How to Cancel Verizon Fios TV and Internet Service

Verizon Fios is one of the more account-centered cancellations on this site: everything — the disconnect request, the effective date, the equipment labels — flows through your My Verizon account, and the official support pages are explicit about the one number that matters: return Fios equipment within 30 days of disconnection or face an unreturned-equipment charge. This guide walks the disconnect flow, the equipment return, and what the Fios Customer Agreement actually says about early-termination fees and unreturned gear.

Step 1: disconnect through My Verizon

1. Sign in to My Verizon Account Settings & profile on the website, using the responsible account.
2. Choose Disconnect → Start chat. Type disconnect, choose Disconnect Fios home service and Chat with a representative.
3. Identify which internet, TV and home-phone services to end. Confirm the effective date, final charges and any contract fee.
4. Save the completed request and reference, then obtain the rented-equipment list, return method and deadline.

Verizon’s disconnect FAQs group the common situations — moving, going out of town, and other options — so before you pull the disconnect trigger, check whether your situation (a relocation within Fios territory, a seasonal hold, or a plan change) fits one of the gentler options first.

Step 2: return all Fios equipment within 30 days

Verizon’s Fios return FAQ requires rented equipment back within thirty days of the service disconnection date. The clock is not the date you first ask about cancellation or order a kit. Record the actual disconnect date and return deadline.

Its current instructions allow an authorized UPS Store to scan serial numbers, pack and ship unboxed equipment and its power cord. Keep that receipt. Eligible Verizon locations also accept Fios returns, but use the store locator’s Fios Home equipment returns filter before traveling; not every wireless shop is a return desk.

Compare the device list with what you own. Follow current instructions for rented, retired or permanently installed items rather than assuming every Verizon-branded box returns. Keep the account acknowledgment after shipping.

Step 3: the final bill and the amounts to check

Ask the representative to explain the covered service period, any applicable contract fee, equipment entries and credit balance. Do not assume universal proration from the cancellation date; use your account terms and written final-bill explanation.

Verizon’s disconnect FAQ says AutoPay and Paper-Free Billing remain enrolled until the final payment and a remaining credit balance can take up to sixty days to process and return. Keep billing notifications available and track the actual refund decision.

If an equipment fee remains after return, its FAQ says credits can take up to two bill cycles; contact Verizon if the refund has not arrived within three cycles. Keep the itemized return receipt and ask which serial number the unresolved entry concerns.

Before you disconnect: the checks most people skip

• Review any email, cloud or third-party account separately and back up important records. Check its own provider and retention terms; Fios disconnection does not establish what happens to a separately maintained mailbox.
• Home phone numbers: if you’re porting them to a new provider, start the port with the new carrier before you disconnect (porting is opened by the receiving company)
• Moving: check the relocation options in Verizon’s disconnect FAQ — a move to another Fios address usually transfers service with less friction than a cancel-and-reinstall
• Going out of town: the FAQ covers seasonal/suspension options that can beat canceling outright if you’ll return

Special cases and exceptions

• Death of the account holder: the executor disconnects or transfers the account with proof of authority; the executor’s cancellation checklist has the document kit, and the equipment return is part of closing the estate.
• Moving outside Fios territory: disconnect and return equipment — and check whether a competing provider or Verizon’s 5G Home service reaches the new address before you lose the connection entirely.
• Mixing Verizon mobile lines: disconnecting Fios home service doesn’t touch Verizon wireless lines — and wireless plans have their own terms, so confirm what’s actually on the account before assuming the bundle ended everything.

The equipment clock: 30 days, and it starts when you cancel

The thirty-day return deadline starts at actual service disconnection. Obtain the order date and device inventory before planning the return, and do not wait for an unnecessary replacement kit if the authorized UPS route applies.

A drop-off receipt is important evidence but does not guarantee an immediate account credit. Track the receipt, carrier or store acknowledgment and billing adjustment as separate stages. Follow up using the specific serial number and case reference.

The equipment checklist: what goes back, what stays

Fios equipment falls into two buckets. Rented — the router or gateway Verizon supplied, TV set-top boxes, and any other hardware the account lists as rental — goes back within the 30-day return window, and unreturned-equipment fees are billed per device. Owned — a router you bought yourself, your own mesh system, your own streaming boxes — stays. The mix-up that costs money is shipping back your own gear while a rented set-top box sits in a closet; the bill only cares about the devices the account shows as rented.

• Ask for the equipment list on your account — have the rep read which devices are rentals before you disconnect, and write them down
• Keep the return receipt until the final bill is settled — the device count on the receipt is the evidence an unreturned-equipment fee dispute needs
• Self-owned hardware is not returnable — if you bought it, it’s yours

Autopay: turn it off last, not first

The instinct is to kill autopay the moment you disconnect — resist it. The final Fios bill still needs to be paid, and a missed final bill can land in collections while a prorated refund is still processing. The sequence that works: disconnect, return the equipment, receive and verify the final bill, resolve any wrong line items, and only then remove the payment method. A refund due back to you commonly travels through the payment method on file — one more reason autopay stays put until the account is truly settled.

Make a service and equipment checklist

For Fios, identify internet, television and voice services and any number that must be transferred before disconnection. List rented equipment separately from privately owned devices. Have the representative confirm which services will end, the effective date and anything that remains billed after the change.

For Fios returns, record the rented router, television equipment and required accessories by serial number. Ask which items the return instructions cover; do not send installed or personally owned equipment merely because it appears in the home. Keep photographs, tracking and the return acknowledgment until the account’s inventory and final bill agree.

Still charged? Check four specific causes

• A second service, line or subscription was omitted from the request.
• The statement covers an earlier authorization or a contractual final billing period.
• A financing balance, termination fee or lost promotional credit changed the amount.
• A rental return was incomplete, late or not yet linked to the correct serial number.

For a Fios final-bill discrepancy, compare the effective disconnect date with the service period and each equipment entry. Give support the cancellation reference and the receipt for the particular rental under review. Ask for the calculation and adjustment outcome, and keep any separate number-transfer or other Verizon service out of that reconciliation unless it is actually part of the same bill.

For a deceased Fios subscriber, ask Verizon about its required representative documents and the choice between transfer and disconnection. Check whether another occupant needs the internet or telephone number before acting. Record the service decision, rentals and remaining requests in the estate cancellation checklist.

Cancellation and billing follow-up template

Complete the cancellation in the correct account first. Copy this wording into the official support channel for missing confirmation or a disputed charge; sending a letter alone does not replace the account flow. Keep the case reference, and omit passwords, security codes and full payment-card details.

Subject: Verizon Fios service cancellation / final-bill review — [account]

Account: [ID]
Service address or line: [details]
Services to end: [list]
Services to retain: [list or none]
Original request: [date, accepted channel and reference]

Please confirm the effective service end date, last access date and final billing period. Identify any remaining contract fee, device balance, discount change or separately billed subscription, with its calculation and applicable terms. This is not acceptance of a pause or replacement plan.

Please confirm the returnable equipment list, deadline, accepted return method and any return costs. Equipment already returned: [serial numbers, receipt and tracking].

Please explain disputed charge [amount/date/reference] and confirm any approved adjustment or refund, including its amount and expected posting date.

[Name]

Frequently Asked Questions

Refund questions: Do You Get a Refund When You Cancel a Subscription?. Not sure which path fits? Try the Cancel Path Finder.