He was there, waiting for me on my doorstep when I pulled into my driveway at 5:30 p.m. His name was Mark, and he was a salesman from Cablevision.
Now, I was very clear in my post about the rules of The FiOS Affair that I would not take calls from representatives from either Cablevision or Verizon while I’m blogging this little service
switch. That’s why I was surprised when Mark said he had read this blog and wanted to clarify a few things for me. Did he miss that post?
I spent a good amount of time with him, but because Cablevision broke the rules I will not report the numerous claims Mark made in order to keep me from bailing on iO for the greener pastures of Verizon’s FiOS. I will only say if his claims are true, specifically about pricing, I will blog about it when I get my first FiOS bill.
And if you remember, I gave another salesman, Josh, a chance to air all of FiOS’ evils when I called Cablevision last week.
To be fair, I want to believe Mark’s intentions were pure, that he is an eager salesman who believes in his heart that I am turning my back on a comparable service priced well below what Verizon charges. I don’t want to believe he was sent on a smear-Verizon mission by higher ups . Mark was kind, informed and not pushy at all, but through him Cablevision broke the rules.
There is nothing that will stop me from switching to FiOS, but there is nothing that will stop me from canceling the service from Verizon, regardless of any penalties imposed for breaking the contract, if I feel they were not straight with me about pricing, or if the service is less than impressive.
The destination of this fledgling story is up in the air, but I’ll need the journey to get there. Cablevision, please, do not interfere.
In the future, if anyone from Verizon or Cablevision thinks I am missing key points of information then post the juicy bits as comments on this blog. That’s why I am writing The FiOS Affair here and not for the print edition of Long Island Business News. I encourage input from all, and the full disclosure created by open conversations via the LI Biz Blog will preserve the integrity of this project.
Cablevision, I’m headed for FiOS, that’s for sure. You may later win me back, but you won’t stop me from going first.
For the record, a Verizon spokeswoman sent me an e-mail offering either one of us more information on FiOS if we needed it.
I explained that Henry has asked Cablevision and Verizon to avoid contacting him. He will do the contacting.
We haven’t heard from Verizon since.
We also haven’t heard peep from Cablevision’s spokespeople on this issue.
For the record, a Verizon spokeswoman sent me an e-mail offering either one of us more information on FiOS if we needed it.
I explained that Henry has asked Cablevision and Verizon to avoid contacting him. He will do the contacting.
We haven’t heard from Verizon since.
We also haven’t heard peep from Cablevision’s spokespeople on this issue.
Courage, Henry.
What’s next — “chance” meetings of cable reps at restaurants who pick up tabs and are only, truly interested in being your new best friend?
Courage!
Courage, Henry.
What’s next — “chance” meetings of cable reps at restaurants who pick up tabs and are only, truly interested in being your new best friend?
Courage!
Try to cancel Cablevision over the phone!
The rep I spoke to was obnoxious, even when I told him I was really, really sure that I wanted to cancel the service.
Try to cancel Cablevision over the phone!
The rep I spoke to was obnoxious, even when I told him I was really, really sure that I wanted to cancel the service.
spent a whole day waiting for the FiOS tech to come to the house and install service. They called at 5PM and said they couldn’t make it, no kidding. Now they’re calling me constantly to reschedule because “no one was home”!!!!!! I’ll be sticking with Cablevision for awhile longer if that’s the type of reliability I can expect.
spent a whole day waiting for the FiOS tech to come to the house and install service. They called at 5PM and said they couldn’t make it, no kidding. Now they’re calling me constantly to reschedule because “no one was home”!!!!!! I’ll be sticking with Cablevision for awhile longer if that’s the type of reliability I can expect.