| Avoid Broadstripe I have never ever been as disappointed and unhappy about internet and cable service as I am now as a Broadstripe customer. After wading through almost a year of communication issues and overall dysfunction with Broadstripe’s sales team, I replaced by SDSL and satellite TV service with Broadstripe’s services. The installation of cable took months as miscommunication internally within Broadstripe continued. Initially a gentleman showed up to install my cable and realized there was no central run. Laborers then came out to mark locations of buried objects and then soon after ran the actual cable. After a month of no additional follow-up and a large bundle of copper sitting next to my house, I called Broadstripe to level set my expectations. They had poor records and information about what had been done required an individual to come out and survey the progress. Weeks after this happening, two other gentlemen came out to finish the service installed. After completing their smoke break on the side of my house, they informed me that the service ticket didn’t mention the internet install and that they would need to come back to do that part. I asked them to instead leave and reschedule when they could install what was agreed upon as I was missing work. Weeks later and numerous additional phone calls, technicians again show up to complete the work order. After wrapping half of my house in cable (the individuals who buried the cable put it on the wrong side of the house) and testing the internet and satellite service, I was presented with a document that required me to attest to the installation. I quickly noted the internet service I ordered on the phone, 6MB/sec (extreme package), was not what was noted in the work order. I attempted to sort the confusion out with two separate customer service representatives and after being told the service I was promised was not available in my area, I asked a manager call me back so we could discuss the bait and switch. I never received a call back and don’t expect to. The internet service as a whole is poor at best. The uplink for the aggregation point is saturated during peak hours which rewards the customer with latency times of 500+ms which is would be considered unusable by any standard. After six months of communication with technical support about the issues and being told a myriad of excuses including “it is not our fault”, “there is no way the link is saturated” to “we upgraded the service in your area, it should be fixed”, I am now actively looking for new internet service options. I have asked on three separate occasions to have the area supervisor to call me (Rich is apparently his name) but to no avail. As I write this review, it is using my PDA phone’s internet connection as my Broadstripe internet service is down. Calling the support number informs me they don’t work on the weekends. One has to wonder when they do work. Cable TV service is on par with the internet service. We have channels that disappear, stations that have so much noise I contemplate whether bunny ears would be better, and the latest issue is the set top box periodically and sporadically changes channels.
For those considering service from Broadstripe, I would recommend against it. Service from any number of competitors including Comcast, Qwest, and Verizon are better options. I am strongly considering carrier pigeon to carry internet packets and tin foil bunny ears as competing technologies to the Broadstripe experience. |
