Verizon Has Been Quietly Increasing FiOS Fees

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What's the old expression? I believe it is "nickel and diming you to death." Except, in Verizon's case, it is it is "five and fiftying."

Already having jacked up their base FiOS prices for several years while simultaneously cutting back on the number of promotions offered users, Verizon's now deploying a wide variety of new fees to glean yet more money from FiOS customers. Discussions among our resident FiOS customers indicate that Verizon has started hitting customers with a $5 router rental fee, in addition to a new $50 activation surcharge for new users.
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My #1 goal is to get a job overseas. Such examples of corporate greed really fire me up. :mad:
 
Didn't Comcast make a deal with them so they wouldn't expand Fios from the east coast?
 
Sorry meant to add to that...grrr no edit.

To prove the point even more there is a line in the bill about late fees. 5% or $5, whichever is more. Hahaha.....whichever is more. Talk about greedy.
 
All the big cable and phone companies are awful. The only way to make a point is to switch and it might mean getting lesser service. I cut cable, but have only 1 choice for internet.
 
All the big cable and phone companies are awful.
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As a customer I am not that happy with my provider however as a stockholder (of a different telecom) I am very happy.
 
BTW, that's the big thing now, charging rental fees for equipment that used to be free, whether it's internet or tv, phone company used to do it forever ago charge you for a phone now they just charge you for the modem they use. Sometimes you can buy your own equipment, however they'll explicitly state no customer service if you do
 
The activation fee isn't new--I had this a year ago when I got FiOS in Massachusetts. It was waived through my apartment complex.

The router fee, on the other hand, is new--you kind of need their equipment and now they're charging extra for it (since I don't think anyone else sells fiber-to-ethernet boxes)?
 
Zepharus said:
who the Eff rents routers from verizon? really?
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If you want certain features of the TV service, you have to have their router.

Sovereign said:
The activation fee isn't new--I had this a year ago when I got FiOS in Massachusetts. It was waived through my apartment complex.

The router fee, on the other hand, is new--you kind of need their equipment and now they're charging extra for it (since I don't think anyone else sells fiber-to-ethernet boxes)?
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You don't "need" it per se. Most people aren't nearly technical enough without it though.
 
WinSomeLoseNone said:
Meanwhile Osaka, Japan just rolled out city-wide free wifi.

http://www.osaka-info.jp/en/wifi/

The USA is such a greedy corporate whore.
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My ISP has about 250,000 hotspots around the city for a couple years now, its also bigger than Osaka, I don't get why the fact that Osaka having wifi is such a big deal? is it the free part? (which it is here, as long as you have some sort of service with the ISP)
 
So FiOS users are locked into using a Verizon router? That's rough. Having to use an ISP modem is one thing, but I'd shit a brick if I couldn't use whatever router I wanted.
 
Make no mistake people... ALL (I repeat ALLLLLLL) major telcos in USA have been GIVEN our tax money to subsidize their infrastructure build up... Now they turn around to fuck over the same people (taxpayers) for more doe, just to make their bottom line look better, and shareholders happy... How do you like them apples sheeple.... :rolleyes:
 
elzeus said:
Didn't Comcast make a deal with them so they wouldn't expand Fios from the east coast?
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I live in Eastern WA... we'll never see FIOS. Ever. Between "Century Link" (formerly one Bell or another), and Comcast that has an exclusive contract, in writing with the city of Spokane - a legal monopoly... no one can compete.

<sigh>

At least business class doesn't suck.
 
somecallmeTim said:
I live in Eastern WA... we'll never see FIOS. Ever. Between "Century Link" (formerly one Bell or another), and Comcast that has an exclusive contract, in writing with the city of Spokane - a legal monopoly... no one can compete.
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I live 7 miles from the Microsoft campus. I can't get FIOS either. Comcast or nothing for me.
 
GotNoRice said:
So FiOS users are locked into using a Verizon router? That's rough. Having to use an ISP modem is one thing, but I'd shit a brick if I couldn't use whatever router I wanted.
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I think you can use your own. I did for a little while when I started fios. But they might have changed that policy now. It was kind of a pain because the router I was using at the time had issues so I just switched back to the verizon router at the time to make my life easier since it was free. My current router could do it, but I saved myself a bunch of trouble by just DMZing one port on the Verizon router that I wire to my current router to that port.

That $5 fee wasn't on my last bill, I checked.
 
somecallmeTim said:
I live in Eastern WA... we'll never see FIOS. Ever. Between "Century Link" (formerly one Bell or another), and Comcast that has an exclusive contract...
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I live in Eastern WA as well - Pasco, which means I have the choice of Frontier DSL (formerly Verizon), Charter cable, or PocketInet fixed wireless. Charter it is for me.

Thankfully Charter has been ramping up their speeds every couple of years here, and hasn't started imposing usage caps like Comcast.
 
LurkerLito said:
I think you can use your own. I did for a little while when I started fios. But they might have changed that policy now. It was kind of a pain because the router I was using at the time had issues so I just switched back to the verizon router at the time to make my life easier since it was free. My current router could do it, but I saved myself a bunch of trouble by just DMZing one port on the Verizon router that I wire to my current router to that port.

That $5 fee wasn't on my last bill, I checked.
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You can you just wont get on demand. You also need to have them run you an RJ45 into the house from the ONT.
 
I got verizon in my apartment in September. The fee isn't $50. It is $150...
 
vasta said:
My ISP has about 250,000 hotspots around the city for a couple years now, its also bigger than Osaka, I don't get why the fact that Osaka having wifi is such a big deal? is it the free part? (which it is here, as long as you have some sort of service with the ISP)
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Free for everyone and anyone in the city.

If You fly to Osaka today and if you're in the city limits you get free Wifi.

Japan plans to have every major urban center offering free Wifi eventually (no idea on timeline).
 
The last CEO change is what killed FiOS expansion from what I know.

Former CEO was the one pushing the technology rollout and spending billions to make it happen. Stockholders were pissed at seeing zero gains for so long and when a new CEO took over, he axed the rollout and made appeasing the stockholders his priority, thereby killing the infrastructure rollout his predecessor had started.

Dont know how true that is, but I know at the time of that CEO changeover, working for a contractor whose only business was doing the design for Verizon FiOS, we saw entire projects cancelled and layoffs of 50-60% of our staff.

I'd kill for Google Fiber around here, just to have some competition to the insane prices Comcast gets.
 
Gmok Bonecrusha said:
Unfortunately you need the box to get some crap to work they say.
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I had FIOS installed last month. I do NOT use their router. But....

I had them run RJ45 instead of COAX to my office, and I do NOT use their TV Tuner. I use Tivo's and Cable Cards.

Under those specific circumstances, I have zero need for their router. They can come get it if they want to start charging for it.

If they start acting like asshats, I'll go back to cable. I made sure the infrastructure was left in place :)
 
drescherjm said:
As a customer I am not that happy with my provider however as a stockholder (of a different telecom) I am very happy.
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you are part of the problem,stockholders only care about 1 thing and thats making more money,even if it means fucking over everyone.
 
somecallmeTim said:
I live in Eastern WA... we'll never see FIOS. Ever. Between "Century Link" (formerly one Bell or another), and Comcast that has an exclusive contract, in writing with the city of Spokane - a legal monopoly... no one can compete
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Cable one only goes up as far as Clarkston, shut out as competition most likely.
 
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