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Review by dziemecki 
member for 10.6 years, 6 visits, last login: 8.7 years ago
updated 10.3 years ago
 Marietta,Cobb,GA
 $49 per month- (12 month contract)
 BellSouth- CLEC party: NorthPoint
 "It worked until it, unexpectantly, went away. Forever." "They overcharged me and wouldn't give it back. When NorthPoint crashed, they kept my prepayment and wont return my calls." "They wont refund my closed account and wouldn't recognize customer service if it attacked them in an alley."
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When I originally signed up, I filled out their online form and requested their monthly service. I was quite suprised when the hit my bank account for $800+ dollars that, at the moment, wasn't there. The bank paid it but hit me with some nasty NSF charges. When I asked Velotel about it, they insisted that I had asked for the annual service, presumably because I thought I had a spare $800 bucks. Since the order process was online, I had nothing with which to refute the charge, so I sucked it up. The install went okay, so I was temporarily mollified. The service ran fine until Northpoint died. They didn't have any deals with anyone serving my neighborhood, so they let me out of my contract and said they's send me the balance on my account (somewhere north of $500). Since then, I have called them every two weeks asking when that mythical check might actually be cut. They always promise to call me back, and never do. I cannot express how angry at this I actually am. I would not recommend sending these guys a check.
Update: 7/5/01: Still no refund. They've promised (more than once) that the check is "in the next batch", but it doesn't happen. I come from a busted dot.com, so I'd cut these guys some slack if they'd just play straight, but this bald-faced lying is pretty hard to take. Anyone know of a legal recource that costs less than $500?
Update 10/3/01: Still no refund. I'd expect this from a company whose web-site no longer responds to ping, but they're still in business! It seems rather brazen of them to just keep my money and refuse to return my calls.
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Review by StewartE
member for 10.5 years, 6 visits, last login: 8.7 years ago
lodged 10.4 years ago
- Santa Cruz,Santa Cruz,CA
- $59 per month
- (12 month contract)
 about 14 days- SBC
- CLEC party: NorthPoint
- "Quick hookup, reliable service"
- "Service disappeared, promised refund didn't come"
- "I'm out $500 and they won't answer my email."
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My initial experience with Velotel was pretty good. I faxed an order with a 1-year prepayment. Though I didn't get any immediate confirmation of my order, there was a PacBell representative out hooking up the line less than two weeks later, and a NorthPoint installer a few days after that. The NorthPoint installer gave me my IP address and DNS servers - never got any "welcome" email or anything like that from Velotel. Service was fine while it lasted, a little slow but reliable.
When NorthPoint went under, a support rep assured me that the billing group would be issuing refunds. This has never happened and the company no longer replies to my email or phone calls.
Given their business practices, I would say to avoid this company at all costs.
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Review by sgraneko
member for 10.5 years, 4 visits, last login: 10.4 years ago
lodged 10.5 years ago
- Minnetonka,Hennepin,MN
 Business customer- $150 per month
- (12 month contract)
- about 14 days
- Qwest
- CLEC party: Qwest
- "We were finally able to get DSL at our office - thanks Velotel/Qwest"
- "Higher cost then some but you get what you pay for"
- "Got us the serivce and provided excellent tech support and install help"
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After years of DSL deployment our office was finally able to get DSL via a remote DSLAM that was built by Qwest (Velotel actually called us and said that our office could now get DSL due to a Qwest improvement). We now can get upto 1mb DSL service but we are currently only signed up for the 256-640k service. The install took about 2 weeks and they helped us get all of our e-mail setup and working correctly. The speeds are good and compared to my cable connection at home (which is supposed to have a max of 2mb down) it seems just as fast if not faster than the cable connection and certainly more reliable. We have had the connection up and running for about 3 weeks now and it is working well. They also include some web site services which we will be using in the future. All in all I was very pleased with Velotel and the people that helped us get up and going - the installation was simple, fast, and we were kept up to date as to process of our order via e-mails from Velotel. Once our due date came and our router arrived from Qwest we called in and had the service up and running in about 20 minutes. I would recommend Velotel to a business or someone at home who needs a quality service.
