.23 NY State Gross Revenue Tax Surcharge.04 MCTD Gross Revenue Tax Surcharge.01 Carrier Cost Recovery Charge.99 Long Distance Administrative Charge.74 NY Universal Service Fund.05 Total Taxes, Fees & Other Charges 22.88 |
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Booost
Anon
2013-Nov-17 6:24 am
I don't have any long distance calling on my POTS line. Only local calling. I use my cell phone for all toll / long distance calls. |
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to socialworker
said by socialworker: It appears I'm getting taken to the cleaners. Yes. Don't you think it is time to do something about it? ----- This is why OptimumVoice has acquired millions of customers (literally) from Verizon landline. Verizon does NOT want your business anyway. Here is public proof from the NY Times: Roll over in your grave, Alexander Graham Bell.
That was in effect what Ivan Seidenberg, the chief executive of Verizon Communications - one of the largest descendants of the old Bell System declared this morning.
Speaking to a Goldman Sachs investor conference, Mr. Seidenberg said Verizon was simply no longer concerned with telephones that are connected with wires.... » bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2 ··· ss/?_r=0 |
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"Mr. Seidenberg said Verizon was simply no longer concerned with telephones that are connected with wires...."
Got that impression too. I can recall two week stretches when the Verizon line was down. Also, they gave up our number to MJ within just a few days. A mutual good riddance of sorts. |
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to PX Eliezer1
Thank you! I just requested my landland number to be ported over to cablevision. Thank you for the New York Times link! |
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Booost
Anon
2013-Nov-17 6:54 pm
Cablevision still raping you for $40 for the port? |
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Yup, but to be honest I would rather the one time fee of 40.00 than 80.00 monthly. |
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MxxCon join:1999-11-19 Brooklyn, NY ARRIS TM822 Actiontec MI424WR Rev. I
1 recommendation |
to socialworker
said by socialworker:911 Surcharge1.00 Federal Universal Service Fee1.02 NY State and Local Tax Surcharges.56 Federal Universal Service Fee2.47 Federal Subscriber Line Charge6.34 NY State and Local Tax Surcharges1.56 NY State and Local Tax Surcharges.20 NY State and Local Tax Surcharges1.11 Federal Universal Service Fee.23 NY State Gross Revenue Tax Surcharge.04 MCTD Gross Revenue Tax Surcharge.01 Carrier Cost Recovery Charge.99 Long Distance Administrative Charge.74 NY Universal Service Fund.05 Total Taxes, Fees & Other Charges 22.88 None of these are real taxes. These are fees that VZ decided to charge you on their own. I'm surprised they didn't have "office toilet paper fee" and "burned coffee replacement surcharge" on there. :/ |
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to socialworker
Switching from POTS to OV wouldn't save me any money. And then there's the $40 porting fee imposed by Cablevision, plus the $40 fee for installation even though the tech would do absolutely nothing. $80 for Cablevision to do bupkis. |
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WK2 Premium Member join:2006-12-28 united state |
WK2
Premium Member
2013-Nov-18 9:07 am
Isn't there still an option for self install? |
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said by WK2:Isn't there still an option for self install? If you pick a new phone number. But if you port a number, OV does insist on coming. There are plenty of fine 3rd party VoIP companies (Voipo, CallCentric, BasicTalk, to name a few) and many of them charge nothing for porting. But for the OP who was hesitant to leave Verizon at all, OV seemed a good first step. |
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to Booost
You can get one of the fees waived. Call to cancel the install due to the $80 fees and one will be waived. |
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to Booost
said by Booost :Switching from POTS to OV wouldn't save me any money. And then there's the $40 porting fee imposed by Cablevision, plus the $40 fee for installation even though the tech would do absolutely nothing. $80 for Cablevision to do bupkis. You can get the install requirement waived if you complain enough. I had to talk to a supervisor and basically promise not to touch the verizon wiring. Also had to agree that cable vision would not be responsible if I connected both services together at the same time. I told them I'd be using the service with a stand alone phone plugged directly into the modem to make things easy. Once the number was ported, I unplugged the phone line going to the Verizon ONT and plugged in the CV modem. Ridiculous they charge $40 for that. |
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to WK2
When I first moved to my place I got only OOL/iO since I intended on using my cell phone (pre-paid at the time) but ended up having no signal. A few months later I went to add OV and I did it online. There was an option for "self install" but I wanted to keep my cell phone number so I called them. They had no clue about the self install option online so I sent the CSR a screenshot and he said I cannot do that. I said "So why do you have the option online?" I told them to forget it because I wasn't paying $40 for someone to plug in my phone to the modem. So they waived the installation fee. Then I asked for the triple play discount since I had just gotten OOL/iO a few months prior and they said no, so I again said, "Well, cancel my order". They "asked a manager" and they gave me the discount. I ended up getting a new number anyway. I got an iphone 6 months later. |
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NYSPSC to MxxCon
Anon
2013-Dec-1 3:56 pm
to MxxCon
Just because you dot know what those taxes mean MxxCon doesn't mean they aren't real. |
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MxxCon join:1999-11-19 Brooklyn, NY ARRIS TM822 Actiontec MI424WR Rev. I
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MxxCon
Member
2013-Dec-2 6:06 pm
said by NYSPSC :Just because you dot know what those taxes mean MxxCon doesn't mean they aren't real. I never said taxes were not real. I said SURCHARGES were not real taxes and were not required by government be collected or passed on to the customer. ok then, genius. Educate everybody here and give us specific explanation on what they are. To simplify things, I'll even quote them here for you: 911 Surcharge 1.00 Federal Universal Service Fee 1.02 NY State and Local Tax Surcharges .56 Federal Universal Service Fee 2.47 Federal Subscriber Line Charge 6.34 NY State and Local Tax Surcharges 1.56 NY State and Local Tax Surcharges .20 NY State and Local Tax Surcharges 1.11 Federal Universal Service Fee .23 NY State Gross Revenue Tax Surcharge .04 MCTD Gross Revenue Tax Surcharge .01 Carrier Cost Recovery Charge .99 Long Distance Administrative Charge .74 NY Universal Service Fund .05 Total Taxes, Fees & Other Charges 22.88 I await with bated breath. |
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