So I decided to wade back into the swamp and attempt to order FIOS from Verizon again. Last time they wouldn’t accept my order because I refused to give them my social security number. This time they accepted a workaround.

I got on the Verizon chat line with someone named “Upton,” who directed me through the sign-up process. The most interesting thing he said was that I shouldn’t spend too much time reading the legal agreement because the sign-up process would time out if I did. I roughly skimmed it in time, but it’s interesting to note that Verizon instructs their representatives and evidently designs their software to hurry you past the contract you’re agreeing to (that in addition to putting it in an unnaturally small window).

So this time, the sign-up process again said I didn’t need to give my social, and I could also decline to have them look at my credit report. They offered to have me answer questions about myself gleaned from somewhere, but I declined, as I suspected it was from my father’s credit report as mine was locked down and I already told them I didn’t want them looking at my credit report.

This was followed by an email from Verizon instructing me to send in one piece of photo identification and one piece of non-photo identification to a fax number along with a form. The funny thing is that the form had one fax number on it and the email had another. Genius. So I sent in a photocopy of my drivers license and a paper copy of my electric bill to both fax numbers. A few days passed and I heard nothing.

So I called the number on the Verizon email to follow up. It turns out that they had indeed received my paperwork, everything was in order. And the woman on the phone asked me if I was aware that a deposit was required because I hadn’t given them access to my credit report. I informed her no, and she told me that it was $125 deposit for Internet, but had I ordered television service, it would have been $400. Unbelievable.

This, after they claimed that the purpose of looking at my credit report was to determine if I actually lived there.

Now I can see why they want a credit report/deposit if they’re putting a cable box in your home, but for Internet service it’s just silly. Besides, they’re requiring me to pay with a credit card, so they’re not really extending me any credit which needs to be secured with a deposit!!! Extending credit is what the credit card company does. Whatever. I told them fine since it’s not much money. I just think it’s interesting that the apparent price for your privacy is the carried interest on $125.

So they come out to install on May 1, which I realized is when I’m throwing a Cinquo de Mayo party that evidently nobody is coming to. Whatever. If people are there I’ll send Verizon man into the basement to do the install while we eat burritos and stuff.

UPDATE: So one of the ancillary benefits of this FIOS Internet service is I supposedly get access to Verizon’s wi-fi hot spots. Unfortunately, their hotspots are rather useless to me:

Verizon Wi-Fi is not available for PDAs, phones, desktop PCs or Macs.

Uh huh, so forget about using your shiny new iPad with Verizon’s hotspots. Should I assume that it works with Linux though, since they don’t say otherwise?

Previously:
Switching to Fios
Ordering Verizon FIOS, Part II
No Fios For Me

Tags: Fios, Verizon

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