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Can It Be True? Verizon FiOS Caught Lying Again?
Customers are complaining that the company has failed to deliver a $200 Circuit City promotional card.
By Swanni
 
Washington, D.C. (October 1, 2008) -- Verizon's FiOS last spring offered a $200 Circuit City gift card if you signed up for its 'Triple Play' bundle of service -- TV, Internet and Phone.

However, months later, Consumerist.com is reporting that the company has still failed to deliver the card and has told at least one subscriber that the promotion never existed.

"
I signed up for FIOS in March and was promised a $200 Circuit City giftcard, and have been given the runaround for months now. I thought I was an isolated case, but when the rep last week told me the promotion had never existed, that was the last straw," one reader told the web site.


The Verizon Circuit City promotion.

The reader's comment is supported by numerous complaints from FiOS subscribers at the web site,
giftcardblogger.com, who describe their various attempts at getting Verizon to send the gift card.

"It is quite clear Verizon botched this up in a colossal way and is giving people the shaft. I’m sure lots of people out there have been convinced by Verizon’s CSRs that they misremembered the promotion or missed their chance to redeem their gift card,"  said one poster.

There's no official word from Verizon on what happened to the gift card. But if the company has failed to deliver on the promotion, it wouldn't be the first time that the company has said one thing in public and done another in private.

For instance, Verizon last year included a free Sharp LCD HDTV in a promotional offer for FiOS. However, after signing up a large number of new subscribers in the promotional offer, the telco said it suddenly ran out of free Sharp TVs. Verizon later offered new customers a less attractive Magnavox set or a $200 Best Buy gift card as an alternative.

On November 1, 2007, Verizon's FiOS TV issued a press release stating that it would increase its high-def lineup to 150 channels in 2008. However, in July 2008, Verizon FiOS Vice President Terry Denson refused to stand by that commitment, adding "we don't obsess over channel counts."

And Verizon ran a TV ad campaign earlier this year saying that CNET.com stated that its FiOS TV service is "near flawless." However, as it turns out, CNET actually never said that; the technology web site published an article saying that it was important for Verizon to offer a "near flawless" TV experience, given the intense competition in the TV category.

To see more example of Verizon's trouble with the truth, click:
Verizon.

Consumerist.com is urging readers who haven't received the Circuit City card to file a complaint with their state attorney general.

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Phillip Swann is president and publisher of TVPredictions.com. He has been quoted in dozens of publications and broadcast outlets, including CNN, Fox News, Inside Edition, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Financial Times, The Associated Press and The Hollywood Reporter. He can be reached at swann@tvpredictions.com or at 703-505-3064.

Click TVPredictions.com to read more news and features on TV technology. 

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