New VOD menus
CRobGauth
Community Leader
Community Leader
249 Replies
KARAOKEJUNKIE
Enthusiast - Level 2

The new "enhancements" are horrible, and it takes much longer to find movies. Before there were lists that I scanned quickly, but now there are pictures for each movie and the process is slowed down. Who thought this was an improvement? Change for the sake of change is not always a good thing and Verizon has made a mistake!

VaGent52
Enthusiast - Level 1

I couldn't agree more. What nerdy coder decided to give us this mess? Everything is very pretty, but much harder to access. Please reconsider this change. On demand used to be fairly easy to access, now it is a horrible mess!

VaGent52
Enthusiast - Level 1

I agree with every single comment I have read regarding this topic. The new VOD menu is a hot mess at best. I cannot imagine the meetings that led the folks at Verizon to think this was a good move. I would hope to hear something from Verizon addressing these complaints, but I am not holding my breath. There used to be a huge difference in quality between FIOs and other cable providers. These type of arrogant moves make that gap close considerably!

Monie12
Enthusiast - Level 1

Just came home to the "new" vod menu after a very long hard day of pain @ dr office. Home with an ankle injury and on bed rest. Was totally freaked out when i couldnt not access the one thing that makes this pain a little tolerable. Premium Series Shows 😂. And Fios better get it together quick because my 3 year old grand has Yet to discover all of her SESAME STREET shows etc. Etc. ETC. have been removed by some genius of a programmer. Its really going to be a problem then 😲

Monie12
Enthusiast - Level 1

My profile says I am a newbie however I have read many of these comments and came to this forum not just to complain yet to let my voice be heard about something we ALL AGREE ON. We all HAVE CHOSEN VERIZON. We all deserve to be treated as valuable customers. These changes effect the way we VIEW and at the very least we deserve notifications in that regard. Certain screen changes have severe impacts on the vision of customers. This was a major change for me, personally without warning. I always thought of Verizon as a company who took pride in customer service. 

merlin96
Contributor - Level 1

Completely agree.  Just got the new menu today and I don't care for it at all. It requires the user to go through so many extra steps even after you finally do find what you're looking for  (seems to divide up unnecessarily steps that were combined before).  Overly cumbersome and tedious!

dangw18960
Enthusiast - Level 1

I agree - Verizon mus think we all want our TV viewing to be like a Cell phone or Tablet.

Of course, 5 web pages of complaints and NOT ONE Verizon acknowledgement!

I guess I will call my public utility commission tomorrow and complain about my phone LOL

Fvm1
Enthusiast - Level 1

The new on demand menu screen is very difficult to maneuver and would like the old screen back

bobbo527
Specialist - Level 3
Just got the update last night and all I can say is WHAT ON GOD'S GREEN EARTH IS VERIZON THINKING!?!?!?!!?! It is the most god awful, poorly designed, clunky, SLOW thing I have seen yet. It is mind boggling how bad the entire set-up is. I stole this quote but it is so true, Verizon's motto "If it ain't broke, BREAK IT" and that is sure has heck what they have done!!!!
DanBetten1
Enthusiast - Level 1

New on demand menus are terrible.  Too difficult to navigate thru to find a movie or TV show.  Should be an option to go back to old version menu.

Rajan_Anand
Enthusiast - Level 3

The new VOD interface is very poor. The selected field or text or image is not uniformly changed so its hard to know if that image or text is the selected choice. Also the VOD exits out at times with a couple of remote clicks without warning.

Also we have had on most channels for the kids VOD titles which were included in our subscription for free. Now everything is $1.99 to $2.99. Titles which are free are hidden.

I am getting ready to exit the service. Its like the Apple premise forced upgrades to prompt changes to the Quantum  hardware which may run this poor interface better.

