Snowbird Question

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

I can't get Verizon to give me a straight answer.

For those who have winter homes in FL, what do you do for phone, internet and TV service?

Do you do month-to-month, put service on "vacation" when you're not there, or . . . ?

I checked with DISH and we can "switch" service locations by taking our receiver and remotes back and forth.

[Dori Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Dori]

Our story might be a little different, since we are Canadian, but we subscribe to Century Link for our phone and internet. Our 55plus park no longer offers cable, so we bought an aerial for $35 and a converter box for $50 (from Walmart), seeing as we don't have a newer TV. At home in Canada, we are on cable, so we don't have a dish. Several Canadians in the park bring their dishes with them.

We can put our phone and internet on Vacation Stop for 6 months, and just pay a nominal monthly fee. If you don't care about keeping the same phone number, it might be cheaper to cancel and re-order service the following year.

Hope this helps a bit, Jim.

Dori

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

My parents have free phone service. For their Cable TV the cable company in MA had a "snowbird" rate for 6months. their Internet is also thru Verizon but I can not remember how that ended up but definitely a reduced rate.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

I have asked Verizon, "What is the least expensive way to have phone and Internet service from November 1, 2011 through April 1, 2012?" four times now, and they will not answer. They reply, but won't answer that question. I've tried through email and live chat.

Their website shows they offer phone and TV (DIRECTV), but not Internet, at our location in Florida, but we are doubting the no Internet part.

We have CenturyLink here, and can put it on "Vacation" when we are not here. We have DISH bundled with phone and Internet here, but CenturyLink has switched to DIRECTV. That complicated getting the DISH Snowbird Program, but I have confirmed that we can do it.

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

JIm it has been 30+ years since I worked in residential for NY Telephone (now Verizon). There is a vacation option although it is not called that. Of course I have no idea what rates it would be. Positive it's in a state Tarriff 1 somewhere if you feel like researching.

You do not wish to ask it in the way you are: "What is the least expensive way to have phone and Internet service from November 1, 2011 through April 1, 2012?"

You need to tell them you are not going to be in the residence for 4 months and want to keep the phone number/IP in reserve during that time.

Of course they've laid off and/or outsourced anyone who actually knows anything.

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

Seasonal Service Suspension

What is Seasonal Service Suspension?

Verizon offers Seasonal Service Suspension to customers who will be away from their homes for an extended period of time.To qualify you must suspend your FiOS TV service for at least one month but not more than nine months.



There is a fee charged to temporarily suspend your FiOS TV service.To suspend your FiOS TV service for an extended timeframe, contact us at 1-888-553-1555 for further assistance.

I'm sure it is called the same thing for phone/internet. ask for it by name.

[SherryS Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close SherryS]

We only use cell phones and a card for our computer (they work anywhere we are living, and go on timeshares trips, too). Our TV service is included in our condo fees (Comcast) in both of our residences.

[rapmarks Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close rapmarks]

Here is what I do:
Internet: when i get to Florida, i check online for a promotional price for comcast, i then get the promotional price for up to 6 months and rent a modem from them. i return the modem and cancel the service when i leave. I don't bother setting up an email address.
up north i am stuck with using the phone company which changes every year. I think we are Frontier right now. I have a 19.95 rate frozen on Internet, so i put my northern phone and internet on vacation, they will only do it up to 6 months, and it costs me about 22 or so a month for both. I don't put my florida phone on hold as it only saves me 35 to 40 dollars over the course of the summer. the negative about vacation hold is that when someone calls your number, the recording says it is no longer in service, not that it is temporarily suspended.

TV We have comcast as a package for our subdivision in florida, so i do nothing. In Wisconsin i have to take christmas Mountain cable and the only upside is that they currently let me suspend service for 6 months. so I only pay about one month that I am not here.
In Florida, I have the water turned off so i don't get a monthly bill but it costs $45 to have it turned back on. I don't have to worry about leaks witht he water off.

A big hassle is changing addresses twice a year (for certain things). I changed my address for my major brokerage account. almost had a heart attack when i started opening the 12 envelopes that came shortly thereafter. they transferred my account to 12 different people across the country, at least according to those letters. but we do have trouble with the credit card if we dont change the address as they will note the out of town spending and take precautions.

[bevvy5 Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close bevvy5]

We have a trailer on a small lot "across the line" in the US - we live in Canada. We use Comcast in the States.

We have cable and internet - no phone, from mid April to mid October - 6 months. In about September, we just phone Comcast and tell them that we're not going to need our cable for six months because we won't be using the trailer. Similar to what's been posted here, they "suspend" the service for six months and a date for turning it back on is established. We pay a nominal fee of $10 a month, I think it is, so that we don't have to return the modem and boxes.

In the spring, the service is "turned on" on the date established in the fall. Hubby then usually phones in to get a better rate than the normal rate.

You have to let them know you are not cancelling your account - just suspending it.

[rapmarks Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close rapmarks]

I cancel my account, I then get the Infinity comcast internet service for $19.95 a month for 6 months, after 6 months the rate is 45 or 50 a month. ten a month ads up when it is multiplied by several companies.
I would go with a cell phone only but we do not get cell phone service in our home at christmas Mountain.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Asking about a phone line is because one option is to switch DISH back and forth, and DISH told me a land line has to be connected to the receiver.

It appears the TV offered by Verizon in our FL area is DIRECTV, requring a 2-year contract.

I got another email reply from DISH today indicating they may try to give me an actual answer.

I am also going down for a week next month to get some things ready for wintering there, so I'll ask around.

[bevvy5 Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close bevvy5]

I cancel my account, I then get the Infinity comcast internet service for $19.95 a month for 6 months, after 6 months the rate is 45 or 50 a month. ten a month ads up when it is multiplied by several companies.
I would go with a cell phone only but we do not get cell phone service in our home at christmas Mountain.

We personally don't want to lose our email address that we use down there - can't use hotmail or others like that for our work - and don't want to bother to return routers or whatever they're called and boxes so it's worth the $10 to us for that.

Greg's a pretty good negotiator so he gets a much better deal than they initially offer him. We have no other options for cable/satellite where we are so we don't have much in the way of options.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

I got as much answer as I think I'm going to get from Verizon.

Local-area only phone service is available for $16.48 per month. No information was given on Suspended Service or vacation rates or term of contract, etc.

Although it's hard to believe in this day and age, no Internet service is available. I mean, here in the sticks we get high speed internet, so why not in civilzed places?

I guess I'll ask around next month . . . I'm sure a whole town of 15000 is not using dial-up.

[rapmarks Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close rapmarks]

Jim, that is the phone rate, but the taxes are almost ten a month in addition.

I was wondering if you put your internet on vacation hold, do you get to use the email address during that time period?

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Jim, that is the phone rate, but the taxes are almost ten a month in addition.

I was wondering if you put your internet on vacation hold, do you get to use the email address during that time period?

Haven't got that far yet.