Re: [Plug] the voicenet/dsl saga

[Andrew White <andrew@white.com>]

Hi Jason,

I have no experience with Voicenet in particular, but we (DCANet) sell DSL
access as well.  We use Covad, Northpoint, Bell Atlantic, and Conectiv to
deliver the lines.  All of the line providers, Bell included, are very
slow to install.  The fastest that we've seen a circuit go from order to
install was 45 days, and the worst are over two months old!

I expect that the process will become more streamlined as Bell gets more
experienced with delivering and conditioning DSL-grade copper pairs, and
as Covad and others get over some their growth pains.

The good news is that DSL is great once you have it!  I can never go back
to dialup nor ISDN.

-Andrew



On Fri, 10 Sep 1999, Jason S. wrote:

> The voicenet DSL saga continues. I'm sitting here looking at my 
> worthless contract, wondering what on earth possessed me to pay
> $700 in advance 3 months ago. The date on the contract is
> 6-24-99. 
> 
> Covad is running the lines. At the begining of the month, I checked
> their website for availabilty and according to them, it wouldnt be
> until the 9th (at least). Now, why is it that I could find that info
> in 2 minutes, yet voicenet felt the need to lie to me, then trap
> me by claiming "cancelation fee" when I asked for my money back
> earlier in the month? So I sit and wait.
> 
> When a friend in my area tried to get DSL from concentric they were 
> initially told it was available. Later, they were told it wasnt, the
> contract was canceled, and no money changed hands. They were pretty
> much told "Sorry, we cant do this now, contact us in a couple months"
> This was back in june.
> 
> When I called, they said yes, 30-40 day install time "blah blah"....
> its been almost 90. Now I can spend a bunch of $$ on a lawyer to 
> get back money I should never have spent in the first place.
> 
> I just attempted to call to find out the status of my order around
> 4:30. I doubt I'll hear back. "The Person" I need to talk to was "on the
> phone". Evidently there's one all knowing person that can answer the 
> question of "When can I expect service?". I guess monday morning I'll 
> try to call one last time. At this point I dont even want the service. 
> They've already broken the contract by not installing the service in 
> a timely manner.
> 
> If you're considering Voicenet, dont bother. This reminds me more of a
> bad racket than a serious business. I've absolutely no desire to support
> a business that flat out lies to its customers. When I called at the
> begining of the month to cancel, I was warned that "if you cancel now,
> there will be a cancelation fee. You're very close to having it 
> installed, you should just wait it out". When I aske how much the 
> fee was, it was "several hundred dollars". So I guess its a good 
> thing I'm patient. Otherwise I'd have to pay a bunch of money for a 
> service I never recieved.
> 
> Maybe other people have other experiences. But I just felt like sharing
> mine.
> 
> J.
> 
> When I grow up, I wanna be more like me.
> I had a clue. I didn't like it. I took it back and exchanged it for an
> attitude.  
> 
> 
> 
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