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Review by avaloncourt 
UPDATED: 2.2 years ago
member for 7.8 years, 240 visits, last login: 1.5 years ago
 Meadville,Crawford,PA
 $34 per month
 AllTel
 "Price"
 "Couldn't coordinate equipment or installation"
 "Avoid like the plague."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings well below consensus)
|
Greenstreak service was ordered on August 2, 2007 and I was given an installation date of August 10, 2007. I was told the equipment would be shipped and arrive in 3-5 business days. I was also told that the equipment should be installed on the line before the installer arrived on the installation day.
On the third business day (August 10), I called Windstream because I had not received my DSL modem yet. I was told the order had been processed for it on August 3rd and was shipped August 6th. I was told to expect it on Thursday (9th) or Friday (10th). I asked if that would be a problem since I was told to have the modem on the line for the installation. He told me that was not needed and not to worry about it.
Today (Aug 10) I called again because I still haven't received the equipment. The CSR told me that the order was processed today and would be shipping today. I told him that I was told two days ago it had shipped four days ago. He said that was not the case. I told him this isn't very impressive customer service for a new customer. He asked to put me on hold. I was hold for approximately a minute and then disconnected.
On the second attempt to call I ended up with a CSR who couldn't seem to operate his headset and couldn't hear me. I hung up and called back.
On my third attempt I got another CSR. I gave her the run-down of everything that happened to this point. She told me that the shipment was processing today and would ship today and it would be 3-5 business days. She then went on to tell me how busy they were, how they didn't have any DSL modems for a while and how backlogged they were. I told her that, as a new customer, I didn't find this impressive when they can't even ship an order out for equipment and apparently I'd been lied to by the previous CSR on Aug 8 and was soon to be lied to by this one. I'd hate to find out what would happen if there was an actual service problem.
I then told her that was enough for me and I told her I wished to cancel my service request. She said she would do that. I then confirmed that since the equipment hadn't yet been shipped that I would not be receiving anything. She told me that it had already shipped. I stopped her there asking why she told me first that the order was being processed this morning to be shipped later but now she tells me it shipped already. I then said the order must have processed yesterday since it reportedly shipped sometime within the last few minutes and she said yes. She claims she'll chase the shipment with a return label. We'll see how that goes.
So, at this point, we have a DSL modem that shipped last Monday, this morning and this afternoon as reported by three different CSRs. It will be going back to them in any case.
I found it amusing that when the first CSR today had me on hold before disconnecting the hold message was going on about how they resolve problems quickly.
I think Windstream should merge with Radio Shack and take on the tag line of, "You've got problems, we've got excuses."
When local telephone service changed from Alltel to Windstream I heard nothing but complaints about service, support and price change issues. I was making the choice for service based solely on their price and the no additional cost incoming phone service. I currently have cable modem service and I can say that Armstrong has never once had any service issues in the six years that I have used them. I'm sticking with the one who does what they promise.
Update: I am still waiting for the return label for the DSL modem. It has been one month now. I have made four follow-up calls asking where the label is. I have been told three times it was sent and wait a little longer. On the fourth call the CSR said she'd issue another label. It's been more than a week now and I still don't have it. I am so very glad I didn't get stuck with service from Windstream. They can't even manage to get a return label mailed but I did manage to get a letter welcoming me to windstream. According to the CSR's the only way they can seem to find me is through me giving them the original installation number. They can't seem to find me by name or the original phone number they assigned me.
Followup comments:  
shadowfax
Premium
join:2007-01-06
Lexington, KY | Oh well....... I agree that the customer support could be better, but why didnt you at least try it out before you had youre little temper tantrum ? Oh BTW, its UPS that delivers the modems, they might deserve a little of the blame as well. | |
| | avaloncourt
join:2002-01-13
Meadville, PA | Re: Oh well....... Apparently you're missing the point. This has nothing to DO with UPS. They lied about shipping the equipment twice. | |
| 
justlike2know
@centurytel.net | Patience is a virtue Why didn't you wait for UPS to deliver?? Sounds to me you where not interested in it to start with.I had to wait 3 months before they finally gave in and provisioned a line for me. | |
| | avaloncourt
join:2002-01-13
Meadville, PA
| Re: Patience is a virtue Again, you're not getting it. The equipment was NEVER SENT and they lied about it twice when asked. No, I'm not going to give them a chance when this is what they do when I don't even have service yet. Why would I put up with that when I'm getting good quality service now. As I said above, this was ONLY a subject of cost. They blew it at the gate. | |
| 
AnonymousOne3
Former Broadband Rep
join:2007-08-04
Salina, KS
| wow Things can unfortunately happen with processing and shipping, but using that as the reason to cancel is well, I just wont say. I do agree that the c/s side of sounds like a bad deal being told several different things. You know, you could have asked for supervisor or someone else if you are not too confident in what you are being told. Not trying to bash the comp...but just wait, im sure something will happen with the cable provider as providers are not flawless...hope you at least give them a chance to fix the issue.
