I hate my broadband company

[Dreamweavernoob]

So i have crap internet.

Fact.


Then a month or so ago my provider said they were going unlimited so this month i downloaded a bit.

Now ive been capped


speed =




I can barely surf. Videos are out of the question and as for finishing what I wanted to download, its going to take weeks at this speed instead of days.


/rant.

[Medion]

Suddenlink was giving me problems. I downgraded to their 2mb service for $24.99/month. Last month, they jacked the price up to $34.99, and dropped my speed to 1mb. I'm switching to 6mb DSL for $37.95/month. **** cable.

[bacon12]

I am paying $60/month for a 7mb/512 line. I really wish there were more alternatives, but in my area there is only one cable provider, and I too am looking into DSL.

[Pete Abel]

Originally Posted by Medion

Suddenlink was giving me problems. I downgraded to their 2mb service for $24.99/month. Last month, they jacked the price up to $34.99, and dropped my speed to 1mb. I'm switching to 6mb DSL for $37.95/month. **** cable.

I'm with Suddenlink. I hope there's a way we can keep you as a customer. Let me know, via email, please (pete-DOT-abel-AT-suddenlink-DOT-com) since I don't regularly check this forum. Thanks.

[Medion]

Originally Posted by Pete Abel

I'm with Suddenlink. I hope there's a way we can keep you as a customer. Let me know, via email, please (pete-DOT-abel-AT-suddenlink-DOT-com) since I don't regularly check this forum. Thanks.

Here's the email that I sent him, since some of you might find this entertaining. I've edited out some duplicate info (such as, who this is, and a link to this post).

At this point, there is absolutely nothing that you can do to retain me as a customer. However, in the off chance that you actually care to improve your company, I will detail just what your company has done to irk me thus far. Screwing up once in awhile can happen even to the best of us, but it seems that these kinds of screwups are a part of Suddenlink Culture.

-I initially signed up for Suddenlink high-speed internet, as well as HDTV with HD-DVR. I was given a used DVR that hadn't even been reset yet. I had to use Google to find out how to reset this model, since Suddenlink customer support wanted to charge me extra for it. Had I not reset it, it was going to continue trying to DVR to the previous owner's schedule.

-When I signed up, I specifically asked if the company offered Comedy Central and NFL Network, both in HD. Now, had the customer service rep been honest with me (Comedy Central isn't available in HD on any carrier, and NFL Network won't even negociate with Suddenlink), I would have understood. However, your rep lied t me and said that you offer both channels, in HD. When I got my HDTV hooked up and realized that I had been scammed, I called customer support and was told "oh well."

-Recently, I dropped your television service entirely, and then reduced my internet speed to your lowest package. I was debating a move to DirectTV and DSL internet. You guys gave me all the push that I needed with these next two mistakes. First, you guys sent me a bill for over $500 after I made the switch. When I called to find out what happened, it turns out that the guy who was sent to pick up my DVR called in sick, and rather than reschedule, your company just assumed that I would be glad to pay for the DVR! So here I was with an over $500 bill, which took even more of a hassle to clear up.

-Next, after I returned the DVR, you guys took my internet package (2mb down for $24.99/mo) and changed it to 1mb down for $33.99/mo, without ANY warning!

So no, Mr. Abel, I have no desire to stay with your company. Everytime that I've thrown money towads your company, you guys have scaled back my service while demanding more money. Personally, I'd love to see Suddenlink go belly up in areas where satelite and DSL are readily available.

[Pete Abel]

Medion -- I am very sorry for the issues you encountered. No excuses. We clearly have room for improvement. Accordingly, I will share your input with our senior customer care managers and ask them to take steps to help prevent this from happening again with another customer. Thank you for taking the time to share this history with me.

[Slammin]

Sounds like SuddenDeath to me.

This company should be ashamed. I wonder if this is just an isolated case? Even if it were, customer service such as this should not be rewarded. I wonder how older custormers fare with such a dubious service provider?

This is just one more reason to check in on my Mom :-)

[Drolfrawd]

who you with noob?

[Sazar]

at 50GB.

I have probably downloaded around 4 or 5 TB of stuff all told last month, what with games, high-def streaming and using Orb to stream. I might be around 1 TB this month.

[crainger]

So that's where all my bandwidth goes...

[CaptNKILL]

I've been lucky so far. Atlantic Broadband cable is a very good service. If they try to screw around with bandwidth caps and increased fees I'll switch to Verizon DSL though. I'm just glad we have a choice here.

Atlantic BB has never charged me for any house calls or phone support. This one time at my mother's house a wire in our house had been damaged by mice. They spent 2 hours diagnosing the problem from the street to our modem and when they found it, they cut the damaged cord and put a new end on it right there... we never saw a bill at all.

They've also upgraded my service several times over the past few years. We initially paid this same price for 768\128 cable back in 2001-2002 (I think) when Charter was our carrier. Then Atlantic BB moved in and upgraded us to 1.5\192 and lowered our bills, then they gave us 3\320 and now 5\512. And they've never increased the prices.

[saturnotaku]

Aside from the bandwidth cap, I can't complain too much about Comcast. Their Internet service is fast, and in the three years I've had it, I can count the number of times it's gone down on one hand. Their digital cable is good quality, too, though it's a pain in the rear because you can't record more than two shows at once, and the cable box's hard drive is on the small side. We've contemplated switching to AT&T since you can record four shows at once. However, you need a receiver for each TV (which naturally costs more). In addition, once you add in an Internet package of comparable speed, there's no cost savings.

With the stranglehold Comcast and AT&T have in the Chicago area, I doubt we'll see Verizon FIOS any time soon, if ever.