In NY, astonished how long upgrade taking!

[ABCMD]

Joe,

 I never disputed the quality of the product (see above).

The point is not the refund; the point is that others in the country have  new hardware functionality months before we do, and this upgrade keeps getting delayed without explanation. I'm not even talking about the quality of the software upgrade .

When I signed up over a year ago I was told these features would be coming shortly;   the company touted this upgrade over a year ago, features that DTV had and were arriving  shortly.  They can send messages over the air to tout flex movies, or new channels; why cant they send a system wide message explaining how long the delay is and why? Which DAC is next? Why NY/MA is delayed and why the order was switched?

Unless you log into these boards and read what experts like you know, we are in the dark. Do you actually think verizon is properly communicating to its customers, and being forthright?

[alden]

Verizon does not owe you a refund, they have delivered to you unsurpassed picture quality, outstanding phone service and reliable broadband internet and the means by which to use all of those via a set top box and router, you do need to supply your own TV,  computer and telephone. The udated software for the STB is an update to a already functioning product.

Your have purchased a service which Verizon is providing as agree'd, their obligation to the contract is fullfilled. You are renting the STB that is needed to use that service, if the STB is defective Verizon will replace it with one that works. You would have to show me where anything says Verizon has to upgrade the software/firmware in that rented equipment at all. If they do upgrade it to somehting better..thats better, but becareful what you wish for. After complaining about not having the latest and greatest what if you get it and its not so great, you wont be able to step backwards!

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Tottaly disagree with you Joe and agree with ABMC. Why you and shall pay the  SAME PPRICE for the diffrent service - you have IMG 1.9 and I ( and tens of thousands more) have IMG 1.9? Because of incompetence of Joe Ambeault team to implement upgrade on timely manner? I agree that FIOS quaility is very good but Verizon treatment of their customers is simply outrageous. They believe that communicating with customers is not neccessary, instead of simple explaination to the people what's going, they keep us in total darkness. To me it's total disrespect from the comapny who's goal is customer satisfaction, especially from Joe Ambeault , who stopped communicating on this forums alltogether. This is the thing, YOU SHOULD NOT BE PROUD ON, JOE, this is you should be ashamed off!!!  

[jonw747]

The answers are out there on the internet and on this forum to boot. I'm a recent subscriber to FIOS and I knew what the deal was. But I was in the Verizon store swapping out one of my new DVRs and the CSR didn't know or was pretending that the new 1.9 software didn't exist. That's actually pretty standard, as CSRs are taught to support what their customers have, and not to talk up features that aren't available or else .... customers start complaining when they don't get it. So what's the scoop? IMG 1.9 was initially delayed due to problems during the release and then again due to the strike. It started back on track in August or September and is reaching the end of the rollout. Unfortunately for you (but cool for me) the NY/MA roll was delayed due to server problems that pushed VA/MD/DC ahead in the cycle. You guys should start rolling out soon, that is if they're able to fix their issues.

[alden]

Re: In NY, astonished how long upgrade taking![ New ]

11-01-2011 02:53 PM

The answers are out there on the internet and on this forum to boot. I'm a recent subscriber to FIOS and I knew what the deal was. But I was in the Verizon store swapping out one of my new DVRs and the CSR didn't know or was pretending that the new 1.9 software didn't exist. That's actually pretty standard, as CSRs are taught to support what their customers have, and not to talk up features that aren't available or else .... customers start complaining when they don't get it. So what's the scoop? IMG 1.9 was initially delayed due to problems during the release and then again due to the strike. It started back on track in August or September and is reaching the end of the rollout. Unfortunately for you (but cool for me) the NY/MA roll was delayed due to server problems that pushed VA/MD/DC ahead in the cycle. You guys should start rolling out soon, that is if they're able to fix their issues

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Again, I am angry at Verizon not as much for the delay itself but for the fact that company totally and willfully disrespect us, their customers. Verizon exists because we, customers paying them for the service, but service, even good  service, shall be accompanied by respect of the customers. Why not, in the world, Verizon top manager put in the forum statement apologizing for the delay and explaining what is going on? We know sometimes things happen beyond control but it has to be straight talk by Verizon to the customers!!!  I personally feel upset and seriously thinking to drop Verizon service in protest of how Verizon treats me. Couple months ago 800,000 Netflix customers drops the service purely because Netflix disrespected them, did not properly explain arguments for the price increase and Netflix paid heavy price for that. I am not implying that Verizon will step in the shoes of Netflix, but I know that my frustration with the lack of communication by Verizon is shared by many, many customers. Verizon must improve communication with customers if they want  to have us as customers! 

