Reader Mary says that she ordered Verizon FiOS during the “free LCD TV” promotion they were running, but she still hasn’t received the letter she needs in order to start the rebate process.
Mary writes:
I am one of many people that have had this problem with Verizon—
At the end of November 2007, I signed up and ordered Triple Play Fios with Verizon, as a promotion they were offering a Free LCD TV or Best Buy gift card. It is now March 2008 and I have not received the special offer letter or TV from Verizon. I have called many times and still get the same run-around, “Your letter will be coming in the mail in a few days”—
Consumerist, if there is any way you can bring this problem to the forefront an behalf of the many customers who have not received their free LCD TV or Best Buy card from Verizon, that would be greatly appreciated.
Mary directed us to a thread full of angry Verizon customers who say they are getting the runaround over the free TV.
Here are some highlights:
Joe and Lisa say:
My fios was connected on nov 20,2007. After being on hold with verizon a total of 6 hours in two weeks and speaking to numerous idiots i’ve gotten no where. Everyone I spoke to gave me a different story until I finally reached a supervisor, so I was told. He told me I couldn’t register for the TV over the phone and that I needed to go on line which i’ve tried with no success. I again called verizon with another hour wait and when I finally spoke to another idiot I laid it on the line . NO MORE BULL%#@! I will not pay my bill until I receive my TV, AND IF THERE IS NO TV REAL SOON I WILL CONTACT ALL THE TV STATIONS AND INFORM THEM OF THE FALSE ADVERTISING BY VERIZON. THEY CAN THEN TAKE THERE FIOS AND SHOVE IT. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, I CAN NO LONGER BE PATIENT AND MADE A FOOL OF
Janet asks:
I signed up for the triple play on Nov. 24. I’ve called several times & I’ve been told each time to wait for the letter. FOR HOW LONG? Has anyone received their TV yet? Has anyone contacted ASA?
Jesse says:
In November 18, 2007 I signed up for Verizon FIOS TV and FIOS Internet service. After a read in a newspaper about the Free 19? LCD HDTV, I called Verizon to switch to Triple Play to get the offer. On November, 20, 2007, Verizon came and installed the FIOS Triple Play. They told me that I will be receiving my letter to redeem the free gift in two weeks, then thereafter I should be receiving my HDTV after a week later. In detailed told me what the letter is going to have such as the url to the website, a username and password. Once signed in I will have the option of three offers from HDTV, $200 Best Buy and Wireless Phone. Today is January 9, 2007 and still no letter. Yes, I tried several times to get connected, busy signals. Finally, got someone and they told me that I am not on the rebate list, but they do notice that I had the Triple Play, so they ordered for the letter but will take 4 weeks from today to get the letter. Let’s see what happens. The offer has been extended til February, 2008. Although, if the offer is expired by then, they have to render the gift as promised. This can lead to legal action for false advertisement. Peace!
Mary says:
i am having the same trouble. i signed up for FIOS- had a terrible experience during installation- spent over 7 hours on the phone getting issues resolved and then 2 hours on hold the next day trying to get someone back out to my house. issue was finally resolved but when i tried to call back- on 3 separate occasions with other questions i could not committ to waiting that long on hold- just ridiculous to think my time is worth so little. I also cannot log on to the rewards.verizon.net website-their cust svc # is not manned evenings or weekends- how convenient-also- i was promised either the mini camcorder OR $50 to Best Buy- no mention of that in the promo letter- i as well as many friends were also told we would receive a $50 Target gift card which we have received absolutely no additional information on. i am extremely diasppointed in the level of followthrough i have received so far.
John says:
My install was Nov. 28,2008 and as of this date I still have not recieved the promotional “confirmation number” The reabate center also shows no “confirmation number.
