[Tfug] Providers?

[Bexley Hall]

Hi Mike,

On 11/18/2012 7:19 PM, mike wrote:
> I am a Wi-power user and let me let you in on a secret, customer service
> is non existent

<frown>  I suspect that is true of many companies.  I recall
hearing horror stories from folks (ages ago) trying to contact
their local CATV provider and facing long hold times on the
phone.  Of course, if you called their *sales* number, the
wait times were non-existent!  (is my cynicism showing?  :> )

My first dialup (think PEP) provider here had reasonably good
service, long hours, etc. (helpful given that I tend to
work weird hours).  But, they went away...  and the
technology moved forward so perhaps I wouldn't have needed
as much help ("Modem bank needs to be reset, again...")

> If it works you are golden if your location has problems
> like mine does well your not in good shape.

 From your email address, I'm guessing you are technically
competent to offer an opinion on where the problem *might*
lie?  I.e., bad equipment?  technology?  alignment?  *topography*??

> for a yr I had the Voip
> offered with there package never worked right from day one. After 11
> months I canceled service and was told I would have to pay a 50 fee to
> change my contract.

"Early termination fee"?

> I started using the non working phone that they
> provided on all calls to them with no alternate # and we got past the
> fee to change service. over the 11 months that I had worked with them to
> fix the problem I was told that a refund would be made once the problem
> had been fixed! Since it was never fixed, well there will be no refund
> given I am out 220.00 for a none working service.

Did any of this rely on equipment/software that you had to maintain
(i.e., install software on a Windows machine to control or interface
with their service)?  The point of my question being:  if it was
*entirely* their equipment, then one would *expect* it to work
pretty near "out of the box".

[To be frank, the appeal of *keeping* our land line -- even as
little as we use it -- is that POTS on the PSTN *tends* to be
pretty damn reliable!  IIRC, there has been exactly one case
in the past ~50 years where I picked up a handset and didn't
get dialtone -- after a lightning strike *at* the house toasted
one of the non-WU station sets!  Actually, a very disturbing
sensation...]

> About the Internet,
> well you best read the fine print it is bust speed of 6mb and a

But isn't that true of all providers?  I.e., they should rightly
advertise as:
    "your speed will NEVER EXCEED..."
rather than
    "speeds of UP TO..."

And, of course, much depends on your client as well as the
remote end of the connection (and everything in-between).

Speed only really comes into play if you're doing lengthy
transfers (streaming multimedia, FTP, etc.).  Otherwise,
its more a *latency* issue (which is harder to pin down).
In our case, I expect the difference between time to
visit a web page and actually having it available locally
is probably largely independent of the connection speed.

> guarantee that it will not fall below 1.5mb my service has jitters of
> .48mb during most test and that is better than it has been in in the 11
> months prior. and when I ask about lowering my package I am told that if
> I do that I will be charged to change my service and that the bottom
> side will be lowered to 1mb. I have the 6mb package I see burst of 5mb
> never any higher and my 1mb upload never gets faster then .6mb.

Hmmmm... our current (Qwest) service is 12Mb.  On the few lengthy
file transfers (CD ISO's, etc.) I frequently see ~10+Mb average
rates.  But, I could easily live without the high end as I am
at the library daily and pulling down big files from there would
not be an inconvenience.

> Since I
> am in a contract well they feel that they have all the power P.S. they

Understood.  OTOH, your comments here can cost them a potential customer
(or more).  Sad that so many firms *punish* their customers -- then
wonder why they *lose* them!  :-/

[A friend has a clever saying to this effect but I can't recall
his eloquent phrasing]

> can make it run at the contracted speeds and have for small amounts of
> time and then they just neck the service back down. I am retired so I
> have time to call and complain do you have that time every week? I have
> never had a service that I have been so unsatisfied with in my whole
> life in fact just writing this has raised my blood pressure to think
> that when I get around a tower not at my house I have much better speeds
> on my cell and that service is a shit load cheaper well you get the

In what part of town are you located?

> picture. I wait my time looking for a better answer. It will come 7 yrs
> ago All I could get out here was dial up. when a new idea comes I will
> be on that train. DSL is full in this area so I can't get back on the
> qwest service sat is not for me so I am stuck for the moment. good luck
> to you and think long and hard before you look at this choice. Read the
> reviews on-line wish I had.

Thanks!  We're trying to make a smart choice -- though it is always
a crap shoot.  I suspect Qwest has to see the writing on the wall:
find some *other* use for all that copper wire before *everyone*
abandons their land lines in favor of cell phones!  You would
think they would be more aggressive in finding and *keeping*
customers given this reality...

Can I contact you off-list?

--don