Complaint Review: Suddenlink - Nationwide Internet

Copy of email sent to Mr. Pete Abel of Suddenlink on Tuesday (9 Sep):

Mr. Abel.

I obtained your name from the RipOff website and thought I would share what I'm going through currently with Suddenlink.

My internet connection is iffy at best (I'm now on my third modem this year), and once again I have been unable to check anything at home since Wednesday (3 Sep). On Saturday (6 Sep) I called Suddenlink and put in a request for the Regional service tech to come out. Prior to this Suddenlink continually sent out service technicians who were familiar with video, but unfamiliar with internet.

Suddenlink scheduled me for Monday (8 Sep) (between 7:00 AM and 8:00 PM) and took my cell phone number to call me before they arrived. I waited all day, calling them once to try to nail down a more definite time when they might arrive and also to find out what my course of action would be should they not show up. I was told that basically the only thing I can do if the technician doesn't show up is to reschedule. I continued to wait.

At 8:30 that night I called them back and got one of the rudest people in customer service I've ever spoken with. She tells me I called that day and cancelled the appointment. I cannot tell you at what point I lost control because, you see, this is now the third appointment this year that has mysteriously been cancelled. And then to tell me that the spouse, me, called and cancelled the appointment?

Note: I did have an appointment the week before on 2 Sep and that is the one I cancelled because of scheduling issues, but I did NOT cancel the 8 Sep appointment. I told her that the information in her records was incorrect. She said that I was lying and that there was no way their records were incorrect. After all the chaos I've gone through this year dealing with Suddenlink, the cancelled appointments, the modem installations, the technicians who have no training on the technology they're tasked to work on, the very sketchy internet connections, the runaround every single time I have to call, and then to be told that I was the one who cancelled the appointment? I lost it. I was then hung up on.

I tried to calm down, waited and called back and spoke to a very nice person by the name of Clive who indicated that his records did not reflect that I had cancelled the appointment but that the appointment had in fact been cancelled. He put in a request to the dispatcher for the regional service tech to call me the next day (9 Sep - today) and schedule a time when I would be at my house. He also asked that if I didn't hear anything from anyone by noon that I call again and ask for video -- not internet -- to get to the regional personnel for my area.

Of course no one called so I followed Clive's instructions and called at noon and lo and behold, I'm scheduled for a regular visit (not even the regional technical person who is supposed to know what they're doing), no dispatcher was scheduled to call, no regional technical person is scheduled to visitbut a regular visit with a regular technician who, once again, I'm sure will want to replace my modem -- that is, if he/she shows up at all because it is now 3:00 and still no one has called. I am absolutely appalled by the abhorrent customer service offered by Suddenlink.

Where is the company's commitment to service? In this day and age the only thing a company has to distinguish itself from everyone else is customer service. Suddenlink is a miserable failure.

What is my recourse and what is Suddenlink going to do about my situation?

Mr. Abel referred me to Ms. Turner, a Corporate Customer Care Liaison, who contacted me fairly quickly and asked for my contact information. I supplied it to her and asked that she contact me today (Sep 12), while I wait for the internet tech as well as the cable guy because, as it turns out, when I arrived home on Wednesday I had no cable.

So, it's now 12 Sep at 12:28, and I have heard from no one...again. No internet tech, no video tech, and no call from Johanna Turner.

If you're reading this and have an ounce of common sense, you might as well throw your computer and TV away before you ever sign with Suddenlink. I have worked for two of the largest organizations in the world (one was a financial institution and one was one of the largest healthcare providers) and I have never, ever, ever seen customer service as lacking as this. And most of the customer service representatives could care less. After you sit home all day and wait for a service tech who never arrives, when you call your only recourse is to reschedule. They will not hand you to a manager, they will not give you any additional phone numbers and when you visit their website they give you no information at all. This company, I have to say, is the absolute worst.

CPR

Bridgeport, West Virginia

U.S.A.