In December I checked w/ the rebate center as to the whereabouts of my Sharp LCD or $200.00 gift card from Best Buy. They advised me there was no information entered on my account. They took the necessary info that day and said I would recieve the confirmation number by mail in 3-4 wks. Called the rebate center again in late January and again nothing showing. They asked for my info again and advised me the process would start all over again (3-4 wk. wait) So I did not provide my info and gave it some more time. Feb. 5 I called Verizon Billing. Billing looked up my records and asked if I had agreed to the Terms of Service. I said I’m sure I did, I’ve been billed 2 months already for the package required to qualify for this rebate offer. She then suggested and assisted me with going to the Verizon website TOS logging on to my account and again agreeing to the TOS, which now I did again. ( Incidentally, I asked does this mean my 2 year contract for this Triple Freedom Pkg. starts as of Feb. 5, and yes she said it starts again. To me it now is a 26 month contract). I was advise to check in 1 week to make sure a “confimation number” is entered onto my account. I did call today and the rebate center still has nothing. I called Verizon Billing and there is nothing there. I was told to wait 3-4 wks. again and if at that time nothing showed they would start the process all over again.
Even a WABC news report from February 1st hasn’t helped the situation.
..by signing up, he was to receive a 19-inch flat-screen TV.
“I said great, I don’t know anything about it, but I’ll be happy to take that.” he said.
But that was more than three months ago, and despite numerous phone calls he says he has made to Verizon, still no TV.
“They keep telling me they will send a letter with an authorization code, but I haven’t gotten the letter,” he said.
“Of course we wanted the TV, because it was just an incredible deal,” Verizon customer Bryan Vincent said.
Vincent signed up for the triple-play package too. He says after numerous phone calls, he was also told he would get a letter with an authorization code. Weeks later, the letter finally arrived.
“So I wait all this time, I get the letter, and it’s the wrong letter,” he said.
If you’re a Verizon customer who is running into problems getting your TV, we suggest you contact your state’s Attorney General and submit a formal complaint. If enough consumers complain, the AG’s office may get involved and Verizon will have to “take it seriously.”
What was your experience with this promotion? Tell us about it in the comments or at tips@consumerist.com.
(Photo:i’m george)
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1) Harte Hanks is the name of the vendor that distributes the TVs and camcorders. If you’re wondering why when you call Verizon, the employees don’t just press a magic button and send you your TV, it’s because we can’t. I usually give people the phone number for Harte Hanks when they haven’t received their letter within the allotted time. (don’t have it with me at home, sorry)
2) In the event that you simply can’t get the TV from the vendor, the billing department does have the means to send you a $100 gift card, followed by another $100 gift card in a year if you are still with Fios at that time. Off the record, you can probably get this if you push hard enough (that means be firm, but don’t be a jackass). Of course you’d only want to do that if you don’t expect to get the TV for some reason.
3) Verizon tech support depends (as with any tech support) on who you get. You get me, and you’ll get someone who will fix your issue a majority of the time (that is, unless it’s a problem with your computer and takes more than 10min to fix. In that case you’re on your own – we troubleshoot the network, not the computer you bought from Best Buy!)
4) Trouble calls to Verizon Fios actually only account for 2% of the customer base. It may not be much of a comfort when you’re having a horrible issue to know that you’re the exception and not the rule, but Fios is not the world’s biggest snafu. It actually rocks pretty hard. (well, ok, that’s a biased opinion. Take it on those grounds)
Sheila works in the Verizon Andover MA office and she is the most pleasant and understanding CSR I’ve ever talked to. She just now helped me with my Verizon FIOS billing and seemed actually concerned about my problem and most importantly, she fixed my billing problem. Thank you Sheila!
Just goes to show, that it’s the people. Be patient and call back. Perhaps someone else can help you.
@cambiata: Nice advertisement for your company, shill. Too bad that this thread and dozens more if you do a search for “Verizon” on this site lead to how comcastcraptastic Verizon actually is. And guess what, its not the subscribers fault that Verizon didn’t properly estimate or prepare for how many people would sign up for a free TV deal. Verizon is the face of this promotion and if they are apparently the middleman, its still their fault for this problem.
I work for comcast,and i have tons of customers call me everyday saying that they are disconnect because they wanted the verizon television. I have one thing to say. We told you so.
