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Review by (hidden by request)
Posted: 9.3 years ago
(review was emailed from domain netlinkrg.com)
 Alexandria,Alexandria City,VA
 Business customer
 Contract price not specified.
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
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PrimusDSL Reps:
We'll be looking into cancelling our service shortly too. We first need to
settle a relocation issue. Your continued outages are an embarrassment and
the treatment of customers as detailed below becomes more prevalent with
every inquiry into why the network is down. We've had the same connection
problems and same lack of response to inquiries as has Jason for many months
now.
Perhaps you'll be happy to lose this pain in the A__ too.
I can't believe anyone in customer service would have the nerve to talk
about a customer this way, especially with all the documentation of outages
in support of his absolute right to complain and then cancel service. Of
course, what can you expect from a support team member with so much
intelligence she doesn't realize she's copying the customer with such an
amazingly ridiculous comment.
Nice save, indeed.
Gordon Vivace
President
NetLink Resource Group, Inc.
> TO: Wendy Herkins and Primus Telecommunications,
>
> Thank you Wendy for your wonderful comments.
>
> Perhaps my brother at the Washington Post will get me in direct
> contact with the Technology Editor there to do a nice piece on
> Customer Service in the DSL Market, with a nice interview with me and
> my dealings with PrimusDSL. I will post this email along with the 30
> pages of service problems and direct negligence on several DSL
> consumer and business sites.
>
> Is this how you talk about all your customers?
>
> Frustrated and now insulted for the last time.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Jason Seymour
>
> ORIGINAL EMAIL THREAD
>
> Good Point! Nice Save Susanne, this guy was a royal pain in the A__, and
> tech will be delighted that he is going away!
>
> -
>
> The routing equipment must also be returned.
>
> -
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Review by pchin 
Posted: 9.3 years ago
member for 9.3 years, 31 visits, last login: 8.2 years ago
Silver Spring,Montgomery,MD
Business customer
$175 per month (12 month contract)
 "Installation went as planned."
 "Frequent outages. Poor customer service. Poor customer retention philosophy."
 "I'm dropping PrimusDSL. Their slogan is "Every millisecond counts.", well I was down for 8 days."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
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We ordered 384 sDSL business service. Installation went as planned and we were happy with that process. We received a static IP range. Since then it has been all down hill. We have experienced many outages, which were blamed on COVAD router problems. We also suffered an 8-day outage. We've received no apology or explanation for the outage. We were even billed for the full amount of the service during this time. Had I not called to work some sort of compensation for our downtime and to bring up this billing question, I have to wonder if they would have done anything at all. Primus has not offered any compensation other than to prorate our monthly bill for the 8 days of outage and they have not been proactive in trying to retain us as customers. I wanted to get four residential service orders for some of the managers and the sales person was only interested in selling us the more expensive business service. Bottom line is I'm switching. Poor customer service and lack of business ethics are at the top on my list of reasons.
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Review by iatlantis
Posted: 9.4 years ago
member for 9.4 years, 3 visits, last login: 9.3 years ago
Falls Church,Fairfax,VA
Business customer
$115 per month
"NONE!"
"Bad Network, Bad Tech Support, Bad Follow Up, They never explain why problems keep occuring."
"Do NOT do business with PrimusDSL.Worst business experience I have EVER had."
| |
PrimusDSL is the worst ISP and network provider ever. My service complaints with them reaches pages and pages of notes.
There network has continual problems. "Routing problems" is there favorite thing to say. Their routing problems that affect their entire network at times, goes down at least once every two weeks.
There has not been one month where I received reliable service.
I highly suggest you do not use PrimusDSL. Their network is one of the worst, their tech support people are incompetent, calling tech support is at least a 30 minute on-hold process.
They can not seem to remedy these continual and ongoing problems. I have problems dating back to Decemeber.
PrimusDSL = BAD BAD BAD!!!!!!!
I'm Anonymous. 114K IDSL, $115/month, The install process was a pain. Static IP addresses. Speed is OK, when it works!
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Review by chriscampt2
Posted: 9.5 years ago
member for 9.5 years, 1 visits, last login: 9.5 years ago
Reston,Fairfax,VA
Business customer
$315 per month (12 month contract)
"Great Connnection, Low Price"
"Install issues make it a bumpy ride at first..."