--
Helpdesk | |
| | avaloncourt
join:2002-01-13
Meadville, PA
| Re: wow And, once again, this was about Windstream lying to me twice about their procedures. It was an outright lie, nothing else by more than one person. Apparently that's policy with Windstream. Why would I give them a chance to lie to me more about service issues once the service installation was complete?
As for my service with the cable company, apparently you missed the part where I've been using them for SIX YEARS and have never had an outage and they have ALWAYS delivered the speed they've advertised. Looking at the Windstream forum here it appears that even a small fraction of the advertised speed is a problem for them. | |
| | nfury8ing
join:2001-06-08
Jefferson, GA | Yeah, like they've had over a year to fix the nighttime speed/latency issues and have yet to be able to?
No. Don't give them a chance, because it won't happen. Be glad you cancelled early. | |
|
WSG
@cte-inc.com
| .... Sometimes you will have a bad situation with any company. I'm sure they try to do their best even when that doesn't seem good enough. I ordered Windstream on Aug 2, 2007 and had my service activated on Aug 7. I didn't receive my modem until Aug 10 and had trouble installing it. I was on the phone with the tech guy for an hour and he told me he couldn't help me get it to work. He offered the number for HP support and I told him I'd figure it out myself. Turns out I only had to restart the pc. I never expect much from CSRs or Tech support so I'm never disappointed when they can't help me. | |
| 
Piggie
I Actually use Windstream
Premium
join:2005-11-23
Orange Springs, FL | Not Unique His experience is exactly to the letter what happened to a friend of mine ordering service and shipping the modem back in June . No need to elaborate, his is not the first time. | |
| | avaloncourt
join:2002-01-13
Meadville, PA
| Re: Not Unique Just a little follow-up on the situation. I'm still waiting for the modem return-label. Yesterday was amusing. The day of the cancellation I sent a message on their support form copying the review I left above. FIVE days later I got an automated response from their support system the support message had been received and they were experiencing heavy support volume (apparently) and they would get to me as soon as possible.
I'm again glad I didn't go with Windstream. There was no follow-up today. Five days for the support system to get to your submitted message with an automated reply and at least seven or more days before they get back to you is a little scary. | |
| | |
AnonymousOne3
Former Broadband Rep
join:2007-08-04
Salina, KS | Re: Not Unique I guess my next question would be...if you didnt have any problems with cable, why did you attempt to change providers? If I am getting a good service somewhere, I wouldnt dump them for no good reason..but thats me. | |
|
wdleggett
@alltel.net
| Decent service I've had Windstream for a while and called last night to report slow speeds. After troubleshooting it was determined that the modem was the issue and they're shipping a new one free of charge with a one year commitment which isn't a big deal because we just signed a 18 month commitment to get the phone, internet, and dish network for one price. All together we'll be getting the dish network 200 channels, home phone with 100 mins of long distance, and 3 meg service for right at $130 w/ taxes. Other than being on hold for about 45 mins waiting for tech support the experience was great. Much better than the 2 hours I spent at the doctors office lobby then another hour in the exam room. And MUCH better than 8 hours I spent at the hospital before a doctor saw me one night. | |
|
joshC1
@alltel.net
| Latency issues due to a service update? right.. Where do I start: I tried talking to 3-4 different customer service/"technicians" because I was reporting slow speeds in my area. I normally get like 1200-1300 kbs and now I'm getting around 200-300 kbs. SOMETIMES it'll get up to 500kbs. My service is 1.5MB. I'm sitting right on the DSLAM for the most part. Does anybody know how long it takes for a "service update" to be completed in my area? One techy said it would be in a couple of hours. Other techies told me that they didn't know WHEN the update would be finished. I'm sure that telling their customers that an "update" is going on probably means that there is a problem with their servers. Are the technicians even concerned about their customers' satisfaction? I've heard of this happening before. Should I just switch to cable? | |
|
simon phoenix
@alltel.net
| Windstream Not a problem with the company but it kind of seems like when someone has a problem with an ISP some of you tend to gang up and quickly defend the company. There is an old addage "Walk a mile in my moccasins before you judge me" im sorry but some of you should take a good hard look at what you say. After all not everyone who has had a bad experience should make endless calls to sometimes poorly trained individuals or even supervisors. Not everyone can solve problems and if you can honestly say you have NEVER had a problem or have argued with any company, then by all means cast the first stone. | |
| avaloncourt
join:2002-01-13
Meadville, PA
1 edit | Update Yet another update...
It's been three and a half months since the Windstream fiasco. What's happened since then? Nothing.
I have now called twelve times... that's TWELVE times to get them to send me a return label for the DSL modem. Every time I call I get the same line that the system shows that labels have been sent previously. Well, apparently my mailbox should be plastered with 12 return labels by now but I can't even get one out of them.
At this point I can say that I am incredibly happy that I did not change over to Windsteam. They are simply pathetic. If they can't manage to send out a simple return label for THEIR OWN equipment in three and a half months then I shutter to wonder how they handle everything else inside their business.
My wife mentioned to co-workers recently that we're still trying to return their DSL modem and one of them commented that they had the same problem and begged for months for them to send for it, pick it up, do SOMETHING with it. She's now had it more than two years. You'd think they'd begin to wonder why their equipment costs were increasing. | |
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