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Review by ae
Posted: 9.2 years ago
(review was emailed from domain wppi.com)
 Washington,District Of Columbia,DC
 $379 per month (12 month contract)
 "None"
 "No service of any kind from either tech support or customer service"
 "When you have a problem, don't call on Us. (CAIS new slogan)"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
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We ordered a 1.1/1.1 SDSL line thru CAIS over 2 months ago. CAIS has the worst
customer service & tech support departments I have ever dealt with! No one returns
your phone call, not even when you leave a message for a Manager. When you do get
someone on the phone, they inform you that you need to e-mail your request to someone
else instead of trying to help fix the problem.
First, we were sent about 5 different install dates and on each install day we
receive notice from COVAD that it has been rescheduled. O.K. not CAIS fault. Once we
got the line installed and the COVAD tech brought the router, the router was bad and
we could not speak to COVAD and were told to speak to our ISP CAIS. It took CAIS over
a week to even write up a dispatch to have COVAD deliver a new router! The following
week we had a new router delivered by a COVAD technician to our office in Washington,
D.C.
Second, we spoke to Mrs. Stefani Redmond about transferring our 8 domain names to
CAIS. To prevent any serious problems with the transfer, we want to do one domain
transfer at a time so we can be assured that each one goes smoothly. It a week later
since NetworkSolutions updated the DSN information but CAIS has yet to generated an
"A" record or an "MX" record for the domain! Can not get to anyone and I have sent
e-mails and left voice-messages to everyone I can possible reach. Even tech support
is not of any help. They ask you to e-mail DSN Admin which have not yet responded to
any of my e-mails or fixed the problem.
All I know is that we are paying $379 per month for 1.1/1.1 SDSL line and CAIS has
done a really horrible job. Prior to CAIS we had PotomacNetworks (who uses Bell
Atlantic) and we were getting better service but unfortunately PotomacNetworks only
offer ADSL service.
Well, it's time to find a new ISP and hope the next one is better than CAIS. I should
have suspected something earlier in the process when every time I called a new rep
they all had different phone numbers and the numbers kept on changing every several
weeks. As a final advise, do not go with CAIS as a DSL provider at any cost. You will
regret you ever did!!!
Pre Sales information: ***
Install Co-ordination: ZERO
Connection reliability: **
Tech Support: Big ZERO
Mail,DNS,News etc: ZERO
Value for money: ZERO
Steve West
sw@wppi.com
Washington Photography Productions, Inc. (WPPI)
Corporate site: »www.wppi.com
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Review by Theoden 
UPDATED: 9.3 years ago
member for 9.5 years, 42 visits, last login: 8.2 years ago
Fort Worth,Tarrant,TX
$99 per month (24 month contract)
"Sounds too good to be true!"
"It IS !"
"Better be ready for a long, slow connection."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
|
As sent to CAIS on 1 August:
I am trying to make sure that the people who need to see this information
will see it. I have dealt with several people over the last few days, and
nothing seems to be making it into the call notes.
On Tuesday, 25 July, a Covad tech came out to my site to install the DSL
router. I was out of the office due to a death in the family, but I assumed
that there would be no problem. I was wrong. The tech managed to
disconnect our current DSL service, tap into that (now dead) line, and
announced that the local Telco had to come out to check their installation
before he could proceed.
When I go to back to the office, I saw what the tech had done to disconnect
us and corrected that. I tried to call CAIS and Covad to alert them to the
fact that a Southwestern Bell service call was not needed, and was told that
there was nothing anyone could do to get around the open trouble ticket - I
would have to wait for SW Bell. So I waited.
SW Bell came out on Thursday, 27 July, and checked their installation, and
agreed that the line the Covad tech had tried to use was not the correct
one. Since their line was working, they reported to Covad that the problem
was 'corrected'.
The same tech came out on 28 July to again try to install the DSL router.
After I showed him the correct circuit to use, he spent as great deal of
time trying to get the router to connect to Covad. After bringing in two
other routers, he finally got a 52K up / 160K down connection (as measured
through DSLReports.com). He was connected by his laptop through the console
at that point, and insisted that he was not required to check the connection
to any other PC - he had a connection and that was all he had to do.
After calling CAIS to get a DNS address (which Binky the Wonder Tech
couldn't provide) I tried to connect a PC through the router and could not
get the two devices to communicate. I called back to CAIS and walked
through a few steps with the tech, who conferenced us in with Covad to try
to resolve the problem. The bottom line was that the problem needed to be
opened as a trouble ticket, and there should be an update within 24 hours.
