Verizon’s Advertising: A Grain of Salt

I recently wrote about the avalanche of snail-mail flyers that come through the mail to thousands of people touting Verizon’s new fiber optic TV/Internet/telephone service called FiOS.

Well, in Chesapeake Beach, Maryland – a small community in rural Calvert County, Maryland, on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay – residents who have had DSL Internet access are just as excited as the rest of us when a flyer arrives, announcing that FiOS is now available. They go online or call the company, sign-up for FiOS but … what Verizon installs is not fiber optic service but DSL. So if the resident already has DSL with another provider, Verizon snags them as a new Verizon DSL customer.

Upon realizing what’s happening, residents call Verizon only to learn that FiOS fiber optic service will not be available in their community for months, if not years … despite the flyers and advertisements claiming otherwise. At that point, they are either stuck with Verizon and a bitter taste in the mouths toward Verizon or must pay to return to their former DSL provider.

I just find unethical behavior by such companies to be … well, I suppose the best word is, incomprehensible. Perhaps Verizon might spend more on upgrading their network to fiber optics and less on misleading advertising … but that makes too much sense, I suppose.