@msskyisthelimit2004:
Pot calling the Kettle black, eh? Only a comcast drone would praise them. I use to work for their IT dept heard a lot of stories from the technical supervisors there in their largest subscriber system. If it’s not for the competition comcast and other cable companies will continue to raise prices and lower the bar. I am a former Optonline customer and switched cause my rates would have jumped $140. Yeah, I’m complaining to get the LCD TV too.:)
@DashTheHand: Whoa, nelly. Clean the sand out of your va-jay-jay and calm down. I’m not a “shill” if I announce from the start that I work for Verizon. And nobody is “blaming the subscribers” because the TVs are going to take longer to deliver than originally planned. Sheesh. Maybe I just think that “Waaahh, the free item I’m being given has not arrived with immediate dispatch” is kind of a silly thing to get into a self-righteous rage about. Sure, Verizon isn’t perfect, and there are things you can legitimately complain about (you can bet I’ve complained about them, and I can’t even get Fios – but god I wish I could). But you know, every single time I call in to Time Warner and have to deal with their genuinely wretched service, I’m so proud to be working at Verizon. Last time I had to call Time Warner, my service was out because their field techs clumsily PUT me out of service, and they still couldn’t send me a FT to correct it inside of a week. A week! At Fios, 99% of the time we can send a FT within 24 hours. The exceptions to that usually involve acts of God. And ALL of the tech support is in the U. S of A – no contractors out of country.
Also, besides failing to know the definition of the word “shill”, you also fail at statistics – even if there were a lot of stories about how horrible Fios is (and I’ve done a search before, there aren’t that many on this site), that doesn’t in any way contradict the 2% statistic.
I am not a Verizon shill, but I am a happy Verizon customer. FIOS works, and it works well. No packet shaping (as far as I can tell), it never goes down, it’s fast and customer serveice can be great, if you talk to the right CSR. Comcast? HA! Not even close!
In December of 2007 I received a promotional offer from Verizon Fios for the Triple Play Package (Internet, Home Phone and Cable). This offer included a free HD television if I signed up for the triple play package. I currently had the Internet and home phone service through Verizon, but had my cable through Direct TV and I was happy with my current cable service. Verizon had constantly been marketing the FIOS TV to me for at least a year, with phone calls and mail solicitation. I didn’t consider switching cable services until I received the offer for the free television. I decided to accept the offer and called to order the FIOS TV on 12-11-07. The representative was very helpful and mentioned that I had a choice between the Free HD TV or a $200 Best Buy Card. He suggested I take the television offer since it was worth more than $200. He mentioned that I would receive a redemption card for the television in the mail within a week. After several weeks when I didn’t receive the card, I called the redemption number (866-279-0438). I was told that they were “backed up” and I wasn’t in the system and to call back in a couple of weeks. After a couple of more calls and many, many different excuses for not receiving the card, I finally got put into their system on 2-1-08. I was then told that it would take another 4-6 weeks to receive the redemption card; slightly longer than the “one week” that the sales representative mentioned when I ordered the service. I was told that they were having trouble with sales representatives promising the redemption cards quicker than they were actually being mailed. I called back on 3-24-08; the redemption center was supposedly escalating the claim and I was to receive the card within a week. When I didn’t receive the card within a week, I called back on 4-1-08 and was treated very rudely by “Susan”, a supervisor at the redemption center. She mentioned that I had to call 800-483-4000 to determine my eligibility before the redemption center can send out the card. I called this number and spoke with “Ora”, she told me that it wasn’t showing that I was not eligible for the free TV because I supposedly signed up for the service on 12-11-07, 4 days prior to the offer date. This is the first time that I was told that I was not eligible for the offer. I told her that I would not have made the decision to cancel my perfectly good Direct TV service 4 days prior to being eligible for this offer that was making me switch to Verizon. The information that she had was incorrect; I ordered the service on 12-11-07 and the install date was 12-15-07; the date of the offer. Ora was supposedly e-mailing the third party vendor to ask if I could be eligible for the offer since “I signed up before the offer”. Not once did they have any remorse for providing me with the incorrect