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Review by firepoet 
UPDATED: 347 days ago
member for 347 days, 1 visits, last login: 343 days ago
 Chicago,Cook,IL
 Contract price not specified.
 "Looks cheap on paper"
 "BEWARE!! Terms of Service include huge cancellation fees"
 "Don't cancel your order or you're out $400"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
|
I ordered DSL service through lightning bolt, but when I got my first appointment it was for an entire day window. Evidently Covad doesn't like its customers that much. So, I couldn't be home due to work issues, and had to cancel my order.
Received an invoice today for $400. Guess I didn't read the fine print.
I will never recommend these guys. And, to avoid screwing with my credit rating, I guess I have to pay them some cash.
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Review by Leicafl
UPDATED: 1.2 years ago
member for 5.1 years, 1955 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Miami,Miami-Dade,FL
$49 per month (12 month contract)
 about 3 days
 BellSouth
"I'M GONE!"
"Awful Service!!!"
"Will never look back!!!!!"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
|
8/23/08: I needed help in re-establishing service after all my DSL went dead - ZERO!!! Forgot how to get on-line through Dial-up - needed guidance on how to do so - ZERO!!! Refused to coach me through the Dial-up procedure so that I could retrieve email communication...even though a tutorial is provided for through PDF at the LBDSL website (but not accessible to me). Only got holier-than-thou high-brow toned geek-speak excuses about how it was impossible to help me get back on-line. It was suggested to me that I buy a new modem from Lightning Bolt, although my existing modem wasn't yet proved to be faulty (albeit in service for about 3 years). I requested a brief trouble-shoot review of my computer connection/configuration settings, but was told that that would be impossible also. Admittedly, I was extremely pissed off after a totally sh-t day, and became even more-so at having to deal with this unhelpful recalcitrant snob. It was all-too-obvious that B---t was intent on exercising absolutely ZERO initiative into providing any problem resolution - ever-so-slick in his resolve to avoid cooperation. Somewhere in the discourse of my frustratingly futile plea to be helped, I was told that "that's the way the world works". In the past, I received mostly good service, albeit insensitively/unduly techno-geeky and out of my lay-brain's reach. Too often I had to bite my tongue while frustratingly trying to lead the Lightning Bolt god out of the Land of Techno-Denial and back onto the river of Help Thy Client. Always hesitated before calling with a problem because all-too-often it felt like squeezing blood from a turnip (frustration & aggravation...life's too short and I'm damned busy!). Mostly good service until something goes wrong (and it will eventually for others IMO). I really tried to tolerate the problems when they occurred and the poor customer handling, but no more...I'm finally out, and it feels good! "That's the way the world works!" CAVEAT EMPTOR!!!!!
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Review by lght
Posted: 1.9 years ago
member for 5.7 years, 6 visits, last login: 97 days ago
Costa Mesa,Orange,CA
$99 per month (12 month contract)
about 20 days
"None"
"Customer service is horrible!!"
"WORSE ISP ON EARTH! DON'T BOTHER OR YOU WILL REGRET IT!"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
|
Signed up for service several months back and outside of the initial sales call everything has been a nightmare! Brent confirmed and promised speeds of up to 6mb down and 3mb up on their top plan. He did the pre qualification test and new the distance from the CO and said worse possible speed would be 4mb down and 1.5mb up. I signed the contract and the problems started soon after. I received the promise date and had a question on something so decided to send an e-mail from my blackberry for an answer. Well "The answer can be found online in our FAQ section" is what I got back from Tech support. The tech took the time to tell me where to find the answer, but wasn't willing to just answer the question. I guess they don't realize that sometimes people use blackberries to ask questions and just want a answer. I had to send 3 more e-mails to finally got an answer out of the rude minimum wage tech.
The second questions via e-mail was to ask them to contact Covad the local service provider and ask them to call me before arriving at my home to setup my line. The tech didn't even bother to see if it was possible before he insisted that the installer wouldn't call me or contact me and wrote back "Again, I have already answered that question for you: The phone techs are not able to call ahead for access, Access MUST be provided upon arrival of the Phone Tech, per their rules, We have no control over how they operate. The Tech will NOT call anyone if there is no access, they will simply report no access, and we would have to re-dispatch them out another day and you will be charged $225.00!!"
Oddly enough I called Covad directly gave them my account info and they said "Not a problem' we understand that people have to work during the week and shouldn't have to wait 6 hours for a tech" in fact here is the cell phone number for your tech and here is his name. The Covad tech called me 30 min prior and was more than happy to accommodate my request. Again another lazy minimum wage tech that could care less about the customer because they already got your money and your under a year contract.
The problems just keep getting worse. I used the online form to send a message about how to pay for my bill online and how much I owe. I got a reply saying I shouldn't use the online help form and instead that I should be sending the e-mail to the billing department. Instead of the useless person just forwarding my request on to the right person they just blew me off. I send the same request to the billing dept and get a reply back showing my balance along with yet another smug remark "As I have pointed out previously" you need to access the online billing link. Apparently an e-mail was sent, but was caught in my spam filter. So I click on the link and it takes me back to the sign up page, but the page doesn't work! 2 hours and 4 e-mails later and I still can't just pay for my bill!! I have a international flight to catch and need to leave fairly soon so I reply back VERY frustrated at this point and typed in the word smart ass to express my frustration. Instead of getting a call from Brent offering to resolve the issue I get a call saying from him saying I have violated the TOS and that my account can be suspended!! Am I missing something here? You have an obvious upset and flustered customer and instead of attending to that customers needs you call him and threaten to suspend his account because he used the term smart-ass? Now I can see why the customer service reps are so cocky, arrogant, and such smart asses to begin with. This guy is suppose to be an owner and he is just a fast talking scam artist that could care less about it's customers and just wants to show the world he's a big boy by making threats. I guess that's how you act when your the owner of a company and your also the janitor. I guess they haven't learned the concept of customer service and haven't realized that customer just want to be helped and just want a quick answer. It doesn't matter if the answer is in a FAQ online or not. If a customer is asking for help just help them! What's the big deal?
