Thought I was going to laugh up a lung when I heard this line on a radio ad: "Verizon FiOS TV: So real it's like being at the game."
Yes, it's like being at the game on the wrong day. Or when you're sitting behind a pole that's flanked by two fat guys wearing cowboy hats.
What I'm trying to say here in a roundabout way is that Verizon's FiOS TV stinks.
You want more specifics? ... Fine, it really, really stinks.
As in at least four significant service outages between March 17 and May 12... and I say "at least" because, well, not only are our TVs not on 24/7 (it just seems that way) but we didn't start taking note of the chronic nature of the outages until they began to stick out like a broken television set. An outage or two may have vaporized from the memory bank before the pattern became annoying enough to register.
But the one on March 17 sure as heck was memorable because it prevented me from watching my favorite college basketball team, Boston College, play Georgetown in what turned out to be a fabulous game despite being a BC loss. They say you're not supposed to go to bed mad? I went to bed mad ... and without TV.
On April 11 the object of my sports anticipation was a pitching match-up between Daisuke Matsuzaka of the Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners phenom Felix Hernandez. When I got home from work the kids were watching a DVD ... and I didn't have to ask why. (This time service was restored just before the game.)
Three Saturdays ago I awoke to a parental nightmare: no TV, meaning no Saturday morning cartoons (now factor in that we have 5-year-old triplets). I know that a better father would have seized the opportunity to teach the kids calculus or the violin, but my parenting skills are not the issue here.
The fourth outage doesn't have a date attached because, well, we're talking about real life and we weren't taking notes. My wife remembers this one clearly, though, because it happened on her day watch and included a special two-for-one bonus: The phone was out as well as the TV.
In most if not all of these cases we dutifully called the Verizon service line and spoke with polite individuals who informed us that the problem was not in our set, or peculiar to our neighborhood or community. In fact, we were told each time that the outage was regional in nature (if you live in one of the 42 FiOS-enabled Massachusetts communities, perhaps you feel our pain ... if so, please drop a comment here or e-mail me at buzz@nww.com.)
So what does Verizon have to say for itself? I asked the company's public relations department. They asked for details about the outages. I provided the details. They said they "appreciated the chance to respond." I waited a few days as a courtesy ... all for this:
"Again, thank you for contacting us, but rather than giving you a statement for your blog, we'll respond to it when we see it. If I've misunderstood - and this is a news story rather than a blog - please let me know."
Dissing the blog: Now that's just adding insult to injury.
A final note: A day or two after the March 17 outage I received a call from a Verizon representative who apologized profusely for the inconvenience and said the company would be sending us a gift certificate from a national retail chain as compensation. I recall being genuinely impressed by both the gesture and the attempt at restitution.
Ten weeks later and three more outages later, we're still waiting for the gift certificate. I'm no longer impressed.
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No Fios Internet Outages
I don't have Fios TV (I kept DirecTV), but I do have Fios Internet here on Long Island. I was one of the first to get Fios and it has been very reliable (no outages since I got it last year). The reliability has been better than Optimum Online (cablevision). I highly recommend Fios Internet.
It's possible the outages you experienced with Fios TV was confined to your area. Is this a systemic problem? Anyone else have problems with Fios TV?
Upstate NY
I was one of the first beta testers for FiOS in Upstate NY back in spring of 2005.
Before that I had Time Warner Cable with roadrunner since 2001.
I had RR outages roughly once every three months, and have never had trouble with fios. It looks like there is an issue in your area, as I have been extremely satisfied with their service. Unfortunately there is still no FiOS TV in upstate NY, so I can not comment on that, but the phones and internet work much more reliably than the cable company.
I'm watching FiOS skeptically
I live in an area of Southern California that has Verizon FiOS service, but I'm watching it very skeptically. I was a Comcast subscriber and got switched to Time Warner and lived through that pain (and got a free year of Showtime for my patience). I'm not willing to go through it again if Verizon starts choking, although neighbors who have it are pretty happy with it.
