Verizon FIOS TV/Internet and ESPN

[blunt72]

I guess this really belongs here and not in the "Off Topic" community:

I contacted FIOS tech support two times now for issues connecting to ESPN to watch sports online.

The first time the issue was due to account activation.  Now my first problem with this is the fact that I allowed the tech, or "agent" as Verizon calls them, to take control of my computer, I know my own fault.  The tech proceeded to install a Verizon software package without first asking me.  I immediately asked why the software was installed and the tech claimed it was needed to "activate" my account. I then asked if it could be removed and the tech said "yes".  Now I would question why a software package, that can be removed, was needed to activate my account?  I will say that miraculously the issue was resolved....or so I thought.

So I tried to watch ESPN sports online again today, same computer as before, and...oh no it didn't work!  I contacted Verizon support, yet again, about the same issue.  The tech again wanted to take control of my computer, I told him repeatedly that I was not going to allow it because of my previous experience, and after about 3 minutes of me saying "NO" he finally gave up asking.  He kept saying he wanted to check the browser settings which I told him have not changed since the issue was previously "resolved".  His suggestion was to try a different browser.  I use Firefox v12 with Adobe Flash Player v11.4, but unfortunately I removed IE and do not have another browser installed.  He kept pushing me to install Google Chrome, which I would not and did not do, so I guess it was a good thing that I did not give him control of my computer.  I do have another computer with Firefox v9 installed, with a much older version of Flash Player, so I gave it try.  Miraculously it worked so I pointed the finger at the latest version of Flash Player as the culprit.  The tech then began to go on a rant saying "See I told you it was a browser setting and not an account issue".  I'm not sure if he learned that at the Verizon customer service training seminar in New Delhi but he's a keeper...lol.  So I then decided to fix the issue, by trying previous versions of Flash Player, and still could not login to the ESPN website.  Hmmmmm?

So after a little investigation I discovered that the problem DOES lie on the Verizon side.  It appears that if you try to access the ESPN webpage by selecting a show to watch from the TV Listings page, you are redirected to a Verizon, FLASH, popup that asks for your username/password, after entering your username/password the login fails and you are redirected to yet another Verizon, FLASH, popup and asked to login again.  This creates a continuous loop and you will not be able to login.  HOWEVER, if you access the network from the ESPN main page, you are redirected to a Verizon webpage that asks for your username/password and you can login successfully.

So I ask Verizon the following two questions:

1. Are your techs, or "agents" as you call them, trained in such customer service practices or do they take it upon themselves to install software without first asking customer permission and berating customers who refuse to give them access to their personal property?

2.  If I can find this simple login issue with YOUR software, why can't you find it and fix it?

I've always had Time Warner cable, and Internet access, before moving to a no Time Warner area and I've never had a complaint against their tech support or customer service.  Verizon should take a lesson from this.  Oh and by the way, you can login to ESPN through the TV Listings page on a Time Warner network. 🙂

[HokieDave]

No idea about the rest of it, but I've seen that infinite login redirect before.  I am pretty sure it's a bug in ESPN's site, not with Verizon ... and clearing cache/cookies seems to fix it.  What was happening, if I recall correctly, is that it was remembering you were logged out and so it never tried to log you in again - it just sent you back to the login page.