On to the next problem. My install didn't work the first time and they had to do more "testing". Well after a week and more "testing" they had to send out another tech to try and fix the problem. This is now going on 2 weeks. The tech couldn't get the line working so more "testing" had to be done. Well after the 3 visit and 3 weeks later the DSL was finally on however the line wouldn't stay connected. I wanted to cancel, but because it had already been 3 weeks I couldn't cancel without paying the $500 early termination fee so I'm stuck with these losers. After several calls and complaints they finally admitted that my line couldn't support the 6mb / 3mb line I had been paying for and said they would have to bump my speed down to 3mb / 768!! They said I could change my plan, but I would have to pay the early termination fee and sign up for the lower plan that also cost $99.95!! Basically they will promise you whatever they need to in order to get the sell and once your sold they screw you every chance they get!
The problems continue as I received a $10.00 late fee for October service on Sept 30th! These con artists actually charge you a late fee for service you have NEVER received! I complained and Brent wrote back saying I can do whatever I want and I'm not going to remove the late fee. Ironically that Monday my service was cut off and when I called to find out why Brent said it will take a few days, but they will get back to me. 1 week later my service finally came back on!! So I called billing and asked for a credit for the week of service that my line was down and the rude billing rep said we don't give refunds sorry. Completely upset I filled a BBB complaint about the company and realized they already had several complaints against them! Not surprised they still refused to work with me so my complaint is now in arbitration.
IF YOU ARE READING THIS AND HAVE NOT SIGNED UP WITH LBDSL YET DON'T DO IT YOU WILL REGRET IT!!! I PROMISE YOU!!!
Followup comments:  
LBDSL
Lightning Bolt
VIP
join:2002-01-07
Auburn Hills, MI
| How many times do we need to replay this? Mr. Tirre,
We have discussed your concern in length via email, phone, and through the BBB. You continue to post incorrect information about myself, my company, and the facts of your situation.
As you have requested the BBB will be having a hearing to determine the outcome of your claims.
At this point, it is clear no matter what myself, or my company does for you, you will not be happy, I'm sorry for that, but I will not keep going down this road.
Your review further shows your need to be verbally abusive to our company and staff, and we will again, not tolerate that.
I will state one fact, your "outage" was due to your phone call with me, which you ranted, and screamed, and demanded your service be disconnected. At which point we did. when you called back a few hours later, to apologize to myself, the wheels were already moving to disconnect your service, and that process had to be stopped, and reversed.
In short, I would ask you to find a new ISP, as it is clear we are not the ISP for you.
I ask anyone who reads this review to question the facts of the info posted by this user.
He claims, he ordered a 6.0/3.0 package for $99/month, we do not have any package near that price point with that type of upload speed.
He claims he paid for service, and was under a contract prior to installation. Users are not under any form of contract until service is installed, nor do we bill users until we know service is working
I could go on with all the false info in this review, but I'll stop right there, anyone is more then welcome to contact me via our web site, or here @ DSLR LBDSL to ask any question you may have.
Brent
--
Lightning Bolt Technologies | |
| lght
join:2004-02-11
Costa Mesa, CA
 ·Lightning Bolt DSL
| Why can't you just admit your wrong and do right??? Brent you are an con artist and have lied several times not just to me, but to others as it's clearly posted in other reviews. You will do and say anything on the phone to get the sell and deny it after the fact because it's not in writing! The outage was not caused by me. I called upset ranting and screaming because my service was down for 2 days and no one would help me nor do anything about it! This is why I wanted to cancel my service. You can post your lies here, but why would several customers make up the same story?
If anyone wants to see several others that have the EXACT same complaints simply click here and read the horror stories that are all pretty much the same!
»User reviews - Lightning Bolt DSL
Here is the comment by a guy who you also ripped off by charging for a week of service he didn't receive.
"Brent insists that my service does not come with an SLA, and I in turn am SOL as far as credit. I explained to him that I wasn't looking for a free ride, just a little credit as a show of good faith and understanding that I have a service that's basically unusable.
Brent refused to offer any assistance, so I exercised my 21 day cancellation right."
Here is another complaint from a guy who you also charged fee's for and provided nothing.
"I guess my complaint with LBDSL is that their policies are carved in stone, and making things right for the customer doesn't seem to be one of them.
This is the second location at which I've used their service, and both times I've been charged money for service that wasn't provided or needed because it was "in the contract."
Here is a complaint that shows you lied about what speed a customer would get and then tried to get the customer arrested for stealing your $50 modem after charging him $200!!!
"Ordered 6.0/768 package which they told me I was able to receive which was the beginning on my horror story.I noted that I was only held to the contract for the package 6.0/768 and if I couldnt get that I didnt agree to the contract or service agreement which they did accept and start the install process.Once they have the circuit installed tech came out and finished install and upon completion ran a speed test of 2.2/500 which is a joke.I informed the tech he could jhust take the equipment with him seeing how I had no intrest in 2.2/500 for a 89.00 a month.Well he didnt take the modem so I called brent to cancel he told me the only way to do that is email the support department which to me is poor customer service but anyway I went ahead and eamiled them and I got a email back notifiying me the service was cancelled.I emailed them again for a adress to ship the router back which I didnt receive a email back and now they say after 14 days they want mne to pay 200.00 for a modem thats worth about 50.00. Well brent could have told me all this info when I first talked to him but he didnt so I called him back in which he was absoulate rude and told me that there is noway they would take the modem back. Then he proceed to state that im lucky I wasnt charged with criminal theft for me having there property"
You can't go on with the info in the review because it's true and your to arrogant to admit it's true and deal with your problems.
IF ANYONE WANTS THE TRUTH AND FACTS I'LL BE GLAD TO SEND COPIES OF THE BILLING THAT SHOWS THE COST! | |
| ClintJCL
join:2001-09-19
Alexandria, VA
·Speakeasy
1 edit | well In my experience, Brent lied to me too. 30 day money back guarantee, but I had to pay $30 to stop a $400 check. Then he sent a collection agency after me to try to collect $200 for the modem "I broke" -- BUT HE HAD THE MODEM.
