Verizon Fios Frustration

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

I personally have not experienced a Verizon FIOS installation nor have a viewed or been able to test out the service. However, I do know it is a very sought after product and is gaining a ton of popularity.

Here is a Verizon FIOS Review I found on a popular website.



Has any one else been extremely frustrated with the installation of their Verizon FIOS service?

On Wednesday, a technician came to our apartment to install the bundled service (phone, internet, and tv). Later that night, when my husband and I tried to watch a move on demand, we saw that every 15 seconds or so, the audio and video would pause and pixel, rendering any possibility of making it through the movie impossible. On Thursday, I called the Technical Help Desk. We tried multiple troubleshooting options, but to no avail. So, I scheduled to have a technician come onsite Saturday, today, between 2 and 6. I should mention that yesterday, we had no internet service because "a local server" went down, so we've yet to experience fully functioning Verizon FIOS service.

Today, I stayed home at my apartment during the appointment window (2pm-6pm). However, no one showed up. I did see a Verizon FIOS van in our complex earlier this morning, but this person worked at another building before leaving. At 6:15, I called to ask if anyone was planning on showing up. The gentleman on the phone said , "Oh yeah, we're not going to make it out there today." I asked if they were ever planning on calling me to tell me that. My only option, I was told, was to reschedule another appointment. Tomorrow was available between 1pm and 5pm. I took it, but asked if I could be put on some type of priority list, or if I could be scheduled earlier rather than later in the day, given the circumstances. I was told, not only are those not options, but they couldn't guarantee that an appointment would happen tomorrow - that there's a possibility they might not show up tomorrow either. After a discussion about "what's the point of scheduling an appointment then?", I asked to speak to a supervisor, as the nice, albeit powerless, gentleman on the phone had helped me as much as he could.

I waited on hold for a supervisor for 10 minutes. Then the same gentleman came back and asked if I'd like to have the supervisor call me, as they were all busy at the moment. I agreed that would be best. 90 minutes later, sill no call from the supervisor. So, at this point I've devoted 5.5 hours today to Verizon. (Did I mention I'm a Verizon Business employee as well?? I give them enough of my time during the work week!).

So 90 minutes later, I call back. I wait on hold for another 5 minutes and finally speak to Paul, a floor supervisor, who tells me he is not a customer service rep, but a technical rep. He informed me that according to his notes, someone did show up at 4:15. I told him I never received a phone call or a knock on my door. He said he couldn't explain that. Adding insult to injury, he explained that the appointment window tomorrow would actually be 8am to 5pm, not 1pm - 5pm, but he would try to put in a later afternoon request. He also said that there was no guarantee that someone would actually show up tomorrow either.

So the point of all this is, if anyone is actually reading at this point, that switching to FOIS has been nothing but a nightmare. Although the picture quality is fantastic, if you have one problem, good luck getting anyone to help you. I wish someone had warned me before I switched over. I would have stayed with Cox! Though they aren't as flashy, they were always helpful and courteous.

If anyone else has a similar horror story, I would love to hear it, and feel a bond of Verizon FIOA frustration.