I've upgraded my FiOS bundle (phone, Internet & TV) three times now. The first two were via phone call to FiOS sales. Piece of cake - friendly, enthusiastic staff; clear explanations; fast turn-around with upgraded services operational by the time I drove home from the office! This week I tried the online process. Awful. It seems Verizon WANTS us to call them to drive up phone usage. Problems: * Relatively difficult navigation through the bundle upgrade process. Several times it felt like I was going through the same 3 screens again & again. . * Near-useless chat support. They can't see the screen, can't enter information for me, don't always understand the first time, frequently repeat the information I'm reading on the screen. . * L-O-N-G install times. When I completed the process late night Feb 24th the system responded with a Mar 02 due date. 1 week later instead of a few hours I enjoyed in a phone call. Apparently it's faster & easier to have a human enter an order into the provisioning system than to have another computer do it. . * L-O-N-G wait for online order status. I couldn't get ANY status on my order until late on Feb 24. Nearly 24 hours after I entered the upgrade order all the system could tell me was that it was processing my order. Where did my order go? Did it wait for someone to come in the next morning, pick up punch cards from the ouput hopper and eventually carry them across the hall, where someone else put them into an input bin before leaving for the day? Why does an automated system take a full day to accomplish less than a human on the phone did in minutes? . * Further delays - when I could finally see the order status this morning (Feb 26), it showed delivery on Mar 4. 8 days for an automated system to achieve what telephone agents had done for me in less than an hour! . * The good news was the customer support chat this morning 02261086940 . Kathryn, after confirming my account, explained that the system was trying to schedule it so I would keep my billing cycle. I told her to go ahead and implement the change immediately and I would live with billing chaos for a month. Even then, the earliest date she could get was Mar 01 - the third business day after I submitted my online order. Why can't an online orders be delivered as quickly as the ones I phone in? If you're worrying about billing cycles, offer me a check-box labeled "Implement it NOW! Note that your billing date may change and the first month's bill will have charges for both a partial month and a complete month of service." I enjoy FiOS Internet speed, HD quality and reliability. I guess I'll stick to the phone from now on.

Punished for On-Line Bundle Upgrade?

I've upgraded my FiOS bundle (phone, Internet & TV) three times now. The first two were via phone call to FiOS sales. Piece of cake - friendly, enthusiastic staff; clear explanations; fast turn-around with upgraded services operational by the time I drove home from the office!

This week I tried the online process. Awful. It seems Verizon WANTS us to call them to drive up phone usage. Problems:

Relatively difficult navigation through the bundle upgrade process. Several times it felt like I was going through the same 3 screens again & again.
.
Near-useless chat support. They can't see the screen, can't enter information for me, don't always understand the first time, frequently repeat the information I'm reading on the screen.
.
L-O-N-G install times. When I completed the process late night Feb 24th the system responded with a Mar 02 due date. 1 week later instead of a few hours I enjoyed in a phone call. Apparently it's faster & easier to have a human enter an order into the provisioning system than to have another computer do it.
.
L-O-N-G wait for online order status. I couldn't get ANY status on my order until late on Feb 24. Nearly 24 hours after I entered the upgrade order all the system could tell me was that it was processing my order.

Where did my order go? Did it wait for someone to come in the next morning, pick up punch cards from the ouput hopper and eventually carry them across the hall, where someone else put them into an input bin before leaving for the day? Why does an automated system take a full day to accomplish less than a human on the phone did in minutes?
.
Further delays - when I could finally see the order status this morning (Feb 26), it showed delivery on Mar 4. 8 days for an automated system to achieve what telephone agents had done for me in less than an hour!
.
The good news was the customer support chat this morning 02261086940 . Kathryn, after confirming my account, explained that the system was trying to schedule it so I would keep my billing cycle. I told her to go ahead and implement the change immediately and I would live with billing chaos for a month. Even then, the earliest date she could get was Mar 01 - the third business day after I submitted my online order.

