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Review by dcheline 
UPDATED: 2.2 years ago
member for 2.8 years, 4 visits, last login: 2.2 years ago
 San Jose,Santa Clara,CA
 $65 per month (12 month contract)
 about 45 days
 Covad
 "Once it works it works"
 "Horrific Customer Service and Technical Support"
 "Unless you are very technical or just get lucky with the installation, go somewhere else"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
|
You may empathize with me. I work from home and need my internet connection. I really need it.
I had a dedicated DSL service with no telephone line required from an ISP called Britsys. They used Covad for providing the DSL connectivity. Everything was fine until they were purchased by Dock.Net an ISP based out of Calabasas.
We moved to a new home and the problems with DSL came. And they are never ending. I should say that Covad has done their portion of the work in time and with out problems. However, Dock.Net has dropped the ball time and again and again and again.... It has been almost two months now since I ordered the move and they still can't get the service up.
The problems are many but here is a summary:
1. Lack of customer focus. Tech support is handling many things at once and never really pay attention to what they are doing. When I'm on chat with them to solve the problem, they leave me hanging for minutes on end. they even admit that they take calls from other customers while they are trying to trouble shoot the problem with me. That is just bad customer service.
2. Awful following through. At every step of the way, customer service or sales promises to do something in the next day or so. They also say that they will call me or email me with status. Not once has that happened. I have to call in a day later to remind them of my problems. I usually get someone new who has no idea about my problem and when they go ask around they say, yes, we should of gotten back to you but we still can't fix the problem....
3. Technical expertise. Covad says everything is fine but Dock.Net can't configure the router correctly or route the IP addresses that are assigned by Covad...! At the end of the day, this is the biggest problem. They have a bunch of folks running around doing stuff but they have no clue on how it all works together. They always put off fixing the problem by saying, ok, now I've got to go open up a ticket. I'll call you tomorrow when it's done.... and of course, I never get the call.
4. No accountability. when I ordered the move, they somehow changed the order to change it from a 3MB/768kbps with 5 static IPs to a 1.5/384 with only one static IP. They say that they just moved it and that that is why they only ordered the lesser service (which I understand if there is a distance issue for getting the speed but not for the number of IP addresses). But now they say that it will take even longer to get me set up if they have to do that. Because they will have to open up another ticket with Covad.
5. Taking money and running. I have been without service for over a month now and I still see my credit card being dinged for the $65 service that I never get. As a matter of fact, they are trying to configure a lesser service and still charging me for the old service at my old address.
At the end of the day... I just want connectivity. Just give me what works. But still, I have no connectivity and the end of their day is nearing. This will be one more work day wasted working with them and to no avail.
Any recommendations on how to get out of this mess? Can I transfer to someone like Speakeasy? They seem to have a good record....
Still waiting for connectivity (I had to go buy a verizon wireless card for now),
-Douglas
P.S. Here's a copy of a three hour chat sessions we had today so that you too can get a taste of their inefficiencies...
Monday, September 10, 2007 2:32:07 PM (9/10/2007 9:32:07 PM - GMT)
Ended: 5:15:01 PM
Powered by SightMax.
Welcome to dock.net, Jesse Thompson will be right with you.
Jesse Thompson:
Hey!
Customer:
Hey... Ok... I'm home and on the router... I am using a verizon card
to connect to the net...
Customer:
so, this is how my router is configured right now... if I go in to the
web page and click on Status:
Customer:
Product Information:
Hardware Board: CPU : Helium 210-80
DSL : Globespan Slade Annex A (T79.4.9)
Firmware Version: 5.0.0.16 (17 November 2003)
DSL Driver Version: GlobeSpanVirata Nova/Slade Version 53350
Ethernet MAC Address: 00:E0:EB:75:42:D7
Customer:
and more importantiy:......
Customer:
WAN Information:
ADSL Line Mode: Auto
VPI/VCI: 0/35
IP Address: x.x.x.5
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Primary DNS: 64.105.172.26
Secondary DNS: 64.105.163.106
NAT: On
Customer:
LAN Information:
IP Address: z.z.z.254
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
IP Range: z.z.z.1 z.z.z.254
DHCP: Server
DHCP Start IP: z.z.z.101
DHCP Range: z.z.z.101 - z.z.z.254
Customer:
the lan side works because I can get to the router...