information upon ordering the service. One representative did offer me a $100 credit on my bill instead of the TV. I declined that offer, since the television is worth approximately $250-300. Keep in mind that each of these phone calls is at least an hour hold time waiting for a supervisor. I then have to go through the story over and over since no one adds notes to my account. I waited a week to hear back from Ora and of course, no response, so on 4-7-08 I called back and asked for a supervisor; I got Stacy (888-553-1555-after a 45 minute hold time). She was quite rude and was insisting that I am not eligible and again, not backing up the information that I was given by the original sales representative. She said that he did not notate in my account that we even discussed this TV; I guess I just made this stuff up. She too was going to e-mail the third party vendor and ask if they would “make me eligible”. She was also supposedly following up with Ora to find out what she might have found out. She promised that someone would call back with an answer. After not hearing back from Stacy or Ora, I called back on 4-09-08 and held for 45 minutes for Beverly Ford. She immediately had an attitude and said according to my account notes (that were finally entered) I was told that I wasn’t eligible for the TV and asked why I was calling back if I was told that. I told her that I was supposed to hear back from two people regarding my eligibility and have not heard anything. She first proceeded to tell me that I wasn’t eligible for the TV offer since I didn’t have a certain speed Internet; this made no sense and I told her that. Then she told me I wasn’t eligible for the TV since I installed the service on 1-10-08. Again, a different phone call, a different excuse not to offer what was promised. I insisted that I had the service installed on 12-15-07 and that I had an installation certificate from the installer dated 12-15-07. Thank goodness I was able to locate this paperwork, otherwise it would be their word against mine regarding the eligibility of the offer. Beverly’s tone changed once she realized that I had a document saying otherwise. She became more polite and helpful. She got her supervisor involved, hand-delivered paperwork to her supervisor for approval. Supposedly the supervisor is bypassing the process of waiting the 4-6 weeks for the redemption card; that she is escalating the claim and I should receive the actual TV in 2-3 weeks. As I mentioned, I was originally told that I would get the redemption card within a week and it has been 4 months.
Keep in mind that I’m trying to keep my composure, considering I’m 6 months pregnant I tried not to get too worked up, but it was quite difficult not to get angry. They are lucky that I’m relatively mind mannered; most other customers would have blown their stack. Here I am stuck with a service that I’m not happy with; a company that doesn’t stand behind their word and I’m now stuck with them because of a 24 month contract. The least they could do is hold up their end of the bargain. It’s very frustrating also that none of these people give you a direct line, so when they don’t follow up with you, you have no choice but to call the 800 number, go through your entire story again and they have no idea who the person is that you spoke with (again, because the account is not notated). How can they continue to not follow up with their customers? This is very unprofessional. Not once did they apologize for giving me the wrong information. I was made to feel like a liar. I’m glad that I didn’t give up and that I persevered, but no one should have to go through this to get what they were promised. I had issues with Verizon Fios Internet when I signed up also; this is not the first customer service nightmare from Verizon. This process took a lot of patience. I now found an actual website of people experiencing the same issues with Verizon and this supposed offer for a free television that they haven’t received. I am not holding my breath that the TV will arrive in 2-3 weeks, but I will not give up the fight to get what I was promised.
I signed up for the triple play in early Feb ’08 and received my TV yesterday- less than 8 weeks. It was the Magnavox instead of the Sharp but I am NOT complaining. I hooked it up yesterday in one of the spare bedrooms and was very, VERY please with the picture quality. So, if you have the option of receiving the Mag instead of the Sharp to lessen delivery time, then I would suggest to take the Mag.
I’m surprised seeing a lot of people have yet to receive their TV; and I am also surprised with Verizon’s lack of preparedness for the response they received with the promo. As for me, I was one of the subscribers to FIOS solely for the TV promo.
I have no idea why I received my so quick, but I’m sure I am not the only one. I Googled the Mag and it has a value of $329-#399, so again, I am NOT complaining about my free LCD TV.
Loving my FIOS and free TV.
