New HD Channel Line-Up in Howard County Maryland
Rick5472
Contributor - Level 2
I came home today to get a message from FIOS TV that there has been some new HD channels added as of today however I have a question about it.  Why is it that I can get some of the channels in SD but cannot get the HD equivalent channel for example:  I can get channel 83 the SPEED channel but cannot get the HD SPEED channel 583?  When I change the channel to 583 I get a message that I am not subscribed.  Does this mean I am going to have to pay extra cash to get these HD channels or could this just be temporary until everyone is updated ?
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Re: New HD Channel Line-Up in Howard County Maryland
ericpd
Newbie

@Rick5472 wrote:
I came home today to get a message from FIOS TV that there has been some new HD channels added as of today however I have a question about it.  Why is it that I can get some of the channels in SD but cannot get the HD equivalent channel for example:  I can get channel 83 the SPEED channel but cannot get the HD SPEED channel 583?  When I change the channel to 583 I get a message that I am not subscribed.  Does this mean I am going to have to pay extra cash to get these HD channels or could this just be temporary until everyone is updated ?

Here in Baltimore County, we got our message yesterday. From what I've been told, this is phase II of a three stage channel upgrade/re-alignment were we should end up with over 150 HD channels.. We went through the re-alignment part last month,... a lot of new channel assignments and a few new HD channels. Now we're getting more HD channels in this phase, but we're also being introduced to a new and more expensive programming package,... HD Extreme. The flag ship package used to be the Premier package. Now it is the HD Extreme package which is priced out at $10 more than the old Premier plan.

Many are getting grandfathered into the new HD Extreme, particularly if they were recent subscribers under the old Premier package. Folks signing up today will be introduced to the newer HD Extreme and come in at $10 more than we did.Call in and tell them you were promised that you would be grandfathered into the HD Extreme at no charge. Most are getting this done with little to no problems, some are being switched from a 2 year contract to a 1 year contract, and still others are getting upgraded for half price,... $5. I hear Triple-Play customers are getting grandfathered easy, especially those who recently signed up. Good luck!

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Re: New HD Channel Line-Up in Howard County Maryland
Rick5472
Contributor - Level 2
Thanks Eric....I finally got through to the FIOS service center.  Turns out that the HD Extreme package is cheaper than the tripple bundle I have with the premium package.  They alsu upgraded my internet speed to 20/5.  I will have to check this out later tonight.  When I called home to see if the channels had been upgraded they had not as of this message.  How long before I should get this service?  It would seem that once the techs get the order it should be pushed right through.  I have seen on these forums where customers ordered a certain package but have not received it for days.  Hopefully this won't be the case.
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Re: New HD Channel Line-Up in Howard County Maryland
ericpd
Newbie

@Rick5472 wrote:
Thanks Eric....I finally got through to the FIOS service center.  Turns out that the HD Extreme package is cheaper than the tripple bundle I have with the premium package.  They alsu upgraded my internet speed to 20/5.  I will have to check this out later tonight.  When I called home to see if the channels had been upgraded they had not as of this message.  How long before I should get this service?  It would seem that once the techs get the order it should be pushed right through.  I have seen on these forums where customers ordered a certain package but have not received it for days.  Hopefully this won't be the case.

@You're welcome Rick. It shouldn't take long at all for those channels to come in. Mine showed up in less than 15 minutes, but they'll tell you it'll take an hour or two. You may have to reset your STB if they appear to be stubborn. My STB upstairs picked them up almost immediately, but my 7216 in the family room had to be reset.Yeah,... 20/5 is quickly becoming the default speed now,... especially in markets where Comcast is sporting high speeds. They started me out on 20/5 @ $104.99.

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Re: New HD Channel Line-Up in Howard County Maryland
DonO
Newbie

Like Rick I was surprised to see the new channels arrive, but confused at the unsubscribed message. Why is it that cable and satellite companies can't seem to let subscribers know about changes in services and costs before they generate frustration? I am very disappointed in Verizon's lack of customer information. At the very least one would expect to find the information about "certain channels" in a message rather than have subscribers find out they're sticking to the customer after rollout.

I will not be paying more for the extra HD, but it doesn't make sense that I already pay extra for sports channels and now I have to pay even more to get ESPNews. Not gonna happen. If they continue to increase the channels and pricesthey will start losing customers. They've got to make a choice. Either more $ for content or more $ for format, not more for both.

One last comment. The HD Extreme and the HD Essentials packages indicate that these are the only choices. I wonder if some morning I'll find that I've lost most of my HD channels because neither one matches my current lineup.