[alden]

The answers are out there on the internet and on this forum to boot. I'm a recent subscriber to FIOS and I knew what the deal was. But I was in the Verizon store swapping out one of my new DVRs and the CSR didn't know or was pretending that the new 1.9 software didn't exist. That's actually pretty standard, as CSRs are taught to support what their customers have, and not to talk up features that aren't available or else .... customers start complaining when they don't get it. So what's the scoop? IMG 1.9 was initially delayed due to problems during the release and then again due to the strike. It started back on track in August or September and is reaching the end of the rollout. Unfortunately for you (but cool for me) the NY/MA roll was delayed due to server problems that pushed VA/MD/DC ahead in the cycle. You guys should start rolling out soon, that is if they're able to fix their issues

______________________________________________________________

Again, I am angry at Verizon not as much for the delay itself but for the fact that company totally and willfully disrespect us, their customers. Verizon exists because we, customers paying them for the service, but service, even good  service, shall be accompanied by respect of the customers. Why not, in the world, Verizon top manager put in the forum statement apologizing for the delay and explaining what is going on? We know sometimes things happen beyond control but it has to be straight talk by Verizon to the customers!!!  I personally feel upset and seriously thinking to drop Verizon service in protest of how Verizon treats me. Couple months ago 800,000 Netflix customers drops the service purely because Netflix disrespected them, did not properly explain arguments for the price increase and Netflix paid heavy price for that. I am not implying that Verizon will step in the shoes of Netflix, but I know that my frustration with the lack of communication by Verizon is shared by many, many customers. Verizon must improve communication with customers if they want  to have us as customers! 

[jonw747]

Maybe they don't want to start the precedent of apologizing for delays in their software releases? After all, if they catch too much grief for pre-announcing new features in the works, they could always just decide to clam up. The reality is that software schedules slip, and the threat of irate customers who were given a date when to expect a new upgrade shouldn't hold them back from doing what's best for their business, their network, their customers. That's probably why the updates you can get are semi-elusive and done through unofficial channels like twitter. It would be nice if they could turn the crank on new releases faster and more efficiently, but after dealing with multiple issues on release day due to what was likely due to congested servers, I can start to understand why they don't. So, yeah, as a customer I wanted IMG 1.9 the day I'd signed up and I was disappointed I didn't get it pre-installed - especially after getting my install delayed by the strike, but not so disappointed that I told the installer to turn around. 😉 *shrugs*

[alden]

The problem is that Verizon don't care much what customers think - even now, after such big negative reaction by many customers.  They like to keep people in darkness , somehow Joe A. thinks it's good policy. Instead of communicating with Cusromers DIRECTLY on forums he tweets vague messages to limited number of people who then spread message.

I doubt very much that customer satisfaction is what is in mind of IMG top manager.

[jonw747]

I was just attempting to point out that sometimes it's a no win situation and companies need to balance the pluses against the minuses of giving too much feedback .vs. too little.If we'd never heard about 1.9 until it appeared on our boxes, would people be happier? I know I wouldn't. Heck, I probably wouldn't even be a subscriber to FIOS TV.

[ABCMD]

Jon-

While I appreciate your view, the key bullets in this thread are still:

1) Part of why I signed up over a year ago was that, upon my questioning, I was told specific hardware capabilities were shortly coming in the the new "upgrade". These functionalities are relevant to my house and the way I watch TV, and I sacrificed them switching from DTV to FIOS. Server congestion really isnt my problem, they should have the infrastructure and manpower to deal with the burgeoning customer base.

2) Many customers have these new features for many months already.

3) No communication of any sort from company to customers regarding repeated delays, reordering etc.. They can show a banner on my screen saying it is finally here, but no banner or message when it mysteriously disappears.

[jonw747]

Sure. I still have DirecTv and we're still working our way through our recording backlog.The 1.9 features were a big part of why we were willing to give FIOS a shot as well. I don't know about you, but I'm not under contract. Unlike with DirecTv, if I decide I don't like how Verizon's gear works I can just have them haul it away. What I'm trying to caution you is that complaining about unreleased s/w like you're doing is a double edged sword. They're more likely to clam up and shut off communications than they are to expand it. When I went to the Verizon store, the guys there acted like they'd never heard of the IMG 1.9, and that's probably how they should have treated you. Without the lure of the new feature, you wouldn't be disappointed by the delays and lack of communications. Maybe you would have gone some other way? Heck, unless you're under contract you still can. Anyway, I think you're going to like 1.9 and hopefully you'll have it soon if it didn't go out already. Fortunately for me it arrived before I ran out of disk space - because it's building up nicely as we work our DTV backlog.

[alden]

Sure. I still have DirecTv and we're still working our way through our recording backlog.The 1.9 features were a big part of why we were willing to give FIOS a shot as well. I don't know about you, but I'm not under contract. Unlike with DirecTv, if I decide I don't like how Verizon's gear works I can just have them haul it away. What I'm trying to caution you is that complaining about unreleased s/w like you're doing is a double edged sword. They're more likely to clam up and shut off communications than they are to expand it. When I went to the Verizon store, the guys there acted like they'd never heard of the IMG 1.9, and that's probably how they should have treated you. Without the lure of the new feature, you wouldn't be disappointed by the delays and lack of communications. Maybe you would have gone some other way? Heck, unless you're under contract you still can. Anyway, I think you're going to like 1.9 and hopefully you'll have it soon if it didn't go out already. Fortunately for me it arrived before I ran out of disk space - because it's building up nicely as we work our DTV backlog.

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jonw747,

Have you read what Verizon employee Tonya_VZ has written in her blog?

" We are working very hard try to deliver the best and the latest technoligies to ALL customers and that every customer will have 1.9. SOON!!! "

 SOON???!!!

I don't know about you, but when I"ve read this word "SOON", I was mad like hell. These people at Verizon not just unprofessional and customer unfriendly, being unable to fix the problem for weeks and weeks, they are CINICAL as well.

SOON? What does it mean? Week?, Month?, Year? What is the borderline between "SOON" and "NOT VERY SOON" for Verizon? Unbelievable!!!