I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and I have received IMMEDIATE attention from Verizon regarding my TV. After over 4 months of trying to get an answer from them, within the last two days I have received two phone calls from them and I will receive my TV in 14 days. Don’t give up- report them and they will respond!
I would like to file a complaint against Verizon FIOS. I have found many complaints the same as mine on the internet. It was recommended that I complain to the Better Business Bureau or the Attorney General’s office. This is the only contact I could find. Here is my complaint:
I signed up for FIOS Feb. 3rd – the deadline for receiving the free TV if I bundled all three services, which I did. I called today to report that I had yet to receive the letter instructing me as to how I could get the TV. I finally talked with a supervisor, Ms. Fields, who informed me that I would have to agree to a 15/2 internet speed instead of the 5/2 which was recommended to me by the sales person since I don’t do much downloading. Never was I told I have to have the 15/2 or the deal didn’t count. Verizon is trying to cheat me, and I don’t know what my recourse is.
Pamelatc
Well.. here we are on week 15, and still no TV. First I was promised 6-10 weeks on the install date, then I was promised 10-15 weeks. After speaking with supervisor today, now it’s another 5 weeks. So in approximately 20 weeks from install, I’m sure they’ll tag on more time when I call in yet again.
This is unacceptable, and at this point I might cancel out verizon and go back to Cablevision, who has already offered to pay my cancellation with Verizon. I’m also thinking about cancelling my cell servise with them as well once my contract is up.
I’ve also reported them to the BBB and send the BBB a link to this site.
Dang, sorry to hear about all these problems. My parents got the triple play thing about a week before this promotion started, and we negotiated our way to the TV. It took about 3 or 4 weeks but it arrived and its a halfway decent TV. The TV can’t get HDMI via the FIOS box, but it looks fine over component. It’s in the kitchen, so it’s not a big deal. I hope that you guys get this sorted out.
I have a problem with Verizon’s free TV offer but in my case Verizon is technically correct.
I had to reschedule the installation date due to a traveling commitment so I missed the magic March 15 deadline installation date by 3 days.
It would have been nice if I had been warned about exceeding the March 15 date when I rescheduled. (I failed to read the small print on the back of the advertisement so I was unaware that I had blundered into the trap)
Any comments?
I feel for you, and I can tell you that I have pulled my hair as much as you
have over these promotions. I know many people have historically been left
with the impression that reps do not care and are trying to get off their
call by saying “It’s on it’s way,” or “It’s out of my hands,” but I can
assure you that although this was a huge blunder for this company, the
employees do care. Many reps have a list of people inquiring about their
gift hoping for a direct answer from somebody higher up. I personally have
escalated this to a level within Verizon that is helping me come to a
resolution. At this point, if you’re still calling, keep this in mind:
1. The company Verizon contracted with to provide these gifts (Harte-Hanks)
has cut them (Verizon reps) off effective less than a month ago in this
sense: They used to be able to call Harte Hanks a month ago and ascertain
delivery status of the gift. Their phone number is now disabled and
redirects the caller to a Verizon customer service rep. The main channel of
customer service has no direct resource to determine a delivery date of a
customer. Supervisors also do NOT have direct access to this information, so
it is almost always essentially useless to ask for one for this situation.
It is a public utility, and some resolutions that have been offered were
violations of the states’ tariffs. For example: Giving $200 in credit on a
bill. That will no longer happen, even with an executive complaint from Ivan
Seidenberg, the CEO. Verizon is not tariffed to provide credit for
misquoting customers a free gift. I am personally working on creating a
resolution that will work as a compromise for those who will not receive
their gift, but please have more patience while that is fought for. I am
spending countless hours researching and fighting this problem. You deserve
what you were promised.
2. On that note, there are indications in these posts that people are
referring to outside agencies (Public utilities commissions and better
business bureau)… when you file a complaint with these entities, it is
referred directly to an executive level, and from there it is referred
directly to reps that work in the same call center you started
communications with. Starting recently, even these executive complaints are
going to lead to the same conclusion as calling in: Your point of contact is
not going to have direct access to the information you’re trying to obtain.
