Complaint Review: Winchester Wireless - Winchester Virginia

Have you ever tried talking to David Williamson. He wont let you get a word in at all. He considers himself the ultimate salesman. What he is IMHO is a loud mouth bully who, if you do not agree with him will try his best to make you look bad. The WISPA comments WERE true, he paid his dues after someone on this forum called him out.

His poor excuse about BBB responses are a joke. Scared to face the customers who have called him out on his little network that has been patched togather with rubber bands and duct tape. Cudos to the informed customer who stood his ground to David. 

Has anyone seen the posts on the internet that accuse him of not paying for antenna's he used on peoples homes. Im sure since he got them for free the customers did also. Oh that's right, you are not supposed to beleive all you read on the internet unless he (David) writes it. LOL.

http://www.merchantcircle.com/business/Wave2net.540-667-2672/review/read?cid=1146585

Funny how anyone who post's him or his WISP in a poor (accurate) light should not be believed, but when HE types something it the truth. Not all these people are right or wrong, but they should be allowed to speak freely without intimidation about experiences with WW. The use of personal information to call out someone is about as low class as you can get. Greed is good, right David? That is your motto, right? Tell the truth, God is watching.

I do believe he is a leader in our area's boy scouts. OMG, what values is he  instilling in our youth.

It’s a d**n good thing I’ve kept every single trace route, ping, throughput test, and email.  In my opinion, David Williamson is incapable of telling the truth.  I have all 13k plus emails for ANYONE to view. 

David’s “go to” excuse is always something is wrong with your equipment.  I have 14 years working on every type of Internet connection made, ISDN, dial-up, DSL, Satellite, Direct Connect.  I currently reside in Verizon’s Tier 3 Public IP Backbone group.  I have to work on-call and needed an Internet connection that was reliable.  I also expressed a concern about oversubscription.  David assured me his network would work perfect for me.  He even made it a point to show me my throughput speed was like 3 meg down and 1.5 meg up.  That first month, everything worked great.  Then the warranty period expired and the problems began.  We had to reset our equipment a lot at the direction of WW staff.  Then instead of calling, we’d reset it on our own.  Most times it would come back but, then it wasn’t.  After getting tired of hearing it’s my equipment, which cost me over $600.  I loaded software (EMCO Ping Monitor Free) that monitored the egress hops from my connection.  Every time there’s an outage the software would email David and I after a connection was restored.   David was very unhappy that I was looking at his network.  It was then he attempted to conceal the IP addresses of his network.  Never the less I was always able to see the address to whichever radio tower and his IP address to Shentel (204.111.204.5).  Complaints were regular and were done via phone, email, or Facebook.  David would routinely change the way he wanted complaints.  My radio would always stay registered and my PC monitor rarely lost connectivity to whichever tower I was connected to.  To me, this absolved my equipment but, not to David though.   David told my wife that they would come out and troubleshoot my problem.  “That he was giving me a chance to prove him wrong”.   What kind of jack a*s says that to a customer?  My wireless router had already been removed and the rj45 Ethernet connection placed directly into my desk top PC as requested.  David’s employees replaced my radio with a spare but, the outages continued.  David’s next instruction was to move my directional antenna from the Mountain Falls Tower to the Wardensville Grade Tower.   The issue was resolved temporarily.   I asked David didn’t he want to fix whatever was wrong with the Mountain Falls Tower but, he seemed uninterested.   He did that day promise to give me the IP addresses of the physical egress path for my monitoring tool.  It only took him a month to do so.  Then the outages returned.  After 17 months of endless excuses and outages that averaged anywhere from 100-200 a day.  I cancelled his service.   At NO time did David ever offer a refund of $419.99.  His ONLY offer was his $100 buy back, which I refused.  No way would I sell my equipment back to him, so that he could resell it as new to any neighbor of mine.  I refuse to be a part of his con.  David even kicked my wife and I out from the WW Facebook group after I posted evidence that showed his network was having issues.  David would regularly delete Facebook posts that painted WW in any kind of a negative light, and has no problem insulting customers who complain.   The last 4 months we complained all the time via email and phone.  WW staff NEVER once responded to ANY of our complaints.   So David’s statement that I wouldn’t let him on my property to replace my equipment is a huge lie.  It’s become comical about how many people I’ve run into that think David Williamson is a lying thief.  I’m buying a PC at Best Buy for my daughter and their staff needed my address for the warranty.  Up pops the question of Internet Provider.  All agreed that WW sucks.  Next, I’m at a James Wood track meet and met some parents who live in Shawneeland.  Again, same result.  David Williamson and lies lies lies.

 Save your money people.  I found a company named Wilson Electronics (www.wilsonelectronics.com).  They make great equipment that boost cell phone signals.  From there I ordered two antennas and a 4G booster for my smart phones.  My cell phones have unlimited data and I simply turn them into Hotspots.  Be mindful that data and voice use different frequency spectrums which would require you to order two sets of equipment if you wanted to boost both.   In addition each Cellular Provider uses different frequencies as well, and there is no all in one box. 

