Verizon incompetent and unfair (new upgrade!?)

dcblueman

Verizon's business practices are terrible! I live in Long Beach CA where we just got our new and improved (?) IMG. It seems that Verizon is trying to screw everyone into paying more money for essentially the same content.

Yesterday I noticed that ESPN News is now in HD but when I went to the channel, it says I am not subscribed. So I call the geniuses at Verizon and after being cutoff twice (a normal occurrence with their phone system) I am told that the "new" HD only has 14 HD channels and I will have to upgrade to Premier or Extreme.

Today I tried to call billing to verify the “upgrade” and it took me an hour of being cut off three times and put on hold for 30 minutes because they couldn’t locate my account. Finally I was able to verify the upgrade and credit. Now I will have to endure another pro-rated billing cycle.


When I added the "new" channels, the person I was speaking with didn’t even have access to the current program guide. In addition, the program that Verizon sent me in the mail doesn’t say anything about the new “Extreme” or “Premier” packages. If I wasn’t locked into my contract, I would seriously consider quitting and going back to DISH where I never had billing or programming issues related to the provider’s lack of communication or confusion.

If you are thinking of getting FIOS but don’t have a Verizon phone number (i.e. a land line) you may want to reconsider. I have had FIOS internet since January, 2007 and FIOS TV since September, 2007 when they first became available in my area. At that time I dropped the Verizon land line and got the Verizon Voicewing service. Although Verizon owns Voicewing, they don’t recognize my number as a Verizon line. Trying to get to the correct place through the 888-553-1555 number has been nearly impossible and takes a long time because their phone system has numerous bugs and customer service (?) personnel have inadequate training and resources.

Because Verizon does not send information to their customers or train their customer service people, getting a straight answer is almost impossible. Verizon changed my billing in May and it took them three months to explain it to me and straighten it out. Don’t trust them! They are incompetent, unfair, and do not treat their customers well. To call themselves Verizon Communications is an oxymoron. They can’t even communicate with their own employees or customers!

The only reason I endure this torture is because I have an HD TV and have been told that FIOS quality is far better than DISH or DirecTV. At the time I got the HD TV, DISH wanted a huge amount to upgrade to an HD receiver (as did Direct for a new installation).

So how do the other providers compare as far as quality goes? I am willing to switch once my contract is up so that I can switch without paying the exorbitant cancellation fees. By the way, the city franchise is Charter who will never get my business. I’ll go back to OTA before them!

PJL2

It is not really the same "content." Although you may have had the SD channels (for ESPN News, for example), the new HD channels are just that -- new. In an ideal consumer world, they would provide every "new" HD channel for free -- but they are in the business to make money afterall. I have the Pemiere package and now have at least all of the same HD channels I had before (plus a few more) but not all in the Extreme package. (There are a number of threads on this subject; you may want to read them to see the specific differences.) In the end, if you really feel that you've been wronged, you should complain to the City of Long Beach. The Verizon TV franchise is a state-wide franchise, but you can contact the city regarding a complaint via the web link at http://www.longbeach.gov/tsd/cable_t...se_regulation/. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Bob Walters

Folks,
This "Premier" / "Extreme" thing is getting out of hand.....I'm not sure what I'm SUPPOSED to have.....let alone what's been taken away!!!!!! Somehow, THIS forum has to do some research and help each other out!

clearday

I agree with the OP and Bob Walters, and I have long been a big FIOS booster. I still like the picture quality, but their inability to communicate with their customers is getting to the point of ridiculous.

I called their CS a few days ago to find out what was up. I have the Premier level HD tv, phone and internet 5/2, for $99 mo. The guy I spoke with told me that I would be grandfathered into the Premier package but I believe it no longer exists for new people. He said all the new channels they opened up here in N. Texas a few weeks ago I would be keeping and there were a lot of new HD. But they will be offering some more HD, about 12, in a few weeks, the ones showing up now as "not subscribed", and I would not get them.

I would have to upgrade a little and pay more for them and lose my 2 year contract to a one year.

I don't want to pay any more for their stuff, so I'll just keep it the way it is and see what really happens in the next few weeks, months.

It's all mixed up as usual with Verizon, so who knows what will really happen. But I don't want to spend the next two or three months playing with my bill, hoping they get it right, etc., for a few extra HD which I can get on SD anyway.

And a very good overview is here:

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r212...ls-Information


That is my understanding of the situation.

Bob Walters

Folks,
What I'm going to do this weekend is make a list of what I get NOW [I DO have a 2yr contract......1yr to go] from channel 502 & up so we ALL have a place to start!!!!! This will be the NY area...... so if we can get a list from other markets, at least we can begin to figure out where this fiasco is going!

kbaker2002de

I have Verizon Wireless, and their CS is some of the best I have ever worked with.

How far down the totem pole is Verizon.