Why can't an online orders be delivered as quickly as the ones I phone in? If you're worrying about billing cycles, offer me a check-box labeled "Implement it NOW! Note that your billing date may change and the first month's bill will have charges for both a partial month and a complete month of service."

I enjoy FiOS Internet speed, HD quality and reliability. I guess I'll stick to the phone from now on.

Accepted answers

NickFie

16 days later and my bundle upgrade is finally complete. I worked from home today - gotta get some value from the 35 Megabits per second, and had to be on hand to meet the Verizon FiOS tech.

My group's manager is a firm supporter of the company's FWP (Flexible Work Place) program, paricularly since we get involved in complex problem-solving that won't wait until 8 am or wrap up by 5 pm. More effective work from home means more complete equipment. Yesterday I got a second IP phone at the office and brought it home. Getting it working behind the Actiontec FiOS router was pretty easy with my VoIP colleague walking me though the steps. Now I can make & receive office calls without first firing up my company laptop & starting the VPN. Once the phone was operational I restored full security on the router. Next up is a larger monitor.

The FiOS tech came at mid-day. He and I concluded that his mission was to replace the old HD DVR with a current model that could cope with all the channels I now get. This should also resolve the problem we had where, once or twice an evening the HD program would blank out for a few seconds - a symptom of a DVR asked to do more than it could.

First step was to measure signal level at the ONT and the cable connected to the DVR. Then, disconnect the old DVR & connect the new one. Finally, run software on his USB stick to relay signal measurements from his meter to the VZ mother-ship and then activate the new DVR. That step took a while, with apparent software load, cross-system authorizations, package enabling, program guide checks, more uploads... I suspect this reflects a lot of anti-hacking safeguards.The tech was like the rest of the Verizon people - courteous, knowledgable, efficient and willing to answer my questions.

After the tech left I configured the DVR to our taste - keep the channel number on display, 1080i video signal. That produces a slightly sharper image than 720p on the plasma TV. I connected a hard drive to the Firewire port on the DVR but got nothing. Will try the eSATA connector next.

I've now got the HD Ultimate + Premium Movie channels that are part of the 35 / 35 package. Our daughter & her husband came for dinner and we figured out that, for this lap at least, my FiOS package is more complete than his. After dinner he started figuring out how to get their bundle upgrade. I suggested that he shop online, but order on the phone.

So, I'm finally a happy customer. Just regret it took more than 2 weeks instead of 2 days.

Case closed.

All comments

NickFie

It's worse. The e-mail I received this morning claims the order was submitted on February 26, when I clicked the button late on Feb 24.

prisaz

You mean the system actually let you see options for bundles you could select and order? That is one step closer to working. When I tried it told me FIOS Triple Play was not available at my location. Come on COMPUTER I am a triple play customer. Well good thing it rejected my order because now I am one step close to dropping voice service. We shall see. I wish Tivo offered a STB for sale that could share what was on the Tivo. right now you need multiple DVRs. I would have 4 cable cards an no Verizon boxes. Wonder what will happen when they try to go IP for most of the TV programming. How will Verizon handle the FCC and customers with cablecards.

NickFie

Yes I could shop options.

Started at "Manage your account", selected Internet, clicked on some version of "increase your speed" to get into bundle shopping. There were options with both Internet & TV. During one cycle I thought I saw telephone options, too but never saw them again.

Internet is at 84% done all day today for Mar 1 delivery. Will run speed tests when I get home. Will find out whether it was provisioned and whether my 1st generation FiOS equipment is adequate for the throughput.

prisaz

@NickFie wrote:
Yes I could shop options.
Started at "Manage your account", selected Internet, clicked on some version of "increase your speed" to get into bundle shopping. There were options with both Internet & TV. During one cycle I thought I saw telephone options, too but never saw them again.
Internet is at 84% done all day today for Mar 1 delivery. Will run speed tests when I get home. Will find out whether it was provisioned and whether my 1st generation FiOS equipment is adequate for the throughput.

