Debate, and discuss, just dont Bore me.
A tale of 2 Support Calls
Published on September 7, 2010 By Dr Guy In Personal Computing

Well, it has been about 5 months since my switch from Comcast to Verizon FIOS.  And I had my first "incident" with FIOS over the weekend.  5 months and only 1 outage!  That is definitely an improvement in service (with Comcast, outages were about once a month).

So I tepidly called Verizon tech support to report the outage.  Having been through 9 years of Comcast "service", I was expecting the worst.  With Comcast, 9 times out of 10, when there was a problem, it was with their infrastructure, yet the techs never knew that (I suspected it since all things on my end were fine and unchanged).

With a Comcast call, usually you had to jump through a bunch of hoops - the same ones each time, and at the end, they would "schedule a tech" to come out for sometime next week.  By the time the "date" rolled around (and sometimes the same day of the outage), the service would "miraculously" start working all on its own, so at least I would not waste half a day waiting for a tech to show up (that usually never did).

So I called and started doing the push button shuffle.  Surprisingly, I got to a live person in about 1 minute!  Now that is good!  She took my information and started running her diagnostics.  Apologizing a couple of times for it taking so long.  She had me reset the router once.  Then reset the FIOS box and then told me to wait a few minutes.

A couple of minutes passed and she told me to "try the Internet now". WOW!  It actually worked!  Seems she knows what she is talking about!

The only gotcha was that I had to reset the router to my settings (for security and wireless purposes) which took all of about 5 minutes.

I am not a fan of monopolies, and while phone companies are no longer monopolies (we have another company in the area that I have used before), they are still big and usually unresponsive.  But Verizon is sure trying its damnedest to change my mind.  I switched to Verizon Cell 5 years ago because of poor service I had with my previous provider.  And have not had a problem with their cell service since.

Now I have their FIOS as well (Landline, Internet and TV), and they are basically showing me I was lazy to not try them before!  So far, they are head and shoulders above Comcast (and cheaper).

I am going to hate it when my contract is up.  Even if Comcast offers me a deal to switch back, I am going to be hesitant to unless Verizon's service rapidly deteriorates.

Maybe Verizon has made the switch from a monopolistic utility to a customer service company.  If so, price is not the only consideration I will use when deciding.  Still early (only 5 months), but so far so good!


Comments (Page 1)
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on Sep 07, 2010

I was able to get FIOS the day it was released in my neighborhood, which was one of the first "pilot" areas for the roll-out.  I've had it for well over a few years now and just love it.  I don't ever remember having an outtage at all, except when they came to install the TV service (which took a couple of years before they offered it.

enjoy !

j

on Sep 07, 2010

I don't ever remember having an outtage at all, except when they came to install the TV service (which took a couple of years before they offered it.

I guess you are doing better than I!  But then if I get one outage (it lasted about an hour with my initial diagnostics and then their trouble shooting) every 5 months, that is good enough for me!

I had an opportunity to get it a couple of years ago, but my aversion to being on the "bleeding" edge made me back off (they had offered it in other markets, that was when they started here).

on Sep 07, 2010

I have had Comcast since it came to my area 35 years ago or so. Have been thinking about switching to Verizon Fios as they just put it in my area about 8 months ago. I have had a difference experience with Comcast as I always get a real person to talk to without any problem and can't tell you when my last outage was. Maybe I'm just in a good area here in NJ or lucky. I called last week to tell comcast I may be switching and just wanted to give them a heads up. They asked me what it would take to keep me and I said, lower my monthly cost. Thinking they would come back with me saving 20 or 30 dollars they took it from $170.00 to $102.00/mo. This is only for 6 months however and than they said to call back and they would see what they can do again for me. So with not having any problems I'm still locked in with comcast but have heard great things about Verizon.

on Sep 07, 2010

hey asked me what it would take to keep me and I said, lower my monthly cost. Thinking they would come back with me saving 20 or 30 dollars they took it from $170.00 to $102.00/mo.

