Beware of the "Worry Free Guarantee"

[shadoobie]

A little over two years ago I decided to get Fios, I had Time Warner Cable at the time. After receiving many phone calls from Verizon Fios offering me great deals, I broke down and decided to listen. I have to admit, I was offered a great deal for the two years. I took the ultimate TV package, the 35/35 Internet and the phone.  I already had Verizon phone for my whole life and Verizon wireless for about 25 years and was always satisfied with their service and their charges. As a matter of fact, in all the years of service, my bills were very rarely increased and I think that is the only service I can say that about.  What worried me about changing to Fios, was what would happen after the two years were up? I asked the service reps (more than one) and their response was "Don't worry, there are always deals offered, so when your contract is up, call us and we'll work something out."  Since my service with Verizon phone and wireless was great, I trusted that I shouldn't worry and go for it. Well, my two years was up two months ago, and I am really worried. They do not offer any deals, NONE, for existing customers, only new customers. The first month my bill went up $90.00 and the second went up an additional $17.00. I can't wait for next month's bill. If I drop most of my premium channels my bill will go down about $35.00 which doesn't help at all. I expected an increase, but I never expected this. They said there is nothing I or they can do, except lose my stations and my speed, which is what made me want this in the first place.  My mom lives upstairs from me and she still has Time Warner, the same service and premium channels I gave up, and she pays less than half than I do. Thank goodness I didn't tell her to switch to fios when I did. I cannot afford this and don't know what to do yet. I will probably have to switch back to Time Warner, as I had a really hard time paying this bill.  I am really surprised that they don't try to work with existing customers. They are trying so hard to get everyone to switch over, but once they do they do not care about you at all. I'm sure I'm not the only person going through this, maybe some people can afford to pay the increase, but there has to be more people like me who live week to week.  At least with Time Warner, they are willing to work with you all the time. When my mom gets an increase, we call to see what they can do and they always offer something, whether it's free premium channels or some money off the bill. I hate to give up Verizon, as I have Verizon Wireless, so everything is included in one bill. Another reason I took Verizon was because my son was away at school and having one combined bill let me use my home phone to talk to my son's cell phone using Verizon to Verizon at no extra cost. I hate to lose all this, but I can't see what else I can do. I am really let down by Verizon because I have always sworn by them and have always had great things to say. Unfortunately, they are not customer friendly. What's funny is seeing their commercial on TV while I am writing this and they are saying, "switch over to Fios and get a worry free guarantee". You do get a worry free guarantee, they gave me that same guarantee two years ago, and that's all you get is the statement, but believe me, they surely don't worry, but you certainly will and be very angry and disappointed. I wish I never trusted them and never switched over.