As someone with both VZW and FiOS, it seems that any time I deal with a Verizon salesperson, they tell me something that is totally untrue in order to close the sale. This has even happened with my 90 year old grandfather, which is really disgraceful. There are never any repurcussions, and I've heard from former VZ employees that the practice is actually encouraged by management.
In the latest case, I told one of these people that I was on the fence about FiOS because I knew gigabit was coming soon, and it seemed like a better idea to go with Comcast in the meantime so I could get new customer pricing. Fear not, he says, we offer free upgrades to any customer who signed up in the last two months and wants to switch. Well, here we are -- it been under two months and gigabit is here. The salesperson I spoke to said he has no knowledge of such a program. If I want to upgrade, I have to sign a two year contract that not only is not new customer pricing, but also includes a $150 existing customer upgrade fee. How disappointing!
All I can say is to make sure you get any claims made by VZ salespeople in writing, and to offer help on behalf of your elderly parents or grandparents because they have no qualms about exploiting them for profit. Disgraceful. Verizon needs to seriously reconsider its commission policies if it wants to repair its badly damaged reputation.