Verizon Fios Frustrations, Part 2: Original Lies and Secret Contracts
I hit the phone a few more times to try to cancel my TV service, and found even sketchier behavior on the part of Verizon Fios.
After I wrote a column about Verizion Fios a few weeks ago, I was primed to cancel my account and sign up for Optimum. I’ve never used Optimum and stepping down from gigabit fiber didn’t sound appealing, but I was tired of paying $130 a month on a package that includes a TV service I never use with a box that only picks up dust and that I can’t get rid of. I eventually called Optimum to set up an installation appointment.
It turns out my building is a Spectrum and Verizon Fios building. Optimum doesn’t set foot there. So I could stay with Verizon, or switch to Spectrum and save some money. Problem is, I used Spectrum before, and its cable internet service sucks.
Dejected, I resigned myself to dealing with Verizon, occasionally picking away at what prices I could get with a phone call or a customer service chat window. All through this process, I grumbled about the bundle and how I didn’t want TV, and then it hit me: I was bamboozled from the beginning.
Back to the Beginning
Rewind to early 2018, when Fios was available in my building and I was eager to switch from my terrible Spectrum service. I checked the Fios site, called Verizon to set up an account, and got the ball rolling. I wanted gigabit internet, and the sales rep told me I could only get it with a bundle, like the Double Play bundle that includes TV. I didn’t want TV service, but that was the only way I could get it, and there was a promotional price of $80 a month, so I gave in.
That was a lie, which I confirmed after nearly two years thanks to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine. I traveled to February 2018 and checked what services Verizon offered on its site. Sure enough, it was pushing the bundles hard, but after digging into the archived site, I found my answer: Gigabit on its own was an option, for the same price as the bundle with TV (or phone, which I’d use even less).
Wouldn’t I want the bundle anyway, since it was the same price? Honestly, the answer is no. I cut the cord on my viewing habits years ago and rely mostly on streaming, and enjoy Sling TV for live TV. I didn’t want the TV service, I didn’t want the box collecting dust on my crowded home theater stand, and I didn’t want to have a $25/month rental bill built into my Verizon account.
The only reason I tolerated the box under my TV was because I was told it was the only way I could get gigabit internet. Learning this wasn’t true was incredibly frustrating, but it gave me an angle to dig deeper into Verizon’s prices, and try to get a better deal.
After waiting 20 minutes for a customer support rep, I began the dance I’ve done at least twice before on the phone. “Hello, I’d like to get rid of my TV service, can you offer any sort of reasonable pricing since I’m getting less? I know you probably can’t so can you maybe escalate this so I can talk to someone who can. Yes I’ll wait, yes I’m still here,” and so on.
I explained to the rep my situation, including the deceptive signup of the account. Like before, it took the rep five to ten minutes to actually get a price quote for service without TV. She told me it would be $120 with a two-year agreement, and kept repeating that I’m saving so much by getting the bundled service. I told her again that I wouldn’t have gotten the bundle in the first place if I wasn’t lied about it not being an option. She talked about the savings with the bundle again. I asked what my service would be if I never got the bundle, and simply got gigabit on its own from the beginning.
Another wait of five to ten minutes. She got back on the phone and told me it would be around $100. With modem rental and everything else, including discounts for paperless billing, it would be around $120 total. I asked her if that was with a contract or without. She noted I wasn’t on a contract and said it was without one.
Saving $10 a month wasn’t as much as I would like, but it would help a bit and let me get rid of my TV box. I asked her to go with that. To confirm the service change, she emailed me a quote of the full bill.
I checked the email, followed the link to Verizon’s site, and clicked through to the very last page, with the agreement information. And I read the agreement information. And I became understandably upset.
If I terminated service in the first 24 months, I would be charged a pro-rated fee of $165. It was a two-year contract, pushed on me after I was told repeatedly it wasn’t, with a pen in my hand hovering over the paper, ready to sign.
I told her it was a contract. She asked me to wait and took a few minutes more, because Verizon’s customer service system apparently shares as much information about pricing with its reps as it does with its customers. She got back on the phone and apologized profusely for the inaccuracy of the quote. And said that without the contract it would be $150 total.
I gave up, told her to make no changes to my contract, and ended the call. I didn’t blame her for any of this. She didn’t set the policy, and I can imagine the sort of limitations and pressures customer service and sales reps get. I’m certain she, and the reps I spoke to before, and even the original rep who did outright lie to me about the bundle, are pushed hard to sell those bundles and agreements. And based on how long it takes just to get a price from them, it’s clear that there is no reasonable and transparent pricing to be found anywhere with Verizon’s Fios service, just a tangle of amorphous “discounts” that make it impossible to find a clear long-term price after the promotions end.
An Unsatisfying Conclusion
So that’s where I’ve ended up. Back at the start, paying for a TV box I don’t use and that I can’t get rid of. And I can’t really do anything about it, because as much as Verizon is overpriced and its practices are deceptive, at least the actual service is good. I wouldn’t go back to Spectrum for $20 a month. The service in my building was plagued with nightly modem disconnections and endless power cycling.
I honestly don’t know if Verizon would be charging me $150 a month now if I only got gigabit Fios on its own two years ago. It’s impossible for me to find a straight answer on that. But I do know that I was almost roped into a two-year contract, and that I was roped into a bundle I never wanted, all because the pricing system is so intentionally complicated and sales reps appear to be heavily pressured to push those bundles that actually getting simple, direct service requires at least 40 minutes on the phone and very, very careful reading of the fine print.
If you sign up for new internet service from Verizon, look at every angle of the deal before you agree to it. Get it in writing. Get it formalized. Don’t assume that what you’re told is going to be what you’re sold. And this advice doesn’t just apply to Verizon. If you sign up for any new service from any provider, keep an eye out for deceptive practices and make sure you’re getting only what you want.
Originally published at https://www.pcmag.com on December 5, 2019.
