Verizon is Not Totally Dysfunctional

I acknowledge that most most of my previous posts about Verizon have been to complain. In the interests of fairness I need to mention that there is one thing Verizon does that is pretty good.  If you need to upgrade your FIOS set top box, they are amazing.  A few months ago, we decided to upgrade our hi-def box to a DVR.  I went online, and despite their clunky website, I was able to order a DVR box.  They said it might take two weeks for the new unit to arrive.

Installs like butter

Surprise, it came two days later.  I followed the simple instructions to hook it up and voila it worked! It took less than ten minutes. Smooth, like butter!  The old unit goes into the same shipping box for return.  They give you a return shipping label.  You take it down to the UPS store, ans as you place the box on the counter you wonder if it is going to be  hassle, but the guy says "Ok you're done. I do a hundred of these a week. Have a nice day."

Kudos to the person(s) who designed that process.    The DVR works very well too, especially now that we can fast-forward through all the comercials.  Now, we can record a half hour show and watch it later in 15 minutes.  I like that.  The DVR interface is a bit clunky, but like using your GPS or Cell Phone messaging,  you eventually get the hang of it.

Last week I replaced the 15 year old GE 25" TV with a new Panasonic 32" flat screen.  (Costco, $319 tax free).  It was time to replace the old Low-Def set top box.  I went online, muddled my way through their clunky interface, and finally managed to order the upgrade.  Two days later the new box arrived.  This time the set-up took twenty minutes because I had to use what they call manual activation, meaning I entered a code that they had sent me and then  waited twenty minutes while the main office programmed the box remotely.  No hassle on my part.  Today I will take the old box back to the UPS store.  Mission Accomplished!

So there you have it.  Verizon is not Totally dysfunctional after all.  So never let it be said that I am not fair and balanced, (even though I think their website is clunky :-)