When you get a bill clearly showing a zero balance, you think, great, I’m up to date and you pay it. And if the following invoices declare the same? But wait, you’d be in error, at least if you’re a customer of company X. Imagine our surprise when our internet was shut down without warning? No email, phone call or letter in the mail, informing us that we were past due or that our service would be shut off. Flick the switch. OFF!
History
When our internet failed in Oct 2023, I called to discover the problem. Was there a glitch in the system? No, I was loudly and rudely informed that we were shut off. What? And the encounter went downhill rapidly as I was left feeling like a four-year-old being scolded for making a mess. (And as testament, I was sitting next to a friend who heard the entire conversation and was just as appalled by my treatment).
We always pay our bills on time, are debt free and have a superb credit rating. There must be a mistake. No, the irate person on the other end ranted on, there’s no mistake. You’ve been behind for almost a year. Again, what?
When I returned home (I was away for a couple of days), I pulled up my receipts – ZERO balance. Now I was even more confused. If I owed money, wouldn’t it show up on my bill? Then a letter arrived and sure enough, it showed a balance. Evidently, the payment didn’t go through one month, but instead of informing us… I was angry (you would be too) but I paid the amount and moved on. However, I did send them a letter regarding their pathetic invoicing system.
Then, even though our service was reinstated, I was no longer receiving bills, so I contacted the office, and informed them, not once, but twice. No reply! Okay, so I continued to pay my monthly bill online on time, and I kept confirmations for each paid bill.
Fast forward… It’s August 3, 2024, 2 pm, and I notice we don’t have a connection, so, I reboot the router and check for errors. Hmmm, no DNS service. Oh well, things happen now and then. I’ll try again later. Now it’s evening and there is still no internet. Rebooted several more times, and even did a hard reboot. No change. I send in a request for tech support.
“You are shut off for being behind on your bill. The below printout shows when you got behind. Your normal bill is $64.95 minus .50 email. The last three months you were charged a late fee. I will get your service back on. Try to get your bill caught up.”
What’s going on? You tell me. Again, no warning regarding a past due account, nor any customer courtesy notices (I always received before) informing me of price increases. And remember, I sent them two notices explaining that I was no longer receiving a bill.
So, you may be asking, why do I stay? Because we live in a rural area, and currently there are slim pickings in the internet market. I have a business to run, so I paid the $188.72, and got reinstated. And again, I expressed my displeasure, regarding a lack of communication, and their less than stellar invoicing system, that a serious problem remains. Not to mention that dealing with the office is a miserable experience, even on a good day. It’s unfortunate because their internet system rocks, along with their tech support team. But I’m certain they lose (and will continue to lose) a lot of business, due to the former.
