FiOS is deservedly seeing good reviews from our users because of the speed and reliability of the connections. Verizon is deservedly seeing praise for being the only telco with the foresight to see that fiber is the future. However, if FiOS has a weak spot, our users say it's Verizon's FiOS billing department.

Customers tell us they're being incorrectly billed for service they didn't order, aspects of installation not performed, and channels they never asked for. While these users like the service itself, they say resolving errors is difficult and navigating phone support is a nightmare.

The billing anomalies vary greatly from customer to customer. One user complains to us that TV Poland mysteriously showed up on his bill to the tune of $18 per month. After calling and getting confirmation that it had been removed, it re-appeared the following month.

Another user complains about a phantom $75 extra PC installation charge. One FiOS customer tells us he's been charged for a high-definition set-top box he doesn't actually have going on eight months now:The most common complaint is that users aren't always seeing bundle discounts they signed up for reflected on their bills.

One customers says they signed up for a one year promotion where he was supposed to pay $70 for 20Mbps/5Mbps FiOS broadband, bundled with Verizon's Platinum TV Package. Four months have passed and the company is still charging him the standard price for individual services.

According to Verizon's Jim Smith, the company's current billing system involves some "complex billing system interactions" that require activations to sync up before bundled discounts are applied. "What matters, though, is that the discount always runs for the full period promised, either 12 or 24 months, even if it does not start in month one of the service" he says.

In other words, those of you not yet seeing bundle discounts will see them in time, and for the full length of the contract you signed.

Software upgrades are being installed mid-August to remedy this and to assure that for new FiOS bundle customers, discounts are immediate -Verizon's Jim Smith

What's Verizon doing about it? "Software upgrades are being installed mid-August to remedy this and to assure that for new FiOS bundle customers, discounts are immediate and actually cover the promised period from service activation forward with no delays," he tells us.

As for the other erroneous charges, Smith attributes these to "simple data entry errors made during the ordering process [which] should be remedied with a call for help." That's probably no help to the user who spent 2007 trying to avoid paying for a phantom set-top box.

As it stands, FiOS support comes from special fiber solutions centers, separate from the call centers and tech support that works on DSL. Given the product's just getting off the ground, we'll assume they're just working out the kinks. "Basic order correction and adjustments can generally be made by the regular call center reps, however," says Smith.

Hopefully early FiOS billing issues are a small, soon to be resolved cost of broadband on the bleeding edge, and not a persistent headache.