Now Brent, why am I suppose to pay for a piece of hardware that YOU have?
And the ***hole sent it to my credit report.
Fortunately, my credit rating is 823, and I have a positive net worth of over a quarter million. When I buy my next car, it will be cash. Brent: You can't touch me.
--
-Clint
clint@acm.vt.edu | |
| | | |
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Review by bradleyjay
UPDATED: 1.9 years ago
member for 1.9 years, 1 visits, last login: 1.9 years ago
Fort Lauderdale,Broward,FL
$49 per month (12 month contract)
"Terrible customer service, unprofessional"
"Seems to be hit or miss...if you get lucky and everything works, great, but it didn't for me."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
|
Where to begin...
I purchased dry-line residential ADSL service. This requires a new copper pair to be run to my house. After being assured that the technician would only need access to the NID outside my house and not the interior, I was surprised to find that the technician needed access to the interior. Luckily, the technician happened to still be there when my wife returned home, so the appointment didn't have to be rescheduled. He installed the new circuit without any problems.
The next appointment was for the Covad tech to "professionally install" the DSL modem. This consisted of him plugging the modem into power and the new DSL line. He was supposed to test connectivity with my modem, but he was unable to because he didn't have my PPPOE login information. So he configured my modem, and then tested connectivity using his own modem, and his own PPPOE login information. He then gave my wife some hand written instructions for me to enter the PPPOE info in to the modem. Quite professional.
This all would have been fine, except for the fact that the modem was defective. It will not maintain a connection for more than an hour or so, and intermittently refuses to serve DHCP addresses on the LAN side. Also, it intermittently refuses to serve up its web interface, so no configuration changes can be made. Also, rebooting the modem causes it to lose it's PPPOE info, so that has to be re-entered on every reboot, if you're lucky enough to be able to get the web interface.
OK, fair enough. I can understand that the modem is defective, so I called Lightning Bolt to ask for a new modem. Brent refused to send me a new modem on the grounds that it may be trouble with the line itself. He had me perform some tests like unplugging my computer from the modem. For some reason, even with my computer turned off, there was still traffic thru the modem according to Brent. He still had doubts that this could be caused by the modem, and insisted that it could be trouble in the line. I may be naive, but I don't know how the line itself could cause traffic to flow. I guess Brent can answer that one.
Against my better judgement, I agreed to yet another appointment for another smelly Covad technician to come to my house to troubleshoot and if necessary provide a new modem. Brent would not simply send me a new modem.
Then, I get a bill in the mail for a lot more than I was expecting to see. Brent started billing me on the date that my service was activated, regardless of the fact that I have not been able to use it. I politely asked Brent to prorate the charge, since I have not been able to use the service.
Brent insists that my service does not come with an SLA, and I in turn am SOL as far as credit. I explained to him that I wasn't looking for a free ride, just a little credit as a show of good faith and understanding that I have a service that's basically unusable.
Brent refused to offer any assistance, so I exercised my 21 day cancellation right.
Another thing to note is that this appears to be a one-man operation. Every phone conversation I've had has either been Brent calling me, or Brent answering when i call. early in the morning, afternoon, or 10:00 at night, the only person I've ever spoken to at Lightning Bolt is Brent. Emails also either are signed by Brent, or someone else with a conspicuously similar writing style as Brent, and regardless of weather the email comes from Brent or "Heather" or "Frank" they are sent from the same workstation.
While there's nothing really wrong with a one-man operation as it should be less overhead that's passed on to customers, you have to remember that if Brent doesn't give you the answer you're looking for, there's no recourse. There is no supervisor, or manager. You cannot speak to the owner because you already have, and he isn't listening.
So, if Brent would rather lose me as a customer than give me a paltry week's credit, then so be it. I can certainly get service form someone else.
Followup comments:
LBDSL
Lightning Bolt
VIP
join:2002-01-07
Auburn Hills, MI
4 edits | wow, I'm very surprised to read all this Brad,
First I must say, I'm shocked at some of your comments.
1) You have NEVER spoken to me about any billing issues. looking at your account, I do see you have spoken to our billing department, however not me personally, so I would appreciate you being honest about your interaction with our company. In fact the last time we spoke, was a VM I left for you, about getting you a sooner tech dispatch, which I left you on Sat.
2), I also never stated the issue wasn't the modem, what I did ask, was we perform a few test, to rule out other issues, which we did, in about 5 minutes, and aggreed the modem was not functioning correctly. with a dry line product, a tech visit is always performed, verses shipping equipment, this is the standard process.
3) how, and when did you cancel under the 21 day satisfaction clause, because I see no record of it with us, in fact we still have a Tech visit scheduled today to take care of your modem issue.
4) your account has a bridge, not a router, The Bridge, will pass along the Public IP address you are assigned when you connect via PPPoE. If you are expecting a bridge to hand out multple LAN IP's via DHCP, then you have been mis-informed. You are probably thinking of a router.
5) You are right you have spoken to me on the phone many times of the day. I am in the office 7 days a week on average 16 hours a day. I do this for many reasons, the main one, because I'm here for our users, and as the owner want to know what our users are dealing with. However I assure you, we have many people working here, a National ISP can not be run by a single person, TRUST ME!
6) I'm sorry you are not happy with our service, to properly cancel your service, please follow the step outlined in the Terms of service, posting a notice on a 3rd party web site, will NOT close your account.
In closing, I'm sorry you are unhappy with our service, and what appears to be a company as a whole. Contacting myself to discuss your concerns before posting this review, may have been able to resolve some things, however you are free to cancel under the 21 day satisfaction period we give all our ADSL users. We would much rather have you happy with another ISP, then unhappy and locked into a contract with us.
