Date: December 16th, 2007
Time: 9:00 am
Sunday morning, doing some work on the computer, TV on in the background. Decide to get some coffee and I look out my window at what do I see:
- A truck with a Verizon FiOS and a phone number on the side (800-867-4220 - I later find out this is just the “underground” contractor).
- 3 workers in my front yard
- A trench down the side of my front lawn and excavation taking place under my sidewalk.
Now I am concerned…I was told by Verizon that they never received my FiOS Triple Play order. Why could Verizon FiOS possibly be here? If they were going to install anyways - wouldn’t they at least call first to schedule an appointment? I amble outside to talk to the workers and ask what they are doing. They state they have an order for FIOS at my house they are completing. They also state that they are only present to hook up to the outside of the house and that they are nearly done. I tell them that I was told my order was lost/canceled and no one ever called to schedule installation. They ask me if I want them to stop and not finish the work. I tell them since they are nearly done that they might as well finish but to note that I was told the order didn’t exist and nothing would ever be installed.
I go back inside and 5-10 minutes later I lose my TV (Comcast), Internet (Comcast) and telephone (Vonage using Internet) service. I return outside as they are pulling away and tell them they have disconnected my Comcast line. They say they will fix it. About 60 minutes go past with multiple “Is it working now?” inquiries at the front door. Finally they get all my services working again.
I am annoyed because:
- I was told nothing from Verizon would ever be installed.
- They interrupted my Sunday morning
- They installed without scheduling any appointment
- They disconnected my existing service in the process (causing me to lose the ability to do my work).
Unfortunately, this is only the beginning of the impact that this “lost order” has on my connectivity and time.
12 responses so far ↓
1 Horkboy // Dec 21, 2007 at 3:06 pm
“wouldn’t they at least call first to schedule an appointment?”
Um… perhaps that is what the two phone calls and the letter you decided to ignore where all about?
2 Raj // Dec 21, 2007 at 4:58 pm
Yeah well, but if he ignored them, that doesn’t mean “Come dig up my lawn!”
3 George // Dec 21, 2007 at 11:28 pm
This guy is so full of shit, before anything is done on site it is discussed with the homeowner, so someone coming and digging up your yard without your consent sounds like pure bs by some loser who is trying to make some money on the internet because he is a financial failure in real life
4 Joe // Dec 22, 2007 at 8:50 am
Not true. A Verizon FIOS junction box happens to be located next to my yard and Verizon has had to trench my front yard multiple times as they connect each of my neighbors to FIOS. I’ve only been warned once that they were going to trench my yard.
5 ken g // Dec 26, 2007 at 4:15 pm
This happened to me too. I was rudely awakened on a Sunday morning at 830 by the doorbell. The Verizon woman said she needed me to open the back fence to allow them to install FIOS. What?? I have nothing scheduled today!! They did not bother to schedule this and what would they have done if I were not home to open the gate?? Verizon is terrible at communicating with the customer!
6 robby // Jan 24, 2008 at 7:51 am
I am currently awaiting my order! is yours up and running? if it is are you happy?
7 robby // Jan 24, 2008 at 7:52 am
is your fios up and running? how are the price points? if it is running are happy with the service?
8 Verizon FiOS attempts to install the Lost Order inside the house | Verizon FiOS Sucks // Jan 30, 2008 at 10:57 am
[...] 2007 (22) ← Step 5 - Outdoor Installation & Temporary Disconnection Step 7 - Verizon Slams Me [...]