I still think that Verizon is going to treat FiOS customers like phone companies always do: "We are the phone company and know best. Take it or leave it."
The greatest thing about living in a FiOS area is getting the mailers from Verizon then calling Time Warner and asking them to match or beat the price. They always do.
Dave
Funny, Comcast use to
Funny, Comcast use to respect their customers. They no longer honor competitors price, and they do it with attitude.
I have had FiOS Internet for about 9 months now and love it (except for some billing issues). FiOS TV is in the area, but not to my home yet. Come on baby, Daddy needs to drop Comcast like a sack of bricks from a 100 story building.
WonderingAimlessly
- Downingtown, Pa
Where's FIOS???
It's been almost two years since Verizon's subcontractors pulled fiber through our Northern VA neighborhood (and in the process, disrupted Cox CATV and internet service, tore up people's yards and driveways, etc.), but still no FIOS. You'd think that they would be a little more aggressive about rolling out service.
Where's FiOS
Please go to www.verizon.com/virginia and provide your address along with your question. The appropriate local team Virgnia team will get the email look the address up and determine when the service will be made available for your address.
FIOS in NoVA
I was the first adopter in my neighborhood, I badgered Verizon about it for 3 months, and have been VERY pleased with it.
It does have a bad habit of needing a reboot to the box every once in a while (only my HD DVR for some reason) and I have experienced some hiccups with the VOD and pausing, also fixed by a reboot, but the internet is FAST and more importantly CONSISTENT. I had Cox, and it was interrupted FAR more often than my FIOS has been. Plus Verizon has a LOT more HD channels, they have close to 60 in the tier, even if only 20-30 or so consistently provide HD content.
My biggest issue with them has been billing. I switched to Vonage ($60+ for Ver phone, $18- for Vonage) and they have MAJOR problems with billing folks who don't have phone service through them, as they want to append the FIOS charges to your phone bill. Of course tehir customer servie agents are always pleasant and helpful, it's the structure of their business that is broken.
The service? Incomparable at this time, the billing? Same, just in a bad way.
FiOS TV in So Cal
I've had FiOS Internet and TV in my home for about 6 weeks, after I was so incensed by the rudeness of Time Warner's customer service people that I demanded they come get their equipment out of my house.
I did have one 10 minute outtage but our neighbor was being installed at the time and I attributed that to the fact that there were 3 Verizon trucks in the neighborhood and technicians all over the place.
The internet service is blazing. I notice this most prominently when downloading music from iTunes. Four songs can download simultaneously in less than 30 seconds. Also, when I'm uploading content to my office via VPN.
The TV signal is clear and the HD channels look great. The only complaint that I have is that the multi-room DVR doesn't support HD content yet. Otherwise, we're very, very, very happy with it.
FIOS
1st let me start by stating I am bias for Verizon FIOS. Seeing that I work for Verizon and deal with the FIOS product frequently, I can tell you that Verizon as a company and I as an employee care about what people are saying and what they think about our FIOS TV or Internet product. I actually found out about your Blog report from a daily internal company email that usually carries Print stories from across the nation pertaining to the Telecom industry. I actually search the WWW when I am bored and like to hear what customers are saying. Unfortantly, I do not have the power to promise that no one including yourself with have to deal with outages or the unfulfeld promises of service. However, I do hope that your service through our company does improve and that you will be able to update this Blog with a more favorable outlook for Verizon. What a lovely outlet of information the WWW has become.
verizon fios yea right
I like this, a guy who works for verizon pimping his company. I used to work for verizon too and I thought they cared about the customers as well. It was called Americast instead of FIOS. It had it all, a great network capable of providing all the services that fios is offering High speed internet and digital cable. Everything was great and then one day Verizon decided that they were not interested in doing video anymore. And proceded to sell all the Americast systems for a nickle on the dollar to Adelphia. And Of course we all lost our jobs. Hope you dont have blind faith in Verizon the only thing Verizon cares about are its share holders customers come last right after employees. good luck! By the way once VERIZON GETS RID OF YOU. They will rarely rehire you again so enjoy those union wages while they last.