Brent
--
Lightning Bolt Technologies | |
| | bored_in_nh
join:2003-01-04
Stamping Ground, KY | Re: wow, I'm very surprised to read all this pwnt | |
| bradleyjay
join:2007-11-27
Fort Lauderdale, FL
·Lightning Bolt DSL
| I told "Heather" that I wanted to cancel In order to cancel, I replied to the last email I received from "Heather".
I asked "Heather" to be understanding in the regard that the service is basically unsuable and that I should not be billed for a service that I have been unable to use to date.
Heather was unwilling to budge or offer any consolation, credit or otherwise accept any responsibility for my unusable service.
I then replied to Heather that I wished to cancel my service, and that i would not be waiting around for the smelly Covad tech for a third time. If this is not acceptable notice of my intent to cancel, then I will seek other means to do so.
The bottom line is that the service has been unusable since it was "activated", and I'm not going to pay for a service that I can't use.
I was certainly willing to pay for the service from the date that the installation is verified to be working, but not sooner. And sorry, but having the smelly Covad tech test the connection with his own modem and his own PPPOE info doesn't count.
It seems to be yet another case of your company being unwilling to budge from its "written-in-stone" policies, and it's costing you customers. But hey, if that $12.50 credit that I asked for is more valuable than my $49.95 a month for the next year (or the $64.95 SOHO that I planning to upgrade to) then I guess you're doing pretty well. | |
| |
LBDSL
Lightning Bolt
VIP
join:2002-01-07
Auburn Hills, MI
| Re: I told "Heather" that I wanted to cancel Sir,
I do now see your request to disconnect service, which needed to be sent to the support team, which you have now done. To address a few of your recent concerns. If you planned to upgrade to a business package, right away, it would have been better to order that from the beginning. we could have certainly upgraded your service, but it would have cost you more to upgrade, verses starting with a SOHO option to begin with. Business/SOHO service has higher rebates on the installation, you would have gotten a router, verses a bridge, which you would need to upgrade if you moved from a residential to a SOHO package, and you would have had an SLA, and would have received a credit for any extended outage per the SLA.
As far as your service being non usable. I see a lot of PPPoE authentications, and a lot of use on your line, so it must have been usable to some extant.
We also spoke on the phone when you had a question about your PPPoE username, and password, and while on the phone I verified with you that you could access the web, and surf. So at that point it was "verified".
Again, I'm sorry we are not the right ISP for you.
Brent
--
Lightning Bolt Technologies | |
| | | |
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Review by MouserW
Posted: 2.6 years ago
member for 2.6 years, 1 visits, last login: 2.6 years ago
Los Alamos,Los Alamos,NM
$55 per month (12 month contract)
about 19 days
Qwest
CLEC party: Covad
"Installation required no effort."
"Installation cost $225. Inflexible business policies, not customer-oriented."
"Not exactly bending over backwards for customer satisfaction."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
|
I am technically a new LBDSL customer, though I have been living in an apartment with LBDSL service for the last two years. I didn't pay the bills at that location, but I have still been using their service for a reasonably long time.
At the old location, we signed up for a 3.0/384 shared line and had numerous problems. Most importantly, we never got the 3.0Mbps speed advertised and had to run in "safe mode" constantly. Despite this 30% cut in our bandwidth, no reduction in the fee was made available. We were told that we had signed a contract for the 3.0/384 service and that was what we had to pay for, whether or not our line could support the full rate.
In addition to the reduced bandwidth, we had frequent short outages that would result in lost connections.
When I recently moved into my own place, I checked the line distance at the new location and found it to be very short. I assumed that this would alleviate the reduced bandwidth problem, and my roommate convinced me to set up my own contract with LBDSL. I was impressed with the professionalism and courtesy of Brent during my initial calls to him regarding the particulars of the service.
My one gripe leading up to signing the contract was the issue of having to pay a hefty ($225) installation fee for dry line service. He insisted that it was necessary because the technician would have to test the line, configure the router, and do a host of other operations that I was not qualified or capable of doing. It sounded like a scam to me, but more importantly it sounded like the process was engineered such that even a reasonably competent end-user could not complete the installation, thus allowing them to require the installation service and fee. While I find such business practices unscrupulous, I didn't see that I had much choice other than finding a new ISP, which would probably do the same thing. I went ahead and signed the contract.
Everything went ahead according to the schedule LBDSL had sent me in an email. The phone company checked (and in my case, replaced) the line leading up to my house (free of charge), the free package arrived containing my router, etc., and today the Covad tech showed up to do the "professional installation."
Before he arrived, I went ahead and connected my internal wiring to the TLI and tested the house jacks to make sure that all of the customer-side wiring was functioning. When I told the Covad tech this, he went ahead and just plugged the router in using the supplied cabling and verified that the connection came up automatically. We then transferred the ethernet cable over to my laptop and verified that the connection worked there as well. That was it for the professional installation, it took approximately 3 minutes.
The tech told me that I could have just plugged it in myself and it would have worked, and it would have saved him the two hour drive up from Albuquerque. I told him that I hadn't done so because Brent gave me the impression that some sort of black magic had to be done with the line and/or router configuration that I was not able to do. "Two hours to drive here, five minutes to do the work," he said. I clocked it at more like three minutes. At $225 for three minutes of work, that's $75 per minute that I was charged to watch a guy plug in a cable and fire up a web browser. I was not impressed. I told the tech this and he said that I shouldn't be charged for it since it was already setup and he hadn't really done anything.
I wrote LBDSL an email stating my extreme displeasure at being charged for what amounted to nothing at all, and I found their response lacking: "Any Dry line service requires a professional install fee per our web site, per the terms of service, and per our previous conversation." When I pointed out that I felt they had been disingenuous when they convinced me that some elaborate work had to be done for which I was not qualified, they rudely replied that I had the option of ending my contract during the 21 day grace period.
The attitude I got from LBDSL, consistently, was that they were very sorry, but any sense I had that I had been deceived was an error on my part.