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Review by (hidden by request)
(review was emailed from domain jonathanclark.com)
lodged 10.5 years ago
- San Francisco,San Francisco,CA
- $85 per month
- (12 month contract)
- CLEC party: Covad
- "None"
- "Can't contact a human, lie about services, slow/non exsistant responce"
- "Stay away, they just resell AT&T services"
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Their website and sales rep promised a static IP address, but after I recieve it they tell me I can't get a static IP. Also I've called them on many occasions but no human ever answers the phone, just voice mail. They don't return voice mail messages. The actual service is fine, but they don't add any value. If you like what they offer check AT&T first (at least they will answer emails/phone!)
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Review by clevell
member for 10.9 years, 7 visits, last login: 7.6 years ago
updated 10.6 years ago
- Roselle,Dupage,IL
- $59 per month
- (12 month contract)
- about 2 days
- Ameritech
- CLEC party: NorthPoint
- "Customer service initially"
- "Dropped w/Northpoint"
- "Was good"
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Good until Northpoint died. Luckily, I didn't prepay.
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Review by tverbeek
member for 10.9 years, 26 visits, last login: 9.9 years ago
updated 10.6 years ago
- Grand Rapids,Kent,MI
- $60 per month
- (12 month contract)
- about 66 days
- Ameritech
- CLEC party: NorthPoint
- "The good points are a fading memory."
- "They are currently in breach of contract and incommunicado."
- "Avoid them. In fair weather they were a good company. Now they're not."
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I originally posted a very positive review of Velotel. It is no longer relevant.
I ordered and pre-paid 12 months of service. Installation went OK, but a month later, NorthPoint shut down. Velotel promised a credit on my charge card within a month (which I needed to cover the costs of my replacement DSL installation). When it didn't appear, I asked what the problem was, and they said that their lawyers weren't letting them make refunds, and I should just wait and they'd let me know. When I e-mailed back that this was an unacceptable answer and pointing out what =my= lawyer said, they stopped responding.
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Review by r_delorimier
member for 10.7 years, 2 visits, last login: 10.7 years ago
lodged 10.7 years ago
- Cupertino,Santa Clara,CA
- $89 per month
- (12 month contract)
- SBC
- CLEC party: NorthPoint
- "Using DSL out of state is an unwise idea."
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I ordered Velotel in February and it took about three weeks, which I did not
become too upset about. After the fall of NorthPoint, however, since I
needed to use the line I asked when they would get their DSL working again
and they did not know. They also said that the contract could be broken and
I could get the remainder of the year-long contract that I paid for, at
about $1000. I asked to get the money back in March and I have not gotten
back the money yet, in mid-May. So I have been screwed out of nearly a
$1000. Since I live in California, trying to get the thousand
dollars back through Minnesota courts would be both difficult and expensive,
probably more than the thousand dollars. I have now learned that using DSL
out of state is an unwise idea.
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Review by DJStarfox
member for 11.6 years, 560 visits, last login: 1 days ago
updated 10.8 years ago
- Winter Springs,Seminole,FL
- $60 per month
- (12 month contract)
- about 2 days
- Sprint
- CLEC party: NorthPoint
- "Tech support answers phone within 30 seconds."
- "First hop latency is terrible."
- "Good support & people, but network needs expansion/upgrading."
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The Facts:
Installation fees & modem cost were waived because ISP transfer
416/416 SDSL line (same as before)
kept the same bridge from psn.net (those bastards kept my rebate, so I kept their modem, sounds fair to me)
static IP (same)
only 2 hops to mail server & dns servers (and faster)
5 email accounts free (and no spam, just one call to setup, and a working web site to change password, forward, etc)
most routing is ok (less than 15 hops to most major web sites); doctorping can't find 15 routers; uses cw.net; they need better backbone(s).
The Story:
When I heard that my former ISP psn.net was going chapter 11, I knew that Telocity wasn't for me. My search led me to Velotel. Basically, I told them my situation and what I wanted. (I faxed the contract from their website and a cover letter.) They said ok, and it took them about 32 hours to switch me over to their network.
