Shenandoah Telecommunications Company

This complaint is regarding a business decision Shentel made
regarding the pricing of our data services.
This pricing negatively impacts the heaviest data users and was
implemented to assist Shentel from raising the costs for all users. In arriving at our policy, the study included
the cost of our providing services, typical household usage, and comparison to
other such plans being employed in the industry. Shentel’s data allowances are very generous
for average and heavy use households.
For customers with a voracious data appetite it is flexible in that we
include the ability to bill for the use rather than suspend serviceCustomers were given notice of this
pricing change for over months before it was implemented to give ample notice
this is our new pricing structure and to plan accordingly
The in-browser message that is sent to customers is intended
to make sure customers are aware they may incur usage charges on their next
bill and to alter data usage if this is a concern to themThis is a simple
in-browser message that can occur up to three times in a monthly billing cycle,
when the customer’s data use for the month hits the 85%, 95%, and 100% limit
for their data allowance. The message
does need to be acknowledged by pressing the Accept or Lbutton and will continue
to reappear if simply minimized. The message should
not interrupt any downloads
Shentel does not have a customer by this complainant’s name;
however, any account they would have an interest in would not be under a
contract as indicated in the complaintShentel does experience competition for
our services from wireline, wireless, and satellite providers so there is simply
no incentive to charge more than is fair which will drive our customers awayThis said, we also realize each customer must
make their decision on if they wish to continue to subscribe to our data
servicesShould a customer determine they need to cancel services, the account
holder should call 1-800-*** and select option

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the responsi eIf no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]
Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:
I am unsure if there is some type of communication error or Shentel Rep just have a reading comprehension problemI do not have to live in a state to pay someone's billIts none of your business who pay you just as long as you are being paid correct? The tenant that obtained Shentels serviced lived at the home I own in ViaI keep repeating myself as this Rep continues to try and justify their lies and deceit Again they claim the tenant was a relative now he is being called my sonI have asked twice to hear the recording of be allegedly saying such things I was told I would receive a call back As I stated before please allow me to repeat myself once again, several years ago I rented my house out to a young coupleThe man lost his job due to health reasons he often asked me to use my card to pay the internet and another bill and he would pay me back either by cash or household upgradesWhen they were behind She tel stole money from my card which I did not authorize for them to doTo speak with Shentel the tenant had to put me as an authorized person on the accountNow a few yes later I moved in my home to be closer to my motherI call and setup She tel service for myselfHad the service for a couple of yrsUntil recently I ASKED to have my service temp shut off as I was going to move away to help my motherThe next day I decided to just keep it on and my sister move in with momAt that time I'm told I was responsible for my tenants bill and I would have to pay off $of their bill a deposit a modem and my bill Of course this was aan upsetI immediately started to go up the chainI NEVER spoke with A VP only a Super named SteveI left several messages for the VP no one called me back except Steve againEven when I went to the local office I was directed to Steve yet againShe tell can keep trying to lieThere's no holes here just Shentel lyingThey keep mentioning these policies but still refuse to come forth with anyEven the local office rep (I won't say her name) told me there's no policy
Regards,
*** ***

Another person owes you money.  I do not owe you money.  I do not have joint credit with this other person. The only acceptable resolution to this is to be sold an account for my use by my own credit history and not a separate individuals. Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:
Regards,
[redacted]

A supervisor reviewed activity regarding this interaction late December 2017. Credits totaling $59.97 were authorized, the customer was informed of these credits and they were reflected in the January 2nd bill. NO OTHER CREDITS are due.

Shentel is in the process of finalizing a quote to this customer of what their share of the construction cost will be for extending service to their residence.  The initial estimate is in the range that is considered "not serviceable".  The quote includes receiving quotes from the electric...

company and I do not anticipate having this figure finalized in the time frame Revdex.com requires for response. I did speak with the potential customer and will let her know when I have this final quote.