Now, I had heard nightmares for installs, especially of Television, but they came, installed everything in two hours and everything worked. But when I started seeing this Extreme bundle, I tried to call Verizon to sort out what I had. I called CS and told them what I needed to find out. The rep said she would transfer me to Customer Service, and did so, for Vermont and I am in DE.

The increase does not surprise me too much, Comcast just raises everyone's rates, and both D* and E* have moved to the Teired HD thing. But their Communication needs to improve. Hell you can get messages through the STB.

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robcharlus

What I find surprising is Verizon's confusion documented here and in other threads about the impacts on its customers from the HD upgrade. I am in the Washington, D.C. area, where we have not yet received the second round of additional HD channels, although they are noted as "coming soon" on the PDF channel lineup. I called Verizon several days ago to find out what my options were, and got conflicting answers. The questions being raised are obvious ones, and Verizon should have anticipated them. But many people report having trouble getting answers.

G3DDYL33

I had the Triple Freedom Premier package for $115 a month.
I called and upgraded to the Extreme HD package which also increased
my internet speed from 15/2 to 20/5. This new package is $110 a month. So in effect, I got lots of new HD channels plus a noticeably faster internet and my monthly bill went DOWN. Seems pretty fair to me?

JPL

Yeah, this stuff is confusing, and Verizon didn't do a great job in communicating it. From what I understand, ESPN News HD is not one of the channels available to grandfathered customers in the Premier package. Exactly what is granfathered in, I think, may vary by market. But I'm pretty sure that the last 15 HD channels (those that are rolling out in phase 2 of the HD rollout) will NOT be included in the Premier package for grandfathered customers.

There's a list of what those channels are, but overall it includes the Fox HD channels (FNC HD, Fox Business HD, and F/X HD), as well as the ABC family of HD channels (ABC Family, Disney, Toon Disney, ESPN News HD), and a handful of others (e.g. QVC HD, Bio HD, Travel HD, and a couple more). So, I think, at the very least, if you want any of those 15 channels you HAVE to upgrade to Extreme. Included in that are at least 2 SD channels - RFD and Current. Again, if you're a premier customer and you want those two channels, you need the Extreme pack - they're not even included in the Essentials pack.

As for the rest of the HD channels... well I'm not sure how long you get grandfathered in. I'm guessing until your contract runs out, but I'm not sure. At the end of the day, it's clear that Premier is gone, and only Essentials and Extreme will be available. If you want to see which channels are included with each pack, go to Verizon's website, under the Channel listings. Put in your zip code and you'll see the list - they recently upgraded their website, and the changes they made make it easy to see which package contains which channel.

Oh, and as another change - the Sports pack is history. Those channels are now also rolled into the Extreme pack.

As for pricing, I think they're offering nice bundles. I was paying $105/month with Premier and 10/2 internet service, and freedom essentials phone. I just rebundled with Extreme, and I'm not getting the HD Extreme TV pack (which includes all those HD channels plus the sports pack channels), 20/5 internet, and the same phone pack, for $110/month. I spend an extra $5/month, but I more than doubled my internet speed (checked the other night - 20.7M down!), and I got a bunch more channels.

TMP

From what I have been told by calling Fios and getting different supervisers for the past few weeks is that it is like JPL said, your grandfather clause includes all the first round of HD channels. All of the following, premier grandfathered customers will get:
550- USA HD
551- TNT HD
552- TBS- Hd
553- FX (HD EXTREME ONLY)
567- UNIVERSAL
568- WGN SUPERSTATION (HD EXTREME ONLY)
569 - HDNET
570- ESPN HD
572- ESPN NEWS (HD EXTREME ONLY)
573- ESPN U
574- ESPN 2 HD
576-579 LOCAL SPORTS HD
583- SPEED HD (HD EXTREME ONLY)
585- BIG TEN NETWORK
588- NFL NETWORK
590- VS GOLF (HD EXTREME ONLY)
591- OUTDOOR CHANNEL (HD EXTREME ONLY)
592- TENNIS HD (HD EXTREME ONLY)
597- WFN (HD EXTREME ONLY)
598- MAV TV (HD EXTREME ONLY)
600- CNN HD
602 CNBC HD
617 FOX BUSINESS HD (HD EXTREME ONLY)
618- FOX NEWS (HD EXTREME ONLY)
619- WEATHER CHANNEL
620- DISCOVERY HD
621- NGEO HD
622- SCIENCE HD
625- SMITHSONIAN HD
628- HISTORY HD
629- BIO HD (EXTREME ONLY)
630- ANIMAL PLANET HD
631- HD THEATER
639- TLC HD
640- LIFETIME
641- LMN
650- QVC (EXTREME ONLY)
664 FOOD HD
665 HGTV HD
668 PLANET GREEN (EXTREME ONLY)
669 WEALTH
670 TRAVEL HD (EXTREME ONLY)
680 SCI- FI HD
681 A&E HD
685 BRAVO HD
699 ABC FAMILY (EXTREME ONLY)
711 PALLADIA
740 HALLMARK MOVIES (EXTREME ONLY)
744 MGM MOVIES (EXTREME ONLY)
746 HDNET
780 DISNEY (EXTREME ONLY)
781 TOON DISNEY (EXTREME ONLY)

Hopefully this clarifies it. I was the first to post on the other thread about this and I have contacted at least 8 reps and 3-4 supervisors. The idea I was told was to phase out the Premier and Sports package and to offer just two basic packages.

