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Why charge customers a $150 "installation fee" for 150/150 FiOS if it's not known if it's needed?

done12many2

A couple of general facts up front.

1. I am already on the Ethernet side of the ONT. About a month ago I decided to do away with the Verizon wireless router in favor of a higher rate wireless AC router of my own choice. In doing so, I switched from coaxial to Ethernet (Cat 6) from the ONT to my new router. This required a call to Verizon Tech Support and they were able to easily switch my ONT over to support my new setup. I then wired everything else in the house that required high bandwidth with Cat 6.

2. I do not subscribe to phone or television services.

I called Verizon today in order to upgrade my service from 75/75 Mbps FiOS to 150/150 Mbps service. While on the phone with the Customer Service Rep, I politely asked if I could simply subscribe to the new 150/150 Mbps without a technician having to come to my home, therefore incurring the automatic $150 installation fee she described to me.

She stated that I could not because 150/150 Mbps and higher FiOS services required technician installation. I explained my current setup to her and told her that my ONT and wiring may already be capable of supporting 150/150. I asked again if Verizon could simply provision me for the 150/150 Mbps so that I could see if my current ONT could support it without the $150 installation. Unfortunately, she said no. She stated that it's not just the fact that the technician needs to switch over to Ethernet, but that the technician may also need to switch out my ONT for a newer ONT.

That makes complete sense to me. When I asked her if the technician was definitely going to switch it to a newer ONT, she said no. She said it would only be done if needed.

So we're back to square one. Why not just provision the service and let me see if it's good enough. Verizon could just flip the proverbial switch resulting in 150/150 working perfectly. If it didn't, I could schedule an install, right?

I could understand provisioning my account for the 150/150 speed and in the event that I don't receive full service, then sending a technician out, but it seems as if the system is designed to automatically charge folks $150 whether they truly need it or not.

Can Verizon provision without the visit?

It would be something else to see a technician show up and say, “looks good, that’ll be $150.”

Comments

done12many2

To further compound things, after reading some threads within this forum, I discovered that 150/150 can be had for $64.99/month. Verizon just told me it would be $89.99/month plus the $150 installation fee I describe above.

I verified this by going throught the upgrade link. It show a pending order at my address so I selected the option for this not being my order. Once I ran through all selections, I was offered $64.99/month, but it required me to call Verizon to avoid the router rental since I already own some.

This is starting to get a bit frustrating.

eljefe2

What I leanred when I was considering upgrading from 75/75 to 100/100 is that anything higher than 75 mb/s requires a newer GPON ONT, rather than an older BPON type. If you have a BPON box as I do, you'll definitely need an installer.

You might take a look at the model number of your ONT. You can probably determine which type it is from the model.

done12many2

@eljefe wrote:
What I leanred when I was considering upgrading from 75/75 to 100/100 is that anything higher than 75 mb/s requires a newer GPON ONT, rather than an older BPON type. If you have a BPON box as I do, you'll definitely need an installer.
You might take a look at the model number of your ONT. You can probably determine which type it is from the model.

Thanks for your response. I'll check it now and research what I have. As stated in the OP, if they had to switch it, I can see the need for the added installation fee.

The Verizon rep informed me that I would be paying the $150 whether it was switched out or not simply because the technician had to come out to verify it.

done12many2

@dewarwd wrote:
A couple of general facts up front.
1. I am already on the Ethernet side of the ONT. About a month ago I decided to do away with the Verizon wireless router in favor of a higher rate wireless AC router of my own choice. In doing so, I switched from coaxial to Ethernet (Cat 6) from the ONT to my new router. This required a call to Verizon Tech Support and they were able to easily switch my ONT over to support my new setup. I then wired everything else in the house that required high bandwidth with Cat 6.
2. I do not subscribe to phone or television services.
I called Verizon today in order to upgrade my service from 75/75 Mbps FiOS to 150/150 Mbps service. While on the phone with the Customer Service Rep, I politely asked if I could simply subscribe to the new 150/150 Mbps without a technician having to come to my home, therefore incurring the automatic $150 installation fee she described to me.
She stated that I could not because 150/150 Mbps and higher FiOS services required technician installation. I explained my current setup to her and told her that my ONT and wiring may already be capable of supporting 150/150. I asked again if Verizon could simply provision me for the 150/150 Mbps so that I could see if my current ONT could support it without the $150 installation. Unfortunately, she said no. She stated that it's not just the fact that the technician needs to switch over to Ethernet, but that the technician may also need to switch out my ONT for a newer ONT.
That makes complete sense to me. When I asked her if the technician was definitely going to switch it to a newer ONT, she said no. She said it would only be done if needed.
So we're back to square one. Why not just provision the service and let me see if it's good enough. Verizon could just flip the proverbial switch resulting in 150/150 working perfectly. If it didn't, I could schedule an install, right?
I could understand provisioning my account for the 150/150 speed and in the event that I don't receive full service, then sending a technician out, but it seems as if the system is designed to automatically charge folks $150 whether they truly need it or not.
Can Verizon provision without the visit?
It would be something else to see a technician show up and say, “looks good, that’ll be $150.”

Well as an update, we finally got the 150/150 installed and it did require an ONT swap.

The funny thing is that the lack of information forced me to get my answers on my own and in doing so, I figured out how to save money on not only the installation fee, but the monthly service as well!

I originally wanted to go from 75/75 internet to 150/150 which would have taken us from $74.99/month to $89.99/month + a $150 installation.

After looking at new activation prices, my wife and I decided that we’d come out ahead over the next 2 years by cancelling my account and activating a new account in her name. Actually, even with the ETF, we came out way ahead.

Original plan: $89.99 x 24 + $150 installation = $2309.76 or $96.24/month over 2 years.

New plan: ($44.99 x 12) + ($54.99 x 12) + $40 installation + $46 ETF after credit refunded = $1285.76 or $53.57/month over 2 years.

I didn’t add in tax, but Verizon only taxes the installation fees itself as there are no taxes for internet only services.

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