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Review by lyramisu 
UPDATED: 1.5 years ago
member for 2.3 years, 22 visits, last login: 1 year ago
 Atlanta,Dekalb,GA
 $49 per month
 AT&T
 "Most of the time, I could get online and do what I wanted."
 "Customer service abysmal. $350+ billing error. 72+ hour outage with no updates"
 "Don't expect to get any kind of communication from the company about anything important."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
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Things with Speed Factory started out OK. Connection issues were minimal. It got on my nerves that there was no real 24-hour support. Until recently, they also never changed their outgoing phone message in the event of a massive outage, so reporting such outages and finding out what was going on involved long waits on hold.
In late 2006, Speed Factory had a billing server crash. They lost all of their customers' billing information, and they did nothing whatsoever to inform anyone. I had been paying through automatic payment for my entire 3+ year history with them, and I had just had a salary change at work, so I didn't realize anything was amiss. (Yes, I know this whole incident could have been avoided had I just balanced my checkbook regularly. My financial issues affect only me. Speed Factory's complete inability to safeguard billing information affects all of their customers.)
In May 2007, Speed Factory sent me a bill for more than $300, with no explanation for its amount or how to make arrangements to pay it. When I called, a representative acted as though losing customers' information and taking 7 months to recover it was the most natural thing in the world. They said that I could pay the balance in installments and that they would change me to an invoice system rather than auto pay so that I could arrange for payment each month. I sent an e-mail explaining how frustrated I was with the situation and why I could not understand how they could fail to protect customers' billing information. Speed Factory did not acknowledge it in any way.
The next month, they automatically drafted the amount I had arranged to pay from my checking account without my permission. Then they sent me account past-due notices. I called again to ask was going on, and a particularly inarticulate, unhelpful representative explained that it must have been some kind of miscommunication. She also explained that they won't simply bill customers and allow you to pay by the due date -- you have to tell them in advance when you will be calling to pay your bill. (There's no option for online payment, so it has to be done by phone.)
I sent a second e-mail describing the situation again and expressing my disgust with their complete lack of fiduciary responsibility regarding customers' financial information. I also asked why customers trying to pay huge bills caused by Speed Factory's error were being penalized by not simply being allowed to pay their bills like normal people. SpeedFactory has neither acknowledged nor responded to that e-mail, either.
Don't go with Speed Factory. A company that can't back up its customers' billing information also can't protect that information from misuse.
Edit on July 4, 2007: Speed Factory is now charging me late fees for the past-due amount, in spite of me making arrangements to pay it, and in spite of the huge past-due balance being the result of their inability to bill customers appropriately.
Edit on July 10, 2007: I spoke to the new operations manager yesterday to settle the rest of the $200+ Speed Factory was billing me for, and to say that I would not be paying their late fee since the fee was only there because of their mistake. The operations manager agreed and told me that the person who had handled the huge database failure had been replaced, as had some of the reps I talked to. I'm still wary, though.
Update on April 15, 2008: Speed Factory had a massive service outage that lasted more than 72 hours beginning on Friday, April 11 at around 10:00 a.m. Anyone trying to call to figure out what was wrong was given an "All circuits are busy" message for that entire time. The Web site offered no insight into what was going on. People began to suspect that the company had gone bankrupt or otherwise closed its doors. An apology, but no explanation, finally came on Monday, April 14, after the network was restored.
This lack of communication, including the inability to even give callers a stock outgoing message explaining the situation, is unacceptable. This is especially true considering that they already had experience with equipment failure that dramatically affected customers. I have already been provisioned with a new provider and will be canceling my Speed Factory service as soon as I have confirmed that all my e-mail addresses have been switched to my new one. I do not recommend that anyone use Speed Factory as an ISP, ever.
Followup comments:  
NP WIRE
@comcast.net
| Post for SpeedFactory CLosed??? What happened to the Press Release from NP Wireless dated April 12th regarding closing its SF operations????
It was posted on website just before outage, now I can't find it on the web.
Are they closing or open?
What was the real outage???? FIre everyone?????? Noone knew how to redirect the equipment when Paetec took the IP line down??? | |
| | lyramisu
join:2007-06-30
Atlanta, GA
 ·Atlantic Nexus
·Speed Factory
| Re: Post for SpeedFactory CLosed??? The release wasn't about Speed Factory closing its doors. If you search Google for "speedfactory closed," you can still find the press release. But it's not about shutting down a business at all. It's a press release from April 12 2006, not April 12 2008, and it announces NextPhase Wireless closing their deal to acquire Speed Factory.
They haven't made any real information public about exactly what happened, but the prevailing theories involve massive hardware failure or massive failure to pay an upstream provider. Either way...massive failure.
If they plan to cease operations, there hasn't been a formal announcement saying so. But at the same time, based on traffic on this forum, it seems that the company has lost lots of loyal customers, which might make staying in business difficult, especially considering the most recent SEC filings indicating that NextPhase Wireless is running at a loss. | |
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