Cincinnati Bell → Re: Cin Bell Fioptics Oversold and terrible customer service

I am curious how it all went. I am moving to another house about 2 miles away. That neighborhood has Fioptics and TWC. So I asked my buddy who had Fioptics installed how his service was. Well the guy is a retired CBT employee and he said it is a cluster foxtrot. For almost two weeks the service has not worked properly. Sometimes the phone works, sometimes it doesn't. At times all they can get is HBO and nothing else. They promised him the same thing with DVRs and he found out there is not enough bandwidth. He has been on the phone with them all the time and no one seems to know what they are doing. Apparently he said the support is outsourced.

No wonder CB is in such a mess. On the wireless/cell phone side of the house they are losing customers like crazy. How Bell stays in business is kind of a mystery. After what now, four years, they still cannot seem to get Fioptics working right and properly supported?

People used to think TWC was garbage, I guess not so much now when you compare it to Cincinnati Bell Fioptics.

Check whether the new location has real fiber to the premises/home or whether it is fiber to the node. The easiest check is which internet download speeds are offered online - if 50 & 100 down then it is fiber to the home.

Fiber to the home has none of the problems associated with restricted bandwidth and/or variable interference on VDSL (fiber to the node). The remaining potential issues could be:

STB software not as nice as some but fairly serviceable now.
DVR functionality seems problematic on *some* ZTE STBs - hard to tell if that is early units or not.

Cincinnati Bell do not insist on a contract so you it is always possible to test it and return if unhappy.

Fioptics has been beaten up a bit on this forum but it is probably true to say that many complaints are related to:

1) The offshore call center.
2) The STB box software.
3) The (often unpredictable) performance problems associated with VDSL (problems which other Telcos have also had with the technology).

1) is being addressed by moving jobs back to Cincinnati. Customer service seems to be USA based now although some tech/repair is still abroad - with more moving back.
2) has been addressed to some extent and hopefully there will be more improvements in the pipeline.
3) is being addressed by CB making a substantial investment in fiber to the premises as mentioned on other threads.

I am actually very pleased to see CB moving towards covering the area in fiber to the premises rather than getting dragged into vectored DSL (see below) and such band aid solutions - so credit where credit is due. A very wide fiber deployment is underway and the design is based on a pure IP platform - a great platform on which they can build new service offerings rather than sinking more money into ramming digital data down aged telephone lines.

I recognise that a positive post about CB/Fioptics may be treated with some suspicion - but check my previous posts. And for the record - yes - I am a network engineer and no I do not work for CB or any affiliate.

Now if I could just find a /28 IP range on their price list for $20/month like Comcast and see signs of an IPv6 beta test I would be so happy!!!!!

