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Hi,
Is it true that Verizon will not ship any replacement HD set top boxes until Motorola releases new versions? Are the existing ones some kind of fire hazard, or are they potentially damaging to connected devices? If a new customer signs up for HD service, can they still get an HD box? Is there any timeline for when the new units will be available to customers?
I've had a Motorola HD QIP 7100 1 box for a couple years now. (That's an HD STB w/out a DVR - I don't need a DVR.) When Verizon installed it, they connected it to my TV (a Philips LCD HDTV, 32PF5320) with an HDMI cable. It worked fine until about a month ago when we had a lightning strike nearby. All our FiOS services were knocked out. Verizon sent a technician out a couple days later. She went through testing and replacing Verizon equipment as necessary. She installed a new power supply for the ONT and a new router, but she said all three of our STBs (my HD and two other SD) were fine. When she connected the HDMI cable back to my TV the HD STB would just freeze up. She said that meant the HDMI input on my TV was fried by the surge. She left the HD box in place so I could use it with a spare SD TV until I got a new HDTV to replace my damaged one.
So, my new HDTV (a Samsung LN32D550) recently arrived, and I went about hooking it up. The TV is brand new, and I had a brand new HDMI cable just to be on the safe side. No matter which of the four HDMI inputs on the TV I try, there is no signal from the STB. I went through rebooting-by-power cord on my own, but it didn't help. I called Verizon and went through the voice-activated prompts which rebooted all the Verizon devices a few times. Still, there is no signal from the HDMI cable. I figure the HDMI output on the STB was damaged at the same time the HDMI input on my old TV was.
I finally got to speak with a human at Verizon. I explained the situation to him and asked if he could arrange to have them send me a replacement HD STB. He agreed it sounded like an issue with the HDMI output, but he couldn't send me a new one. He said there is an issue with the HDMI outputs on "some" of the Motorola boxes Verizon uses, and a replacement is being designed. He said word from on high at Verizon is that they may not send out any HD STBs until the replacement model is available, even in a case like mine where the failure seems more likely due to a lightning surge than a design flaw. He asked that I try using a component cable instead of the HDMI. The only component cable I have is the one my DVD player uses. Swapping the connections, I can get HD picture on the component-input of the TV ... but now I can't use my DVD player.
He told me that since I was able to get HD with the component cables that it would not be considered a service failure on Verizon's part. I explained again about it removing my use of my DVD player, but there was clearly nothing he could do. He wasn't allowed to send me a new STB, and he wasn't allowed to send me a second component cable to use for the time being.
He couldn't tell me when the new boxes would be available but said he'd heard Motorola was working on a prototype. I'd guess there's a fair amount of time between "working on a prototype" and having mass produced units shipped to customers ... certainly more time than I care to spend having to mess with the connections every time I want to switch from watching TV to watching a DVD and back.
I'm hoping the rep I spoke with was simply misinformed. Can anyone here confirm what he told me? If this really is the case, where can I find information on how long it will take to get a "good" HD STB from Verizon? If he was mistaken, how can I get a replacement HD STB now?
Thanks in advance!
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Short version:
Well, thankfully, it is not true! My replacement STB arrived Friday, July 15, and works fine. I'll be sending the bad one back with the return label on Monday.
The only lasting damage is to my faith that Verizon's tech. support reps are kept abreast of Verizon tech. support policies.
Long version:
Like tns and 0100010 above, I found the policy the tech rep. described ... I'll try to be diplomatic and call it strange. But this was the guy who wound up answering my call to 1800VERIZON. He came off competent, sincere and certain about it. Even though I hoped he was wrong, I never got the feeling he didn't know what he was talking about; I got the feeling someone at Verizon came up with a weird idea about handling a supply chain problem ... and my paranoid side started worrying about what they might be covering up if this really was the best policy to handle the situation.
At the end of our conversation, I asked him how I could check on status updates for when the new boxes would be available. He gave me the number to my local billing department and said they'd know best of anyone when the new units were out. I had to wait until business hours to call. (I was thinking of canceling my HD programming and STB rental until it was fixed, if not switching providers.)
After hanging up I went Googling and found no mention of this situation, so I came here to ask if anyone knew. Later that day, I called the local billing number. I explained my issue and what the earlier rep. had told me; then I asked how long they estimated until I could get a working HD box. The local billing rep's reaction went about like,
"He said WHAT?!?!? So ... you need a new HD box, right? Ok, here's the order number. It might get there tomorrow - Monday at the latest."