"Once you get the service... it delivers..."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
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As I review the many entries on this website, I get the distinct impression that the "problems" that most people are having does not occur with the ISP (although there are some exceptions), but with the telephone company and the DSL technology in general. My sales person warned me that there were issues surrounding SOME DSL customers... and to expect the worst, but hope for the best....My experience is no exception. The most difficult part of getting my connection was the coordination between PrimusDSL and the telephone company. PrimusDSL (more specifically the "install dept" within PrimusDSL) did everything I expected during this process. The called me back to tell me that there were "issues" with the installation. The referred to something called "no facilities"... but after missing the deadline, Primus escalated the problem with the telephone company and got the issue resolved. As promised, PRimusDSL was there the day after the telephone company, and the installation was completed.... Now I am simply enjoying the incredible speed of DSL.... I am getting about 90% of what my advertised rate should be...... and am completely satisfied with the speed-for the price.....I have read some articles on DSL and found out that the ATM backbone of the Internet (not just DSL) can eat up to 20% of the advertised bandwidth.....
I read the other reviews about PRimus and can tell you that I joined them only two months ago..... and have never missed a connection..... in fact, the only hiccup they have had is when they were running on their "backup" lines......I didn't even notice.... I got an email notifying me of the problem....
Thumbs up for the service.. thumbs down for the difficulty in installation...
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Review by draddog
Posted: 9.5 years ago
(review was emailed from domain draddog.com)
Kennesaw,Cobb,GA
Business customer
$90 per month (12 month contract)
"Unless you are buying from them they won't talk to you, no network stability at all"
"Avoid like the plauge"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
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I hooked up through Primus via my local hardware vendor. The price seemed decent, and since I am extremmly techincal I felt like I could handle or at least understand any issues with the line. From
point one this was doomed for faliure.
It took several weeks to get my new DSL provisioned with Covad and Primus. Once it was finally provisioned Bellsouth took several more weeks to get out and install the line. We were never notifed
by BS that it was done, we had to find out by opening up the telephone box and finding the new line. Once that was done, Covad was very quick to come out and do the inside wiring and install the
new router. There was an issue with the line and it took several more weeks for Covad and Bellsouth to come out. Primus was suppose to help them out over the phone, but refused to give them any
information on my connection, including the correct IP space for my LAN, their gateway to ping at, or even my connection speeds. At one point Covad was able to get me up at 64 kb which was
acceptible for the short amount of time that Bellsouth said they would need to upgrade my card and circuit (two days). Primus ordered them to not leave me at 64 kb and get "the hell out of their
router".
Once the connection was "up" I noticed that it was much slower then the 64 KB ISDN line I was using originally. Several tests showed it far below the 144 KB that I was promised. Primus refused to
speak to me, saying I had to take it up with my ISP, who told me that Primus was my ISP and they should be handeling the tech support. Over the last 2 weeks we have suffered more then 50% down
time. Again, when I called Primus, they refused to be of any service.
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Review by Kris13
Posted: 10.2 years ago
member for 10.3 years, 0 visits, last login: 10.2 years ago
Herndon,Fairfax,VA
Contract price not specified.
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
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Date of review: Sep. 3, 1999, by Kris Kim, Herndon, VA
Our company ordered DigitalSelect's DSL (192kbps) service in mid-June. I would have to say that our overall experience with the ISP's service has been VERY disappointing. If I knew then what I know now, I would have stayed away from them, even if they paid me.
Summary of service: Static IP addresses. DigitalSelect hosts our domain name. 5 free email addresses. $5 per month for any extra email addresses. $135/month. No bandwidth guarantee.
Contract: 1 year, with early termination penalty: customer to pay the balance of the contract amount. Little did we realize the significance of this little clause in the contract. We were extremely dissatisfied with DigitalSelect's unreliability and the incompetence of the tech support people. When we asked DigitalSelect to terminate our contract, they demanded that we pay the remainder of the outstanding contract. we responded that their service had been just awful (See details below). at first, they refused to allow us to change ISP's. when we detailed our complaint, the company's VP/general manager, John Drzewicki, came to our office one month ago and begged us to give DigitalSelect a second chance. He promised the following if we stayed on:
(1) the contract would be amended to allow us to terminate the contract without penalty if we became dissatisfied with the service.
