Well after talking to two sales representatives who told me all new customers are receiving the new 7232 DVRs while knowing I did not want the service unless this was the case, of course I received a 6416 model and was told by the technician that 7232s are barely available anywhere. When I complained to an agent over live chat all they could do was apologize and tell me to use the link on the My TV page to request order information about the new DVRs. I find it outrageous that the sales representatives misinformed me, intentionally or not, about a critical detail like that and all they can do is apologize instead of expediting an upgrade process or something. Not only that but even if they contact me to upgrade I will probably have to pay the $40 fee.
What is the REAL availability of the 7232 DVRs? Are they truly not available or is Verizon simply too lazy to try to locate one for a new customer that was told they would receive it? At this point I'm unsure whether to wait or just cancel the DVR or my service entirely.
They are quite available and are the ones being advertised in many areas for new subscribers. Temporary shortage may be occurring because almost everyone wants one.
Definitely don't accept QIP6416. At a minimum you want a 7216 if not a 7232 so that some of the new features coming in 1.9 will work.
7232 DVRs are available just about everywhere now but they only have a very limited number on hand. The ones that they do have on hand at the service centers are reserved for new customers only. They will not upgrade existing customers via repair or sales currently. But being a new customer does not guarentee you will get one, just increases your chances of getting one. They still hand out whatever they have on hand. You do not have a choice.
TNS's suggestion of not accepting it sounds good on the surface but it doesnt matter if you accept it or not. You get what they have, in many cases if you dont accept the 6416 that they give you, you wont get any DVR at all. Its not like they have a choice any more than you do. They can only give you what they have. You can ask if they have a different model and if they do, they will give it to you but in many areas, that is all they have. They are working on getting more for existing and new customers but motorola simply cannot keep up with the demand. Its going as fast as they can.
Now if you are in an area where the locals sales stores have the DVR's in stock, you can sometimes go into them and ask to exchange the DVR. Some people have had success in upgrading this way without having to pay the $40 fee. But Verizon is starting to wise up to this trick and some stores are starting to charge the upgrade fee too. (when they have the box in stock)
Sales people mis-representing the products available is sometimes unintentional. They may have been mis-informed themselves. Or it could be intentional, as most sales people work on commission and will say anything to get a sale. While not right and completely unacceptable, its a fact of life. Happens with every type of salesman out there. In many cases I have just determined that sales=lies. I've found from experiance to never trust a sales person and always double check any sales infomation from 3rd party sources before commiting.
You are very right spacedebris, sales just cannot be trusted usually. I completely understand that availability is limited and I simply may not be able to get one right now. I just want to make sure that I explore every avenue possible before accepting that. Like you said, 7232s may be reserved for new customers right now but that doesn't mean every new customer will get one. But if ANY 7232s are available, shouldn't a new customer who was promised one via sales be a higher priority to Verizon to receive one? If they are available and existing customers are getting the option to upgrade I don't understand why a rep couldn't order one to be shipped to me. The interface on the 6416 is so horribly slow and choppy with IMG 1.9 (that's what I received it with). Should I call and speak to more reps? Or have I already exhausted all my options.
the only existing customers that are getting the new ones are the ones that go to the website, sign up on the waiting list (about 6-8 weeks long at the moment) and then pay for the upgrade.
That upgrade system is all automated. None of the techs nor sales agents have the ability to order specific boxes. When they place an order, the next box on the shelf is the one sent out. Poorly designed but thats what they have to work with.
The only way to get a specific model is to go to a local presence center that carries the STB's, and get them go see what they have on hand. If they have a 7216 box on the shelf they will exchange it for you free of charge. If they have a 7232 on hand then if your lucky, they will also exchange it for you free, but if your not lucky and that store now is charging, then you will have to pay the $40 upgrade fee. Now if you get charged the fee, then you can call billing and argue with them, you may get someone that will be willing to credit you the fee. YMMV on that however.
Thanks for the help. If you are certain that no one in sales or customer service can order a specific box for a customer then there's no point in me calling and complaining to any more reps. I guess I'll just have to wait for the online request. Is that a relatively definite thing after 6-8 weeks or do some people wait months and never hear anything?
Yeah, that part I'm sure about, the agents do not have the abiltity to order specific boxes. They want to do it, but are not given the ability to do so. Like I said, a poorly designed system, but it is all the agents have to work with.
The time frame is just what we have seen from other posts here on the forum. When the waiting list started it seemed to average about 3 months. The last few people that posted what their wait time was seems to be in the 6-8 week time frame. Unfortunatly, there is no "official" time estimate. Like I said, the 6-8 weeks I mentioned just seems to be what the recent posts have indicated.
Hi all. My first post here.
FIOS TV recently became available in our town and I called a Verizon sales rep and mentioned that I wanted to make the switch from DirecTV (we've been with D*TV for 16 years and have have had FIOS internet and phone for a couple months). I told the rep that I was concerned about the low number of HD recording hours with the FIOS DVR's and was told that the new boxes "fixed" that issue and I was told that I would receive 2 of the new 500gb DVR's.
Would the the DVR's have to be 7232's to have that size drive?
Anyway, thinking the drive size issue was resolved, I ordered an install for later this month.
From this thread it sounds like it is a crapshoot as to which DVR's the installer has on hand and there is no guarantee that I will receive the DVR's that were promised. This is disappointing news since I do want to switch to FIOS for the picture quality and reliability (no rain fade), but unless I am missing something, it seems like my only option will be to cancel the install if the installer doesn't have 7232's on his truck.
Well I was able to make it in to a retail store this weekend and they exchanged my box for a 7232 so I'm happy. greg_m5, I'm pretty sure the 7232 is the only model with a 500 GB drive, and there really is no telling which one you'll receive at install time, but if you live near a retail store you could always try to exchange there like I did. You should be able to call them up and confirm what stock they have prior to going in.
Thanks for the info fifor and congrats on getting your 7232. There are a few Verizon stores in our area and it looks like at least one of them accepts set top box returns. I am really hoping that the installer comes with 7232's, so time will tell. The install is on the 22nd (wish it was sooner!).
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