TheHelpful1
Premium
join:2002-01-11
Upper Marlboro, MD
| [OT] Hello all - Has Verizon gone Clairvoyant?
Hello all. For those who remember me (it's been a while since I've posted) "Sparky" (me and my earthlink gear) has been trouble free for some time now (knock on wood).
Anyhow, an interesting number of incidents happened today with Verizon trying to be a bully and thinking I'm uninitiated in there shady dealings. First I received a telephone-call from verizon saying someone at my house requested the FiOS upgrade for my telephone service and that a technician would be dispatched shortly. I told the guy, wrong number, I ordered no such thing - and i thought that would be the end of it. After all, it is my understanding that if Verizon rips out me copper, they also rip out me covad DSL and other goodies, essentially locking me in to their bundled garbage.
I run off to the store to pick up a few things, and while I'm gone, verizon called again and me Mum got the phone and he told her that the upgrade tech would be arriving shortly. She again told him, wrong number, wrong house, nothing is getting upgraded. No sooner she hung up, the Verizon van is in the yard, technician out and walking towards our NID box.
Oh, right. I forgot to mention the NID box is basically in our backyard with two Dobermans.  Them aside, apparently me Mum gave him hell and he left without touching a thing.
Exactly what is Verizon trying to pull here? Forcing FiOS upgrades on unsuspecting customers who don't know the darker side of the change? I'm quite happy with my Earthlink DSL via Covad. For all that I went through to finally get 3.0 service (which is a feat considering I'm at the border of 10K feet). In actuality, i use my Vonage service more than I use my land line.
I flagged this as off-topic, since it mainly focuses on Verizon's dealings, but I AM an earthlink customer, So I post here instead of the Verizon forum.
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"My weakness is that I care too much" |
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sashwa
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| Only could happen to you. 
Nice to see you again, TheHelpful1  ! Me thinks you have a dark cloud hanging over your head. |
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TheHelpful1
Premium
join:2002-01-11
Upper Marlboro, MD | reply to TheHelpful1
It's odd that the majority of my internet problems seem to occur in the summer...
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"My weakness is that I care too much" |
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Doctor Olds
I Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.
Premium,VIP
join:2001-04-19
1970 442 W30
clubs: | reply to TheHelpful1
That's a very strange tale. It sounds like it's time to load up the handy 12 Gauge with rock salt. 
Regards,
Doctor Olds |
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Bill_MI
Bill In Michigan
Premium,MVM
join:2001-01-03
Royal Oak, MI | reply to TheHelpful1
Hey Guy! Good to see you - Got any pictures of your NIDs? Wanna buy some? |
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vinnie97
join:2003-12-05
Mesquite, TX | reply to TheHelpful1
I can only envy such a Verizon encounter.  |
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TheHelpful1
Premium
join:2002-01-11
Upper Marlboro, MD
1 edit | I wish I had not have taken the long way home that day. Would have enjoyed the show too. It's just that on a nice sunny day, the twisties can be calling for my AWD car
Anyhow, I don't think this will be the end of it. Given my past with teleco outtages, I think Verizon may have some sinister things up their sleeve to get at me NID box.
Bill_MI, I'll keep that offer in mind if something "mysterious" happens to the NID box on the side of my hill (where the ariel wires go to then underground to the one on my house). THAT box I can't safe guard other than the fact that I have a driveway alert probe that tells me if any vehicles approach. Oh, and the night vision camera in the same general area.
Opposers call me paranoid, supporters call me cautious
Doc, Rock Salt? Come on now, you know with the verizon folk it *takes* a super soaker with holy water
Edit: Spelling goof. |
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Doctor Olds
I Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.
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join:2001-04-19
1970 442 W30
clubs:
| said by TheHelpful1 :Doc, Rock Salt? Come on now, you know with the verizon folk it *takes* a super soaker with holy water   They have to be ghosted at the right time.
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What’s the point of owning a supercar if you can’t scare yourself stupid from time to time? |
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TheHelpful1
Premium
join:2002-01-11
Upper Marlboro, MD
| Update: I guess no news is good news, so far no more pop/drop in's from verizon.
I've got my holy salt water just in case though
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"My weakness is that I care too much" |
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TheHelpful1
Premium
join:2002-01-11
Upper Marlboro, MD
| Update:
Found something better than holy salt water - hot-tempered uncle
Verizon has been calling for the past several days and a the few times i answered it, it was nothing more than an automated message touting the benefits of Verizon FIOS over dsl and cable. So they rang again today but this time my uncle got the phone at the same time i did, so i sat and listened. I can imagine the sales rep felt like he accidentally pulled a pin on a grenade and couldn't get it back in - just picture that for a moment and imagine the frantic scramble being equivalent to how hard this guy was trying to hang up politely. By the way, my uncle is one of those guys who calls into Imus(SP?) and Rush limbaugh(sp?) and brings a big soapbox with him.
My uncle laid into him of how comcast refused to install cable TV and verizon's own techs refused to install a second and third line to my house (way back in the day) because it would require tunnelling underground over 300' from the main road. To make a long story short, the sales rep got snowballed into how if Verizon is willing to chew up, lay the wire and then repave our entire driveway, we are up for the Fios upgrade.
Much like the recent Mr. Ferrari not being able to get a word in when the AOL sales guy wouldn't cancel his account, this verizon sales rep couldn't get much of a word in because my uncle kept going on like the energizer bunny.
I think this concludes Verizon's attempt to bully us into upgrading to FiOS. Unless they tamper in the CO and manufacture some reason that we need to pay for the upgrade to continue service - but as unlikely as that is, we are talking about verizon here so one never knows.
