 Review by coldmoon 
UPDATED: 23 days ago
member for 7.8 years, 889 visits, last login: 1 days ago
 Broadway,Lee,NC
 $80 per month (12 month contract)
 about 10 days
 AllTel
 "Beats Satellite with a big stick"
 "Over priced, excessive long distance charges, no competition in my area"
 "Bottom line? If you can get another service provider, do so and don't look back!"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings below consensus)
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Completely overpriced for the service they deliver. Marketing will tell you that switching to one of their bundles (3MB line with phone STARTS at 59.99 USD!) will save you money. Don't believe a word they say as you will be paying 4 times the amount for International calls (yes, this is the "discount").
Bottom line? If you can get another service provider, do so and don't look back!
Followup comments:  
Icon
Time Keeper
Premium,VIP,MVM
join:2004-01-07
Crockett, TX
 ·Windstream
·CenturyLink
| International LD isn't free I take it you didn't realize that "Unlimited Long Distance" means domestic long distance only? Otherwise, $60/month for 3/768 DSL, Long Distance, and all calling features is a good deal. Are you having problems with your internet also, or is the rant just about the International long distance? | |
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coldmoon
Premium
join:2002-02-04
Broadway, NC
·Windstream
| Re: International LD isn't free quote:
I take it you didn't realize that "Unlimited Long Distance" means domestic long distance only?...
Hi Icon,
It is not that this was a mystery as I also have an international calling plan which is expected to have charges. The issue was that marketing presented a different "description" of what the bundle was supposed to cost.
Before the change to the Internet/phone bundle I had separate DSL and local land line service from Windstream with long distance provided by Sprint. This was costing (minus the Sprint LD service) ~$94/month without any long distance phone charges.
When cold called by marketing, I was pitched a bundle of internet and phone (local & Long distance services) for ~$60/month with unlimited LD in the US. This is a great deal I said to myself as I had the potential of seeing a large discount on what I have been paying for several years now.
Note: I fully expected that international calls would be an additional charge as well as the taxes for those calls plus the usual international cell phone connection fees (when appropriate).
When I got my bill this month, I was surprised to see that my actual bill had increased marginally rather than seeing the substantial savings I was anticipating due to the inclusion of fees and service charges that the marketeer had intimated were included in the $59.95 bundle price.
quote:
...Are you having problems with your internet also...?
The internet service has been solid without too many interruptions and I have always been satisfied with the physical service itself; where I have had issues overall is with the excessive cost of that service as compared to other areas in the Windstream network.
quote:
...or is the rant just about the International long distance?
There is no rant to what I wrote other than the fact that the service has always been overpriced for the speed available. The problem this review cycle is that I feel I was mislead by the marketing department. Whether this was due to lack of proper training for the marketeers or on purpose by omission is irrelevant as it still leads to a dissatisfied, long-term customer.
Kind regards
Mike
--
Returnil - 21st Century body armor for your PC | |
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Icon
Time Keeper
Premium,VIP,MVM
join:2004-01-07
Crockett, TX | Re: International LD isn't free Hi Mike, thanks for the clarification. I have sent you a PM. | |
| 
Windstream
join:2009-03-31
Twinsburg, OH
2 edits | We are here to help! coldmoon - I apologize if you felt the savings from our calling plans were not what you were advised they would be. When you mention four times the amount for international calls I compared the rates for Windstream against TimeWarner cable (for the NC area) and found them to be very competitive. You can make this same analysis with the rate plans listed below, both of which can be found from the respective companies websites.
We do not require that you use Windstream for International calls. If there is anything we can do to assist you please let us know.
International Rates
Windstream International Rates - »www.windstream.com/residential/i···bers.pdf
TimeWarner Cable International Rates - »www.timewarnercable.com/Carolina···stChar=0
BP
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We're here to help! wci.broadbandhelp@windstream.com | |
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coldmoon
Premium
join:2002-02-04
Broadway, NC
·Windstream
| Re: We are here to help! Hi BP,
thanks for the reply.
quote:
...When you mention four times the amount for international calls I compared the rates for Windstream against TimeWarner cable (for the NC area) and found them to be very competitive.
TW is not available here. The service I had for LD was Sprint which charges only 8 cents/minute (landline - landline) to the country I call frequently. Windstream charges 17 cents/minute for the same service; calls to cell phones are 26 cents/minute where Sprint charges only 17.
As I call both LL and Cell phones in that country, the charges (on average) are almost 4 times what I was paying with Sprint. As I telecommute, this is excessive and will lead to my not using Winstream for international calling as I can call using my Sprint Cell account for less when needed...
This is not very competitive...
Kind regards
Mike
--
Returnil - 21st Century body armor for your PC | |
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Windstream
join:2009-03-31
Twinsburg, OH
1 edit | Re: We are here to help! Have you tried checking out Vonage rates for International calls?
BP
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We're here to help! wci.broadbandhelp@windstream.com | |
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coldmoon
Premium
join:2002-02-04
Broadway, NC | Re: We are here to help! No I haven't but will check into it. Skype is also an alternative but the call quality is usually a crap shoot...
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Returnil - 21st Century body armor for your PC | |
| | | | |
Windstream
join:2009-03-31
Twinsburg, OH
| Re: We are here to help! I have used Vonage personally and never really experienced any issues with the call quality. It might be a good solution for you. I have not used Skype myself so I cannot comment on it.
BP
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We're here to help! wci.broadbandhelp@windstream.com | |
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