Two Fixes in One

Now that I'm just waiting around for the new software patch due in January, I've finally found time to call Verizon about the other problems I've been having since I got FiOS installed: telephone interference and a wireless connection that keeps going out.

Turns out the two were connected.

I started with the wireless problem. My kids' computer, which uses a wireless connection to the router, kept losing its connection. It was fine before FiOS was installed and the computer and router are in the exact same place as before. Also, when the connection wasn't out, it was strong.

The woman at tech support said the problem may be another wireless device interfering with the wireless router. So we switched the channel the wireless router uses and that solved the problem.

It also solved the phone interference problem.

Looks like the wireless phones were interfering with the wireless router and vice-versa.

Now if I could just get the DVR to work...

Still No Word

As I said in my last post, a woman at Verizon said she wanted to look into my case further and get back to me.

That was on December 4.

It's December 13.

Now, They're Calling *Me*

I got a call this afternoon from Verizon.

It was the person who supervises the technicians in the field who found out that my problem had gone all the way to the president's office and she wanted to make sure everything was OK and to see what else she could do to help.

I told her that I was under the impression that my problems would continue until the new software patch is released (more than a month from now) and that I'm pretty much sitting around waiting at this point.

I also expressed my disappointment at the way my case has been handled thus far in that nobody really took ownership of the issue.

She says she wants to do a little more research and get back to me. I'm not sure what about.

Mystery Solved...I Think

I got a voicemail today from somebody at Verizon explaining that the problems I've been experiencing are "known issues" and that a software patch scheduled for January will solve my problems.

Apparently it wasn't "known" to all of the customer service reps, the supervisor, and the technician who came to the house twice. When somebody from Verizon called later in the day, I expressed my frustration about having this go on for a month while this was a supposedly "known" issue. She insisted that the customer service people had to go through procedures to rule out other problems, and that the problem I'm experiencing is rare. After going back and forth with her for a few minutes about how they really ought to let their own people know about "known" issues, I gave up and thanked her for calling.

I'm looking forward to more fat credits on my bill.

Finally Geting Somewhere...I Hope

After yesterday's box freeze-up, I traded voicemails with the "Customer Advocacy Office," who promised that somebody would call me by the end of the day today to help me with my problems.

And after dinner this evening, I got a call from a very nice guy who seemed to know what he was talking about. He asked thoughtful questions about my situation and puzzled over them a bit. He said he wanted time to review my situation and consult with some colleagues and was it OK for him to call me back.

I told him it was more than OK. Finally, it seems, somebody is taking ownership of this disaster.

He also gave me his full name and email address so I could contact him to follow up.

Image that.

Another Freeze-Up

Looks like the DVR "reset" didn't solve the problem. The box froze up again this afternoon. This time, I had to power cycle it twice to get a picture.

I grow weary of this...

Verizon = Keystone Kops

After I left a message with the "Customer Advocacy Office" this morning and got a call back within an hour. The woman passed me off to another woman who said that she couldn't help me, and she connected me to somebody else who could.

The person I spoke with "reset" my box.

That's it.

Doubtful that this is going to fix anything, I asked if I could call him back if this doesn't fix things. Just call back customer service, he said. I told him that this is what I had been doing and it hasn't worked. Sorry, he tells me, that's the best he can do.

So much for customer advocacy.

Strike Three

Guess what happened when I tried to tun on the TV for my kids this morning? Set-top box #3 locked up! In less than 24 hours, the new box that was supposed to solve my problems started giving me problems. At least with the last two boxes, it took a few days for them to start malfunctioning.

So this morning, I called a number that I was given last time I spoke with a customer service representative that turns out to be something called the "Customer Advocacy Office." When I tried to reach them at 9:15 this morning, I got a recording telling me that nobody is available to speak with me and to leave a message, which I did.

Let's see how long it takes for them to get back to me...

Set Top Box #3

So when I spoke to the customer service supervisor yesterday, he said that he believed that my problems are being caused by a bad connection somewhere and he scheduled a service call for Sunday morning.

The tech came by Sunday morning as scheduled. Turns out it was the same guy who previously visited to give me a new box. He dismissed the idea that a bad connection was the cause of my problem (and I agree with him that it's a stupid theory) and instead gave me another new box. He was very helpful and gave me the name and number of his boss if I need help in the future.

We'll see if this fixes my problems.

In any case, we now have three theories from Verizon as to what the root of my problems is:

Theory #1 from the tech that came out today is that many of the the set-top boxes are bad and I had bad luck in getting two bad ones in a row.

Theory #2 from the tech support person that called me Saturday morning is that the software is somehow flawed and can be fixed remotely.

Theory #3 from the supervisor I spoke with yesterday is that there's a bad connection somewhere in the house.

And then there's my theory...

