verizon fios 30 day promo- watch out

[grego]

been a fios customer for a year or so. i got a flyer in the mail about a month ago about their free 3 month deal for HBO/cimemax. i had cancelled all my movie channels not too long ago cuz they had gotten too expensive, so it sounded like a great deal.

after a couple of calls to verizon sales reps, i ended up trying this new package where i thought i was getting starz/showtime, etc along with the HBO promo. turns out i only got a few obscure movie channels, but the rep assured me i had 30 days to cancel before it becomes a contract. so, 2 nights ago, i call up to cancel and try to get a different package, and the nightmare begins.

to make a long story short, a supervisor got on the line and told me that my package i signed up for 20 days ago was, in fact, a 2 year contract- there was not 30 day trial period, and there was nothing he could do about it! the 30 day trial is only for 'new fios customers'. (of course, since the rep had pulled up my account and went over the cost of my old package vs the new one, she knew i wasnt a new customer, obviously). i assured him the rep was very clear about the trial period. his response 'she gave you false information- sorry. i understand your frustation and mine'. i say 'your frustration? what do you mean?'. he says 'i deal with calls like this all the time- reps give out bad information and we have to try and fix it'. i said 'are you serious?'.

that was pretty stunning to hear, given my situation. he told me he would talk to his super and see what he could do. honestly, that does not make me happy. this should have been settled already, no question.

so- what in the world can i do if they dont feel like letting me out of the 'contract'?

[kramdizzle]

Did you sign any contract? if not cancel your subscription and get crappy comcast or dish. Doubt they would take you to court especially since they record all their calls for "quality assurance" and the supervisor has openly admitted to his company making an error

[grego]

Did you sign any contract? if not cancel your subscription and get crappy comcast or dish. Doubt they would take you to court especially since they record all their calls for "quality assurance" and the supervisor has openly admitted to his company making an error

no signed contract. like most of these things, i imagine, its all verbal over the phone. i did ask about my conversation with the rep being recorded. i was told that the conversations are only saved for a day (i cant believe thats true).

[grego]

i actually had a similar thing happen to me with t mobile years ago. i had always had a 'first incoming minute free' thing on my plan. i started going over my minutes after a couple of years, so i increased my minutes from 600 to 900 for an extra 20 bucks. too bad they didnt tell me that the first incoming minute option was no longer offered. called back month after month asking why i'm still going over when i wasnt using my minutes any more than before- they said they didnt know. (obviously if you get more than 300 calls incoming a month, you would be paying them more for less minutes). by the time i caught it, it was almost 6 months later and there was 'nothing they could do'. cost me $100's in overage charges not to mention they got the extra 20 a month.

[authentic]

no signed contract. like most of these things, i imagine, its all verbal over the phone. i did ask about my conversation with the rep being recorded. i was told that the conversations are only saved for a day (i cant believe thats true).

yeah, they're jerking you around. I would keep calling until this is resolved.

[bdiamond]

I had Fios and changed my plan b/c we were getting overcharged for some BS, not to mention a lot of their subscription fee's on our land line were out of control. When making any changes to your plan they're supposed to play you a recording that states your new users agreement and at the end you're supposed to say "I accept." It's like a recorded verbal contract. If you didn't do that, it's just them trying to screw with you.

[Heisenberg]

Great reading this thread a day after I ordered Fios for internet and phone. :doh:

[MattFancy]

Great reading this thread a day after I ordered Fios for internet and phone. :doh:

I've had FiOS TV, Internet, and phone for 4 months now. Last month we noticed our bill was higher than normal. We called and Verizon forgot to give us a $15 credit that we are supposed to get for the first 6 months. So they extended the credit for a full year instead of 6 months and gave us HBO and Showtime free for 3 months. I've loved FiOS so far and would recommend it to anyone.

[brianm23]

http://www.bbb.org/

I would also file a complaint as well.

[grego]

I've had FiOS TV, Internet, and phone for 4 months now. Last month we noticed our bill was higher than normal. We called and Verizon forgot to give us a $15 credit that we are supposed to get for the first 6 months. So they extended the credit for a full year instead of 6 months and gave us HBO and Showtime free for 3 months. I've loved FiOS so far and would recommend it to anyone.

honestly, up til now, i've been ok with them. now, years ago when i had DSL and they were supposed to come and fix it -and when they were supposed to come and install my fios- and didnt show up either time (and didnt call, btw) i wasnt happy. and i dont love my verizon cell service nearly as much as some others.

http://www.bbb.org/

I would also file a complaint as well.

i think i'll do that.

When making any changes to your plan they're supposed to play you a recording that states your new users agreement and at the end you're supposed to say "I accept." It's like a recorded verbal contract. If you didn't do that, it's just them trying to screw with you.

i think i did that. i actually got a confirmation e mail. problem is, it says its a 2 year contract and you may be charged a early termination fee, but it also says in the same paragraph that you have 30 days to cancel 'from day of install'. the super told me the trial is only for new customers and is referencing this. problem is, its not what the sales rep said. and as i said, she knew i wasnt a new customer. so i'm going by what she had said and that 'install' means when i get my new channels. who would think otherwise?