(2) we would be notified whenever there was a service outage.
(3) we would have a dedicated tech support person to ensure good service response.
(4) we would receive 2 months of service credits.
The first three promises have not been fulfilled. I would have to say that DigitalSelect has lied. The last one--only after weeks of making phone calls to the office and getting nowhere. The VP who came to our office and promised all these great things doesn't return phone calls, doesn't respond to emails, and doesn't keep his promises. What more can I say? DigitalSelect SUCKS (pardon my language).
Installation: The installation took somewhat longer than promised. Covad performed the installation, which smoothly. However, we had to contact DigitalSelect several times to find out when the installer would come out.
Email: When they set up our email accounts, they screwed up the settings on their servers. Their mistake cost us about two weeks of our own engineering time. Whenever we called them, the tech support people blamed us for the inability to get email. Finally, we convinced them that something was wrong on their end. Even after fixing the problem, the tech support person would not even admit a mistake on their part; furthermore, they did not tell us the nature of the problem. Their email server still has configuration problems, and DigitalSelect has not been willing or able to resolve them.
Reliability: Service was unreliable for the first month. Even worse, they never notified us when there was a problem. As a result, we wasted time trying to reboot our own systems. Service has started to become more reliable.
Conclusion: The problem starts from the top management on down. Getting in touch with anyone at DigitalSelect's management is impossible. My recommendation? Stay away from them, and read any contract you sign carefully.
To contact me for further questions, you may call me at the office, 703-481-9655.
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Review by OLDAndy
Posted: 10.3 years ago
member for 10.3 years, 0 visits, last login: 10.3 years ago
undisclosed location
Contract price not specified.
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After a 45 day wait (anticipated - I was told up front), my SDSL
service was installed by Covad and DigitalSelect. I've been using it
for 3 months. Here's my review:
1) BellAtlantic tech came out on the day DigitalSelect said he would.
The Network Interface at my location was full, so was the cable from
the pole (F2?). He promptly brought down another cable (2 pair) and
wired it up to a block, and to an RJ-45 connector down by the Network
Interface Box. He told me this RJ-45 could be used for testing
purposes (not a bad idea, as long as the NIB is secure). Of note: I
was concerned about polarity on the SDSL line. I've been told that
it doesn't matter. To be on the safe side, I made sure that MY pins
4 and 5 were the same wires as Bell's RJ-45.
2) 3 days later, again on schedule, the Covad installer arrived. I
already had the inside wiring completed - CAT-5 to my own 66 block,
and CAT-3 up to an RJ-45 where I wanted the "digital modem" (Speed
Stream 5250 bridge). He brought in the Speed Stream, complete with
cables, and his own laptop. We connected the Speed Stream, got 3
green lights, then the 4th when his laptop completed booting. He
called his office, got IP addresses (IP for bridge, "gateway"/router,
mask), and then punched something into his laptop that he indicated
was "programming" the bridge. In reality, I think the bridge is
pretty self-configuring so he was probably just entering the numbers
into his own config. He then did some pings, shook my hand, asked if
I had any questions, left an installation survey, pulled his plugs
and hit the road. A genuinely nice guy, very friendly, very
professional.
3) I called DigitalSelect, got the IPs for Domain Name servers, and
names for the POP, SMTP and NNTP servers, and got the procedure
started with them for registering my domain name and DNS entries.
Meantime, I wired up the bridge to a single computer, checked the
settings (they worked), sent some mail, hit a few web sites, did a
couple of FTPs, just general checkout. All OK.
4) Now the tricky part. I've been using Vicomsoft Internet Gateway
as a router/modemserver/firewall, but only with a single Ethernet NIC
for the LAN side. I installed the 2nd NIC in the Vicomsoft gateway
and configured that for an Ethernet connection to the Internet. Only
problem there, I got the slot numbers for the NICs switched the first
time. Indication of trouble? Sure, all the machines on my LAN were
showing funky IP addresses (not in the "local" range 192.168.1.xxx)
and nobody is talking. Tried switching cables on the NICs...still
no-go, so I switched back and re-ran the Auto installer making sure I
specified the correct slots this time.