The stupid DVR software does not let you specify a specific episode to record. So when a show you want to record is on several times per day, you have to record all showings. Now, most of the shows I record are for my kids and they are on several times per day. So I've got about a dozen shows and most of these shows are on several times per day. I only save the latest episode of each show, so the DVR records the same show over and over again every day. This can't be good for the hard drive, which must get fragmented after all of this.

I'll bet if they let me record a show once per day, that'd solve these problems.

The Supervisor

Not satisfied with my conversation with the FiOS person this morning, I called the main customer service number and asked to speak with a manager or supervisor. After waiting about ten minutes, I was put in touch with a supervisor.

The supervisor patiently listened to my story and I asked him how we can actually get the situation resolved, who was ultimately responsible for getting it resolved, and how can I go about getting compensated for my troubles.

He readily agreed to give me a month credit on my account.

He said that it sounds to him like my problem could be inside the house and that he'd have a technician visit tomorrow between 8 and 12.

He couldn't really answer the question of who is ultimately responsible for fixing my problem. But he gave me a number to call if the problem is not resolved. Sounds like it's some kind of central customer service center for poor souls like me who get lost in the system.

He saw no note in my account of a pending call or any notes about somebody remotely reviewing my software, and he wasn't even sure what that meant.

We'll see what happens with the visit tomorrow.

Verizon Fails Again

The last time I spoke with customer service, they promised me a call by the end of the day Friday.

Friday came and went.

But someone from their mysterious "Video Department" called me this morning (as my wife and I were preparing for guests, of course). This person had me check a few settings on my set-top box, which were normal, and declared that she couldn't fix the problem for me, but that other people would review my software remotely and get back to me sometime.

Keep up the good work, Verizon!

Thanksgiving Morning

Ah, Thanksgiving morning.

A chance to sleep in.

Or not, if you have FiOS TV.

My daughter, foolish little thing, thought that the TV would actually work when she turned it on this morning. But that troublesome set-top box froze up again.

So she wakes me up to power cycle the box...again.

Thanks, Verizon!

More Bad Recordings

As with the box they replaced, I'm now having problems with corrupt recordings. This evening I found two recordings with a duration of 0 minutes. Selecting them displays a message saying that it's a bad recording and that the shows are probably on channels I don't get. But I do get them. Just like last time this happened.

I called Verizon again and told them about the bad recordings and ask why nobody got back to me after my call Sunday night about the box periodically going blank. The nice gentleman said that somebody was supposed to get back to me, and that he'd put in a note for them to call me back. I insisted that he assure me that somebody would get back to me by the end of the day Friday (Thursday/tomorrow is Thanksgiving), and he said somebody would.

Once again, we'll see.

Still Waiting

Well, after the Verizon people told me Sunday evening that somebody would call me back within 48 hours regarding my (second) problematic set-top box, I'm still waiting for my call on Wednesday morning.

Now I'm Pissed

Well guess what happened to set top box #2 (which arrived just four days ago)? That's right, it's started to do the same thing as the old box that they replaced: You go to turn it on and the indicator lights say it's already on but the TV screen is black.

I called Verizon yet again (I ought to put them on speed dial) and learned that the wait for a representative would be close to a half-hour and would I like them to call me back. Sure, I told the computer, call me back. So they called back in about a half and hour and put me on hold again. When a human came on, I told him my tale of woe and he put me on hold yet again. When he came back he told me that there was nothing he could do and that their "video department" would call me back within the next 48 hours.

That's right, 48 hours.

That's some customer service you got there, Verizon.

With The New Set-Top Box

The new set-top box they put in seems to have solved the problems we were experiencing. Of course, I had to program it all over again, but that didn't take too long.

I continue to find flaws in the DVR software, which I'll expound on in future posts (oh, I'll bet you can't wait).

New Set-Top Box

As promised, Verizon sent somebody over this morning with a new set-top box. He was very polite and courteous, and had the thing set up in about ten minutes. Before he left, he told me that set-top boxes like mine have been nothing but trouble, and that they replace them all the time (in fact, he said he had another box replacement scheduled for that afternoon). He said that at the first sign of trouble, Verizon should have replaced my box.

Well how about that?

After all of the calls, the button-pushing, the disastrous attempt to reformat my box -- they could have (and should have) saved me the aggravation by simply replacing the damn thing.

Well, hopefully this fixes my TV problems (although the DVR software still sucks).

Maybe I'll speak with them soon about fixing the clicking sound on my phone line that's been there since I switched to FIoS.

And maybe after that, they can tell me why my kids' computer keeps losing its connection to their wireless router.

grumble, grumble...

From Bad To Worse

Well, reformatting the set-top box didn't work out so well. It looks like it totally fried the box. So I called Verizon back yet again. The women I spoke to urged me to wait for a previously-scheduled call with their "Video Department" tomorrow to discuss next steps.