[MattFancy]

honestly, up til now, i've been ok with them. now, years ago when i had DSL and they were supposed to come and fix it -and when they were supposed to come and install my fios- and didnt show up either time (and didnt call, btw) i wasnt happy. and i dont love my verizon cell service nearly as much as some others.

Oh believe me I've had my problems with Verizon as well. There was one time I spent 3 hours on the phone trying to get a billing error straight. The latest deal was probably just luck, getting in touch with the right person at the right time. But I've had Comcast and Verizon, and Verizon is much better than Comcast.

[PokerPacker]

doesn't threatening to cancel service usually help straighten things out?

[Heisenberg]

PM me if you want the address of the CR I dealt with yesterday.

Super nice guy that helped me fix my order that originally got screwed up. He gave me his email address and told me to give it to anyone I knew that needed help with Fios service.

After yesterday I'd definitely say Fios has a long way to go with their support - it took about 3 calls to finally speak with someone that could help me out.

[MattFancy]

doesn't threatening to cancel service usually help straighten things out?

Not if you have signed a 2 year contract. Not much you can do there.

[Mufumonk]

They do free promos all the time. It doesn't matter if you are new or an existing customer. Hell, there have been many times where my 30 day promo has been rolled into a 2nd and even 3rd free month of HBO, etc.....

[ACW]

They do free promos all the time. It doesn't matter if you are new or an existing customer. Hell, there have been many times where my 30 day promo has been rolled into a 2nd and even 3rd free month of HBO, etc.....

Hell, right before last football season I got a deal which is "introductory"...despite having been a customer for nearly 3 years.

[grego]

http://www.bbb.org/

I would also file a complaint as well.

thanks, brian. i just got done filing a complaint with the bbb.

jmu, thank for the info. pm sent to you.

as it stands now, i'm waiting for the supervisor to get back to me (he's supposed to call me tomorrow). i really dont feel comfortable that this is still an issue and i am actually waiting for verizon to contact me and tell me whether or not they are going to hold me to a contract that i never agreed to.

given my television options (wasnt too thrilled with comcast, and i cant get the dish due to the trees behind my house blocking the satellite), and being that up til now, i've been happy with verizon, i'd honestly probably just re-sign a new contract with them if they apologize and drop their position that we have a 2 year contract.

i'll post an update when i get one. thanks to all for the help!

[grego]

ok, here is an update for anyone curious about this topic....

it turns out that when you sign up for an upgrade in your service, you do, in fact, get a 30 day worry free guarantee. and, if you decide you dont like your package, you can opt out of it.....with a catch.

situation one- if you are not a brand new fios customer, you can cancel your service outright and you are in the clear.

situation two- if you are an existing customer (turns out i've had fios for 2 years and my original contract expires in about a week), and you cancel this 'new' package for any reason, you are still locked into a 2 year deal from the time you started your '30 day trial'.

so, its not exactly a 30 day worry free guarantee'- only if you want to upgrade your service when you cancel the package.

for example, if i wanted to cancel my package that was under a 30 day trial that i ordered 3 weeks ago, and just wait for my original fios contract to expire in a week, i cant. i'd have to pay a $360 early termination fee if i left fios cuz this second contract, even though you cancel the package, is still a contract to them.

but if i do cancel the package, and dont upgrade to a more expensive one, i am put on a month to month contract, which gives me the same package of channels that i had 3 weeks ago, just at a much higher rate than i was paying! (do they tell you this going it? not at all.) i would have thought that you just go back to what you had before rather than to a more expensive rate. of course, this way, they gotcha either way.

confusing? i think so.

my 2 cents for verizon would be to have their sales reps tell customers about their contracts very clearly up front. specifically, that if they cancel the package, even thought its a 30 day worry free guarantee, they are still locked into a 2 year contract.

[sideshow24]

Call them and tell them to terminate your service. They'll panic and ask why you'd ever do a thing like that. After you tell them why, I bet they fix your problem and talk you out of cancelling. It worked with DirecTV.

[Skinsfan1311]

Great reading this thread a day after I ordered Fios for internet and phone. :doh:

Don't sweat it. FIOS kicks ass. We've had it for a couple of years now.

Customer service kinda blows,(mainly for the long wait times on the phone), and you need to pay close attention to those bills. The first couple of bills seem higher than normal, because they charge upfront for a month of service.

Once you cross those hurdles, FIOS is great. Our TV picture is fantastic, the internet flies and the phone service is fine.

If you ever change, or add stuff, pay attention to the subsequent bills, to make sure that there are no mistakes.

I've had FiOS TV, Internet, and phone for 4 months now. Last month we noticed our bill was higher than normal. We called and Verizon forgot to give us a $15 credit that we are supposed to get for the first 6 months. So they extended the credit for a full year instead of 6 months and gave us HBO and Showtime free for 3 months. I've loved FiOS so far and would recommend it to anyone.

I recommend it too, especially over ****ty Millenium cable, or whatever they're calling themselves nowadays.

We've only had one technical issue, and that's because a severe thunderstorm blew out something in the ONT, (the box where the optical line comes in), and they came out on a Sunday to fix it.