confused about when FIOS will be available
DaveinVA
Newbie

Help!  I am at wit's end!!  I have tried, unsuccessfully, to talk to anyone at Verizon about when FIOS will be available in my neighborhood. 

We've seen them running the familiar orange conduit alongside the road.  But when I call Verizon, no one, and I mean no one, can even hazzard a guess about when service might be coming.  I'm just looking for a ballpark date, that's all.  You would've thought I was asking for some top state secret!  Where service is to be installed is, from all indications, a GIANT secret that absolutely NO ONE is privy to.  I was told that "engineering" might have some answers, but no one knows their number, and that customer service cannot talk to engineering.  It would seem that there is probably a plan, otherwise who ordered the conduit to be installed in the first place?  Why would you lay the conduit if you weren't going to use it .. some time???  Or does Verizon just run around randonly installing fios?  I just don't get it.  And try to talk to someone higher up - there is no way to find a supervisor.  The web site is devoid of actual people's names or anything.  

Does anyone have any ideas on how i can break through this rock solid bureaucracy and get what i have to believe is an answer to a pretty simple question?  I don't understand why this is so hard.......

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Re: confused about when FIOS will be available
kevinb
Contributor - Level 2

No one you get to on a tollfree number will be able to tell you when it'll be available. Nor will their supervisor.

If competitors got information on when FiOS would be available in a certain area, they could concentrate on that area with promotions or anti-FiOS flyers or something.

So yes, it is a top state secret.

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Re: confused about when FIOS will be available
spacedebris
Master - Level 2
Yeah, that info is played pretty close to the vest..... However, a rule of thumb that seems to be true more often than not is..Once they are DONE laying all the orange cables and finish patching up the neighborhood, then it will available ususally in about 6-8 weeks later. This is after they are completly done in the neighborhood.
Re: confused about when FIOS will be available
vvilliamm
Newbie

im not sure but it also depends on where you live like if your living in a apt or a house. i believe verizon has to install certian things in your building if your living in an apt or your house. and verizon also has to speak to the land lord discuss a deal and see if they already have signed an agreement with another broadband company alot of work, paper work and politics. i think they also have to go to an hearing if they want to bring fios into another area and the other broadband companies could try and say no and the committee decides not sure. i cant get fios because my landlord refuse to let them modify anything in our building like putting extra lines and cables into each persons home. im happy to even get verizon dsl. you should feel sorry for all the folks with road runner because they dont have an stable speed because they share their bandwidth for example around 8-9pm their connection could drop to around 1mbps while their paying for 7 mbps because at night a whole bunch of people are on it and i heard TWC over sell their nodes sigh. i will be moving soon and the only avaible option for me is Time warner cable broadband for 40ish 7mbps or verizon dsl 3mbps and i would choose verizon base on all thoes reviews on road runner on this fourm i was on. i just wish that i would qualify for the  7.1mbps highspeed dsl from verizon cause i know iw oudl get around at least 6mbps all the time lol if fios was avaible i would throw money at verizon or walk to their office lol or even pay a years full lol 

you should see how people are on thoes forums their dying for FIOS lol cause their service is so unstable with RR  

Message Edited by vvilliamm on 07-19-2009 10:03 PM
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Re: confused about when FIOS will be available
afongofva1
Newbie
In my case, I live in a subdivision with 6 houses, FIOS is available all around us in other subdivisions, but just not in our subdivision.  I am so frustrated with Verizon... I am considering writing to BBB and/or (Loudoun) County goverrnment/// where else can I send my complains to??  Our (Verizon) DSL is terrible!! And I have already upgraded to the highest level of service.
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Re: confused about when FIOS will be available
DaveinVA
Newbie

Original poster here.....  Well, it sounds like I'm at the mercy of Verizon because they're afraid they might lose a few customers if the competition carpet bombs the neighborhood with counteroffers.  Well, if FIOS is all that the claim it is, what are they worried about?  Like maybe they don't have all that much faith in their own product?????

 

This whole thing is just {edited}.  Imagine if you walked into a Chevy dealership looking for a 'vette but they didn't have any on the floor.  So you ask the salesman when he'll be getting some, and he says "I know we'll be getting some, but I'm not going to tell you when. I don't want the Nissan people to put their GT-Rs on sale to lure you away."  {please keep your posts courteous}

 

As for the fellow contacting the BBB, good luck.  The BBB is a toothless lion based on my experience with them.

Thank you all for responding to me.  I appreciate your time.

Message Edited by KaLin on 07-20-2009 01:06 PM
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Re: confused about when FIOS will be available
spacedebris
Master - Level 2
actually it makes perfect business sence. Its not that they feel that the fios cannot compete. Actually it is just the opposite. What has happened in the past is that they announce that they will be offering service starting July 1 (just as an example). Now no matter how many mailers and phone calls are made, most people just ignore these as "spam" and pay no attention. So on June 15 the competition goes out and says "we will give you a free month of service if you sign up for a year contract" or "we will give you a free TV if you sign a new contract" to everyone in the neighborhood. Happens all the time. Heck, even Verizon does that when they know a new provider is comming in. Then all those people in the neighboor hood now have contracts and Verizon comes in and has no customers because people are not willing to pay a disconnect fee. Now once all the contracts are done, they will get those customers but it costs a lot of money to put the fiber in and they need to recoop that cost. Waiting a year for customers to become available doesnt make financial sence. So they dont say when it is available ahead of time. That way Verizon and the competition is on equal footing when bidding for customers and may the best deal win.
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