I thought of doing that - but they violated the spirit of an agreement I signed with them (if not the actual letter of it).  I guess you have a better crew because the one down here is lousy on customer service, abusive to you when you have a question on billing, and just antagonistic period.  It was not always that way.  We started out with a cable company whose name I forget 30 years ago, but it was bought out about 6 times before landing in Comcast's hands.  And the service went to hell when it did.

if you have a good thing, stick with it! (and it sounds like yours is good).  But do not move to the Old Dominion.  You would quickly come to hate your old friend.

on Sep 07, 2010

Comcast is now rotten from the core out. Their content sucks, their services suck, their phone support sucks, theri pricing and issue resolution sucks.

 

Xfinity is just their attempt to change the brand image and get away from the Comcast bashing.

on Sep 07, 2010

I have had excellent service with comcast, and now with Verizon just finishing up with Fios throughout town, (i have never seen so many verizon trucks t once) we live just south of Boston Ma, and we have always been the first to receive comcast new features, apparently it is a test area for them, so my dealings with them have been good for 15 years now, but i will be torn when it comes to FIOS,

on Sep 07, 2010

Just waiting for verizon to make its way over here,comcast sucks but its a better choice than AT&T as far as speeds go..

on Sep 08, 2010

AbsynthMinded
Comcast is now rotten from the core out. Their content sucks, their services suck, their phone support sucks, theri pricing and issue resolution sucks.

 
Xfinity is just their attempt to change the brand image and get away from the Comcast bashing.

I cannot say their programming sucks as they kind of have to carry what is available. (they do have choices, but the top ones are pretty much set by consumer demand).

I agree with the rest of your statements however.

on Sep 08, 2010

jpmurph1
I have had excellent service with comcast, and now with Verizon just finishing up with Fios throughout town, (i have never seen so many verizon trucks t once) we live just south of Boston Ma, and we have always been the first to receive comcast new features, apparently it is a test area for them, so my dealings with them have been good for 15 years now, but i will be torn when it comes to FIOS,

Yes, Boston is one of their test markets, so like Davebax, you guys have it good!  But I am curious.  I thought you had a different baby Bell up there?  I know Verizon is in California (my SIL works for them out there) as they bought FTE, but I thought you had Nynex?

Or is Verizon now becoming what AT&T used to be?

on Sep 08, 2010

wrigleys
Just waiting for verizon to make its way over here,comcast sucks but its a better choice than AT&T as far as speeds go..

I got 384 DSL back in 1999, and thought it was the cat's meow!  but today with Cable going to 50mb and FIOS at 35mb, DSL just does not cut it.  AT&T pulled out of our market about 5 years ago.  But they were not doing that well before then anyway.

on Sep 08, 2010

Bummer, Verizon FIOS not available here. 

on Sep 09, 2010

LightStar
Bummer, Verizon FIOS not available here. 

It is not available next to here either (just a mile down the road)!  I talked to a guy who used to work for Bell Atlantic (he has been retired awhile) who still has friends at the company.  And his sources tell him that Verizon appears to be pulling back from FIOS!  I sure hope not.  It is nice competition to cable regardless of experiences (and vice versa).

on Sep 09, 2010

Yea, reports are that development will be halted for fios (hopefully temporarily) after the current locations are finished with installing. 

on Sep 09, 2010

DG I had to chuckle when you mention the break up of Ma Bell. Everyone hated the big monopoly, but I'll tell you my phone bill was <9 dollars a month just prior to the break up. It just went up from there, currently $35 a month for a land line I barely use, just incoming calls. I'd lose it completely if it wasn't for the home security system.

I use cable for the internet now (Cox), I like it. It's been pretty reliable. We have Verizon FIOS available, I just haven't seen the need (yet) to switch 

on Sep 09, 2010

OMG_Jongalt26
Yea, reports are that development will be halted for fios (hopefully temporarily) after the current locations are finished with installing. 

Did they give any reasons for that (my source was not in that end of the business, so he only related what his friends told him, and none of the technical stuff)?

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