Monday morning, 31 July, I called CAIS to see what the notes indicated about
my case. There was a note that I had called Friday, but nothing new was in
the call record. I explained the situation to the tech, and was assigned
trouble ticket # 38969. I was told that a tech would call me back within a
few hours to try some more troubleshooting over the phone. After several
hours I called to see what was going on, since I had not heard from anyone.
The tech I spoke with looked at the notes and indicated that we needed to
send an e-mail to Covad to escalate the problem, and there should be an
update within 24 hours. I heard him typing as we spoke, and he assured me
that he was sending the e-mail at that point, and adding to the notes he had
onscreen. I was told to call back on Tuesday.
When I called back on Tuesday, 1 August, I spoke with the same tech (or at
least one with the same name who sounded like the tech I spoke with on
Monday). He indicated that the trouble ticket for this installation had
been opened last week - on the 25th - and that there were no notes to
indicate what had been done since then. I explained the situation to him,
and gave him the trouble ticket number. His response, after getting a
manager on the phone with me for a very brief time, was to send Covad an
e-mail indicating that this situation needed to be escalated. I am supposed
to call back tomorrow to see what is being done about my connection.
It has been a week since the tech first showed up. It has been 4 days since
I first reported that the service was not working. I am now supposed to
give you "24 hours" to respond - the third "24 hours" that you have
requested. And every time I call, I get the pleasure of explaining the
situation all over again. This is not acceptable.
I asked the tech to add to the call notes today, and in light of the notes
he "added" on Monday I feel compelled to write this letter. The notes I
asked him to add were: This delay is unacceptable, and if the service is not
working by 5:00 CDT on Thursday, 3 August, the contract will be cancelled.
I cannot believe that I am going to get support when my office needs it, if
you cannot even get the connection working after 10 days. I do not know if
this is a CAIS problem or a Covad problem, but I know that as an ISP you are
the ones that are supposed to handle things for me. If you cannot even get
Covad to respond to you with an update, much less a solution, then you are
not the ISP for my business.
**************END OF E-MAIL TO CAIS***********************
2 August, 2000
I got a call from CAIS this morning indicating that COVAD had confirmed the line. I still could not connect, and spent 4 hours calling CAIS and being told that they would call me back. I finally got in touch with Regina in the tech department, who informed me that she could not ping the router, so COVAD did not have the line working. I was again referred to Customer Care, as the tech folk do not handle 'lack of service' issues - only connectivity issues when the line is working.
***More details (and a somewhat happy ending)***
After escalating to a supervisor and explaining the situation, Mr Jason Smith got me in touch with Paul at Covad. After explaining the situation to him, and discussing the possible solutions, Paul checked the router from his side. Even though it was not visible from the outside world, the COVAD world could see it. Paul checked the router's settings, and corrected the settings that were wrong. Eureka! There IS an internet!
Now if we can get the connect speed above 100, we will be doing good!
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Review by sekou21
Posted: 9.3 years ago
member for 9.3 years, 1 visits, last login: 9.3 years ago
New York,New York,NY
 Business customer
$99 per month (24 month contract)
"cheapest deal for 192K"
"horrible tech support"
"cross your fingers and hope for a smooth install"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
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i ordered 192K/192K for my office of six people.
firstly, they provided us with a great deal and an amazingly more efficient solution to our increasing web-based needs than using three of our five phone lines for dial-up connection. we paid $99 per month with no equipment or installation fees, which saved us about $700 with our 2 year contract. they said the entire process should take between four - six weeks. this would have been fine, i was patient. but, it ended up taking about four months. between "load coils" on the line, cancelled orders, re-orders, unreturned phone calls, two separate installing entities who had no idea what the other was doing, and a tech support center with a total of one regional representative and one sales rep, it was probably the most frustating process of my life. everything has been pretty smooth so far as a result of my not having to deal with anybody there for the last three weeks. i hope i never have to contact any of them anytime soon. the only other problem is that i ran the speed test and i'm only receiving 145/160 at best.
Sekou
New York, NY
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Review by yosarian
Posted: 9.3 years ago
member for 9.7 years, 19 visits, last login: 6.6 years ago
Arlington,Arlington,VA
Business customer
$120 per month (24 month contract)
"Helpful, reliable tech support"
"Billing department needs to return calls and answer emails"
"My first and last choice for service"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
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[I waited 4 months to post this to make sure I wasn't jumping the gun regarding my satisfaction. My high level of satisfaction has not changed since I got the service.]