I find it hilarious that after 5 months.  That David and a couple customers managed rave reviews all within a 24 hour period.   Yeah…not staged at all.  lol

My wife Angie and I have been clients of Winchester Wireless since March 2011. We live on Back Mountain Road near Shawneeland and have been VERY happy with Mr. Williamson and his staff. We initially started with the 900MHz radio on our roof but after a few occassions of slower than desired internet, Mr. Williamson suggested a "line of sight" solution and had his people come out and install a reflector dish and radio at no charge. Since then we've had a very positive experience.

We have had on occassion high usage with NetFlix and my three children using their various devices. My wife and I are self employeed and are on the internet 16 hours a day. When we felt we needed faster speed, we would call and Mr. Williamson or his staff would tweak our radio to improve our performance. On several occassions, the problem was on our end with our wireless router. I have yet to be disappointed with Mr. Williamson's lack of customer service or have ever questioned his integrity.

On a personal note, let me just say that I think everyone who has reported a negative experience should leave it at that and attempt to work the issues out like a grown adult. You have in my business opinion, opened yourselves up to a defamation of character lawsuit. The utilities business is a thankless business. The only time you hear from your customers is when they aren't happy.

Thank you Winchester Wireless for providing exceptional Internet service to my family of five. God Bless!!

Charlie Schrantz

I've been a customer of Winchester Wireless for a few years now. I think this report is a little harsh but not far off. Periods of frequent outages do come and go. Yes, sometimes it is interference from outside sources, and that can't be helped, but sometimes (most frequently for me) it is WW's network. On my segment of the network, the equipment has been chronically oversubscribed. There might be two or three weeks out of the last few years that I've gotten the level of service I think is reasonable. Dave & co. are regularly upgrading the network, but they have either not been able to keep ahead of the customers they keep adding or they have faulty/cheap equipment somewhere. Whatever the reasons, performance of the network in this area is mediocre at best.

As for Dave, I think the fact he outed the original poster by name and included his hometown and place of business says a lot. He does not have the integrity a man in his position should. He will regularly blame your equipment when he knows full well the problem is on his end. I've had my impressions confirmed by a former employee I won't name. He is just a shady business owner.

All that said, Winchester Wireless is better than dialup, and they won't outright steel from you or anything. If you have no other options for Internet access, Winchester Wireless will get you connected. Just don't expect to be blown away, and don't expect to be dealt with honestly. Go in with your eyes open and keep looking for an alternative to pop up. One day they will have competition.

I have had Winchester Wireless service since Jan 2013, and I have to say, I'm delighted!

I'm not online 24/7, but there has been exactly one noticable outage in that time, and it lasted just a few minutes. I am finally able to use VPN from my rural location, and it performs flawlessly.

The installation was expensive, but it has been well worth it. I spent about the same amount of money for a satellite internet service several years ago, and the monthly fee as twice that as I pay now, it was slow, and outages were frequent. At the time, that was pretty much the only option.

I can't speak to how well Winchester Wireless solves problems - because I haven't had any.

We have had this service for about 4 years now. Usually it works great. We watch Netflix movies without interruption, download music, play video games, etc... It works fine. There have been times when the signal is briefly lost, but this seems to be a rare event. We live in a rural area with no cable or DSL option. I switched to Winchester Wireless from another provider in the area, and the service with WW is definately better. I had poor service once. Turns out a strong wind storm had moved my antenna / receiver box. I called WW; they ran some tests from their office to trouble shoot the issue, it didn't work, so they came out the next day and fixed the problem. I thought that was good service. The owner, Dave, has never been mean or unprofessional. I usually dont get involved on posts like this, but the complaints seemed over the top. 

We actually are a member of WISPA.  Please feel free to visit http://www.wispa.org and research for yourself.  Furthermore, please feel free to contact WISPA via telephone or email to inquire about our company.  You may even inquire about me, David Williamson, personally to the WISPA staff.  They will know who I am and I am quite confident will not give you a negative report about me or our company.

Yes, there is a code of ethics, both with WISPA and in life itself.  Our companies strives to maintain its integrity in everything we do.  Unfortunately, some customers can be very unreasonable and unwilling to work with providers, and that is just the nature of utility based industries.  I am sure we have all met people in life in the past that were not easy to work with or be around, so everyone knows the personality type I am referring to.

If you have any doubts about this "smoke and mirrors" regarding WISPA, please contact them and make your inquiry.  We have nothing to hide.  Do your own due diligence, and do not believe everything you read on the internet.

Thanks,

David Williamson

Owner

Winchester Wireless

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First, Winchester Wireless would like to thank Mr. David F**** for his response.  His location on Bluebird Trail in Winchester, VA is in a good place to receive our signal.  In fact, we have many customers in his community, including the president of his property owner's association, who also happens to be an adjunct IT professor at the local community college.  I was happy to work with Mr. F**** initially, and welcomed his feedback, both good and bad.  

