In recent weeks I have been experiencing some broadband issues in my home. I don’t want to mention any names but there are only two choices for internet access in St. Paul.
The company I use has pointed out that the other company is even worse.
Either way, they demonstrate how bad customer service can be.
Here are just a few of my experiences trying to get my internet access working again:
- Calling and being asked repeatedly for the same information.
- Being put on hold for over 30 minutes.
- Having my call dropped.
- Being told about self-service on a website when I don’t have internet access.
- Being told that a device I have hooked up is causing the problem (not possible)
- Being told that my problem is probably a bad ethernet cable.
- Believing that I am talking to a someone in tech support and being sold an upgrade by a salesperson and later finding out that the upgrade would not have worked in my home but they would have let me pay for it anyway.
- Spending hours and hours over a three week period trying to cancel the upgrade.
- Being told that the problems with the service because of an upgrade. (later learned that isn’t possible)
- Having two technicians come out and “fix’ the problem but the problem remained.
I could make this list longer. Each time I called for technical support I was given a different reason for my spotty internet access.
When I ask to talk to a supervisor or escalate the problem I am told there are no supervisors. I have also been told that no one there can make outgoing calls.
There are only two choices when it comes to internet access both are expensive and offer extremely poor customer service. I have tried them both.
They take poor service to a whole new level that most businesses can not even touch. They serve as an example of what happens when there isn’t enough competition in the marketplace.
Cable and satellite TV are also great examples of what happens when there isn’t enough competition. They put packages of channels together that no one really wants. Sure people want some of the channels but not all of them. I could easily get by with no sports channels.
The bill that comes with broadband services each month is ridiculous and it gets higher every year.
We have used cable and direct TV and are currently exploring the possibility of getting an old-school antenna so that we can get the local channels and stream the rest.
Someday the large companies that provide broadband are going to miss all of the customers they once had. The companies are too large to know or care if they are losing customers because of poor service and overpriced offerings.
Is a house really a home if there is no internet access?
Whenever someone starts the tired argument about business being able to handle things much better than government, I mention the names of either of the Internet access providers you mention and the argument ends.
Both companies are textbook examples of how not to do it in a sector ripe for disruption. Unfortunately, it seems the only companies capable of disrupting this terrible customer service model are (other) phone companies and search-engine giants who don’t have reputations for good customer service, either.