DSL Reports Rate’s Fios
When Verizon Fios first appeared on the scene in 2005, their service was one of the very few true fiber-to-the-home providers. Today there is over 740 different companies offering a fiber connection. 1 while many business only, there is no doubt that consumers want fiber connections.
Though Fios’s reception was mixed at rollout when it launched, even the New York Times asking whether it was worth the investment, 2 over the years it has gone on to become the best rated internet service by many consumer organizations including Consumer Reports, 3 The ACSI (which rates consumer’s opinions), 4 and even the FCC. 5
While Fios isn’t available in all areas, (here is a map of where it is), consumers that live in areas served by Fios still have a though choice: “Is having a fiber-optic internet connection worth while?”
To help answer this question, along with the question of “Is Fios worth the money?” we’ve compiled a quick list of third party resources that have reviewed Verizon Fios.
Thorough Fios Comparisons and Reviews
Verizon Fios TV Review
DEF EFX does very comprehensive rundown of Verizon Fios TV. A great resource for any consumer looking to upgrade to Fios TV. This article outlines everything you would want to know about Fios TV including: Ordering/Installation, Programming, Quality, Video On Demand, Set Top Boxes, other features and a great array of photos.
Paul Stamatious Reviews Fios
Paul does a quick review of Fios while staying at a Cousin’s house. He ends the review with “Verdict: When is Fios coming to my neighborhood?” This seems to be a underlying theme of people who don’t yet have Fiber in their area!
Thorough Xfinity vs Fios Comparison
Jessica Sims at HighSpeedExperts does a great and very thorough roundup of the difference between Verizon Fios vs Comcast Xfinity. Make sure to check out the speedtest comparison as it truly shows the power of fiber vs docsis 3.0. Additionally, her Fios deals page is worth checking out too if you’re thinking of switching to Fios.
Jonathan Rogers Fios TV Review (Older)
Jonathan Rogers does a great rundown of Fios TV even though it is a bit older. Though he does mention that though he doesn’t see any real difference in picture quality he does receive a lower price and more Premium HD Channels. If Fios is new to your area you should check and see if you might receive the same benefit.
A Geek’s Perspective on Fios
Ray Danivin did a detailed review of Verizon Fios from a geek’s perspective. He dives into the FCC findings that in 2012 Verizon Fios was one of a few providers actually delivering MORE than they advertised, while other providers like Comcast and Cablevision were offering substantially less.
A Very Thorough Comparison of Fios vs Cablevision (Optimium)
The team over at ConsumerBroadband did a thorough table based comparison of Fios and Cablevision that really shows their plans head to head. They also have a good one for Fios and Comcast over here too.
Consumer Reviews and Rants
In general broadband providers don’t exactly get great reviews from their customers. Whether this is from bad customer service (it probably is) or whether it customers just want to be able to get on the internet when they want to, it’s no doubt that few companies get good reviews from their users.
That said, here are only 2 real places where people have reviewed Fios in a constructive manner.
DSLReport’s Fios roundup of overall customer reviews is a good place to start. Their Fios page is where we got the screenshot above and what’s great about it is that they show the 6 month customer rating and the 3 year trend. This is super important because the users of DSLReports are generally pretty “tech savvy” people and Karl Bode (the site’s founder) is pretty much a genius.
The Fios Page on Spice Works is also a pretty intelligent conversation about the implementation of Fios from a technical / IT perspective.
Editor Note: This article was originally written in 2009, so after 6 years we decided it was time to give this page a facelift.
Richard D
While I read all the glowing comments about FIOS (many probably writtten by Verizon staff) let it be known that I am a Cablevision customer who has tried Verizon twice and both times I cancelled my subscription because of very poor customer service as well as poor selection and pricing versus Cablevision.
In one instance, I cancelled my account withing the fifteen day window and was still charged for earlt termination which I disputed and after finally agreeing to pay the cancellation fee, I have now found that Verizon placed a chargeoff on my account and ultimately almost ruined my credit standing. My advice to anyone contemplating Verizon FIOS is to investigate their promises and beware of them when it comes to satisfying customer concerns or complaints.
Gina Westbrook
Well I had Verizon Fios installed several years ago and the TV reception is certainly great,but the internet connection leaves a lot to be desired. They say its 15mps, but we only actually recieve 8mps. Then they took 10 hours to install it and put two holes in my walls then last fall they raised the rates without informing me that it would happen, then they screwed up my account with my renters account, charging me for his and him for mine and refused to acknowledge it, despite my repeated attempts to try to clear it up. Then I found out that Comcast will give me the same service as Verizon only Verizon is charging me $205, and Comcast will charge me $120 going up to 140 in two years. So which is the better service, I’m going to try Comcast again and see if they’re any better than they used to be which I’m promised they are. Even if they aren’t, at least I’ll be saving $80 a month.