Customer:
but I can't go out to the internet through it.
Customer:
let me copy and paste the diagnostic test page:
Customer:
1 Ethernet Connection PASS
2 DSL synchronization PASS
3 Ethernet to ATM PASS
Customer:
4 ATM OAM F5 End-to-End Loopback FAIL
Customer:
that is probably ok since I think the carrier needs to turn on loopback
on their end for this to work...
Customer:
but the Ping tests fail too:
Customer:
Ping Primary DNS 64.105.172.26
Customer:
and do you know what the default gwy is? is it x.x.x.1 so I can
ping it?
Customer:
JESSE. R U THERE?
Jesse Thompson:
I'm here!
Jesse Thompson:
Go the command prompt and run a ipconfig
Jesse Thompson:
Typically it's the same as your IP but the last octet is .1
Customer:
yeah... I tried that but didn't work. I did the ipconfig... and here's
the output but that's not the problem... I can get to the router no
problem...
Customer:
Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : z.z.z.1
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : z.z.z.254
Ethernet adapter Bluetooth Network:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Jesse Thompson:
You should be able to ping the gateway since you logged into the
device.
Jesse Thompson:
Are you able to connect at all
Jesse Thompson:
???
Customer:
yes... I can ping all the way to the broadxent router
Customer:
and from the broadxent router... it cannot ping itself... that is where
the problem is...
Customer:
there is a test tool on the broadxent router to ping a gateway or a dns
server or any other IP address and it fails.
Jesse Thompson:
This is the new install correct?
Customer:
yes, kind off... it was a move from my previous address...
Jesse Thompson:
Yeah!
Jesse Thompson:
The pings are failing yet you still have connectivity?
Customer:
I can ping the IP address that you gave me and that I configured on to
the router: x.x.x.5
Customer:
but I cannot get past that...
Jesse Thompson:
Yet you are still able to connect to the Internet?
Customer:
Again, the DSL connection diagnostic test passes but not the Internet
ones:
Customer:
1 Ethernet Connection PASS
2 DSL synchronization PASS
3 Ethernet to ATM PASS
Customer:
No. I cannot connect to the internet.
Jesse Thompson:
Interesting!
Jesse Thompson:
Hang on!
Customer:
The only way I'm connected now is through my Verizon card....
Customer:
the Broadxent router has a diagnostic function that can be used to ping
other IP addresses from it. And it fails from there...
Jesse Thompson:
Okay!
Jesse Thompson:
I will create a trouble ticket with Covad regarding this issue.
Jesse Thompson:
Quick question though:
Customer:
arghhh!!!
Jesse Thompson:
At your old location everything worked fine without the Verizon card
Jesse Thompson:
???
Customer:
Jesse... it's been over a month!
Customer:
yes.... it did I never had trouble...
Jesse Thompson:
Hang on!
Jesse Thompson:
Let me do provisioning through there site.
Customer:
ok
Jesse Thompson:
One min!
Customer:
ok...let me know if you want to see what's in the other status windows
...
Jesse Thompson:
Which location is this again?
Customer:
123 Home Ave. San Jose, CA 95xxx
Jesse Thompson:
Hang on!
Customer:
ok...
Customer:
R U there?
Customer:
JESSE...
Customer:
Hello...
Jesse Thompson:
I was on the phone!
Jesse Thompson:
My apologies.
Jesse Thompson:
Ill re provision now.
Customer:
ok...
Jesse Thompson:
Okay!
Jesse Thompson:
Go ahead and power-cycle your equipment
Customer:
ok...
Customer:
ok.. its synchronizing
Customer:
ok... it is up... and got dsl sync
Customer:
can you see what the default gateway is ?
Customer:
the ip address of the broadxent router is x.x.x.5
Customer:
R U there?
Customer:
hey.... Jesse!
Customer:
don't leave me hanging.... 
Customer:
Jesse!!!!!
Jesse Thompson:
I'm here!
Jesse Thompson:
Just a lot going on!
Customer:
yeah... I hear you...
Customer:
but I haven't been able to connect to the internet from home for over a
month!
Customer:
I'm sure you can understand....