And in response to my assertion that the installation work took three minutes, he said, "Also, just as an FYI, looking at the work log, I see: 'Arrival Time: 9:00, Finish Time: 9:30,' So it appears the Tech was on site for about 30 minutes, not 3." As far as I can tell, he must be assuming I'm an idiot or that the tech just happened to arrive exactly at 9 and left exactly 30 minutes later. Regardless, the content of this comment (which was extraneous to the rest of the email), was LBDSL telling me that they think I'm lying. Great customer-based attitude, guys.
I guess my complaint with LBDSL is that their policies are carved in stone, and making things right for the customer doesn't seem to be one of them.
This is the second location at which I've used their service, and both times I've been charged money for service that wasn't provided or needed because it was "in the contract." I feel that making the customer happy could only help their business in the long run. I've already steered a coworker away from LBDSL as a result of this interaction (he was prepared to sign up today if I gave LBDSL the nod) and I can't imagine reviews like this will help their sales. This seems to be a pattern with the LBDSL reviews on this website; either everything goes as expected and people are happy with the service, or something goes wrong and the LBDSL service reps get defensive and hide behind their contract rather than correcting the problem.
Followup comments:
LBDSL
Lightning Bolt
VIP
join:2002-01-07
Auburn Hills, MI
| Thank you for your review The one thing which I would like to address, without getting into specific account details in a public forum.
A DSL install involves a lot of work, more work then just a basic tech visit. So if you feel your $225 install fee only went to pay for a "3 minute" tech visit, you should be aware of the basics of DSL installation.
1) A DSL loop has to be ordered and installed via the Phone company.
2) we need to stay on top of the phone company to make sure all commits of the order and install are met, this can takes hours on multiple days depending on the order
3) once the phone company delivered the loop, we must test and accept or reject the loop, to make sure it meets are specs.
4) an Account needs to be created in our system, including billing, RADIUS, email, dial-up, etc
5) The final step is to have the on-site tech visit for dry/dedicated loop products.
As we talked about earlier, I apologize you feel we have cheated you in same way, however I promise you, unless you have access to our DSLAM (equipment in the Central Office), access to the phone companies copper in the ground, access to our systems, and knowledge of all these systems, you could not have installed this service yourself.
We have not surprised you with any fees. All charges were brought to your attention prior to placing an order with us, and agreed to upon ordering service.
I would certainly understand your frustration, if we charged you more then we quoted you for installation, however we did not.
If you would like to talk about specific account issues, or a past account, which we are not aware of you having, feel free to reach out to me, or anyone else here via phone or email.
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Lightning Bolt Technologies | |
| | rdarlington
join:2007-04-01
Los Alamos, NM
| Re: Thank you for your review The account he mentions having previously was under my name (Robert Darlington) at our previous address. The problems he mentioned are accurate and some of this can be seen at one of my previous posts here:
»Lots of great talk....
The work you describe in your 5 steps to setting up DSL hardly takes more than two 5 minute phone calls and the running of a script to add a user to your radius servers. Your techs may or may not have this script also e-mail the customer with his new account information. On the outside edge, being very conservative, I'd say this process takes no more than 11 minutes.
Mind you, I used to own an ISP in Philadelphia (long story here, please, feel free to contact me about this) and kinda know a little bit about this.
Your response post is also very typical of previous defensive measures I've witnessed after a problem. Guys, take a lesson, hire some hand holders and don't let your techs answer the phone. They're not good at assuring the customer that your business is working on the problem, is on top of things, etc. "It's not us" really doesn't cut it in this business. ISPs are easily replaced by another ISP more willing to serve the customer. | |
| MM331
Premium
join:2005-01-22
Miami, FL | I told you so Just scroll down and keep reading. I said it a year ago. | |
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Review by MM331
UPDATED: 3.8 years ago
member for 4.8 years, 163 visits, last login: 110 days ago
Miami,Miami-Dade,FL
$59 per month (12 month contract)
about 6 days
BellSouth
CLEC party: Covad
"I can not think of any."
"Uncooperative, I can not get return email to tranfer account, can't set up direct email,"
"UNSAT as ISP! Avoid. There are plenty other choices."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
|
I initially ordered 3.0 M down 384 up for $60 when reviewing the contract it I realized it read $70. I called B___t and he explaind that somehow I had ordered the static ip option. (I do not know how,but I did), he rectified the contract and emailed so I could fax it back. Six days later, I got the netopia router (everything needed: color coded cables, filters, CD, even a return UPS lable) set up 15 min. pppoe I was getting 2300 down and 300 up at 5000ft from CO. So I liked it and I wanted a little more and I asked LBDSL to upgrade me to the 6m down and 768 up. They commited to 24 hour turn-around and it was done in 4 hours (great). I surfed around almost at lightling speed for a day then the speed slowed down. I tried to download a large file from Microsoft and I was recieving it at 350, 400 kbs (I was hopeing for 600+ and expecting 550) I did the tweak test at this site and came out good. (no corrections necessary) So I emailed lbdsl support and advised them that the 6.0 package was not performing to my expectations and requested them to downgrade back to 3.0/384. B.b fussed a little and told me that they could not be changing the speed every time I wanted, but finnally reset the speed to 3/384. I have been connecting usally around 2250 down and 290 up from main test locations on this site. However, there has been a few less than glamorous 400 and 500 up and 50 down (not good). Of course I immidiately disconnected and tried another connection and it was back to baseline. I hope information helps as this site has helped me. thanks
Update: more like a followup. 1/27/2005 I still have 2 days left in my tryout "21" day guarantee period with them and I asked about their dryline. H_____r from Tech support gave me some honest answers, no bs, no trying to upsell the rep was strait and to the point.
on 2/2/05 I bought a laptop to try to use with the hardware supplied by LBDSL (sigh) The answerd my calls fast and they were polite, however they did not help me with the configuration of the LBDSL supplied Netopia router. B____t did note that the router was not transmitting and therefore the laptop was not receiving. (I knew this that is why I called) I fuigured out how to shut down the safety, firewall, ect, and I was able to get them in sync. Later I installed security featues one by one. Now it works.