We had a service call to his home and repointed him to a new tower.  This did not seem to help his problem, so I wanted to come back out onsite to replace his equipment.  He refused to let us back on his property to replace the equipment because he was "convinced" that the problem was not with the equipment on his roof, even though this replacement of equipment would have cost him $0.  

Mr. F**** is an IT professional with Verizon, and so felt in many cases that he knew more than we did about IT, and therefore felt that we were just making "excuses" instead of trying to solve the problem.  We have been doing this for a long time, and we have a process to go through when determining what is causing a problem for a particular customer.  The next step in his process was to replace his equipment, but when he refused to let us on the property to do so we were left with nothing else we could do to further assist him.

Once we had reached an impass, I offered Mr. F**** a full buyback on his equipment, which would have been $399.99 + tax = $419.99.  I put an expiration of 7 days for him to accept my offer.  He never responded, and instead he opted to file a BBB complaint to try to say he wanted a FULL refund, even though he had been on service many months with our company.  Once my offer had expired, he soon after contacted our office to cancel service.  We terminated his account at his request.  We offered our standard $100 buyback at that time, but the customer never responded either way.

It is unfortunate that Mr. F****'s problem was not resolved, but we attempted to do what we know we needed to do, in the order it needed to be done, to try to resolve his issue.  When he refused to allow us further access onto the property to replace ALL of the equipment at $0 cost to him as the customer, there was nothing more we could offer him.

This circumstance has been an exception to the rule in our overall customer satisfaction.  However, as it is in all utility industries, it is only the unsatisfied customers that post "any feedback" at all on the internet.  The fact remains that we have hundreds of customers in the surrounding Winchester/Frederick and Clarke county area and are always glad to offer telephone numbers and email addresses of customers in a prospective customer's local area, so they can speak with actual customers using our services, and get unbiased feedback from current customers.

Please do not make a decision to avoid our company solely based on what you read on the internet.  Take the time to call us, and further, seek me out directly and speak with me either via phone or in person at our office located at 2979 Valley Avenue in the city of Winchester, VA.  I will be glad to talk with you at length regarding your needs, and your concerns.

Mr. Funk, I am very sorry that your problem was not resolved.  I wish you all the best with your MiFi device that you migrated to, and I am glad it is working out for you.  In the future, I recommend that you allow a provider to do their job and do not prohibit them from their troubleshooting steps.  Despite what you may think of me as a person or us as a company, you do not do our specific job on a daily basis, and we do know what we are doing.  None of our customers have ANY CONTRACT, so if our service and customer service are as bad as you claim, we would already be out of business.

As for the comment about the BBB rating being an "F", yes, that is true - here is why:  We do not respond to BBB complaints as a company.  If a customer cannot WALK INTO OUR OFFICE and actually set an in-person appointment to meet with me directly to resolve their problem, then when I get a BBB complaint coming through the mail, it just gets filed in their folder in a file cabinet and the BBB never hears anything from us.  I am not really concerned about our BBB rating, because customers can make up their own mind by trying our service, talking to us on the phone, coming into our office, talking to other current customers on service, reading about the specific technology we deploy or just trusting their instincts after doing all of the above.

Winchester Wireless is a division of Custom Computers and Custom Computers has been in business since 1990 in Winchester, VA.  We haven't been in business for 23 years by employing unethical business practices. We stand behind our prodcuts and services in everything we do, so long as the customer allows us to do our job. 

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Yeah, you might be right about the con artist bit. He isn't very professional from my experience, either. Man is so money hungry, he'd try to sell you the shirt he was wearing if he'd think you'd buy it.

If you read the other Ripoff Reports on Winchester Wireless, you see he even posts the names of the customers he thinks are complaining about them, which violates the TOS of this website in the first place.

That's low class.

But, interesting thing, though,

If you look up their website, WinchesterWireless.com, the front page claims to be a member of WISPA.

You might be curious what that is.

Well, it apparently stands for Wireless Internet Service Providers Association.

Turns out, they have a Code of Ethics.

http://wispa.cms.memberfuse.com/code-of-ethics

The very first Article states

"Members will regard as confidential all information concerning the business and affairs of clients with whom we are dealing in our professional relationships."

Of course, this is blatantly broken as soon as he sees a chance to one-up someone on the Internet, I guess.

Oh, and not to mention that if you search WISPA's member database, Winchester Wireless does not show up at all.

http://wispa.cms.memberfuse.com/member-directory

So, not only is he guilty of questionable ethics with personal information, the claim that his business is a member of WISPA is a blatant lie.

Also, you might be wondering what are the requirements for joining WISPA?

Best I can figure, the requirement to join is: $325 a year.

Maybe there is another reason why he isn't listed though? :)

Still though, I'm sure WISPA probably doesn't want this guy selling service with their name anywhere near it. SWIM could possibly drop them a line on these misdeeds.

Oh, and probably you should share your report somewhere. Like Facebook or whatever.

Outages are currently up to around 200 a day on weekends.  No return calls on all forms of complaints.  In my opinion, David Williamson https://www.facebook.com/DavidBrettWilliamson is a thief and liar.  Save your time and money and stay away from this con-man.