Customer:
and I work from home....
Jesse Thompson:
Completely!
Customer:
the guys at the coffee shop are looking at me funny now
Jesse Thompson:
So the provisioning worked for ya?
Customer:
no!
Jesse Thompson:
haha!
Customer:
no...no...no.!
Customer:
we are at exactly the same place we were before!
Jesse Thompson:
Oh! I thought you said it had sync!
Jesse Thompson:
Strange!
Customer:
yes... we've always had dsl sync!
Customer:
we just don't have IP connectivity!
Customer:
that's the problem....
Customer:
my last question for you was: what is the default gateway.... my ip
address is x.x.x.5
Customer:
i tried pinging x.x.x.1 from the broadxent router and I get no
answer....
Jesse Thompson:
Covad supplies you with the gateway. They didn't post it on there site
so I would have to contact them to find that out for you.
Customer:
it's not important... ok... so what else...! We have spent all
afternoon on this... and we are at the same place we were a month ago...!
Jesse Thompson:
The only thing left that I can do is create a trouble ticket with them
regarding this, unfortunately.
Jesse Thompson:
If it was working before it should be fine, but apparently it's not
Jesse Thompson:
Interesting!
Customer:
but at a different home address and with different IP addresses....
Customer:
can I speak with someone there directly?
Customer:
Jesse!
Customer:
where are you?!!!?
Customer:
Jesse!
Jesse Thompson:
Sure!
Jesse Thompson:
Call in and we can run tests with Covad directly
Customer:
As I mentioned.... I can't call in because I need dsl to work to get
VOIP up.... and cell phones don't work here!
Customer:
why don't you call them now and I'll be on this chat line!
Customer:
Jesse... are you there?
Customer:
please don't snub me... this it should be as important as a phone call!
Jesse Thompson:
It may take some time cause I'm on the phone with a customer at the
moment.
Customer:
you shouldn't take other calls if you are working on a problem ! I
should be given the same respect as a customer calling in!
Jesse Thompson:
I understand. I have to assist the customer on the line and you as well
at the same. It can be a struggle.
Customer:
i know but that is a bad business practice. BTW. I am posting this
and all other chat entries on DSL REPORTS
Jesse Thompson:
I am contacting them as we speak.
Customer:
thx!
Jesse Thompson:
No problem!
Jesse Thompson:
I'm currently on hold, please bare with me!
Customer:
ok...
Jesse Thompson:
Alright! In order for them to run tests we must create a trouble ticket
first. I called them directly to try and bypass that but they wouldn't
let me.
Jesse Thompson:
The only thing left for me to do is create a trouble ticket with them,
which I stated earlier.
Jesse Thompson:
I will create that trouble ticket now.
Customer:
ok...
Customer:
I'll hold...
Jesse Thompson:
Just to verify, you have sync, you just can't surf correct?
Customer:
correct!
Jesse Thompson:
Thank you!
Jesse Thompson:
That ticket has now been created in our system and Covad's as well.
Jesse Thompson:
Hopefully they will respond within the next few hours, I can't
guarantee that though.
Customer:
but now that you opened up a tix, you can call in with that as a
reference right?
Jesse Thompson:
Correct!
Jesse Thompson:
They typically contact us when they have an update.
Jesse Thompson:
We can also view the status via there web site as well
Customer:
ok...
Customer:
I suggest call them now...
Customer:
Hi, R U there?
Jesse Thompson:
Yes I am here.
Jesse Thompson:
I will contact them when I get off the line.
Customer:
ok... can you NOT take any more calls until we resolve the issue?
Customer:
It would only seem fair.... just as If I was calling.
Customer:
what's going on?
Jesse Thompson:
They have not updated the ticket. I just spoke with them. I stated it
will take some time and until then, I cannot do anything.
Customer:
what's next?
Jesse Thompson:
We have to wait to they run tests for any updates.
Jesse Thompson:
Also, have you entered your user and pass in your router?
Customer:
yeah...
Jesse Thompson:
What's a good email address to contact you at when we have an update?
Customer:
dcheline@yahoo.com
Jesse Thompson:
I thought so, just checking.
Jesse Thompson:
Great!
Customer:
what are the UID and PWD that you have?
The chat has ended.