Lynn
Verizon customer service is awful. On Demand does not work, they actually want to charge me for a tech to come out to fix the problem that I cannot pay them for movies on demand. Billing says they cannot credit tech charge because my bill is paid up to date so no credit to issue on outstanding bill. Seriously? Supervisor says tech will tell me before charging, but I have to wait at home all day, no specific time give except till 9 pm, just to have tech decide if it is my charge or not. I’m switching back to Comcast.
DAVID
I have officially fallen into the Rabbit Hole of FIOS Customer Service. What a joke. I actually switched from Comcast to FIOS because Comcast customer service was poor. Now that I have experienced my first interaction with FIOS customer support, I long for the days of Comcast!
I had a seemingly simple request: for FIOS to send me the same 500 GB DVR upgrade that half the people on my block were getting emails about. I have not gotten the email, so I figured, no problem, just call FIOS and they should be able to send me the box or, failing that, at least send me the email, right? Is that asking too much?
Apparently, yes. NONE of the three separate divisions I spoke with (sales, billing or tech support) could do that. One rep gave me two separate URLs that I could go to, to sign up for the DVR, and when I told them the URL they gave me would not work, and asked them to go online with me and walk me through it, they could not!
What the heck?!? In ANY other encounter with customer service for any other company I’ve had dealings with, if you had a question about their web site, they go online with you and walk you through the process. How the heck do you guys not get how frustrating it is for customers when you can’t do this?
Or simply generate a darn email??? You can’t do that???
Also, I’ve had tech issues with my existing DVR. So customer support says they will send out a replacement OF MY OLD DVR! Huh?? I tell him., if I can scale the 500-foot wall of your company’s horrible customer support and somehow figure out how to get the 500 GB DVR, I’ll just have to replace the old one you’re about to send me. So how about you just send me the new 500 GB DVR instead? After all, I’m paying nearly $200 bucks a month for service–I think I deserve that basic level of support, don’t you? “Sorry, sir, that’s a different division. I can’t do that.” So he transfers me to billing. Guess what? “Sorry, sir, I don’t know anything about your level of service, terms of service, what type of DVR you’re supposed to have, so I can’t help you with that.”
ARRRGH!!!!!!
Congrats, FIOS. You are officially one and done–the MINUTE my first year of service is up, I am RIPPING OUT your equipment and going back to Comcast. Or maybe I’ll just start reading books more. A heck of a lot cheaper and infinitely less frustrating.
Connie
The have the worst customer services. They where schedule to come for a home repair, which they said they would arrive between 8am to 5 pm. A 9 hour window. They never show up nor did they call to say they would not come or reschedule. This is a communcation company who doesn’t know where their techs are. Doeesn’t Verizon give their techs cell phones? They don’t have tracking devices on their trucks? I find this hard to believe when we called Fios to ask where the tech was. They responded that they don’t know and they couldn’t find them. You would think if they couldn’t make the appointment, they would call and reshedule. This is one of the largest communication company?
L Green
Cancelled Fios Service: Requested Oct 23. My phone was turned off, email account blocked. I wanted to drop off the boxes to the Verizon office. I was told no, I must mail them back. I was told I would receive return shipping boxes in the mail for the boxes/remotes/cables/modem. The boxes did not come. Called again, they had no record of me cancelling service. I received a monthly bill for service. I paid the bill to avoid credit issues. I repeated the above, waited for the boxes. They did not come. I called again. No record, same thing again. I finally got the boxes on Dec 10, packed up the equipment and dropped them off at the US post office on Dec 12. Got a call from Verizon saying they have not received the boxes and I would be getting a bill. I confirmed with US Postal that the Verizon “Agent” picked up the boxes on Dec 27. I got a bill for over $1200 from Verizon on Jan 13 for the un-returned equipment. Thank goodness I have my receipts, I took pics of all the equipment packed in the open boxes as well as wrote down all the serial numbers, but I bet they will say something like: “the equipment was not in the boxes or they were damaged or they didn’t get them”. Verizon is plain and simple – CRIMINAL!!!! My credit rating is now in jeopardy if I do not fork out the $1200. Horrible service, horrible record-keeping and horrible business ethics. The only good thing was the reps I talked to were mostly decent on the phone although my time input was over 3 hours for this entire travesty. I will never go with Verizon again for anything. Their installation service is great, cancellation service is criminal!! Skip Verizon totally!
Dave Roberts
The FIOS product is terrific–it’s fast and reliable.
However, if you have a problem, heaven help you! You’re stuck with Verizon’s customer service. They have a very complex organization and they make the customer work through it when you call. What a nightmare!
And if you have billing problem it’ll be even worse. You may get to learn as I did that they are organized into several different companies. So even if you get a combined bill the money gets all split up inside Verizon. I won’t go through the horrible problems I had with them over billing, but it took 6 months to solve them.