I am sincerely sorry Shentel was unable to satisfactorily provide service to this customer.  It is our goal to make sure every customer receives the service to which they subscribe.  On each of the visits to the customer's home, the diagnostic test indicated the issue was in the inside the...

home.  A credit of $49.99 has been issued on the account to offset the charge that was made on the last of these visits.

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
 Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:As demonstrated below in their own words, Shentel is not interested in extending service to me at this time. Do to the continued hostility and baseless accusations, I consider this matter unresolved, but closed, and I have gone ahead and procured services from one of their competitors, and will never entertain the possibility of any service through Shentel, even if they ever decided to apologize, and extend service to me under reasonable terms that are not transparently fraudulent. [redacted]

Complaint
indicates contact dispute with [redacted]. 
We do not have an actual account with a [redacted]; however, I can
state that any account he may be referring to is under a month to month
service agreement . 
Shentel
incurs circuit and network costs for our...

customers to access the internet. In order to provide acceptable access for all
our users, Shentel needs to increase capacity in the network when users demand excessive
bandwidth. Our costs increase each time
we need to expand capacity. We have adopted data allowances on bandwidth in
accordance with the speed package. 
Compared to the industry leaders, many of which have adopted similar
policies, our data allowances are very generous, flexible, and accommodating.
We have
anticipated that less than 5% of our customers will exceed their allowance.  On months when customers do exceed their
allowance, they will be billed for the overage. This charge is $10 per 50 GB of
use.   For customers who consistently
exceed their allowance, we encourage them to consider a plan which has a higher
allowance. 
We have
tried to make sure this is not a surprise to any of our customers.
In
July of 2014, Shentel notified existing customers that this policy would begin
in May 2015. We
have educated customers on activity that causes spikes in their usage. We
have included statements regarding the policy, the customer’s data allowance
and current measured use on customer’s bills since that time.We
are notifying customers when they are approaching their data limit, so they
still have an opportunity to curtail use, rather than incur additional cost.We
have educated customers on how they can check usage real time to determine if
they are nearing a point where they will be charged usage.
If customers
are not yet checking their usage real time, I encourage them to access our
monitoring tool to make sure they are not surprised by overage charges on their
bill. They should visit https://[redacted]/ to access.  If they have trouble checking this usage they
should call 800-[redacted]), option 3 for more assistance.
Shentel is
comfortable with our business decision to bill for excessive bandwidth. This is
fair to our customers because the charge is borne by the customers that require
the network expansion and not by normal or casual users.

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]
 Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: From: Revdex.com of Metro Washington DC <[email protected]>Date: Fri, Aug 14, 2015 at 1:18 PMSubject: Fwd: You have a new message from the Revdex.com of Metro Washington DC & Eastern Pennsylvania in regards to your complaint #[redacted].To: [redacted] <[redacted]@myRevdex.com.org>---------- Forwarded message ----------From: [redacted] <[redacted].com>Date: Thu, Aug 13, 2015 at 1:07 PMSubject: Re: You have a new message from the Revdex.com of Metro Washington DC & Eastern Pennsylvania in regards to your complaint #[redacted].To: [email protected] my former complaint Complaint ID [redacted]To date still NOTHING has been resolved!  I really need assistance in how to proceed on getting my damage repaired.  My property is getting further damaged by the erosion caused due to Shentel’s negligence and they are dragging their feet on repairs.Please contact me or reopen my case!Thank you,[redacted]Regards,
[redacted]

We apologize for any miscommunication on the construction of facilities to this customer's residence. The cable was re-routed on June 15. A Shentel installation supervisor is meeting with this customer early this week to discuss the driveway patch and make sure the planned patch meets his...

expectation.

Shentel does not allow persons associated with one another to set up accounts at an address when there is still an outstanding balance for service at that location.  As this complainant is not listed on the existing account, we cannot discuss any balances; however, if she can provide...

documentation (i.e - a lease) that shows previous account holders no longer reside at this address, we can process her application for service.