That was something of a relief, but I didn't want to trust it until I got a working box.
They did get it shipped that day, and it arrived the next day. I didn't have a chance to install it until today (Sunday,) but it works perfectly. Once I had it working, I did double check my old TV. The good box won't drive the HDMI port on that one, so I didn't buy a new TV for no reason. That was another relief.
In the end, I'm far less worried about the STBs being somehow dangerous, and I'm glad my setup is back to full functionality. I'm more worried about Verizon's tech support and the people in charge of keeping the whole team on the same path. When/if something else goes wrong and I resort to calling them, I'll be unsure if the rep who helps me is in the right loop.
I guess I'll learn to double-check with local billing before I freak over any more strange answers. And if I ever get another fried port on a TV, I'll press any in-house service tech. to verify that the STB port it was hooked to is still working.
In case anyone else runs into this and comes looking, I figured it was worth writing up here.
Sounds unlikely that they will not give you a current replacement even if they are hoping for a redesign.
Tech is FOS. HDMI worked with your TV / STB before the lightning, and it doesn't after. They need to ship you a replacement HD STB.
Short version:
Well, thankfully, it is not true! My replacement STB arrived Friday, July 15, and works fine. I'll be sending the bad one back with the return label on Monday.
The only lasting damage is to my faith that Verizon's tech. support reps are kept abreast of Verizon tech. support policies.
Long version:
Like tns and 0100010 above, I found the policy the tech rep. described ... I'll try to be diplomatic and call it strange. But this was the guy who wound up answering my call to 1800VERIZON. He came off competent, sincere and certain about it. Even though I hoped he was wrong, I never got the feeling he didn't know what he was talking about; I got the feeling someone at Verizon came up with a weird idea about handling a supply chain problem ... and my paranoid side started worrying about what they might be covering up if this really was the best policy to handle the situation.
At the end of our conversation, I asked him how I could check on status updates for when the new boxes would be available. He gave me the number to my local billing department and said they'd know best of anyone when the new units were out. I had to wait until business hours to call. (I was thinking of canceling my HD programming and STB rental until it was fixed, if not switching providers.)
After hanging up I went Googling and found no mention of this situation, so I came here to ask if anyone knew. Later that day, I called the local billing number. I explained my issue and what the earlier rep. had told me; then I asked how long they estimated until I could get a working HD box. The local billing rep's reaction went about like,
"He said WHAT?!?!? So ... you need a new HD box, right? Ok, here's the order number. It might get there tomorrow - Monday at the latest."
That was something of a relief, but I didn't want to trust it until I got a working box.
They did get it shipped that day, and it arrived the next day. I didn't have a chance to install it until today (Sunday,) but it works perfectly. Once I had it working, I did double check my old TV. The good box won't drive the HDMI port on that one, so I didn't buy a new TV for no reason. That was another relief.
In the end, I'm far less worried about the STBs being somehow dangerous, and I'm glad my setup is back to full functionality. I'm more worried about Verizon's tech support and the people in charge of keeping the whole team on the same path. When/if something else goes wrong and I resort to calling them, I'll be unsure if the rep who helps me is in the right loop.
I guess I'll learn to double-check with local billing before I freak over any more strange answers. And if I ever get another fried port on a TV, I'll press any in-house service tech. to verify that the STB port it was hooked to is still working.
In case anyone else runs into this and comes looking, I figured it was worth writing up here.
So, they just sort of parlayed you into buying a new TV..
No, the HDMI port (the only one) on my old Philips TV is definitely bad. The tech who came to the house after the surge knocked out all our Verizon services determined that:
- the HDMI port on my TV was fried
- my HD STB was ok
So it wasn't until I had a new TV that I found the HD STB was bad - it wouldn't send a signal to my new TV's HDMI input. That's when I called Verizon to request a replacement and heard this story about how they're not shipping new ones out. That seemed like a really strange policy, so I came here.
I found that policy wasn't true (at least not in every part of Verizon) when I got in touch with the local billing department. They sent me a new STB, and I tried hooking up the HDMI cable. It runs my new TV just fine. The new STB does not run my old TV, so the first tech was right about it being damaged. I didn't buy a new TV for no reason.
That first tech was right about my TV being bad and wrong about my STB still being ok.
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