Depends on what throughput you are looking for. I have the origional first generation equipment and I do not suspect any trouble unless I wanted above 35/35

Chokingme

Today was probably the worst experience I ever had with any vendor in my entire life. I also tried 3 to 4 times to change my plan on line. The chat agent isn't even human. No single individual could be that dense. It has to be a computer generated response. After 15 minutes of telling me what i had already read, the Phd on the other end advised me to call my local sales office. Wait.It gets better. After at least 6 transfers to the wrong areas(to #'s that are no longer working) I get thru to someone in sales. I spent a minimum of 1 hour trying to change my bundle after my 2 yr commitment. Of course nothing even comes close to the plan I had when I first signed up. The salesman was professional and helped me find a plan to fit my budget. This is where the professionalism ends and the horrible customer service begins. I finalized my plan. Received a price including taxes,fees and equipment charges. I get my order confirmation # and I now must listen to a recorded message about early termination fees. I listen to the prompts and hit the appropriate keys on my phone. Again, I receive a confirmation #. About 1 hour later I receive a message on my VERIZON voice mail system from the salesman that something happened and my order was not processed. He does not know where I called from!!!!!! How in Gods name did he get my number to leave me a voice message on VERIZONS voice mail system? Now of course VERIZON has no record of the order. What good are the confirmation #'s? No one in all of VERIZON can track down this salesman. Except for the super secret supervisor who will call me back. If I had a dollar for every time VERIZON said they would call me back I would be a rich man. VERIZON is at the bottom of the food chain when it comes to customer service. The only reason you received any help was because you were upgrading. CABLE is head over heels when it comes to customer service.

NickFie

I have some answers, not all of them thrilling.

a) Still at 84% for Internet, 64% for Video for due date of Mar 1. 12:10 AM EST Tue Mar 2.

b) FiOS speed test shows 27 / 27. My guess is the 35 / 35 package exceeds ONT capacity. Hard to believe the Actiontec (swapped rev A for rev C from a friend) is overwhelmed. Could try my AirPort Extreme and see if it does better.

c) Live human chat for FiOS Internet tech support was closed early due to overwhelming call volume when I tried at 9:30 and 10:00 PM EST.

d) SURPRISE! I tried the voice response service and got one more nugget of information. There's a technician visit scheduled for sometime between 8 AM and 5 PM on March 11. HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW? Could have easily missed this appointment. More cost for VZ, less satisfaction for me.

No mention during the sign-up. That's OK - they COULD have their computer check my equipment while I'm going through the process to advise me a truck roll will be necessary...but that would be out-of-line with generalized CDD (Clue Deficit Disorder) afflicting the online environment. Oh, and it might accelerate the desire-to-delivery cycle - and ensuing cash flow - by starting the truck-roll logistics days earlier.
No mention from the human VZ agent who helped me last week. Of course she probably didn't know either, see point above.
No mention in the on-line status up-date. All it says is, "Order Status Details:(All times are displayed in Eastern Time)
Your order has been submitted for processing. Updated status details will be provided shortly." Some part of the system obviously knows one of Santa's helpers (thus the red & white color scheme) is coming - see voice message above. Oh well, just another symptom of on-line CDD. May have to revise the diagnosis to Acute CDD (ACDD, almost like the rock band).
No e-mail. No phone call - I checked with my wife and Caller ID.

Bamboozled - I've had nothing but outstanding support from human Verizon agents on the phone. They know the bundles & options, are eager to get me the best value and very friendly. Things have ALWAYS gone just the way they promised, and as mentioned above they go through quickly. I'm sorry you had that bad experience. I'm certainly going back to the "phone a human" approach - it takes less of my time, produces better results and goes to completion more quickly with no surprises.

I was reviewing my bills this past weekend. I've been paying about the same every month since TV became available in my area and I added it to my FiOS bundle. However, by regularly upgrading my bundle to take advantage of incentives, my bandwidth will have advanced from 10 / 2 to 35 / 35 and I'll have doubled the number of HD channels over that time. Verizon has kept me happily under contract nearly that entire time, while making Comcast offers uncompetitive.