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"My weakness is that I care too much" |
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vinnie97
join:2003-12-05
Mesquite, TX | I'm not sure I've ever witnessed anyone so vehemently opposed to FIOS...I have to question their sanity.  |
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Doctor Olds
I Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.
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join:2001-04-19
1970 442 W30
clubs:
| said by vinnie97 :I'm not sure I've ever witnessed anyone so vehemently opposed to FIOS...I have to question their sanity. It's not a case of being against or opposed to FIOS. It's a case of what in the hell is Verizon doing on his private wooded property hundreds to thousands of feet away from the right of way. Plus they are there without anyone having called for them to come out for FIOS and without calling him requesting access to his acreage. That's what the deal is about.
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What’s the point of owning a supercar if you can’t scare yourself stupid from time to time? |
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Bill_MI
Bill In Michigan
Premium,MVM
join:2001-01-03
Royal Oak, MI
·Comcast
| reply to vinnie97
Add to that how no copper = no DSL from Covad. Not to mention restoring copper service may NOT even be possible.
Since the phone company's cut-throat strong-arm shenanigans are now almost ancient history there is extremely strong evidence it is becoming current history - again. The cycle rotates.
But my mother taught me "If you can't say anything nice about someone, say nothing." So...  |
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dbarber
join:2000-07-25
West Chester, PA
| said by Bill_MI :Add to that how no copper = no DSL from Covad. Not to mention restoring copper service may NOT even be possible. Everything that I have seen and read says that there is NO going back once the copper is removed for fiber. If you sell your home, the new buyer had BETTER like fiber (and Verizscum), cuz they are stuck with it.
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These opinions are strictly my own. However, if you really want them, we can negotiate. |
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TheHelpful1
Premium
join:2002-01-11
Upper Marlboro, MD
| said by dbarber :Everything that I have seen and read says that there is NO going back once the copper is removed for fiber. If you sell your home, the new buyer had BETTER like fiber (and Verizscum), cuz they are stuck with it. Hence why I am telling them no way in hell am I upgrading to FIOS just to downgrade to verizon, not that I'm planning to ever sell (3rd generation owner baby!)
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"My weakness is that I care too much" |
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BOGBS
Premium
join:2004-05-11
Saco, ME
·RoadRunner Cable
1 edit | reply to vinnie97
With FIOS, it's seeming that VZ also wants to lessen the CLEC's chances of providing service by removing copper. I'm suprised that there hasn't been much uproar about that. And if there was, I don't read into the right areas. Having Verizon remove your copper definitely puts a damper on linesharing, and other CLEC uses to deliver to a potential customer. I would definitely be opposed to removal of copper in an area that can actually be served by DSL. I'm at 21,000+ on copper, I can't get DSL, and Fiber is just a dream, since I'm in Maine to top it off. I'm stuck with very slow DSL, Cable, or Satellite.
Basically, removing copper is another way to stiffle Verizon's competition that is allowed to utilize their copper/other factilities. Don't get me wrong, I like Verizon, and work closely with their field techs, but once you get up there in the company, things change.
Yeah, I basically just said what has already been said, oops. Ahh well |
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Heterman
Premium
join:2004-02-28
Fayetteville, AR
| reply to TheHelpful1
I wonder could you not possibly maybe "disconnect" the copper somewhere. I mean, you could do that, sign a contract and I wouldn't see any problem VZ would have if you "promised" to use their fiber for a certain time period. But ripping up the copper? That's a little extreme.
Disconnecting I could deal with, like if they took your NID or the other one you talked about. Leave the copper in the ground. It doesn't make much cents (pun intended) for them to spend the time doing that.
(Kinda like cell phone companies selling phones "locked" to their networks at a cheap price. After you do so much business with them, and pay for the phone pretty much, it can usually be unlocked.)
However, if I was faced with a decision involving fiber I might have a whole different outlook. I am just thinking aloud in your case, I'll probably never get more fiber in my diet.  |
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Doctor Olds
I Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.
Premium,VIP
join:2001-04-19
1970 442 W30
clubs: | reply to TheHelpful1
»I Want My Copper
You are famous now. |
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ITALIAN926
join:2003-08-16
Stratford, CT
2 edits | reply to TheHelpful1
I Love how someone calls FiOS.. GARBAGE. In a comparison, Garbage is the junk you currently use. A DSL service STILL provided and maintained by Verizon.. ALL you have is an essential middleman.
quote:
Basically, removing copper is another way to stiffle Verizon's competition that is allowed to utilize their copper/other factilities. Don't get me wrong, I like Verizon, and work closely with their field techs, but once you get up there in the company, things change.
Dont any of you people understand that Verizon makes money off of CLECS? Dont you understand that Verizon has just started to REPLACE their copper network for a fiber one? One by one, people will be converted to fiber.. eventually it will be forced upon them. If they dont like it, tough. Go get a cellphone or VoIP. Get used to a life without copper because its well on it way. Within 20 years ( at least within the Verizon footprint) we should all be copper - free. |
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Doctor Olds
I Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.
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join:2001-04-19
1970 442 W30
clubs:
| said by ITALIAN926 :Dont any of you people understand that Verizon makes money off of CLECS? Dont you understand that Verizon has just started to REPLACE their copper network for a fiber one? One by one, people will be converted to fiber.. eventually it will be forced upon them. If they dont like it, tough. Go get a cellphone or VoIP. Get used to a life without copper because its well on it way. Within 20 years ( at least within the Verizon footprint) we should all be copper - free. LOL
»www.newnetworks.com/fioslightspeed.htm
Verizon was supposed to spend $15.6 billion on 17.7 million fiber optic upgraded households by 2000.
»www.newnetworks.com/SBCVerizonmergers.htm
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What’s the point of owning a supercar if you can’t scare yourself stupid from time to time? |
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