I have been a CAIS dialup customer since 1995 and when I found I could finally (!)
go to DSL in my area, CAIS was the first ISP that I called. It didn't really matter to
me who was the DCLEC, as long as it was CAIS as the ISP. The pre-sales staff
was paitent, knowledable and extremely helpful when I had follow up questions.
(I order the Biz Service-SDSL 192kbps u/d for about $120/month-Static IP with 6 more available)
They strongly encouraged me to have other vendors contact me. Most of their
competetors were clueless. When Bell Atlantic had to ground work near my CO,
CAIS called right away to inform me that my install date may be pushed back (it
wasn't). When there was a scheduling snafu with Covad, CAIS handled it called
COVAD (at 10:30pm, on a Sunday night even!) and COVAD had someone at my
apartment when they had originally promised. It took the technician about 1 hour to
do all the work and set up the router. The speeds are as promised (80% of
192-24/7), I occasionally experience network burps, but they are during normal
rush hours and are to be expected.
I am very happy with CAIS and the level of support I have received and I would
refer them to anyone considering going to a new ISP.
My one problem is with billing. I have been receiving my monthly bills each month,
but I also receive a seperate bill for dial-up, but the amount owed is something
strange like "$-950" or "$-970". I have called twice and emailed twice. No luck.
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Review by (hidden by request)
Posted: 9.4 years ago
(review was emailed from domain xcelerate.com)
Atlanta,Fulton,GA
$99 per month (24 month contract)
"MediaOne finally has cable modems here"
"I can't believe real companies do this"
"My dog has better organizational skills"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
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In early April I called CAIS about home DSL. I thought I would get a business-class SDSL line for higher uptime, static IPs, etc. $99 for 192K SDSL (I'm 2.2 miles from CO) So I was told 4-6 weeks. Six weeks later I call them and I'm guessing that my account rep, Dave Motz, neglected to enter me in the system or something - I was told another 4-6 weeks. About that time I received an invoice for the installation which made me laugh. I did not laugh last week (July) when I got an invoice for SDSL service for the previous three months. I'm trying to get in touch with their billing department now (only voicemail). Thank God this was just for personal use and not one of my customers. MediaOne called me (!) and told me they'd be out within the week. It's not business-class SDSL but it's also half the price (I will probably like it better than 192K - ISDN-and-a-half). I hope CAIS does not survive in the Atlanta market as their service is the worst I've ever come across.
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Review by (hidden by request)
Posted: 9.5 years ago
(review was emailed from domain lycos-inc.com)
Lexington,Middlesex,MA
$95 per month (24 month contract)
"excellent uptime, excellent interactive packet speeds, very good throughput"
"reliance on cavad means inability to provide support when covad is down hard"
"very good value"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
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I've had CAIS now for 3 to 4 months. In general, I am very happy with
the service. Score 9 out of 10.
It took about 6 weeks to get the line installed which they said was due
to Bell Atlantic scheduling. Once BA finished their side the Covad tech
was there the next day and I was online that afternoon.
I do not yet have uptime graphs but I would say they've achieved at
least 95% up time. There was one pretty bad day about 6 weeks ago where
all Covad east coast customers were FUBAR without which it would be
closer to 99%.
I go interactive to home from work quite often and the connection is
amazingly good. Transfers via web, ftp, ssh, etc. easily achieve 80-90%
of the promised bandwidth, which given TCP and routing issues is very
good.
My only complaint which probably is common with similar Covad resellers
is that when there is a Covad network outage, it is _very_ hard to get a
hold of tech support. Even messages to their voice mail have gone
unanswered.
Since I do not use any of their services aside from the packets, I have
no experience with less experienced user tech support questions.
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Review by acalmes
Posted: 9.5 years ago
(review was emailed from domain his.com)
Silver Spring,Montgomery,MD
Business customer
$99 per month (24 month contract)
"Determination to keep a customer satisfied"
"Account management system communications"
"Ready to back up its good reputation"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
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Re-Review of Cais Business-class Hyperlan 192 SDSL
Yesterday, 5/22/00, I rated Cais low.
Today, I received a call from the topmost technical support manager at
Cais -- apparently, I had not reached that high, before I fired off my
dsl report. He had read the report and sincerely sought to fix the
problem.
Now, I rate Cais high on striving to assure the quality of 100% customer
satisfaction, even though I will have to wait for re-installation of my
line, since I had canceled the service, when I thought nothing was being
done. That is probably just as well, because, apparently, the circuit
was missing or lost.