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Review by zaret
Posted: 2.2 years ago
member for 5.3 years, 2 visits, last login: 2.2 years ago
Great Falls,Fairfax,VA
$79 per month
"low price (though all told, they're no bargain)"
"Horrendous customer service. They don't answer your questions or even bother replying to emails most of the time."
"Avoid! Go elsewhere!"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
|
I became a Dock.net customer when they bought my ISP (Britsys). I was never getting anything close to the promised bandwidth, and they ignored my requests to lower my service level. Still, when I moved last month, I contacted them about my new location -- mostly because they are about $20 cheaper than other companies for the same service. It took them more than 2 weeks to reply. I asked some follow-up questions which they didn't bother to answer, so I began to look elsewhere. Then I found out that despite their silence they actually were in the process of setting me up at my new location. Long story short, the installation dragged on and on... they haven't replied to more than a dozen email messages from me. Verizon and Covad came out already, but weeks later Dock.net still has not given me any information as to my ip address, or given me any equipment or anything. Meanwhile they charged my credit card for time when I had service at neither location and have ignored emails asking for specifics of what they were charging for. (I finally called my credit card company to reverse the charge.)
I'm in the process of switching to Speakeasy -- they cost $20 a month more for the same bandwidth, but at least they reply to emails! Don't make the same mistakes I did! Avoid Dock.net like the plague!
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Review by rmdir
Posted: 2.7 years ago
member for 6.7 years, 2133 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Chicago,Cook,IL
$97 per month
CLEC party: Covad
"No compelling reason to use them"
"worthless tech support"
"Avoid them at all costs"
| Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
|
I got switched over to Dock.net after my old ISP, Britsys got bought by them last year. Tech support is absolutely the worst-they never call back. I've had several issues with my line and called them. Unfortunately, it always goes into voice mail which is NEVER RETURNED. I don't necessarily demand an immediate response, but when my line is down I expect them to eventually return my call. But they never ever do. I'm in the process now of looking for an alternative ISP to switch to. I can't blame them for Covad's shortcomings, but I certainly can blame them for not returning calls left with tech support.
If you elect to give them your money, you'll be very sorry.
Followup comments:  rmdir
join:2003-03-13
Chicago, IL
1 edit | dock.net Finally got back to this review after many months. I'm dumping dock.net for SBC. To follow up to the last response to my post-my trouble was with the DSL, which is provided by Covad but sold through dock.net-they are a reseller. Since my account was with dock and not Covad, dock was the contact to call regarding tech problems. I had a few brief outages since the above review, and they were never there to answer my call, and they didn't call me back. TECH SUPPORT WILL NOT ANSWER THE PHONE, AND THEY WON'T RETURN YOUR CALLS.
I'm not blaming them for the fact Covad has connection issues, but I am blaming them for not responding to my requests for information and tech support. | |
| | | |
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Review by blend
Posted: 2.8 years ago
member for 2.8 years, 2 visits, last login: 2.8 years ago
Santa Barbara,Santa Barbara,CA
$64 per month (12 month contract)
"avoid at all cost"
"bad voip, bad service, bad contract, bad people"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
|