Their failure to give credit for equipment sent back happened to me too, but in my case it was cell phones. When they send you a replacement they charge for it, and the charge stays on your bill until they get around to crediting the one you send back. Even though I returned the old phone next day delivery the day I got the new one, it took months for them to credit my account for it.
Do I recommend them? Not really. COMCAST has a technically weaker product but they support it much better. If it wasn’t such a hassle to change I’d go back to COMCAST, especially since I see that Verizon is going to be raising prices.
Dave Roberts
C Adams
Fios Service itself…No Complaints. Customer Service…Terrible. Plus they get u in with the teaser rates and when the teaser rates expire they JACK the price on you $180 a month for TV Phone and Internet? vs the $120 teaser rates. I remember when you put an antenna on your roof and TV was free… Why are we paying for a signal that used to be free? Not only do we pay them for the signal, but the “cable” channels STILL have commercials on them? What are we paying for? They are making money at both ends? And we fall for this? I don’t know anymore.
msusanm
Just decided to make a leap of faith and switch to Fios from Comcast. The installation was supposed to happen today, 6/4/12, between 9 am and noon. I confirmed this two times with Verizon. At 11:30 am this morning , I called customer service; having been a long term Comcast customer, I felt this was a good idea. Well, a glitch had occurred and nothing was going to happen today. Verizon apparently felt it was unnecessary to let me know. So, I lost a morning of work, I received snarcky comments from my boss and just got a call from Verizon wanting me to take even more time off from work to sit around waiting for them to come or not come. When I told them that they would have to come during an evening, the person said they don’t work nights and yet another person would call me.
This is the sad story of my introduction to Verizon Fios. It hasn’t even been installed and I’m getting crap service.
Matt
COMPLETELY DISAPPOINTED WITH FIOS VERIZON! I was a long standing client of Direct TV but due to moving to a different location, I considered other options and one was Fios. The sales persons on the phone COMPLETELY MISLED ME and gave me FALSE INFORMATION. They “guarantee” you internet speed of 35/35. But that’s not true. Turns out, they only guarantee up to 10 feet from their router and ONLY if you have a direct hookup. Not if you’re wireless. I checked my speed and my internet speed is only 7 on the upload. This is the speed we were all used to in the early 90’s. They sold me over the phone that their service technicians would hook up your televisions to their boxes and make sure that your DVD’s and other equipment are hooked up as well. NOT TRUE. I’m not completely technically savvy so I don’t have the experience to have all of the wires hooked up so that my DVD plays, along with the televisions connecting to my speakers in my house. But they told me that they would do this. They do not. If this is not bad enough, when I called Fios to have them come out and correct these problems, they had me on the phone for an hour as the supervisor debated whether or not to send someone out at all. How crazy is this?? It cost me $250 to cancel my Direct TV service since I was getting out prior to my 2 year commitment, Fios and their sales team (2 sales agent and a supervisor) all GUARANTEED the 35/35 internet speed and they all guaranteed that their service technicians would hook EVERYTHING up. And then, I had to put up a fight to have them send someone back out to fix what their advertisements and sales force is telling the consumers. So far, my experience w/ Fios has been AWFUL!
Deborah Hatch
I have had FIOS for over a year however I have had multiple problems with the service starting with the first month. The level of incompetence in the “techinical support” as well as the billing department is astounding. We also were reviewing our recent bill and found that for every movie we ordered, we were being charged double, we are still trying to resolve this issue. They are thiefs and we will be returning to Time Warner. At the beginning we were told that there is no “contract” however when we were not satisfied with the contract and tried to cancel the service we were told it would cost us over $300 in cancellation fees. WOW RIP OFF. Stay away from FIOS at all costs or you will wish you had.
Kevin Balint
Verizon’s customer service is the worst. I had mine installed today and was kept on the phone for over 1 hour for a basic question…. What is my phone #…. Omg get real
David Freeman
While FIOS speeds are fast the heart of Verizon is still the old monopolistic phone company, and this shows up in how they deploy new technology and service their customers. My house is spread out and I don’t get good wireless coverage in my office over the garage. I paid Verizon to have two additional routers installed so that we’d have seamless wireless. At the time, the techs knew how to configure the additional routers and everything worked flawlessly.
When Verizon came out with Quantum I was pretty excited. We’re a family of six and everyone has multiple devices on the network at the same time – so I was excited to get faster speeds. But the deployment was less than ideal! The installed the main internet router (first floor, my wife’s office) and that went fine. They told me the other two Verizon routers would need to be replaced to handle the higher speed….okay.
But they couldn’t and wouldn’t configure the other two routers to get the same wireless coverage. The techs don’t know how to do it and won’t address the service issue. Since then we’ve had drop out on some high def TV channels, rebooting of set-top boxes (in the middle of the football game the other day), and intermittent wireless drop out.
