FiOS, TiVo, and CableCards

[MrStylz]

Can someone please break down the prices Verizon charges if you have a TiVo HD that accepts an M cablecard?  Ie, truck roll is x amount and cablecard is x amount per month.

Thank you

[garyandsue]

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@sgip2000 wrote:

I just got a cablecard installed this past Friday and there was never any mention of an installation fee and If one does show up on my bill, I will NOT be paying it.

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Wish me luck, I'm having 2 cable cards installed in my new TiVo HDs on July 8, 2009. When I scheduled my appointment, the CSR insisted that there was an $79.00 truck roll fee. She even explained that the fee could be split over 3 months to make it easier on the customer.

I'll let you all know how it goes.

Sue

[dmsleech]

D'oh!  The Verizon CSR initially told me that they could ship out the cable cards.  At the end of the phone call, he said, "we've run into a little bit of a snag ...".  I knew imediately what that meant.

So, the technician is coming out Friday to install the cable cards for $79.95.

[TimSykes]

Again there is no charge for a cable card install.

[garyandsue]

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@TimSykes wrote:
Again there is no charge for a cable card install.

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Please explain this...do the CSRs just "say" that there will be a truck roll fee and then it just never shows up on your bill?

I'm not disputing you, I'm actually very curious. I'm having cable cards (hoping for M-cards in So Cal) installed tomorrow and I'd LOVE to know that the truck roll fee the CSR insisted on would just never show up. 

Thanks for your help.

 Sue

[TimSykes]

Well about 6 months ago they stopped charging. I would think because they require a truck roll, when someone can do it themselves. But because its required I think they stopped charging. But very few people get cablecards installed, so a lot of the CSR dont know that the policy has changed. I have had 2 truck rolls to get cable cards installed, and have not been charged for them. I was even told that there is no way for the billing system to even charge for a cable card truck roll.

[jmw1950]

I am sure Verizon didn't end the truck roll charge out of the goodness of their heart.

I suspect it is related to an FCC order that basically prohibited service providers like Verizon from attempting to  block the use of customer owned equipment.

For whatever reason, that information doesn't seem to have been passed on to the Customer Service Representatives.

[dmsleech]

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@TimSykes wrote:
Well about 6 months ago they stopped charging. I would think because they require a truck roll, when someone can do it themselves. But because its required I think they stopped charging. But very few people get cablecards installed, so a lot of the CSR dont know that the policy has changed. I have had 2 truck rolls to get cable cards installed, and have not been charged for them. I was even told that there is no way for the billing system to even charge for a cable card truck roll.

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I hope you are right. 

I also hope that the10 times that I metnioned I needed two M cards to CSR that he actually put that into my order.  He did say that there were two M Cards available in my area.

[jfranch]

Can anyone CONFIRM or DENY that there is or IS NOT a charge for a Cablecard install?

I just called 8-24-09 and was told there is a $79 charge for a cablecard install.

Is there anything I can reference to get this fee waived or avoided?  Thanks.

[JerseyJoe]

I had a CableCARD installed in a TiVoHD July; note that I am not a new FiOS customer.  The new rental charge for the CableCARD appears on my August bill, but the $79 installation fee Verizon customer service swore up and down they could not waive is not on the bill.  This matches the experience of my brother, who had an installation done a few months ago, as well as other posters in this thread and the statements of several Verizon employees who have posted in this thread.  Even though customer service swears you'll be charged $79 for the installation, the billing department doesn't (or can't) bill for it.

And, no, there's nothing you can reference to get the CSRs to realize that there's no charge for a CableCARD installation.  It's ludicrous that there's still such confusion and miscommunication about this issue within Verizon, but CharlesH, a Verizon employee in the New Jersey Fiber Solution Center, posted in this thread that he is personally taking steps to make sure the reps in the customer service department are properly trained about this issue, but I'm sure it's slow going.

[jfranch]

Thanks JerseyJoe.  

I just called up and got a install date for this Wednesday morning.  This was the 2nd call I made today and was told by both that there is a $79 charge.    I placed order anyway to replace my current Tivo (2 S cards) with 1 M card and then bring another M card for my new TivoHD.  (I am an existing customer not a new one)

So I will post in here after install and let you all know how it goes and if I got billed the $79 or not.

New Question:   I had someone give me there M cards (he had Comcast).  So I have them but I assume Verizon won't let me use them right?  🙂

Message Edited by jfranch on 08-24-2009 07:23 AM

[JerseyJoe]

No, Verizon will not let you use any CableCARD you're not renting from them.

[TexasTim]

Not to stir the pot...but I just got off the phone with a CSR and they said $80 truck roll fee. He said the guys here (employees) didnt know what they were talking about, that they dont work inbilling. He said his billing index said that there is a truck roll fee and they cant do anything about it.

I asked to talk to his boss and he said I cant because the bosses are taking call. Nice to know there is no one above him to talk to.

He also said that everyone on here that didnt get charged was lying, and that there is always a $80 truck roll fee. He said that there is no memo that went out about free truck roll fees.

Lastly, he said there is no office or location to stop by and get a card installed. He said I have to pay $80 for the truck roll fee if I want a cable card. 

I guess I have to call back Wednesday (apparently I wont be able to speak to a supervisor until then because the supervisors answer phones on Mon/Tues).

[DonnaFiOS]

I was just told by Verizon that I will need two M-cards and be charged $3.99 for each.  Why two?  It seems like others have only 1.  My Tivo is Series 3.

I know I should have asked while on the phone, but didn't.

Thanks

[TimSykes]

You wil need only 1 multi stream m-card. Older tivos would need 2, but not yours.

[DonnaFiOS]

Thanks Tim.  The Verizon-rep didn't even ask me what kind of Tivo I had and when I initially had the FiOS hooked up they said the Series 2 I had wouldn't work at all with the system. 

Thanks again.

[jdefe1]

Hopefully someone can help. I have made 7 phone calls totaling 2 hrs on hold today and every rep ive talked to refused to budge on the 79 dollar trip charge...can anyone help?

[TimSykes]

Please read this topic, I have covered it atleast 4 to 5 times.

Message Edited by TimSykes on 07-11-2009 02:00 PM

[dallasdon]

Hey Tim, is there a charge for a cable card install?

(sorry- couldn't resist)

[JerseyJoe]

I just spent two utterly aggravating hours on the phone with two different CSRs and a CS manager who insisted that I would be charged $79.99 for my upcoming CableCard installation in Central NJ, and there was absolutely nothing that I or they could do to get that fee waived.  If the installation fee has recently been eliminated, this particular customer service center knows nothing about that.  They weren't particularly polite or sympathetic about it, either.  Each one of them offered several times to mail me a STB or a Verizon DVR instead, and one CSR actually said to me, "Sir, we can't support other companies' equipment for free, and installing a CableCard is a complicated process, so we have to send someone out to do it, and we're going to charge you for that."  In the end, the manager gave me two choices: keep the appointment and pay the fee, or cancel the installation.

So, Tim, I'm glad that you weren't personally charged for your installations, but that really doesn't help the rest of us.

$79.99 is a ridiculous sum of money to charge for a CableCard installation, especially when Verizon doesn't offer a self-service installation option like other cable TV companies do, and the level of confusion surrounding this whole thing is just an extra embarassment.

[dallasdon]

Report back when ( IF ) your charge actually appears on your bill.

[TimSykes]

This will be my last post in this thread because no one listens. There is no way to be billed in the verizon billing system for a cable card install. If you do get charged they did not bill you correctly and the charges will get reversed. CSR is not the group that bills you. talk to the billing department, or PM TechMan28 on the forums here.