I am within my new 2 year contact honeymoon period of 30 days. After 6 years VZ has made a big error IMO.

steven1225
Enthusiast - Level 1

Who should I contact to voice my issues with this mess? For example, if I want to search all of HBO I need to look under several tabs to see everything. Why? There used to be a listing for recent additions on HBO and it's gone. Why? There are fewer movies showing on some of these channels. Showtime is down to 50 and The Movie Channel 3? Every time I click on On Demand I have to exit out of the promos being shoved down my throat. Every time! And on and on.

lazj
Enthusiast - Level 2

The on demand and search formats suck. Please bring back the old version.

overbrook
Enthusiast - Level 1

Verizon's so called improved On Demand just plain stinks! All they've managed to do is make the feature harder and slower to use while removing some of the best features.

In regard to premium channel movies, there is no longer a "new arrivals" catagory. So, in order to see what's new, one would have to search through every movie listed. This search in itself is a huge downgrade. Rather than just going down a list of all available titles (which simultaneously gives a quick description on the side) you only get a set of hard to read pictures with no descriptions at all. This is an annoying, time consuming task.

Also, the number of movies available on premium On Demand has been greatly reduced. Some movies available will not be listed, but can be reached by using the "search" feature. This makes no sense. Last night I tried to watch Money Monster on demand. First, it was not listed on the Starz site, but I did find it via search. (I only knew it was available as I has seen it on the channel viewing guide) Once located via search, I chose On Demand, only to find I could only view it in SD, even though it was listed as being in HD. This is totally unacceptable!

It seems the only real upgrade is for Verizon trying to sell you episodes of old
TV series or movies. There sure are a lot of them to be found!

In short, I know Verizon spent a lot of time on this new interface, but it is terribly consumer non-friendly! Please bring back the old interface which worked so well, or at least give the customer the option of switching back to it.

smtoole
Enthusiast - Level 2

The newly-released VOD menu being forced upon Verizon subscribers can only be described as a completely failed attempt to improve services.  Non-intutive, cumbersome, lacks capabilites previously available.  An apparent attempt to mimic other service providers' menus, such as Amazon, has resulted in a horrible product.  I find it difficult to imagine they consulted a single actual user before forcing this product on all of their customers.  They've managed to incorporate the WORST features of the other providers.

Text listings have been replaced by "posters/pictures" of programs that don't have titles until actually scrolled over. What was in comparison a relatively simple process to scroll through titles of available programming has been replaced with slowly scrolling through non-titled pictures.  It is impossible to describe just how time-consuming and frustrating this "improvement" is.  Obviously an attempt to mimic other providers.  Easily the WORST aspect of the new version.

The VOD menu no longer allows customers to identify between SD and HD available content without navigating through multiple screens to the actual program.  This program screen must then be opened and may or may not show whether the program is HD or SD.  I guess the customer is expected to assume, and take their chances if purchasing a movie or program.  Verizon should bring back the option to view HD only content.

The ability to go to a premium channel such as HBO or Showtime and view newly added movies has been lost.  A "recently added" function has been added to the movie drop down, however this is filled primarily with movies requiring purchase.  I have absolutely no desire to scroll through lines of "pay" movies to get to information that was once readily available at the actual premium channel menu.  This function should be brought back immediately.

 Programs that were available at no cost due to my subscription to services such as HBO and STARZ just before this update, now require a $1.99 rental fee to view.  These are in CURRENT seasons.  When I contacted a Verizon technician about this, he informed me this was a glitch in the new program.  A potentially expensive glitch having customers pay for programming they have already purchased. Again, this needs to be corrected immediately and customers re-imbursed for any duplicative charges.

Along this same topic, individual program screens include "watch",  and "rent/buy" buttons regardless of whether the program is already included in the customer's subscription (in my opinion ridiculous and another attempt to include the most confusing feature of another provider's menus).  This was actually true of the previous version, but if you're making improvements, this would be one. The "watch" button should be modified to read "watch for FREE" or "available for free", or "included in subscription."  Better yet, if the program is already part of the subscribers package, the "rent/buy" option shouldn't even appear. 

