Eradicating Bellsouth Services...by a pissed off blogger
Hey there blogsphere and friends,
It's been a few days since my last post, things here have been utterly insane. In addition to running my business, I decided to accept an offer of employment that was too good to turn down. So back to working 2 jobs I go! It's all good though, I am learning more each day and I work with some absolutely great people.
But the real story behind this post is that the main reason I haven't been able to post much is because Bellsouth has completely screwed my DSL service and they have no clue what to do about it. Yeah, you read right...Bellsouth doesn't have a clue. Surprise surprise.
The nightmare begins after the jump....
I am paying for the DSL Xtreme Service which is 3Mbps down / 384 up. Right now, I am only able to get between 30kbps - 174kbps on a good day. And for the pleasure of getting dial-up speeds, I get to pay over $50 a month. When I called about the problem (going on 5 days now), I get “Dennis” on the horn, a horn which clearly leads to India. Sure thing “Dennis”.
So on we go for 2 hours dealing with idiotic suggestions like to clear my browser cache and such. This dude obviously doesn't get it or know a damn thing about the Internet, but alas, I digress and agree to follow his suggestions. Bellsouth couldn't even get their own speedtest to work right. I have never had a problem running it before, but all of a sudden, it tells me there is a Java error and that I need to download the latest Java. Geee, that's interesting. Java seems to work EVERYWHERE else, including 3 other browsers I tried. Yet somehow Bellsouth insists I have a Java error. Having worked at Bellsouth and another telecom where I launched the first DSL service into Florida, I think I know a thing or two about how the gear works and where to start looking for the problem.
So now I am having to do HIS job and tell him where to look. Ultimately, he still didn't get it. So he calls upon the higher powers and begins to run line checks. Great. Now we're getting somewhere. Amazingly, the line check comes back clean. No problem and according to them, my service is “fine”. Now I begin to question things and double checked all the things “Dennis” didn't tell me to check. All the lines are unplugged, and no filters are in place, yet I still get 50kbps coming down the pipe, but about 310kbps going up. Not good.
So “Dennis” is supposed to send a tech out to troubleshoot the line. Fast forward a day, I get home late and find out that the line is still bunk. “Dennis” never entered the trouble ticket or dispatched anyone. Great. Here comes another 2 hours on tech support with another CSR. Amazingly I get someone which is clearly in the US, most likely Atlanta. All good (so I thought). We run through the routine again and 2 hours later (1 of which was on my cell phone since they couldn't test the line with me on it), I get nowhere. Their best effort to fix the problem was to send a tech 2 days from now. Great....just great. Oh, and the beauty is that these people apparently can only come during what most of us consider normal working hours. So now, not only am I down, but I have to take a day off to wait around for a Bellsouth tech? Give me a break. Not gonna happen folks.
Here we are on Thursday, the day a tech is supposed to come out. We'll see what happens. One thing is for certain though...after this experience, I am HELLBENT on ERADICATING BELLSOUTH from my home. No longer will Bellsouth get my money. I have been a LOYAL customer for well over 10 years, not to mention that I have referred dozens of customers to them. But ohhhhh no.....not anymore.
COMCAST now offers 8Mbps service in my area. As if that isn't enough, as a result of me coming from Bellsouth, I am considered a “winback account”. That means I pay $19.99 a month for the next 6 months of 8Mbps service. After that, I pay LESS than I am paying for Bellsouth (and that is AFTER the Bellsouth discounts for having multiple services). Geee...someone break my arm. Now I know what some of you are saying, Comcast blows. You know what? It's gotta be better than 50kbps...'nuff said. Along with that, I am killing my DirecTV service and going with Comcast Digital Service, including HD with DVR receiver. Again, since I am switching from DirecTV, I am a “winback” account. For that, I pay a measly $40 a month for the next 12 months, for their top package which currently costs me over $100/mo. with DirecTV. Again, someone break my arm...tough decision huh? Once all that is in service and working, my next move is to completely kill Bellsouth services in my home. I am switching my phone service to Supra Telecom. I can get basic service for $20/mo. with LD at $.05 a minute. I don't do much LD, so that's a bargain for me. To boot, I am going to get a VoIP line or Skype Out and I'll be rockin. My phone service will now follow me, and we'll be good to go. I'll probably opt out of using the phone company voice mail and instead go with Phlink by Ovolab for my vx mail at home. Already have a server up 24/7 so why not.
Hopefully within the next 2 weeks I will be BELLSOUTH FREE. Unless things go horribly wrong, I don't plan to come back to Bellsouth. Bellsouth Reps and management, if you happen to be reading this....GET A CLUE. We are in a day and age where now more than ever, WE the CUSTOMER, have CHOICES. WE will NOT be held hostage by your shitty customer service and lack of response on urgent matters, especially when we are PAYING you for that service. Either get your act together, or more customers like myself will find alternative products. Your monopoly and stranglehold on telecom and broadband services are OVER. To my fellow readers, don't take ANY big companies crap anymore. If you don't like your service, SWITCH. Speak with your dollars, it seems to be the only thing they care about since customer service is all but a distant thought long gone from corporate America's memory.