The only thing you would accomplish is receiving an offer for a call back,
and a direct line to their voicemail where you can leave a message (or
several) and be waiting for a response when that person has the time to
check their voicemail messages.
3. If your information was sent to this contracted company Harte-Hanks, you
might not get your gift until November. They had such an overwhelming
response from Verizon to deliver these televisions that a couple things
happened: After January 1, you were not guaranteed the Sharp Aquos.
Regardless of whether the rep promised a sharp or not (If I knew why people
said the things they said, or did they things they did, I’d be in a
different business than I am), After Jan 1 It might be a Zenith, might be a
Viewsonic, etc. As of right now, Harte-Hanks is quoting a 7 to 11 week
delivery timeframe. No lie….
4. If Verizon has not sent your information to this company already, you are
out of luck. You won’t receive a TV, or a best buy gift card, or an RCA
small wonder camcorder, or a Flip Video digital video camera; regardless of
whether the services you signed up for qualify you for this promotion. This
is one of my main concerns…I am working long extra hours to convince my
contacts to help lobby an approval for a replacement (or consolation, if you
will) gift.
If you were promised this promotion and at this point have not received your
gift, here are the steps I recommend you take. Call Verizon’s customer
service number, found on your bill or Verizon’s website. Ask for billing and
make sure you enter your home phone number into the automated system so it
will get you to a FiOS agent. Ask the agent who answers if they are in the
department “Encore”, or ask to be transferred to there. Then, ask the Encore
rep to check the database for your account information. If they do not have
the database on their workstation, they can easily find someone who does.
*If you are in the Database, You are on the right track. Harte-Hanks is
prepared to honor the promotion that Verizon promised you. Request that the
rep forward this information to inquire about delivery status. The rep will
be notified and is more than empowered to call you back with details. Please
keep in mind that Verizon is not authorized to issue credit toward the
billing for an unreasonable delivery time, due to a lack of state tariffs
allowing the credit. If you pursue this with the state utilities commission,
they will refer your complaint to the call center and someone will call you
and advise you that they cannot issue any credit.
*If you are not in the database, I’d ask, “What did Verizon do to disqualify
my account?” Even though the answer you will receive will not be reasonable,
(You signed up for 5/2 instead of 15/2.. I dont care what internet speed I
had, you told me I’d get this TV. I’m stuck in a contract for 2 years).
Please do not argue that Verizon did not meet their end of the bargain:
A) Calls are recorded randomly, each rep has 2 random calls per day recorded
for TRAINING purposes only. It is useless to request a recorded conversation
you have had with Verizon over the phone.
B) The terms of service for a FiOS bundle, which is the agreement Verizon is
held accountable for, has no mention of a free gift, so please do not ask to
have the early termination fee waived as an argument that we did not meet
our end of the agreement. Trust me when I say, if people you speak to had
the option to waive or credit this fee, several people would be receiving a
$199 credit on their account. The reality is that the 2-year contract is for
providing the services themselves (Freedom Essentials, FiOS Internet, and
FiOS TV Premier). The terms of service for the fios bundle can be found
here:
http://www2.verizon.net/policies/tos_output.asp?version=bundle
P.S. If you are in Oregon and were promised this promotion for signing up
for FiOS Triple Play, sorry…Verizon could not get approval from the state
to offer this promotion to you, and therefore Verizon made a mistake
mentioning this promotion. If you saw this promotion on Verizon’s website,
it’s because Verizon was giving general information and you did not enter
your address or phone number to make sure you qualified for the service.
Another thing to point out is that Verizon had system issues on and around
the time of the new year, preventing reps from being able to add the
qualifying bundle discounts to accounts. Reps were relied upon to follow
these accounts and subsequently add the discounts when a fix was in place,
but many lost track of the accounts being followed, and thus disqualified
the account from the promotion.
My bottom line: I know this is Verizon’s fault. They chose a company that is
on the bottom of the marketing food chain to provide a sweetener to sign up
for their services for 2 years. They need to be held accountable for their
employees promising a free gift to people who sign up for these services in
a 2 year contract.