In summary, the new VOD Menu is a cumbersome, confusing, non-intuitive step back from the previous version.  It lacks capabilities that were available on the previous version, and as far as I've been able to determine, brings nothing new.

Verizon should take the following steps immediately:

  -Bring back the Text Lists of available programming vice Untitled Pictures/Posters.  This cannot be emphasized enough!  Horrible decision that single-handedly makes this an unuseable product.

  -Bring back ability to view HD only content.  Clearly mark programming as 3D, HD, or SD.

  -Bring back feature allowing customers to see what was newly added to EACH SPECIFIC PREMIUM CHANNEL.   Upgrades to your services should make it easier for customers to find new content they've already paid for, not more difficult.

  -Fix the glitch that is expecting/requiring customers to rent programming that is already part of their purchased package.   If I purchase STARZ, I don't expect to "rent" an episode that first aired 3 weeks ago.  If this isn't a glitch, notify customers so that they can decide whether to continue subscribing to that premium channel.  Why would I pay twice?

For myself, the best case scenario would be for Verizon to recognize their mistake in rolling out this "upgraded" VOD menu and revert back to the older version.  But, this won't happen.  I was told by a FIOS representative they are reviewing all comments appearing on these forums and will make changes to the menu in mid-February.   The only reason I'm posting is the hope they will review these comments and make changes. 

smtoole
Enthusiast - Level 2

Agree with poster.  BRING BACK OLD VERSION.  New VOD is Horrible.

smtoole
Enthusiast - Level 2

Agreed.  Horrible.  Verizon needs to go back to old version.

rdben
Enthusiast - Level 2

This is a terrible change, it does not allow you to see new additions by provider as it did in the past. Now you must scroll through all the available choices individually to see what may be new. If you pull up the recently added option it displays a mix of movies to pay for and those included with premium stations. Also the synopsis of the movie is not listed. Now you must click on the selection to get a description of the show. I'm not sure which department is responsible for this "upgrade" but it is horrible. Now, when i want to relax and watch something i find that i get annoyed when searching for programing. Also as an investor in VZ i am extremely disappointed in the management of this company in rolling out such a flawed product. I hope management reads all the negative posts re this change and takes action.

MashaMT
Enthusiast - Level 2

I also want to add a complaint for Search option since it looks have had same user UNfriendly and obviously UNtested update. Used to be search screen took 2/3 of total screen and you could continue watching your program as you searched/programmed the box and search results appeared instantaneously. Now search screen takes 100%of total screen and the rest is black screen

and getting to result takes about 10 sec wait so HUGE slowdown in speed. Wasn't the update supposed to make it faster? And heaven forbid you click on text search results and not wait another 5 sec for picture result to appear. Then your whole result is cancelled out or frozen. Whomever designed and implemented this crap and the person who ordered and approved going live with this should be Fired. 

I am waiting about a month and switching to another provider 

TwoTankAmin
Enthusiast - Level 3

I just found the new On demand set-up. Great work- you made a simple fast thing into a slow cumbersome one. Is there any way I can at least kill the icons and get a simple text menu set-up back? What you have created is really not an improvement. It may be good for a teeny screen but it should not be a part of TV via a set top box.  It is cumbersome and less user friendly.

Very bad job Verizon 😞

ract
Contributor - Level 1

I have to agree, the new menu is truly terrible; almost beyond explanation.  Perhaps I could learn to deal with it, but one of my essential features is now gone.  The movie releases new this week was very helpful in that I didn't have to plod through the whole new releases list which appeared to have a definition of new that consisted of a considerable length in time.

However, the biggest blow was the loss of my bookmarks.  Yes, I can find the bookmarks folder under my stuff, but the entries I made are gone.  This was my main source for selecting movies to watch.

I don't see how this new setup will increase participation, thus revenue, assuming that was the objective.  That is normally the objective of a business.