1) Essentials- Digital w/ Only local HD
2) Extreme - All channels accept subscriptions like HBO, CINEMAX, STARZ.

I am sure it is a way to get everyone in a 1 year contract so they can jack up the price next year. None of the Reps disagreed with this when I called them out. Hopefully my post was helpful. Because I was livid about the whole thing I talked to them repeatedly and these are the answers I got. Everyone who has premier should be able to upgrade to Extreme free of charge but they MUST ACCEPT a one year deal. You must go on line like you originally did and accept the terms when they E-mail you it. Make sure you respond to the E-mail I was told or your price WILL increase! They said this policy would be effective by late October in ALL markets. Is it fair? No, but in a way they got us.

clearday

I'll bet your price increases $10 when you go to extreme HD, and that they will tell you it's a mistake on your bill and that you will spend the next 6 months calling them every month to fix your bill.

They just say things, backed up by nothing, all the time. Keep an eye on your bills!

DaMeister

I was a Premier subscriber with 20/5 internet and as of this afternoon, all the HD channels are live. I'm in Dallas and prior to today all of the "new" HD channels had the "you are not subscribed" message.

I did call Verizon on Tuesday and was told these channels would be going live this week, but a programming change needs to be made on every account.

I'll be watching my bill, but so far, so good. FWIW a lot of the new HD channels seen to have a lot a content that was not filmed in HD. This is to be expected as all channels eventually go HD and will have huge legacy libraries of older shows.

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digs5446

I upgraded to the Extreme package (new 1-year contract) over the phone last week but I never got one of those "terms and conditions" emails. All I got was a generic survey-type email saying stuff like "thank you for contacting our customer service department...if you have additional questions you can use the following links to visit out website..." etc.

The rep on the phone had told me they would send me an email about my account changes but did not mention anything about having to respond to an email about terms and conditions. I only got that generic email, nothing summarizing the account changes. I called back the next day to make sure my account was upgraded and she confirmed it was, but again nothing about any terms and conditions email. Should I be worried? I really don't feel like calling them back...

Shark2k

If I were you I would call back. I'm going to assume that you upgraded the bundle (might be what you had, but it was a new bundle). Anyway, from what I've read if you do not accept that agreement you will not be charged the bundled price you are expecting.

As for all this being confusing. The updated website nicely shows you what is in the Essentials vs Extreme package. While I admit Verizon poorly communicated this with customers, I don't think it is as bad as everyone is making it out to be. First off, we really need to remember that TV is not something that is essential to live, so if you don't like any of this (and I'm sure you would probably experience stuff like this with the other companies) you can always cancel and go OTA (over that air). I think the most confusing part of this whole thing is knowing who is going to be affected by what. I'm in NNJ and got all the new HD channels when NY did. As far as I can tell from various posts on DSLreports, I don't think I am going to be affected by this for a little while. I actually don't think the ExtremeHD package exists yet for NNJ or NY (might be certain parts of NY).

Basically it comes down to this. At some point everybody (and I'm going to assume NNJ & NY also) is going to need to switch over to either the Essentials or ExtremeHD package. If you want all those HD channels you are going to need to go to the ExtremeHD package and you'll get all current HD channels (once the addition is over). Now, something that you should be aware of is that any new HD additions after this (really depending on the size of the additions) can possibly fall under this same shenanigans. Really, with the amount of HD channels Verizon, did all of you really expect them to add all these channels with no price increase? I mean, Verizon does have to deal with contracts and costs for the use of these channels. It's not like the owners of Speed HD for example are just like, "Oh, hey Verizon, you wanna carry our HD channel? We'll just send it to you guys and not make you pay for it."

Sorry I just went on a little rant there, it's just that it gets to me how people always seem to forget that Verizon is a business intent on making money (which any business wants to do). It's the purpose of a business, to make money. And while Verizon might not have the best billing department or the CSR's don't know what they are talking about sometimes, I still think they are offering a pretty quality product and they are definitely offering a crapload more HD channels than Comcast or Cablevision (I looked recently for Comcast and they only had like 20 in my area). On top of all that, if you call up to change packages (always better than doing online) you can normally have it so that your monthly increase 5, 10 or 15 dollars, maybe even lower the monthly cost (as I have seem happen for some people).

Again, sorry about my rant, I just needed to get that out of my system.

-Shark2k

TMP

Yes, you need to CALL back or you will not get the Triple play bundle price you were promised. I would recommend it.