The outsourced Verizon tech and installers show up on time and they fix it every time. The network problem they had in 2001 was gone in 2002 and it works fine here.
Later I moved to cable and my neighbor moved from dialup to DSL. A lightning bolt half fried the DSL Modem which made troubleshooting a crapshoot but given a day they figured it out and replaced the modem.
The issues seem to be dependent on the area in question. Also it helps to have me as your neighbor.
Bob
Think twice about using Verizon DSL unless perhaps it's the only isp in town, as is the case for me. Even some of the V techies I've talked to call it a "bad system". It took about a month for our service to start after ordering because they sent the wrong modem. When we received the correct modem, things were ok until we returned the original modem. At that point the service was inexplicably cancelled. Going through the automated phone system to find out why, the final message I received was "We are unable to help you with this matter. Either choose the main menu, or hang up." With much persistence I finally contacted a techie who said that we had asked to cancel the service. I told him no, we did not, so could he please reinstate the service? He replied that it would take another 5 working days to complete the cancellation process, then we could request a new setup from the sales department. We spent hours on the phone trying to track down someone knowledgeable. In the end, someone finally said that returning the original modem evidently "triggered" the cancellation process, and once begun, nothing could be done to stop it. In addition, it would take another 2-3 weeks following the cancellation before we could request new service. I pointed out that this was all due to a Verizon mistake, but it made no difference. The best they could do was to provide us free dial-up service in the meantime. So after a month of dialup, we finally had DSL reinstated; however, we could not get an internet connection. A couple of techs tried to help, but no luck. Then they sent us another modem, still no luck. Eventually it was discovered that the problem was with the Verizon system itself, and it was repaired. However, we soon got a nasty letter reminding us that if we did not return the extra modem soon, they would charge us for it. We returned it within the required period, but were billed for it anyway. We are still trying to resolve that issue, which is tough, because the Verizon department in charge doesn't answer the phone after regular business hours or on weekends. To be fair, my sister lives up the road from us and they have never had trouble with Verizon DSL (their line worked properly from the beginning). On the other hand, their Verizon telephone service went down a couple of weeks ago, and V techs have twice failed to show up for appointments to fix it.

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