2/4/05 or there abouts I call LBDSL with slow download speed complaint. (they answered fast, they were polite) It was suggested that I may have spyware (but I am running 3 anti spyware SPYBOT, MS BETA and TREND MICRO) about 15 minuts later the speed was back, I think they reset my ports Bell South had to do it all the time that is why I cancelled dsl with them.
2/6/05.... AGHHH.. My down loads are fair at 2200 on a 3008 capacity but my uploads
are UNSATISFACTORY 025k to 053k on a 384k {NOT AN OVERTYPE}
Downloads are ok for now I just wont be making any broadband calls as they require 90k and I'm only getting 50k yet I'm paying for 384k Sigh..
2/6/05 2030 I'm still bringing in 1700 to 2200 down on a 3.0 line and up well doing 025 to 050 on a 384. I had the option a few weeks ago to go with a cheaper competitor who also resells covad (also Member at DSL Reports.com). I made the mistake to stay here with LBDSL because I read reviews that they were excellent in the service department. My personal experience was not as sucessfull as others reviewed on this site. They are promt, fast and polite but I can not say they are anything above fair in the Service category. I'll continue to post here from time to time; as with My upload speed, I won't be using broad phone any time soon.
2/7/05 I tested 2400 down and a whopping 009 UP on 3008 and 384 (best efforts contract) I will respond to email, However, please, be patient as my download speed is good, my upload does not have much lightning, so it may take a day or so for you to get the reply.
2/8/05 I tried testing the line Agh.....But got tired of waiting for the reply. Im paying for DSL and getting local telco service with dialup up speed.
I REALLY WONDER OF 10% LOSS 24 % LOSS AND 14 % LOSS IS ALSO CAUSED BY MY SYSTEM.
»/quality/nil/1647975
I wonder I will have to call in My future reports with 2350 down and 0002 UP.
I have been working with B.B at Tech support, he has concluded that it is a local issue.
So I will go on the hunt to try to bring upload speed up. Credit must be given where credit is due, Tech Rep was Polite, Responsive and even cooperative inlight of My bad mouthing them here. Satisfactory resullts were not achived, however, conclusive troubleshooting was. (meaning the problem is on My side of the CPE). 2/8/04 1520R
2/18/05 I was able to find the cause of the upload problem 10 days later without any assistance or "service" for my ISP. Technicians at LBDSL were correct when they said it was on My side of the CPE. I still rate them below average in the SERVICE category based on my own experience with local telco as ISP and reading other detailed reviews at this site of other Covad resellers where the ISP technician did help troubleshoot on the users side of CPE. I had read reports about this ISP "LBDSL" where they were complimented for helping the user and that made me decide to go with LBDSL. Somehow I expected the same SERVICE/TECH SUPPORT which I did not recieve. LBDSL reps were always polite, and fast to respond to the letter of the contract and nothing more. (this I would expect from local telco not from a 5 Star ISP)
Bottom line if you do subscribe and you don't have a problem, good for you. However if you do have an technical issue or a challenge, I hope you do not encounter the same frustration and disapointment that I did. If you sign in you can IM with questions about my experience with LBDSL.
12/19/2005 I had a problem sending an international email. I sent a copy of the error to lb support. The tech sent me a link to lb website contaning the explanation. It was not a problem with lb it was their antispam setting where I had to check email before the server will allow me to send.
While I'm doing this update I will write about the speeds, unlike some of my neighbors I usally get 2200 down and 300 up.
01/05/2006 at 2:14pm I sent the cancellation request. it has been a LOOOOOOONG slow year here but the end is near. This last week My speeds were 1600/310 on a best effort 3008/384.
01/06/2006 at 1:10 PM Lightning bolt dsl has not yet responded to My request for release or tranfer of the line. Think twice and pay close attention to the people who have had problems with this so called ISP. To me they have been a mistake, I can not even get them to transfer My account. Don't take my word for it, Read ALL the reviews before you commit, if you select lbdsl after reading this review you are on your own.
01/06/06 1:40pm within minutes of My previous post Agent from LBDSL called My phone to inform me that they did respind to My emails.......well I will have to take their word for that as you will have to take my word that I did not recive the emails........further in the emails in question I requested lbdsl contact the new isp......this I can be certain has not taken place as of 1:10pm this date.
1/6/06 4:00 pm Somehow I did not get the email in question through the server at lbdsl. I am glad the operators at lbdsl were able to post a copy on the thread below, thus providing Me with the information needed to terminate the service. BTW I did look at the isp's requiements for cancellation nowhere does it say that I need to provide information on the new isp I may have missed that too.
1-6-06 At about 1800 I did formally initiate transfer to New isp, another covad reseller after reciving the confirmation via this site. I do not know if the isp sent it through email as I did not get it.
BOTTOM LINE: Be Smart, Keep your blood pressure low, save yourself the headackes, do not bother with this isp.
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Review by jackyl2005
Posted: 4.3 years ago
member for 6 years, 37 visits, last login: 203 days ago
Hudsonville,Ottawa,MI
$99 per month (12 month contract)
about 10 days
"Nothing"
"Everything"
"Think twice before you sign or else you will have a nightmare on youre hands"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
|
Ordered 6.0/768 package which they told me i was able to recieve which was the begininng on my horror story.I noted that i was only held to the contract for the package 6.0/768 and if i couldnt get that i didnt agree to the contract or service agreement which they did accept and start the install process.Once they have the circuit installed tech came out and finished install and upon completion ran a speed test of 2.2/500 which is a joke.I informed the tech he could jhust take the equipment with him seeing how i had no intrest in 2.2/500 for a 89.00 a month.Well he didnt take the modem so i called brent to cancel and
he told me the only way to do that is email the support department which to me is poor customer service but anyway i went ahead and eamiled them and i got a email back notifiying me the service was cancelled.I emailed them again for a adress to ship the router back which i didnt recieve a email back and now they say after 14 days they want mne to pay 200.00 for a modem thats worth about 50.00.Well brent could have told me all this info when i first talked to him but he didnt so i called him back in which he was absoulate rude and told me that there is noway they would take the modem back.Then he proceed to state that im lucky i wasnt charged with criminal theft for me having there property but wait i thought it was mine brent?Well anyway they have givin me the run around and expect me to pay for the modem.They keep stating the terms of service which states no refund or exchange but thats hard to do when the tech doesnt take it and you dont get a email back stating where to send it.There showing there true colors and advise you to stay away cause if theres anyway the can hook you with charges they will.You have been warned
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Review by ClintJCL
Posted: 4.3 years ago
member for 8.1 years, 42 visits, last login: 251 days ago
Alexandria,Fairfax,VA
$75 per month
about 15 days
Verizon
CLEC party: Covad
"High speed, good price."