Chokingme

{please keep it relevant}

somegirl

@bamboozled wrote:
{please keep it relevant}

{edited due to quoted post being edited}

Chokingme

{edit} anyone who claims verizon provides good customer service just got lucky that day.

Please check your Private Message Inbox. It should look like this -->>

dslr595148

@bamboozled wrote:
Again, I receive a confirmation #. About 1 hour later I receive a message on my VERIZON voice mail system from the salesman that something happened and my order was not processed. He does not know where I called from!!!!!! How in Gods name did he get my number to leave me a voice message on VERIZONS voice mail system?

I will tell what I suspect the answer is: They have caller ID, which told which number that you called from.

NickFie

Tonight's update - the end is in sight.

Used the Verizon forum on DSLreports.com to ask about the tech visit. Reply was that my equipment should be adequate. Will have to find out what's going on with the scheduled tech visit next week.

Rebooted my laptop & got 35 / 35 test results. Turns out there aren't that many speed test sites that can support 35 /35. Though I got nearly 100 Mbps in both directions a few years ago on a Speedtest NYC site when testing both Windows TCP tuning & our company's upgraded Internet connection.

Most sites report there's a 45 Mbps link upstream from my home and results are affected by traffic congestion. Don't want to get too close to the Comcast bandwidth-sharing experience.

Also saw that the 35/35 bundle is now advertised for net $120 / month! Did I order too soon?

NickFie

The $120 / month reflects $20 / month new customer discount. I got about as good a price as I could - $140 / month for the triple play bundle.

NickFie

More good & bad news today.

Good news: The 35 / 35 Internet is working as advertised. Turns out my Mac OS X Snow Leopard systems have some TCP weirdness. Will take some homework to figure out how to disable timestamps, and how to get Ethernet to be full-duplex! That was a shocker - was convinced it was in my home network or Verizon's. Upgraded microcode, checked configs... Finally powered up my work laptop - Windows 7 x64 with 8 GByte and the little-known TCP tuning - and everything was clean.

Bad news: Voice response on Tuesday said there WOULD be a technician visit. Live agent said there wouldn't, everything was done. Finally did a chat today with a human. Her first take was no truck roll. Then - I need a new DVR. They think it's faster to have a technician deliver it. So the new DVR comes next week and I'll have my additional channels once I install it.

Frustration: MORE THAN 2 WEEKS TO COMPLETE AN ON-LINE ORDER! The agent in today's chat assures me there's a new and better website coming soon. I certainly see room for improvement.

Let's compare Verizon's on-line world with the best of all possible worlds:

Verizon:

Day 1: Customer enters order at end of day.

Day 2: Order sits in system for a full day with NO ACTION. No idea why, unless Comcast slipped some cash to the developer as part of their competitive program.

Day 3: Order starts processing.

Days 4 & 5: Weekend and nothing happens. I guess Verizon's computers need their weekend rest, just like humans. Do you think they play video games on their time off?

Day 6: Order shows some progress, but no details.

Day 7: Chat agent says Internet upgrade is done, though it only shows 60% complete. Bandwidth seems to be there. Voice response unit says there's a tech visit March 11 between 9am & 5pm, so BE THERE.

Day 8: Phone agent says no truck roll, and channels are available. I don't see them.

Day 9: Chat agent first says no tech visit, then yes, the tech will drop off the DVR for self-install on March 11. What kind of scheduling system needs 2 weeks to have a tech drop a DVR on my doorstep? They don't have trucks in the neighborhood more often? Oh - here's an idea. Outsource this to a specialist company. You know, one of those up-start package delivery companies. Don't know if you've heard about UPS or FedEx? I hear they do it in days, not weeks.

Stay tuned. I expect I'll get the DVR and my on-line order will be complete a mere 16 days after I entered it.