Message Edited by DonO on 11-01-2008 05:29 AM
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Re: New HD Channel Line-Up in Howard County Maryland
TheSanchez
Contributor - Level 2
It is my understanding that if you have the sports package you can basically upgrade to the extreme HD free of charge.  The sports package lineup comes in with the Extreme HD lineup so they just remove sports and add the new package. 
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Re: New HD Channel Line-Up in Howard County Maryland
ericpd
Newbie

@TheSanchez wrote:
It is my understanding that if you have the sports package you can basically upgrade to the extreme HD free of charge.  The sports package lineup comes in with the Extreme HD lineup so they just remove sports and add the new package. 

@TheSanchez wrote:
It is my understanding that if you have the sports package you can basically upgrade to the extreme HD free of charge.  The sports package lineup comes in with the Extreme HD lineup so they just remove sports and add the new package. 
Yeah,...that's another bridge they're recognizing for free upgrades. Basically, like before, they only have two packages,... one with and one without HD programming (excepting locals). I read in a thread on DSL Reports that they are required to carry local HD channels,... local SD and HD can't be separated by law. That's why essentials has them. For subscribers to the old Premier pack, most say they won't loose the HD's they had, they just won't get anymore, but a few in some markets are saying that they have lost some of their 'Premier' HD channels when Extreme went online in their areas.Here in Baltimore, I didn't notice any lost HD channels in that brief time before I got grandfathered into HD Extreme. Like I said before, I would recommend every Premier subscribers to call in and ask to be grandfathered in. Looks like they laying an easy upgrade path to Extreme for Premier and Sports subscribers. And the answer is yes,... the new Extreme is basically the old Premier and Sports packages combined with a $10 increase in price.
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Re: New HD Channel Line-Up in Howard County Maryland
CR
Enthusiast - Level 3

>Many are getting grandfathered into the new HD Extreme, particularly if they were recent subscribers under the

>old Premier package. Folks signing up today will be introduced to the newer HD Extreme and come in at $10 more

>than we did.Call in and tell them you were promised that you would be grandfathered into the HD Extreme at no charge.

>Most are getting this done with little to no problems, some are being switched from a 2 year contract to a 1 year contract,

>and still others are getting upgraded for half price,... $5. I hear Triple-Play customers are getting grandfathered easy,

>especially those who recently signed up. Good luck!

Not so in my case.  I signed up for triple-play 3 weeks ago and was confused by the new HD

additions so I called.  Basically my choices are: do nothing and keep premier for

the next 11 months (and hope they can keep track of which HD channels I am

and am not allowed since Premier falls in between Essential and Extreme).  The

other choices are to "renegociate" my contract and move "up" to Extreme (with increased

price) or "down" to essentials (which would still be higher because I got some

good sign-up discounts).   Dealing with Verizon Fios is becoming a full time job.Smiley Sad

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Re: New HD Channel Line-Up in Howard County Maryland
ericpd
Newbie

@CR wrote:

>Many are getting grandfathered into the new HD Extreme, particularly if they were recent subscribers under the

>old Premier package. Folks signing up today will be introduced to the newer HD Extreme and come in at $10 more

>than we did.Call in and tell them you were promised that you would be grandfathered into the HD Extreme at no charge.

>Most are getting this done with little to no problems, some are being switched from a 2 year contract to a 1 year contract,

>and still others are getting upgraded for half price,... $5. I hear Triple-Play customers are getting grandfathered easy,

>especially those who recently signed up. Good luck!

Not so in my case.  I signed up for triple-play 3 weeks ago and was confused by the new HD

additions so I called.  Basically my choices are: do nothing and keep premier for

the next 11 months (and hope they can keep track of which HD channels I am

and am not allowed since Premier falls in between Essential and Extreme).  The

other choices are to "renegociate" my contract and move "up" to Extreme (with increased

price) or "down" to essentials (which would still be higher because I got some

good sign-up discounts).   Dealing with Verizon Fios is becoming a full time job.Smiley Sad


You need to try again CR. Trust me,... it's well known now that Verizon has issued a national directive (more or less) to upgrade any Premier subscribre to the Extreme package. Sounds like you got a rep who took seriously the direction to 'challenge' the customer. Be more forceful. People who recently bought the Premiere package thinking they were getting 'EVERY' HD channel offered, only to learn that they are not, are getting grandfathered into Extreme without charge. I guess it depends on how determined you are as a customer, how recently you order the service, and how successful you are in conveying yourself as a no non-sense customer. And in your case, the luck of the draw to not get a rep whose mission in life is to challenge your request 'by the book'.

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Re: New HD Channel Line-Up in Howard County Maryland
fiosrat
Enthusiast - Level 1

Well, glad I found this thread.  I'm in Baltimore County and have had FTV for a little under a year now with the Premier package.  I too got the message last week about a bunch of new channels but they just show up blank when I switch to them and so I just thought maybe they weren't actually turned on yet, so to speak.

I guess I'll call Verizon tomorrow and find out about getting bumped up to Extreme.  One thing we could do is send a letter to the president of Fox News and let him know that we can get CNN HD just fine but not FNC HD! 🙂

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