Driveway repair was completed and at the bottom of the attached document are pictures with the ending results. I also attached a separate picture of the repaired area. We also reseeded and put straw down on areas where the customer was having issues with wash out from rain from where we ran the original lines to the home. Both Manager and/or Supervisor were on site during the 2 days it took to complete the repaving. Customer expressed that he was happy and satisfied with the repairs. The customer house gutters and drain spouts also appear to be completely clogged, which is causing direct run off from the roof into the yard. The roof runoff hits directly where we ran the original lines to the house. We put new straw down, smoothed out any soil issues and took pictures of the results.

A trouble ticket was already open when this ticket was received and in process of being worked.  The technician discovered several staples through the customer inside wiring which resulted in poor transmission speeds.  Technician ran tests from his laptop directly to Shentel supplied modem...

and received proper speeds.  Customer understood wiring concerns and agreed to have replaced.  A conversation on 9/19 with our Tech Support representatives indicate good transmission speeds on wired, and at end of conversation on WiFi connections.

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
Regards,
In the past, shentel has said they would get back with me and did not. We shall see if they keep their word.
[redacted]

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]
 Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:
Shentel has entirely failed to address any of the questions I asked for explanation on.  I ask that they address the questions asked or simply state they are incapable of doing so. Giving the companies official response repeatedly is going to do nothing to resolve the situation.Further, it doesn't matter how many months of notice were given. Shentel is a monopoly on hardline broadband access in our area and they should not change service terms years after they have been agreed on and applied.Finally, Shentel has claimed (rightfully so) they can't find an account in *my* name, I am filing this for our household. However, if one were to exist it wouldn't be under a contract. How exactly can Shentel say one moment they can't find an account, then the next proclaim with absolute knowledge that a contract isn't in effect?
Regards,
[redacted]

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
 Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: som3one from a Shentel called after I received my refund. They gave no answer as to why it had taken so long.  Their apology was not sincere.  They were not interested in anything I had to say..  I was told numerous untruths from several different people.  I just do not feel that they took my complaint seriously.Regards,
[redacted]

Shentel sincerely apologizes on the clerical error which resulted in the check being returned.  The file sent to the bank for check data had the wrong formatting and when the check was submitted for payment, the data did not match and check was returned.  We had presumed the checks would...

be re-submitted for deposit and had sent the [redacted] a check to cover bank fee but did not understand she could not re-submit the original check.  The replacement check was mailed on 9/15/17 and I confirmed with [redacted] on 9/28/17 that she had received both checks.

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
Regards,
[redacted]

I spoke to [redacted] and explained the business reasons the draft date is different than the due date.  The billing cycles have been established for many years and Shentel customers have had set auto-draft dates for at least 10 years.  About 2 years ago, Shentel changed the actual due...

date of the bill to provide for a more customer friendly late notice/disconnect schedule and made the official due date 10 days later than it had been.  At that time we made the conscientious business decision to keep the auto-draft date as it always had been.  To change that date for customers who were used to funds being deducted on a specific day could lead to many problems when customers relied on exsiting balances a few days after the established withdrawal date.  As customers have signed up for auto-draft since then, we do make sure they are notified of the auto-drafting schedule, as was done in this instance.  As a courtesy, I did have a credit applied to this [redacted]'s account in the amount indicated on the complaint.

As a concession, this customer had already been offered a self-install installation rate of $29.95.  This fee covers our technician confirming the network is operational to the drop into the home and entering the customer's [redacted] address into our cable management system.  If the service was...

not working after this installation the customer would be responsible for a trip charge since they had declined the full installation offer at the current discounted rate of $49.97 (typically $99.95).  Also, this complainant requested that no deposit be charged although we had not performed a credit check to determine if a deposit was indicated.  Shentel will not waive any deposits if a credit check indicates a deposit should be required.