Atlantic Broadband - Delmar

Review: My boyfriend has had Atlantic Broadband around 20 years. It has continued to escalate in price while delivering a very substandard product. In March we had an additional phone line installed, due to my job converting me to telework. It was at that time that I spoke to the technician and the guy he had on the line for trouble shooting about the fact that we were paying for the highest internet available, but continually got booted off daily, especially from dinner on, and it was extremely slow. I was informed that while we were paying for the highest internet speed available, we were never provided the modem that would support that speed. So we have been paying for years for a higher internet speed that no matter what, we would not be able to receive. My boyfriend had called about this issue several times in the last year, only to be told that it was our router or the lines inside the house. At no time would they come out to check and see what the actual problem was. So once we got the bill of almost $400 for cable, tv and phone he called to get his bill reduced. He was told that the bundle he had was expired and obsolete. It was at this time that he scheduled to have them come out and change the modem, and cable so that we would qualify for a new bundle that would lower our monthly bill. It was scheduled for May 7th. The technician called at 6pm that night to say that he wasn't going to make it. He asked if he could come the next day. We could not make that happen that late in the game. My boyfriend is self-employed and had to take a day off of work that he doesn't get reimbursed for and all for nothing. So he received his bill again and called today to speak to someone about lowering his bill. He was told that it was his fault that it was never lowered because HE didn't call back to re-schedule. He wasn't the one who didn't keep the appointment, they were. This company has no clue what customer service is because they are the only game in town and if we want cable/internet/phone we have to go through them. They have the monopoly on this in our area and therefore believe that they can treat their customers any way they feel and we have to put up with it. It's horrible that you pay an exorbitant amount for a product you don't get, can't get with the equipment the company gave you, set up an appointment that the company doesn't keep and it's the consumers fault!! They stole money from us, they billed us and took money for a service they didn't provide. That is incomprehensible to me!! When you're paying $400 a month you should be getting the service that you're paying for, not have to pull teeth to get someone to look into it or beg to have them keep the appointment THEY made. We should be reimbursed for the years that we paid for the service that they charged us for that they knew that we couldn't receive. They have all of these commercials on tv saying how wonderful their service is and how low their prices are...I guess that's only if you're a new customer. They treat they long term customers like dirt. We have rescheduled for them to come out again on Tuesday July 14th. I hope they keep this one.Desired Settlement: We should be reimbursed for all of the years we paid for the highest internet that we weren't able to receive. We are hoping to be able to find a bundle that is much lower than $400 a month, otherwise we will cancel all service and go a different route. There are several programs that allow a person to pay a nominal fee per month and stream tv and our cell providers offer hot spots for wifi if we need to utilize them.

Business

Response:

We have received the above mentioned complaint from Ms. [redacted] at 4[redacted], regarding price for our services as well as issues with our speed.The person making the complaint is not the account holder, therefore it will be difficult for us to go over the specifics of the account, but here are some general findings:Regarding the modems on account -they have been the appropriate equipment required for each line of service customer has had with us. Including the modem swap that took place in April, due to capability issues, original modem was not capable of accepting a second phone line.Speed issues - customer used to have speeds of up to 12Mbps until 7/14/ 15, when customer 's package was changed and it now includes speeds of up to 120Mbps (increase on speeds took effect today, 7/21/15).Price issues - due to new package, customer's new monthly rate is $257.55 instead of $309.69If account holder has any additional questions, please let us know, or he can contact us at [redacted]