Service guy came for 15 minutes, said he took out a bad connector and that we were all set…but the same issues persist. Waiting to see if a service person is going to show up or not.
So, in summary, it’s clear that fiber optics is the way to go but Verizon still has a long way to go on the field deployment and customer service side. If (when) I have a reasonable alternative, I will be switching. At the end of the day it’s not specs or side-by-side speed tests or any other theoretic performance that matters; all that matters is what you experience in your home.
Howie
I switched to Verizon Fios from Comcast in the spring of 2012. The internet was only fast if you had a direct connection but the wirless was awful unless sitting right next to the modem. On top of that when I canceled in the fall of 2012 they said I owed no money and would get a refund. This was a lie because their customer service rep did not know what she was talking about. in early 2013 I got a bill saying I owed more funds. I called to figure out what it was about I was originally told that it wsa equipment charges that neede removed from the account but that department could not do it. I got transfered … After 2 hours 50 mins and beig transfered to 5 numbers and speaking to 2 supervisors and being on hold forever I found out that the charge was correct and that the customer service rep from 3 months ago was incorrect. I would have to now pay this out of pocket. What a rip off… It should not have taken that log to get an accurate answer…I advise going to Verizon Fios unless you want the run around and sneak charges…They should have a 1 star for customer service on every site possible… Comcast was bad but never nearly as bad as this… I got paid more in the 2.5 hours spent on the phone then what I owed and they couldn’t even credit me for wasting my time.
linda
The on demand feature is extremely clunky and that’s when it works. To get to a show you press menu and wait a minute while it loads, then press on demand and wait a minute til it loads, then press free or premium and wait for it to load, etc. Some days it won’t load at all. If you are watching a TV series, it doesn’t remember where you left off as Netflix does, so you have to scoll down each time you want to watch and remember your place. I am so not impressed and am planning to go back to cable.
Mary
Be warned that with Verizon you might not get what you are paying for without jumping through countless annoying hoops. People really need to pay more attention. Ever since I signed up for two more years with Verizon my tv-watching has become a nightmare…literally and figuratively. They keep changing the setting on my sleep-timer to 4 hours, so, at any time, I might have to jump up, approach the tv, and push “menu” when something I am watching just disappears…which makes it very difficult for a MYSTERY buff like me, one who would prefer to follow the WHOLE DAMN STORY. Then I have to jump through their hoops to reset, and BLAM, within a day or two after I reset, they will just set it back again to 4 hours. . That isn’t the worst though…they have started taking away channels In the options that I PAY FOR… I will go to some channel number to watch a specific something I chose from a TV-Guide, and .the screen will be blank, and a prompt will appear on screen that tells me that (get this) YOU must ask THEM if you have that channel. Then if you get the message that you do, to get it back you must press “OK” and wait for it to reload. If you don’t have it, you can order a higher option. You might miss as much as ten minutes at the beginning of a program while waiting or that channel to reload. Why isn’t this considered a theft of services, to take away stuff from the lists you used to choose what you wanted to pay for in the first place and they have continued to charge you for as part of a package deal. Why can’t we just select what we might want to watch and pay only for those. I asked them why, and they said they only do it to channels that we are not watching enough TO SUIT THEM…which also implies that they ARE monitoring our viewing habits. Big Brother, again. Also, they have cut off service from channels that I had watched the day before or even the same day, and made me beg to get them back. They refuse to explain how long you must not watch a channel before they take it away and make you beg to get it back. I asked the service supervisor why they are doing this and, basically, the answer is because they can. When I asked why they didn’t tell me BEFORE I signed up again that some channels might just disappear and you will have to jump through hoops and beg to get them back, , and NO KIDDING, the guy said that marketing theory tells them that this wouldn’t be a good idea. We are talking about MAJOR arrogance here, and I don’t understand why the FCC does nothing about stuff like this. One of the people I talked to admitted that they use low viewership as a club to negotiate lower rates that they pay channels, but. of course, they are not reducing the amount we must pay to reflect the cut in service. So, of course, if they can pretend you aren’t watching it helps their bottom line Never mind the inconvenience to YOU. In NJ, there was a class action suit against Verzon’s bait ‘n’ switch tactics, and the courts dismissed it, saying that in the small print of the contract we signed, we signed away our right to sue them. First they said it was just my set box acting up, but upon further questioning, they have admitted that it’s “management policies.” Oh, and they told me “they all do this.” So maybe Verizon isn’t the only guilty party….isn’t the FCC supposed to be protecting us from rip-offs like these?
Dan
Verizon sucks. If you happen to pause on a movie to long, it sends you to the beginning. Again and again. Please tell me there’s something better than the dark side.