Compare that with Apple - I ordered my daughter's laptop from Apple's online store Thursday night. They custom-built it in China and we got it the following Monday. If we had ordered on Wednesday we probably would have had it by Saturday - a custom-built device shipped from the other side of the world in less time than Verizon needs to simply start processing an order.

In the best of all possible worlds, my online order would have gone like this:

Day 1: I enter the order. The computer checks my home equipment against the new service requirements and tells me:

- Your ONT & Router are fine. We'll upgrade your bandwidth as soon as the order is complete.

- Your new TV package requires a new DVR. We'll schedule it for 2nd day delivery (the software tells me which day is "2nd day" since it knows the time, recognizes that it's after business hours & the box won't ship unitl the next day). You can install it yourself when it arrives. The new channels will be available as soon as the new DVR is in place & uploads the program guide. If you want to pay $5 more Verizon will ship it overnight. I look at the calendar and decide to pay the fee so I can have the DVR for the weekend.

- Minutes later I get an e-mail when the order hits the provisioning system. It advises me my bandwidth has been upgraded. It also suggests I power-cycle my broadband router and includes a link to Verizon's speed test site so I can confirm.

Day 2: E-mail arrives telling me the DVR shipped. E-mail includes a tracking number and link to the "how to wire your DVR" page.

Day 3: DVR is there when I get home from work. I install it and everything's done.

You tell me which scenario is more likely to:

a) Increase customer satisfaction and referrals.

b) Relieve chat & telephone agent workload.

c) Accelerate billing?

I'll be back next week to tell you if the DVR came and if everything works. Unbelievable!

NickFie

The saga continues, the story changes.

My wife e-mailed me mid-day: Verizon FiOS called to say:

The technician is coming Thursday, March 11. Sometime between 9am & 5pm. This is not news. I haven't worried because I was told I didn't need to be home, the visit was simply to drop off a new DVR. If I hadn't been chasing order status so hard last week I would have been completely blind-sided by the call - this was the FIRST outbound notification by Verizon. I used the online "Check your order status" function. The percentages are creeping up, but the detail is as empty as ever.
.
I must be home to meet the technician. My wife knows how particular I am about tech stuff - it's my day job, after all - and doesn't want to get in the middle. This is (bad) news - my employer's been acquired, the reorganization is wrapping up with terminations and my new group's first meeting starts at noon on Thursday! The final word last week - see previous entry - was that the tech would simply drop off a box for self-install.

Chat was down again - they must have seen me coming. I called Verizon FiOS and was shuffled from:

Automated voice attendant. The sweet, disembodied voice verified my ID, then told me: (a) My set top boxes were reprogrammed for my new service 3 days ago, power-cycle them if there's a problem (this was a low-quality replay by her teched-out cousin); (b) tech visit is scheduled Thursday Mar 11, be there or be (back at) square (one). I asked to reschedule the visit and was transferred to...
.
Sales. The agent decided she couldn't handle the question of what would happen during the tech visit & whether my presence would be required, so I was transferred to...
.
Tech Support. The agent got my info, looked some stuff up, couldn't say what would happen during the tech visit, assured me that I had to be there, finally spent 20 minutes trying to reschedule the visit before conceding defeat and transferring me back to...
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Sales. The new agent had a such a bad headset microphone that I asked her to call me back. The voice wasn't much better after that, but she did schedule the visit for Friday afternoon Mar 12 - only 1 day later. She also couldn't tell me more than something along the lines of, "complete your order."

I expect Friday's tech visit will be successful. That will mark 16 days between submitting the online order and fulfillment. As ranted above, I've ordered a custom-built Apple Macintosh laptop and received it from the factory in China in about 1/3 the time.

There is a silver lining for Verizon in this - several colleagues have approached me about Verizon FiOS after reading my out-of-office notices as they appear, disappear & reappear on their calendars. I tell them all - shop online, then call the sales office & work with a human being. It's better for all concerned.

PGJK

prisaz, Try this link I believe you'll find what you're looking for

TiVo Superstore | Upgraded TiVo DVRs, Remotes, Parts, Repairs: http://www.weaknees.com/index.php