9 rand // May 4, 2008 at 4:12 am
I have had fios for about 5 months now, and can honestly say this, not only with my own service to compare it with but 8 family members and friends over 6 cities here in pennsylvania and New Jersey. I can report that all 8 households agree that “This S–t is horrible” and not nearly as cheap as “lead” to believe. First things first is Customer Service. With Verizon it is as close to being in hell that I every imagined I’d be. Rude reps on the phone with you, not able or most times wanting to help, if your not wanting to buy something the reps transfer you around till someone who perhaps isn’t making money from your call for a sale is “willing” or “able” to help you. Having had Direct TV, Dish Network, and Comcast. I can state (and I cannot belive I am going to state this) “Comcast” has the best customer service of all entertainment internet and phone providers. Although all major companies have automated answering services asking you to press several numbers before you even get to a department you need, and even then you are faced with even more prompts to press. Comcast was the easiest. Second is the realibilty of the services. Fios is a horrible mess, internet that is constantly slow or non existent ( and I pay an additional $10.00 a month for the faster speed) Phone service which is nothing like it was 20 or even 10 years ago. Fios Tv frankly Sucks. I thought satellite was bad with pixels and “no signal available” and equipment malfunctions, 4 receivers in 2 weeks, and still not all programming works ,well fios certainly has been and still is worse. Out of all providers for regular “digital” picture Direct Tv had the best, however all of my family and friends agree that the space looking “dish” on the roof or in the yard is a total eye soar and one eyes are immediately drawn to it , the apperance of cable wires not nearly as noticeable. For HD after all this switching around thinking it was the worst, “Comcast” gets the award for best HD handsdown. Previously I had allot of problems with Comcasts HD DVR, but just prior to switching I had finally gotten one that worked as it should. Now as far as “Cost” at first it “appeared” that Comcast was the most expensive but have come to find out that Comcast has more channels both digital and HD. If you truly sit down and go over the number of channels and the costs of all the packages Comcast turns out to be cheaper . With Fios I have discovered that at the end of the first year of a two year contract that my verizon would go up substantially in cost, and my costs now are more expensive than cable ever was. With this in mind I have done the math and decided to break my contract for fios as in the long term it is cheaper to jump off the Fios ship and pay the early term fee with positively no return to Verizon and then request that Verizon come and remove this garbage, and remove it faster than they were about installing it. Not only my house but all 8 households of family and friends are humbly returning to Comcast over the next couple of weeks. When you figure in the newer and better phone service which I am sure will need a little bit of adjusting to work out any bugs, but better than they previously had. This I have confirmed with many neighbors who state that the Comcast Digital Voice is much better than it used to be. Combining this with unlimited local and long distance, high speed internet that works , and the better Tv with more options, Comcast is the better option. This is and has been a very expensive lesson we have all learned, a lesson that would have not been taken had we all really weighed in all the cons with the pros about this “Fios” the cons definately out weigh the pros. One last concern that always comes up in conversation is that unless your in a promotion you have the risk of cable going through some form of rate adjustment each year, although noone is ever happy about an increase in costs, an entertainment provider isn’t the only one who has to raise their costs to operate, and to be honest now that I think about it, the last rate increase I went through with cable my total bill went up by $3.00, yes at the time I was pretty mad. But with gas costing nearly 3 times it did in 2001 and my heating bill being 50% more than 4 years ago, I guess $3.00 of an increase I shouldn’t have complained about.
10 Tom // Jun 7, 2008 at 7:58 am
Sounds to me that rand is a control freak or his friends and family are that stupid to make their own decisions
11 Charlie // Aug 29, 2008 at 3:10 pm
I never signed up for fios, but the comcast that I pay for is slow due to installation of fios in my neighborhood. Not only that, fios people come at 11 o’clock at night with flashlights snooping around people’s properties in the dark. Also, they leave all of their installation tubes and materials laying across my yard, blocking where I park, with holes in my yard and on the street. Isn’t this trespassing? I never heard of a company being allowed to dig up my yard, mess with the current comcast connections, and leave their mess across the streets, without consent being given at least. It’s been months now.
12 Dan // Sep 8, 2008 at 10:12 pm
My sister got Fios. she was persuaded by verizon doing door to door sales. she was promised a crazy deal. She would save money & switch from Comcast. (which she NEVER had any problems with phone, internet or tv) She said Fios was a joke, she ended up paying $50 more a month, Fios tech drilled into her hardwood floor without asking. (she is still waiting for it to get repaired) her phone has intermittent echoing & her tvs tend to picselate. she is not getting some channels she was getting with Comcast either. she feels she was scammed by a Verizon salesmen & now she is in a contract. she is now getting Comcast back & has to pay verizon a cancelation fee. i told her she is a moron for believing verizon. Comcast not only giving her a better deal, but waiving a part of her first monthy payment for switching back. Fios is not what it’s all cracked up to be.
Comcast Rocks!!!
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