"worst router ever, rude support, no incoming connections could be made, LEGAL/CREDIT RATING HASSLES"
"worst ISP ever. PPPOE is not real internet."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
|
Well, the pre-sales, pricing, and install went very smoothly.
1.5M down, 768k up, and a "static" IP (which is really over PPPOE -- NOT REAL).
Then we got our DSL modem. It was supposedly "free" but now I am being asked to pay $200 for this "free" modem because I "broke" it by changing it to bridging mode. Utterly ridiculous.
The Briteport unit flat out DID NOT PERFORM. I could click on 10 links at once (i.e. image surfing), and only 1 or 2 of the links would ever be returned. Often times, the Briteport web-admin page was returned, which the manual says it does when it cannot retrieve the page. Via Google, I could find many references by other people who had problems with the exact same unit, other people who were not satisfied.
Furthermore, port forwarding was absolutely not working. I have since been told by some networking experts that PPPOE internet can have connectibility problems. This would explain why when I had PPPOE-DSL in the past with EarthLink that I also had connectibility problems. (In the end, I recovered all funds from Earthlink, to the point of actually making a profit.)
Tech support said two things. First, that my poor response and not getting my http clicks delivered to me was because I was utilizing my connection too much -- their attitude is EVERYTHING IS THE USER'S fault. But I stopped all traffic and tested it out, and it was still the case. THE UNIT DID NOT PERFORM ADEQUATELY.
The second thing they said was that my incoming-connectibility problem is an issue of my own configuration. Well, I *HAD* a D-LINK router that forwarded all my ports perfectly, when connected to a bridge. But the Briteport did not seem to forward anything to the D-LINK.
TECH SUPPORT, OF COURSE, WOULD NOT ADVISE. They support one and only one configuration, the one it comes in. If it doesn't work for you, THEN TOO BAD!
YOU TAKE WHAT THEY GIVE YOU, EVEN IF IT'S BAD, AND YOU ARE EXPECTED TO KEEP ON PAYING FOR NON-WORKING SERVICE! YOU ARE A PERSONA NON GRATA, AND THEY WILL DO ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO HELP YOU.
In fact, because I dared commit the sin of changing my router reconfiguration, NOW THEY ARE TRYING TO CHARGE ME $200 FOR "BREAKING" THE ROUTER, WHEN ACTUALLY I MADE IT WORK BETTER (but still not good enough). Talk about a clueless misinterpretation of both reality and technology.
Anyway, things were not working. Web was not surfable. Clicking on a link gave NO GUARANTEE WHATSOEVER that the Briteport unit would actually return the page you clicked on. I've been into networking for over 10 years and I'd never seen a piece of networking hardware fail so utterly and completely, and had never seen an ISP have such a rude, arragant, self-righteous, pompous, oppressive attitude ever.
They actually told me they were annoyed at my wife and that she called too much, and that in our first day as a customer we used more tech time than the average customer does in a year. MAYBE WE'RE NOT THE AVERAGE CUSTOMER. MAYBE WE'RE SUPERIOR AND USE THE INTERNET MORE. MAYBE OUR NEEDS ARE GREATER. IF YOU CAN'T SUPPORT THEM, DON'T ADVERTISE "24/7 SUPPORT" ON YOUR WEBSITE. Maybe ISPs who cater to the lowest common denominator shouldn't pretend like their equipment is suitable for power users WHEN IT ISN'T. SpeakEasy is hopefully going to be much better.
I have successfully used 768k down / 768k up DSL now for 6 yrs with a DSL bridge. A dsl bridge works great. The briteport as a router does not work. The briteport supports a bridgemode. Tech support initially advised me that a bridge-mode exists. Since a bridge worked for me in the past, and since they had me locked in on several hundred dollars of charges, I figured it was better to try bridge mode, then to give up. I WAS TRYING TO STAY A CUSTOMER, TO AVOID USING THE MONEYBACK GUARANTEE, BECAUSE I *WANTED* THINGS TO WORK. Maybe if they had properly advised me, that whole situation never would have ocurred, but they gave me no choice.
I never would have known about the mode if I hadn't been told about it. They said they "can't support it". They never said "You will be charged $200 if you use it". They never said "the unit will be considered broken and sent back to the manufacturer if you dare to invoke your right to configure it how you want". HARDWARE WITHOUT THE FREEDOM TO USE IT AS YOU PLEASE IS USELES.
Bridge mode actually fixed the http performance problems. I could now open as many links as I want on as many computers at once as I want, and all links would go through. NOW THAT THE MODEM IS IN BRIDGE MODE, IT ACTUALLY WORKS AS FAR AS INCOMING DATA GOES!! IT CERTAINLY IS NOT IN A BROKEN STATE JUST BECAUSE IT IS IN BRIDGE MODE.
BUT WAIT -- I would have been happy now... . But...
1) EVEN IN BRIDGING MODE, all of my TCP/IP connections (I usually have 100+ at any given time) were being COMPLETELY CUT OFF every 3 minutes for the PPPOE authentication. PPPOE SUCKS. I don't want my connections being severed every 3 minutes. I shouldn't have to authenticate to my ISP that I am who I am, when it is a physical circuit going to my house!
Connections being severed makes it very hard to complete file transfers. My daily throughput at 1.5M was sometimes less than my daily throughput with 768k at my previous ISPs.