Want to know about vectored DSL? »www.ospmag.com/issue/art ··· l-rescue

Well let's see....I have been on my At&t wireless phone for appx 35 minutes now trying to resolve an ongoing issue with CINCINNATI BELL FIOPTICS!!! CURRENTLY on hold while waiting for the 2nd or 3rd "Fioptics Retention" department! Now that is customer service at it's finest! And as for Katie, yes I have spoken to Katie way back in ohhh January or February of this year, and she did at least get a rep out to our home to get the service to stay on for more then an hour at a time before it would go down...yes, every 25-45-65 minutes or so the service would need to be "rebooted" which meant I would need to go around our community (12 unit building condo's consisting mainly of older couples-myself one of the young peeps here @ a not so healthy 57 years old & disabled) I'd crawl around behind their dusty old televisions & unplug & plug & repeat until I could get the service going! I love my neighbors, dearly...bring them lights when it thunders etc., but the experience with Cincinnati Bell Fioptics practically destroyed 18 years of great friendships as I felt used & abused! Finally Katie got that resolved.BUT NO RESOLUTION AS to why my BILL IS MORE THEN DOUBLE THE PRICE ADVERTISED!.....HUM, IT IS NOW 4:57 P.M. AND I AM STILL ON HOLD & I DO BELIEVE NO ONE WILL EVER COME TO THE PHONE, GUARANTEE THAT THE USUAL SITUATION IS GOING ON; "CALL CUSTOMER SERVICE TO MAKE PAYMENT ARRANGEMENTS....Get a gent who's absurd if he thinks I believe his name is "Charlie" then "Carlos" & then " Tommy" with an accent that sounds exactly like the guy from Korea Air! Anywho...the call goes on to: Charlie tells me 2-3 lies & transfers me to Carlos? This is a new name? A Hispanic in an Asian Call Center? Could be I guess, after all I worked at a call center & I know we had many ethnic groups working in our building...but then again, in Kentucky at the Center I worked at, From the 1st day I walked in the building; TRUTH, HONESTY, INTEGRITY, RULES, REGULATIONS, ALL OF THESES THINGS WERE STRESSED & FOLLOWED & IF NOT YOU WERE OUT THE DOOR, this is how we are supposed to do business in America, is ''CINCINNATI BELL NO LONGER IN AMERICA"?? THEY ADVERTISE $59.99 TOTAL PACKAGE BUT CHARGE ME $132 A MONTH & TURN OFF MY SERVICE IF I DONT PAY ! CAN SOME ONE TELL ME HOW IS THAT LEGAL?? HEY CHARLIE!!! YOU CHEAT ME !!! AND YOU LIE TO ME !! AND NOW YOU PUT ME ON HOLD FOR OVER AN HOUR & TWENTY MINUTES & NEVER COME BACK & I WAS VERY VERY VERY NICE TO YOU ! NEVER SAID A BAD WORD ....WAS KIND & THIS IS HOW YOU TREAT ME???? Any one else out there been treated like this????? MommaNancy in Bridgetown

In the conversation that lasted nearly 2 hours (most of the time on hold waiting to be transferred to a mythical "retention" specialist" I was told the reason they were unable to help me was due to the fact that I had "Wire Care" on my account. Wire Care, is the additional $5-$10 dollars a month I guess they tagged on without my consent, saying that if anything goes wrong with the "wires" in the condo I live in the company will not charge me to come out & fix! "Carlos said that is a contract & can not be changed! Hey Carlos! I went with Cin Bell because I did not want a contract, I would not agree with a stupid wire care contract to begin with & that is the most lame excuse to date for the overcharge of more then double the agreed & "advertised" price at the time! YOUR COMPANY IS TAKING ADVANTAGE OF A DISABLED WOMEN WITH A SICK HUSBAND & MOTHER THAT SUFFERED THAT WENT THROUGH THE DEATH OF LOVED ONES & EXPLAINED THAT TO YOU AS TO WHY WE HAVE TAKEN TIME TO GET BACK TO YOU! YOUR COMPANY IS THE WORSE I HAVE EVER HAD TO DEAL WITH IN MY ENTIRE LIFE! LIARS & THIEVES!!...........Sorry my dear jduffy, i just get so very overwhelmed when I think how they have just stolen from me for 7 months now & refuse to even talk to me & make a total fool of me, & if I don't pay; ruin my credit! MommaNancy in tears & disabled in Cincy

I have been with Fioptics since it first arrived in Fairfield back in 2009 or 2010.
I have been a TiVo customer for years. With the exception of PPV, we have had no issues. Although we are not on TV over IP, bandwidth for channels is not an issue. We have the 6 tuner TiVo and a Mini for our whole home solution. We only need 1 cablecard for the six tuners. Nothing but praise from Fioptics.

I did and all I can get is 30M Internet. I already knew that they do not have fiber to the houses there. Actually, if people think the Internet is solid, I may go with Fioptics Internet and DirecTV. That way there would be no contention for bandwidth. Can anyone comment on just the Internet?

As long as the VDSL circuit does not have excessive noise/errors the internet service is good on Fiopics FTTN.

I have the 30m Fioptic solution running over VDSL. VERY VERY happy after 13 yrs of RR Internet.
%u201CI work for Cincinnati Bell and we have an active Social Media Team. If you have ANY issue submit it here:»tinyurl.com/CBSocialSupport or email cincinnati.bell@fuse.net, our social media team will help you.%u201D