I want to help you. If you are still pursuing resolution for this promotion,
please feel free to email me and I will do everything I can do to ensure
that you get results.
youdodeserveit@gmail.com
Thank you for your time
–
Concerned Citizen
Trying to provide you with a resolution
After 8 calls and waiting on hold forever – I eventually got my tv after 6 months of waiting.
We plugged the tv in and it didn’t work! SURPRISE! I called Verizon and I was referred to SHARP
SHARP told me the tv was a 2003 television set and that they could not help me! Again I made numberous calls and many
hours on hold – they kept telling me I wasn;t in there system – then how did i get a TV!
They were going to send a delivery service, on a scheduled date to pickup the tv and I would receive another one in 6 weeks.
Well they missed the first delivery pickup no one came, second scheduled pick up noone came – finally after being extremely irrate
they picked up the tv – I have one more week to get the new one! SOMETHING TELLS ME THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!!!!
I wish I had seen these posts prior to my ordering FIOS. Not that I wouldn’t have signed up, but I would have been better prepared & not felt alone.
A door-to-door VZ rep signed me up for FIOS in February 2007 with the glimmer of fiberoptic everything. (Now thinking back, I live in 2008, not 2028 – don’t need fiberoptic.) I was content with my phone service, and I had high-ish speed DSL internet, but my husband thought the FIOS tv service sounded better than Time-Warner Cable’s. We were told the TV servic was not ready yet, but if I had FIOS installed now it was a week wait for an appointment; if we wait for TV service in “a few months,” the appts. would take longer.
I was NOT offered any freebies at the time, just the honor of being the first in my neighborhood –a.k.a. the “guinea pig.”
SO, after 10 hours of installing FIOS in my home — yes, the installer was there over TEN hours & had dinner with me – the poor guy was by himself on a 2-man job, running in & out of the house in the freezing cold, drilling several holes through my walls to connect my phones & computers. One of my phones is actually worse & the internet is about the same (though my speedtest says I had 19 download & 1.8 upload & had my pc checked out, now for some reason it changed to 9 download & 1.9 upload). Getting a hold of VZ FIOS was not always easy & I had to have service several times (they actually made 2 house visits to check my pc & phone).
For the past 9 months they’ve been sending promos for the triple play bundle & when I try to order it they tell me itls not in my town.. So, STOP sending me mail, right?!?! Well, as of last month a year & 1/2 later), the TV service legalities are settled, I ordered the service & tried to get the free HDTV. The rep immediately told me I was lucky I never ordered it originally, because they didn’t make/order enough & there are a lot of unhappy customers.
I’ve got to tell you, I can’t believe you people would go through all that — changing phone/internet/tv service just for a free tv.
The latest sales rep Did offer me the $100 Amex certificate & DVR for 1 year, so we’ll see how that goes after my tv service begins on 11/29/08.
Wish me luck!
My nasty experience is SO much like the others that I won’t waste space here.
It’s enough to say I’ve endured the long waits on hold, only to be told they can’t help me and transferred, then transferred again. Seven months now and nothing. Similar problems on obtaining a new converter. I have seen several similar reports on the neighborhood listserv. Verizon FIOS is great when it works, just pray it doesn’t start working. Considering I shouldn’t have to call them at all to prod them to fix their error, I really shouldn’t even have an opinion on their CSR’s. My opinion is that they’ve all been nice but the Verizon bureaucracy is nuts, and I think they cynically accounted for many people not following through on the half-bogus TV offer.
That they’re better than Comcast (they’re not) is no recommendation.
i ordered the triple play back in december ’07 and received my letter a few weeks later that had all the info i needed to go to the a special website and register for my reward. i actually had a choice between a $250 best buy gift card or the TV, and i chose the tv. i had to wait till about the middle of march before i received the tv. i was suspecting some sort of foul-up or mishap with my reward process, but i was surprised that, other than the long wait, there were no problems. reading the other comments i feel lucky.