2) Oh -- and I was still unconnectible. I was trying to distribute some files out and could only get 2-3K/s, because of the particular individual circumstances, which were that I could only send data to connectible people. Other people couldn't connect to me to pull my data, I could only connect to other people to push my data. In this situation, that meant a 90-95% speed reduction on specific individual uploads I was working on.
I run a web server. I run or have run many different types of servers, including some most people haven't heard of (Kaillera, for head-to-hand LAN-emulated MAME over TCP/IP, for example), and some most people have heard of (email, web, database, ftp, irc). NOTHING WAS CONNECTIBLE.
I again asked tech support for help, and they gave none.
They advised I could purchase an 8 IP block for $10/mo. I felt that was a ripoff but was willing to try.
When I got the block, I found out 8 IP block means only 5 usable IPs. Yeah, I know top-level networking very well having been using computers to communicate since the 300bps modem days. But I don't know low-level networking enough and feel this is tantamount to false advertising. But I digress.
I tried the static IPs, assigning my 5 computers 5 static IPs. Since the Briteport unit was in bridging mode, my *static* IPs should be connectible, through a bridge, right? You'd think so, right?
WRONG. DEAD WRONG. Having static IPs did not help. Even when using no router, using only the Briteport in bridging mode, with static IPs, MY COMPUTERS STILL WERE NOT CONNECTIBLE.
MY SERVERS WERE USELESS. AND THIS WAS A "BUSINESS" LINE. What a joke. If I was actually a business, they would be looking at a lawsuit for a month's worth of operating costs because no one would have been able to connect to me!
TECH SUPPORT AGAIN OFFERED ZERO HELP WHATSOEVER.
I invoked my 21-day moneyback guarantee and stopped the $450 check I had sent to them for their fees so far. The moneyback guarnatee states that I can do this. I have a copy of it. However, it requires that you cut the line.
THAT IS TANTAMOUNT TO BLACKMAIL. I can't get my money back if I do an ISP switch, I can only get my money back if I cut the circuit and deny myself internet for weeks on end. THIS SEEMS TO ME THAT IT SHOULD BE OR IS ILLEGAL. I am being bribed into trying to keep my service, or punished with no internet for daring to invoke my money back. A TRUE BUSINESS WOULD GIVE MONEY BACK EVEN ON AN ISP-SWITCH.
A week or two later, I get an invoice stating that I owe $200 for the modem because I broke it. A total lie. It is not broken, I was using it to download data up until the minute my circuit was turned off.
I called up tech support and informed them that unless I keep the modem, there's no way I'd pay for it, and that it was not broken. I absolutely wont pay for nothing. They said it went back to the manufacturer. Without proof, how do I know they did not just give it to someone else and pull the same scam on them?
I'm fairly convinced that the unit had some defect anyway, because I don't see how a company could sell a router that DOESN'T ROUTE and can't even handle 10 simulteaneous http requests successfully! But this way, they can get me to pay $200 for an already-defective modem by claiming that I broke it. News Flash: It was broken already by being a crappy router, and I did nothing to make it any worse.
So... Now I expect this to go to collections. But I have an 800+ credit rating, over $100,000 of credit, and over $200,000 of equity. Loan officers tell me I have the highest credit rating they've seen in their life. I've refused fraudulent payments in the past and still had absolutley no problem refinancing or securing loans after such refusals were reported to my creditors. They simply hold no value when compared to a lifetime of perfect credit. I've never even carried a balance.
These scam-and-scare tactics simply wont work for me.
If you are a power user, are a user running servers, or someone not intelligent enough to know what to do with ZERO TECH SUPPORT, I would strongly advise you to commit suicide before attempting to deal with these people.
UPDATE: Upon activiation of my SpeakEasy circuit on 7/13/2005, my wife hooked all our computers up to her router. WITHOUT CHANGING ANY SETTINGS, our computers not only were connectible, but could use a full 150K/s without problem. As I had suspected, the problem was not my configuration at all.
The scientific method involves having 2 test sets, one a control, one a variable. This isn't quite scientific, but the control was my house, and the variable was the ISP. When the only different thing between two tests is the ISP, you can damn well be sure that is where the problem lied.
Earthlink didn't believe me either, and they were PPPOE, and my problems with them were instantly over when I switched over. PPPOE IS RIFE WITH PROBLEMS! ISPs who run PPPOE are full of hubris. I can't delineate what the problems specifically are because I don't have that level of precision in my understanding. However, I am damn well sure that my understanding is accurate, which is far more important than being precise. I was dead right. I don't need to know the details to know I was.
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Review by silvial
Posted: 4.7 years ago
member for 4.7 years, 0 visits, last login: 4.7 years ago
Santa Monica,Los Angeles,CA
 Business customer
$40 per month (12 month contract)
about 45 days
Verizon
CLEC party: Covad
"Nice sales pitch"
"Once service installed, they forget you and you're stuck with them else face a hefty cancellation fee"
" FRAUDULENT AND SNEAKY"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
|
Initially I was satisfied with Lightning Bolt's customer service. I felt like they were really trying to get my business but once the level of DSL service I desired was not available (3.0/768), I had to get the downgraded service (768/128) Once it was decided the downgraded service was not acceptable, it was too late to back out! there is a hefty cancellation fee once you sign on for a service so LET THIS SERVE AS A WARNING TO ALL WHO COMMIT TO LIGHTNING BOLT DSL!!!! if you decide its not going to work for you after 21-30 days (most of which you will spend waiting for an installation date) you can;t change your mind.
Secondly, when I signed up it was clearly stated that I would receive a rebate of $125 however I was not given instructions in any of my welcome emails or in any of the paperwork. I assumed that they would rebate me automatically after a certain periodof time. Today when I inquired as to the status of my rebate, I found out that I am no longer eligible because I was apparently suppsed to hunt down on their site, the rebate instructions which they keep buried on the site in 6 pt type! I feel completely defrauded and duped. AND I still have to pay them $400 over the next 10 months cause if I want to cancel, it will cost me $500!
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