5) BINGO! Less than an hour after installation, I've got 4 computers
humming along nicely. Using 2 Ethernet NICs allowed me to utilize
Vicomsoft's DHCP for my LAN, so the client computer setup is really a
breeze.
6) Now, I try to connect nothing to my network without going through
surge supressors - including phone lines to modems, and now this
Speed Stream. Nobody at Covad or DigitalSelect could give me a good
answer on what sort of protection I could put on the SDSL line. Once
I had the thing up and running (and speed-tested), I fabricated 2
cables with RJ-45's on one end, and RJ-11's on the other. I plugged
these into the phone-line surge protector on one of my APC power
strips, and reconnected the Speed Stream to the DSL line. 30 seconds
to re-train, and it seems to be running fine with no degradation of
performance that I can see. These cables were plain-old gray flat
phone wires with RJ-45's put on the end. Another option someone
suggested was APC's "PTEL2" which provides 2 telephone line
protection (RJ-11 and RJ-45).
I have subsequently installed a Belkin 325 Volt/Amp Uninterruptable
Power Supply with Network and Telephone surge suppression. The SDSL
line going into the bridge is protected, as well as the Ethernet
coming out. The Belkin provides enough battery backup to power my
bridge, Ethernet hub, and the computer running the Vicomsoft Internet
Gateway software (without monitor). I've not had any sustained power
outages yet, but minor ones have not affected my network.
Performance:
When I do a sustained FTP, I'm seeing the speed build up to the
mid-30K bytes/sec. range. With framing bits and header crap, I
figure this to be pretty close to the promised 384K service. The
first FTP upload I did clocked in at only 5K bytes/sec and my heart
sank. Subsequent to that, I've seen similar (mid-30K) upload and
download speeds. I'm not yet running any TCP servers here (other
than mail), so I don't know what performance others would see coming
"into" my site.
Web pages are right snappy, although the performance increase wasn't
immediately apparent. Given that transfer speeds seem to "build up",
the smaller files of any given web site don't get all the benefit of
a sustained transfer. After a few months of service, and
experiencing the difference between the SDSL and modems, I almost
dread having to use the Web from my modem at the office.
After 3 months of service, I'm very satisfied. I've now brought up
an SMTP/POP server to service my own email, registered a domain for
my IP, and everything works without problems. The Vicomsoft Internet
Gateway, and SMTP/POP server is running on a 10 year old Macintosh
and has not faulted once. I've recently upgraded to VIG v.6.0, which
supports streaming QuickTime 4.0, as well as transparent web page
caching, and DNS caching/serving.
During this period of time, I have observed only 1 hour of downtime.
I reported it, got confirmation that they were already working on it,
and I was up and running within the hour. One Saturday a few weeks
ago, I had some erratic performance that DigitalSelect tech support
blamed on "regional routing problems". A site I administer about 15
miles away (serviced by a full T1) was having similar problems, so I
accept their explanation.
Cost:
Well. The installation and equipment costs sting a bit, but at least
it's a one-time expense. I'm not going to quote prices, you can make
your own deal and probably end up doing better than me. I already
owned the Vicomsoft stuff, so that's not a big deal.
The monthly price (for me) is about 30% higher than what I was paying
for a phone line and a 56K dialup account. That 30% is buying me a
full-time connection to the Internet, with a static IP, and speeds
that are about 8 times faster, even without considering the modem
latency issues. A good deal for me, I can't speak for you.
Bottom Line:
I'm smiling. DigitalSelect and Covad get a "thumbs up" from me,
unreservedly. I note that DigitalSelect's NNTP service seems a bit
sparse. Some of the newsgroups seem a bit "underpopulated", but that
may be a function of my NNTP client and the article numbers I've
retrieved from other servers. I'll reserve judgement at this point.
The Efficient Networks SpeedStream 5250 has worked perfectly during
this time. It appears to be easy to configure as well as stable and
reliable.
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