I strongly suggested that they get their ass out here in the morning with a new set-top box for me.

They say they'll be here before noon with one.

Again, we'll see...

SNAFU

Another night on the phone with Verizon...

Last night, I spoke with a guy and explained my problems. He said they'd fix them remotely of come out and replace the box.

Tonight, I spoke with somebody else who said that absolutely nothing had been done, and he started walking me through some steps. Nothing worked.

Then, he asked me to wait around a couple of hours for another representative to call me back--which he did. This third guy said there are basically two options: reformat the set-top box or replace it. Both options will delete all of the settings I entered and all of shows I've recorded and scheduled.

Great.

I went with the reformatting option. We'll see if it works...

More Set-Top Box Woes

Once again today, the set-top box indicated that the power was on, but there was no picture. I called Verizon customer service and spoke with a friendly and apparently knowledgeable gentleman who spoke with me about this and the other problems I've been having. He says they may need to give me a new set-top box, but that they may be able to fix my problems remotely.

We'll see...

Confusing, stupid, infuriating...

There are so many goofy things going on with the DVR and set-top box that I'm really frustrated.

Yesterday, there was another episode where I turned the TV and set-top box on and there was no picture, even though the indicator light said that the set-top box was on. Again, I had to unplug the set-top box and re-set it for things to work (which takes a little while).

Then today I went to play a show my kids like that I just started to record. The DVR showed that the duration of the program was 0:00. When I selected it in the DVR menu, I got a message saying that there was an error recording the show and that it was likely due to the fact that the show was on a channel we aren't subscribed to. Guess what my kids are doing right now? Watching the very same show, because it is on a channel that we do, in fact, get. Grrrrr.

There are other times when you turn on the TV and set-top box and you get some kind of FiOS welcome screen telling you that your programming is being retrieved or something like that. On those occasions, I have to wait 30 seconds or so to watch anything.

AARRRGGGHHH!!!!!!!!

The FiOS set-top box is really starting to piss me off.

First, it started doing this thing where you would turn on the TV and you'd see a start-up message for several seconds before you see the actual TV channel.

And this evening when I turned on the TV, I got nothing. The indicator light showed that the box was on, but there was no picture. Black. Nothing.

So I had to unplug the box and plug it back in again. As a result, I lost the show it was recording (30 Rock, one of my favorites).

It really shouldn't be this hard.

Phone Line Interference

Not a big deal, but I notice that there's a rapid ticking sound on the phone line ever since FiOS was installed.

Another DVR Complaint

Sorry to sound like a broken record, but the DVR software is really infuriating.

I just tried to put on a show that somebody had already watched, but stopped before it ended. In order to watch it from the beginning, I had to rewind it through the whole show--there's no "play from beginning" option.

Stupid.

Sucky DVR Software, Part II

I called the FiOS customer service people today to see if I was missing something with regard to being able to record a show that's on multiple times a day only once. After spending about 15 minutes on the phone with a very pleasant gentleman in Dallas, the answer came back that it's impossible to do this. He was willing to take my feedback and pass it along to his managers.

We'll see how much good it does.

My old cable company's DVR software was *way* better than what Verizon offers.

Sucky DVR Software

Now on day 3 with FiOS and I find that the DVR software is really frustrating to use.

We use the DVR mostly to record shows for the kids. Most kids shows are on basic cable, and run several times a day. The FiOS DVR won't let you record a show during a specific time slot. So if you want to record a show, you have to record it every single time it's on. It's even worse for shows that are on in prime-time, but are also in syndication. For example, out local Fox affiliate carries The Simpsons in both prime time and in reruns during the day. The DVR doesn't distinguish between the two types of episodes.

There are also dumb usability problems. When you're in the program guide and want to record a show, you can set it to record all episodes of the show or a single episode. Fine. But if you want to program the DVR to record only new episodes of a show, you have to do it later in a different menu.

Stupid.

I sure hope they upgrade the software to address these issues.

Recording Shows

I tried to record a show last night.

For some reason, the recording stopped in the middle, then picked up again. So there were two recordings on the machine; one for each half.

Weird.

I'm not crazy about the DVR software. More on that later...

FiOS Installation

I got FiOS today.


Installation pretty much took all day. The Verizon guy came at around 9:30 and didn't leave until after 4. He brought the fiber line to the house, hooked it up to my existing internal coax wiring, set up the Verizon router/modem, set up the set-top boxes, installed the phone service box in the basement, took down the old copper wiring, and probably did some other stuff I didn't notice.



He also arranged things so I could keep my old cable Internet access up and running until he was almost ready to activate the new modem/router. Nice guy.



He set up the router so that all of the computers that previously shared my old wireless modem can still do so.



He showed me how everything works and was on his way.



My Internet connection is about ten times faster than it was before. The picture on the TVs looks better than it did with cable.



So far, so good.