Re: Verizon negotiating tactics
Leap21
Newbie

Well said.  They are horrible!  First, the Tennis Channel right before the USA Open Final and now, CBS right before a well matched NFL Playoff game.  Verizon stinks!

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Re: Verizon negotiating tactics
cwa10711
Enthusiast - Level 2

{please keep your posts courteous}

Yes, there are other means of getting CBS programming - the point is, I'm paying Verizon to provide the service.  In addition, I can't use my DVR that I'm paying a premium for to capture the programming.

Regardless of the norms in the industry, putting the customer in the middle of a dispute is a deplorable service policy.  That's the reason you're seeing an emotional response, not only from me, but many others.

And if Verizon chooses to ignore the feedback of the customers they worked so hard to attract, ultimately it's to their detriment and the detriment of the shareholders that they're trying to appease by using such harsh and unreasonable negociation tactics.

I find it interesting that anyone outside of Verizon would rail against this kind of a concern.

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Re: Verizon negotiating tactics
UnnDunn
Contributor - Level 3

I am not here to advocate for Verizon. I'm here because I want to talk about the FiOS service, and maybe help other users in the process. I enjoy doing that sort of thing for products and services I'm passionate about, the same way one might enjoy talking about their favorite sports team (for example.)

It is unfortunate and annoying when discussion is reduced to the level of childish ranting, as it has in recent days in the wake of these carriage negotiations.

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Re: Verizon negotiating tactics
TCayer
Newbie

TO VERIZON: Fix this now! I pay you for TV channels! YOU do what you need to do to provide what I pay you for. Time Warner pulled this same crap! At least THEY never got to the point that the channels were actually shut off! Fix this now! I have been happy with my TV and internet since I signed up in April. Don't make me regret my choice! You make it sound like it's not your fault. I call **bleep**. You've had your service shut off because you didn't pay your bill! Will I be getting a credit for the reduction in service? Trying to get ME to call and whine on your behalf is bull! FIX THIS NOW!

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Re: Verizon negotiating tactics
CRobGauth
Community Leader
Community Leader

Everyone always wants to keep the channels they watch and enjoy. But they come at a price.

And you would be upset if FIOS raised their prices to compensate for the additional fees that content providers are asking for.

I am pretty sure that Verizon isn't turning these channels off just because.

It all comes down to money.

We all have choices. Some more than companies like Verizon. If we don't like the price of something, we can go somewhere else (if we are lucky and are covered by multiple providers). In this case, Verizon doesn't have that luxury. They can only get content from one provider (I am pretty sure there are regulations that would prevent them from shipping local content from another area in to one they have dropped). So they have a couple of choices:

1) Pay the content provider whatever they ask and pass the cost on to subscribers.

2) Pay the content provider whatever they ask and absorb the cost

3) Refuse and let the channel go dark

4) Come to an agreement and hopefully delay any cost increase.

You can see how subscribers don't want 1&3. Verizon doesn't want 2 (more precisely their stock holders).

So 4 is where they end up.

Keep all of this in mind next time prices do increase.

BTW, I do not work for Verizon at all.

Re: Verizon negotiating tactics
tns
Master - Level 2

The reached an agreement yesterday and all the stations should be back on.  Some I understand made it on for the football games on Sunday.

Re: Verizon negotiating tactics
oldfashioned
Specialist - Level 2

unndunn, I am on the same page with everything you have been saying.  There are plenty of other options available like I have said myself in another post and it's just TV anyway.  We have hundreds of stations as it is and people still complain.  We're all adults.  It's just unfortunate the way these fights over so much money have gotten to such a level that it means temporarily suspending the station's service until an agreement is finally reached and I agree that can be annoying.  People have a right to feel that way but that's the same deal with all of these other cable providers so it's definitely nothing personal and it's nothing that I would feel victimized about.  Overall, I've been pretty satisfied with Verizon's service.  I'm not about to cancel it and any issue I have had with the service I have always been able to resolve. 

My parents would gladly switch from their Cablevision triple play to Verizon Fios if the Fios were available in their area.  Because their phone service is also connected with the cable, their corded phones won't work during a power outage and they have to use their cell phones.  With the Verizon Fios, I can always use my corded phone as a backup without the power.  I think the IMG is a lot more straightforward and user friendly as opposed to the displays from Cablevision and the Internet spped is definitely lightning fast.

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Re: Verizon negotiating tactics
freddyrich636
Enthusiast - Level 2

I don't understand the post defending Verizon! I agree with many otheres on here. I'm paying $150 a month, and I can't get a free, over the air broadcast like CBS? There is no excuse for that. Verizon could have kept the channel going until the next day, but they didn't, they wanted the customer to fight for them by posting that message about calling Newport. They waited until Sunday during the playoffs to pull that stunt. And unlike what UNDUNN and some other **bleep** suggested, you can't go online to watch the playoffs. Watching it on "SportCenter" the next day, just doesn't cut it.

And for UNDUHHH to tell people to stop ranting is anti-internet and anti-American, people have the right to rant about poor service whenever they like, especially on said poor seervice company's web site! That just my opnion on the matter, not a rant!!

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