I'm impressed that Cais technical support is trying hard to rectify the
situation. I appreciate the fact that it is tough to keep everything
coordinated when there are partners and third parties involved, such as
Covad and Bell Atlantic, as well as Cais and myself. I have confidence
that Cais will take on the coordination responsibility, not pass off
blame to a partner or third party, and restore my service as soon as
possible.
Stay tuned.
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Review by (hidden by request)
Posted: 9.5 years ago
(review was emailed from domain his.com)
Silver Spring,Montgomery,MD
Business customer
$99 per month (24 month contract)
"Netopia Router"
"Account Management, Technical Support, DNS Administration"
"Not a quality service"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
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Review of Cais Business-class Hyperlan 192 SDSL
I rate Cais low on all points, except preparing a two-year contract
quickly.
I ordered the service on March 17, 2000. It was installed by Covad on
April 7. It worked great from April 7 until May 3. It stopped on May 3
and never came back up. It is now May 22.
Cais does not provide adequate customer support. Contrary to the
company's claim to have total quality management to assure 100% customer
satisfaction, I experienced no kind of quality control to assure my
satisfaction. Phone calls and emails to my account manager went
unanswered. When I got a few responses many days late, the answer did
not relate to the question. My service went down thirty days after
installation. I had thirty days up and approaching thirty days down.
My two-year contract allowed me to get out within the first sixty days
from installation, with a ten day advance notice. Consequently, when my
service reached fifty days, I had no alternative but to request
termination. I did not even get an acknowledgment to quit much less any
effort on Cais's part to keep me a customer. I got nothing. Why my
line went down, I never knew. I got various responses from Cais
technical support, including a rat ate the line, Covad can't find my
circuit, and, finally, line-pair mismatch. Cais blamed Covad and Covad
blamed Bell Atlantic and finally Covad and Bell Atlantic blamed Cais.
My contract was with Cais and I expected Cais to own-up to the
responsibility and do something about it. I discovered that Cais failed
to put in the paperwork to Bell Atlantic to reestablish a matched
circuit until many days after my service went down and only after I
complained to the Head of Cais Tech Services and the Chief of Cais
Account Management. Promises to get back to didn't happen.
I see Cais has changed its offering, increased prices and shortened the
initial term of guarantee to thirty days. I would be afraid to try Cais
under these circumstances.
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Review by marcg
Posted: 9.6 years ago
(review was emailed from domain dsli.com)
Miami,Miami-Dade,FL
$79 per month
"Service, Service, Service"
| Pre Sales information:
|
I would like to recommend CAIS Internet to anyone who is looking for
high quality of customer service. Unfortunately, I can not, firsthand,speak of the actual DSL service that they provide. This is because Bell South
totally screwed myself, CAIS, and it seems Covad in my neighborhood of
Coconut Grove, FL. This review, though, will not focus on those
negatives, but the high quality of service that I received from CAIS.
Specifically the credit goes to Mr. Bharat Jhamvar, who really held my
hand, taught me many thing regarding DSL, and did everything in his
power to try to provide me with service. He was always there to answer
my many questions, and never made me feel stupid. Most of all though,
he tried everything under the sun to get me up and running. In
addition, Derek Gillespie did a great job on the sales side, also always
answering my questions and returning all calls. Unfortunately Bell
South put too many obstacles in their way and I, therefore had to go
with another provider and ISP (which is, or will be, reviewed
elsewhere).
Even though I can not speak of CAIS as an actual ISP, since I am not
able to use them, I do have a friend who uses them and is very happy.
My hat's off to Bharat Jhamvar! CAIS should feel very lucky to have him
on their team.
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Review by Scott77
Posted: 9.6 years ago
member for 9.6 years, 3 visits, last login: 9.6 years ago
Flushing,Queens,NY
$99 per month (24 month contract)
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
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Hello, My Name Is Scott. I ordered the 192k service for $99 a month. My Sales Rep, Eric, was great and helpful he set me up with the greatest Account Manager, Stephanie. The process was a good experience. I received a free Flowpoint 2200 Router and Free Installation with a bunch of IP Addresses. The technical support office is great, much better than COVAD's. The only bad part of the installation was Bell-Atlantic's delivery of the loop. My Account Manager was an expert at handling the red tape they kept throwing up. I recommend them highly. E-mail me if you need more details.
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ARDENT COMMUNICATIONS -- formally known as CAIS