DOCK.NET WAS THE WORST DECISION WE EVER MADE. AFTER SIGNING UP FOR THEIR SERVICE I RECEIVED THE EQUIPMENT FOR THEM AND INSTALLED IT. THE VOIP DIDN'T WORK RIGHT FROM DAY ONE, DROPPING PACKETS, CALLS OR OFTEN NO RING TONE AT ALL. AFTER A MONTH OF TRYING TO CORRECT THIS THEIR ANSWER WAS FOR ME TO GO BUY A SWITCHER. AFTER MORE OUT OF POCKET EXPENSE, THE SWITCHER MADE THINGS NO BETTER. TURNS OUT THE PROBLEM WAS THAT THEY DIDN'T HAVE A JUNCTION CLOSE ENOUGH TO ME TO PROVIDE DECENT SERVICE (WHICH I HAD TO FIND OUT FROM A DIFFERENT COMPANY SINCE DOCK.NET WOULD NOT PROVIDE ME WITH THE INFORMATION THEY SHOULD HAVE GIVEN ME BEFORE I SIGNED UP). NOW THEY HAD ME IN A YEAR CONTRACT AND THEIR DISCONNECT CHARGE WAS OUTRAGEOUS. I STOOD BY FOR A YEAR WITH RARE PHONE SERVICE AND NO CUSTOMER SERVICE (FOR TWO MONTHS I WOULD GET CALLS WHERE WE COULDN'T HEAR THE CALLER BUT THEY COULD HEAR US I WOULD HAVE TELL THEM "WHOEVER YOU ARE PLEASE CALL ME CELL PHONE AT...). THEY HAD NO SOLUTION FOR THIS PROBLEM. WHEN WE FINALLY HIT A YEAR I WAS IN THE HOSPITAL WITH A STROKE. EVEN SO I CANCELLED THEM THE DAY I GOT OUT ONLY TO BE TOLD I NEEDED TO CANCEL IN WRITTING AND THEN THEY WOULD CHARGE ME FOR ANOTHER 30 DAYS. I HAD ALREADY CHANGED SERVICES SO THEY ARE CHARGING ME FOR NOTHING SINCE THEY CAN''T POSSIBLY PROVIDE SERVICE. THEY ALSO HAVE NO BILLING OPTIONS OTHER THAN CHARGING YOUR CREDIT CARD, NO ONLINE BILL PAY, NO PAPER BILLS (IN FACT NO ITEMIZED BILL AT ALL, JUST AN EMAIL THAT TELLS YOU THE TOTAL THEY JUST CHARGED TO YOUR CREDIT CARD). I HAD TO CANCEL MY CARD AND JUST FILED A REPORT WITH THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU. THIS IS THE MOST SHODDILY RUN COMPANY I HAVE DEALT WITH AND YOU'D DO BETTER JUST TO THROW YOUR MONEY AWAY THAN GIVE IT TO THEM. AVOID AT ALL COST.
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Review by resist7
Posted: 3.4 years ago
member for 3.4 years, 1 visits, last login: 3.4 years ago
Durham,Durham,NC
$92 per month (12 month contract)
Verizon
CLEC party: Covad
"When you can get them to call you back, the reps are nice."
"Company is powerless to accomplish anything."
"AVOID like the plague."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
|
If you care about reliability and service I recommend not having any provider that saves you $10 a month by reselling another company's service. I've fallen into this trap before and have always been burned. It's particularly bad for me since I run my own sites and being down costs me a lot of money and frustrates my own customers.
I used to be a customer of a local reseller called BritSys that was acquired by dock.net a couple of months ago. The thing I liked about BritSys was that they were local and their techs were very knowledgeable: you could just tell them if a router seemed to be bad in a traceroute, and they would get it fixed immediately, without some tech zombie in Mumbai having to put you through 120 minutes of script to determine that your registry settings are okay.
Since calling dock.net I have had all manner of problems using their tech support. The first problem is availability since they are a west-coast company and their tech support is really only available during business hours PST. They say they have 24-hour tech support, but after business hours you are sent to voice mail, which is never answered, and you are stuck waiting until the next day.
The biggest problem, though, is that there is really nothing that dock.net has the power to do to get your service running. Unfortunately I had a phone line problem that is really Verizon's issue. But therein lies the problem with dock.net: they are the customer, in my case, of Covad, which is a customer of Verizon. They can't call Verizon directly, but need to call Covad. I can't call Covad or Verizon directly to resolve a problem, even if I can see the 150-foot tree that fell and ripped the line off my house. This means that I have to wait 2 weeks for dock.net to call Covad and schedule them to come to my house, then the Covad engineer comes, puts his hands on his hips and says, "wow this is a Verizon problem." Then the Verizon folks get scheduled to come, which takes several more weeks. Before you know it, you have no connection for at least a month and can't get it repaired. In fact, I was down so long that I was able to get another ISP to come and connect me before the other connection came back online, so I just cancelled it.
Another problem is there are no service level agreements in place, and they make no guarantees of service. You have no recourse if it goes wrong. I was down for almost an entire month and still had to pay for the service. They wouldn't prorate it for the period I was down.
Another problem is that you can only have one ticket open at a time, and it must be fully resolved before they can proceed to creating another ticket, even if they could proceed in parallel.
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dock.net
Connection is just decent