However, once I reconfigured my computer, I discovered my first hop latency was 114ms ! That's quite a jump from the previous 21ms I had before. Alas, calling tech support that around midnight, the tech said I was routed to Illinois, but they are planning to setup a new router in Atlanta for their southeast clients. I don't know how fast that will be, but you'd think they could at least route me somewhere in my state. I am planning to write a letter to their cs dept and I will update my review once I have a response and/or resolution from them.
The two times I called their number, someone picked up after 3 rings; the second time, after choosing tech support, someone answered the phone after 30 seconds on hold. And the 2nd guy at least was patient with me and answered my questions. They're from Minnesota; why else are they so nice? 
Update:
Still no word on when they would be upgrading their network to include a router closer to Florida. (Apparently the closest one is in Illinois!) Upstream bandwidth fluctuates. I regret not getting a QoS agreement; do yourself a favor and always look for QoS or LoS agreement.
Update:
As you know, Northpoint is gone and so was my DSL connection. Sorry, I can't afford the next best thing which costs $55/mo for 512/128 DSL + new line costs. I decided to go with cable (Time Warner's Road Runner). I'm a traitor; I know. However, given the current state of the DSL market and its direction, I'd say my life just got a lot easier. The speed does vary a lot, and there are "pauses" similar to a modem on occasion. There was no way that I could have gotten 240k/sec down last night on cable if I still had DSL, although my pings may have been better on a good SDSL line. RIP NP.
PS At least Velotel said they would keep our email addresses working free of charge for 60 days. Most ISPs could learn a lot from Velotel in terms of customer service.
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Review by SPbilly1SP
member for 11.6 years, 231 visits, last login: 9 years ago
updated 10.8 years ago
- Carol Stream,Dupage,IL
- $49 per month
- (12 month contract)
- Ameritech
- CLEC party: NorthPoint
- "the line WAS good"
- "didnt notify that i would be cut off"
- "WAS the BEST"
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well my name is chris and this is what i have to say.
first i ordered a 144 idsl line. with a stat IP.
only 154 for equip and install (with rebate)
from what i'v seen on here this ISP sounded like the better ISP so i went with them. i was happy with what i got they picked up the phone on the second ring . and mailed me any info i needed.
7/25 well northpoint called today and they are going to install TOMORROW!!!!!!
this makes me very happy.
7/26 im up and runing and this is the best!! i love this it is fast and it dose not need the phone line. i had one problem and they helped me fix this right away. i couldent be more happy.
8/16 i had someprobs with my connection and they mailed me right back with the fix good tech supp
3/30 Well i was cut off on this date while i was surfin !!!!! nice noti velotel!!!!!!!!!!
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Review by Craig831
member for 10.9 years, 75 visits, last login: 2.6 years ago
lodged 10.8 years ago
- Milwaukee,Milwaukee,WI
- $49 per month
- (12 month contract)
- about 90 days
- Ameritech
- CLEC party: NorthPoint
- "Good customer service in the beginning..."
- "They cut my service and never said a word before doing it."
- "Bad taste in my mouth. Can't believe a company would do this."
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I had sent a complaint to Velotel once in the last three months (I started service in late December), and told them they needed to notify their customers when they were going to do network maintenance that would mean downtime.
I was ignored at that point and they apparently kept that policy when Northpoint shut down.
I got home last night and had no service. I didn't know about the problems with Northpoint until I called the Velotel customer service number. On their telephony system, they had a choice (number 6, in case you wondered), to get information on the Northpoint fiasco. In that message, they basically said if you were a residential customer, you were SOL. They could give you dial-up or you could contact a satellite provider.
Don't get me wrong, I know the shutdown was not Velotel's fault. The fact is, though, I'm a customer of Velotel and I think this little tidbit of information about Northpoint is important enough for them to have notified their customers with a broadcast e-mail.
I have tried to contact Velotel all day and they are hiding behind their phone system right now not even picking up the phone.
When I get my new DSL provider, I will have an anti-Velotel page on my website just for this issue.
What a crock!
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