Review by danoh6  Posted: 9.5 years ago member for 9.5 years, 3 visits, last login: 9.5 years ago
New City,Rockland,NY
$49 per month
"absolutely NONE"
"Too many to list here"
"If you telephone service is provided by Bell Atlantic, Give up"
| Pre Sales information: Install Co-ordination: Connection reliability: Tech Support: Value for money: (ratings well below consensus)
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I have not been able to get sync for 6 1/2 WEEKS!!! I originally wanted the DSL on My "Home" number, hung well before my birth (and I'm not a kid....wanna get a 300 baud Fast Connection?) I'm sure, two copper wires come into the house into a ceramic block, wire gauge could carry 220V easily and where hung shortly after Columbus.
The line "tested" good (from BA broadband, and two techs sent to my house) so they sent me the modem etc...etc. Physical mileage from CO is about 2.8 miles, so I know I'm pushing the limit, but also know I am NOT over it.
Modem came, I was busy so I didn't bother right away, didn't matter, turn on date was a week away , but 2 days after it SHOULD have been connected to DSL (I was still busy), I get a message on my machine from BA, that it is "Not Scheduled" to be set up until 4 (four) days after the originally scheduled date (they sound like this is business as usual, not informing me that they are late). Hmmmmmm.....sign of things to come? This will be the only "Tech support" call back I have EVER receive from Hell Atlantic to date.
The date comes......March 21, I'm set and ready, filters installed on All remote phones (2) and devices (1), DSL modem plugged and ready......No SYNC. I call tech support, spend hours and hours listening to virtually untrained people that are rude and arrogant, get placed "on hold" only to be disconnected time after time. When I call back fuming.....Asis, (who's command of the English language is greatly threatened by my two year old neighbor's child) actually recognizes My voice after all these calls, and does not even ASK for my name or DSL phone number. He knows my voice !!! I ask nicely to speak to a Supervisor. The response that I get, "There are no supervisors here...only" and here it takes him a over full minute to say "trained technical advisors" I am now at a disadvantage, speaking only six languages besides English (Arabic was not one) I cannot convince him that A) there is a problem beyond his capacity or that B) perhaps he should transfer me to someone else.
I know the percentage of Arabic speaking people in the Hell Atlantic service area FAR outweighs the number of English,Spanish,French,Italian,Polish,German,Russian,Slavic(Chech etc.), so I can understand the "business decision" that Hell Atlantic made to hire Arabic (English as weak second language) people as their first "Tech Support" contact.
I accidentally find out the "secret", call late (after 11 PM) on Friday night and you might just talk to English speaking people, that really seem to care, and will actually investigate the problem. The first and second line people I talk to are knowledgeable and helpful, and actually try to work with me. They get My line tested, ACK the MLT test shows 32,000 feet!!!! I tell them that somewhere out there (The song I sing while I hope an actual "communications provider" can help me) is a pole with almost 3 miles of wire wrapped around it, and that it should be easy to find, as with the current going through it, it should be a nice magnet, sucking cars and anything else metallic into it. Wow, These guys where good. The following evening, two techs show up at my house, one an actually "trained tech" the other a younger field trainee. They actually have the equipment necessary (although only the older one knows how to read it, the younger just parroting "Gee I think we're real far from the CO... duh .... prolly too far") to do reasonable testing. I begin to think that it's his first trip this far away from the CO....poor child, thrust from his comfy nest. Thank heavens, the older experienced tech prevailed, and he actually dragged Jr. out to try to eliminate some coils and bridges to get me withing range. When they first came here, he said I should sync and get about 340k, I'd live with that, as it definitely beats a 56k modem. I told them that I have two other lines used for computer communications that I had to get the NY Public Service Commission and the FCC involved in to get "up to voice spec" and that they had done a great job "cleaning them up" over 6 months ago, and that they had my permission to swap either, from the "Street Box" (where they where getting a very clean signal) a little less than 1 mile from my house, but they wanted to "clean up" the original line and make it work, all the way. About an hour and 1/2 later they call me from the street box, and say they have done all they could for today, their shift has ended, but more needs to be done. They told me that they spoke to their foreman, the line needed more work to clean up, and if someone was available Sunday, they would work on it, if not Monday, someone would "get the job". The following Wednesday, I call, to ask the status of the trouble ticket, and I'm told it's closed out, and marked as completed. The ready light flashes.....8 or 10 fast.....4 or 5 slow.....8 or 10 fast. After screaming for hours .. I'm told I'm too far from the CO, 22,000 feet. I explain that the physical distance and the distance per the engineering diagrams the FCC obtained for me the last time I seriously fought them (Smell Atlantic) shows different, to no avail. I try to explain that after about an hours work, the MLT went from 32,000 to 22,000 and would not logic dictate, that if the work their own techs said had to be done WAS done, perhaps, things would work? My response? .. They Now claim All 3 lines are over 22,000 feet, I guess they where smart enough to match the address, and be consistent, and it knocks me out of getting service from any other competitors (Gee you think they would do that ?).
To me, the saddest part of this saga, is that my wife is a 28+ year employee of this company, I as a consultant for many many years have given them Millions of dollars of sales, with not a whole lot of benefit to me, other than keeping my customers happy from time to time. We are both stockholders in this damned company (not much longer, out of principal) and this is how we are treated. I actually MISS the early days of AT&T, New York Telephone and NYNEX At least back then, people cared. At least back then the upper management cared. Now It's 'Mergers R Us , Telco stuff ????? what's that????
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