Shenandoah Telecommunications Company

The name on this complaint does not match the names on the account at this address. With this, I am would be crossing guidelines to disclose the service which the resident currently subscribes.   I can state in the past they have subscribed to all three services. The history of tickets on...

the previous and current service do not indicate the subscriber has contacted us with anything but normal maintenance type calls, or that any service issues were ever ongoing.  I can speak to the complaints in general.  Regarding, the price of cable service and losing channels.  Shentel, as well as all cable providers, has to balance the cost of the product with the entertainment value it provides. This consideration has to include our subscribership as a whole as the content providers typically require the rate be applied to all customers.  Each contract period, content providers increase their cost and each year Broadcast Surcharges increase.  These costs are passed on to our subscribers either as line items on the bill and as a general rate increase.  Shentel strives to keep these increases minimal and unfortunately that often involves dropping or changing channels.  Our telephone rates are tariffed and while I do not have a current comparison chart of Virginia residential tariffs, I was quoted $43.04 for service from Winchester, VA which compares to our monthly bill of $30.11.  The assertion that the phone quality decreases is unsubstantiated through the service that has been provided to this address as well as our customer base as a whole.  This address is eligible to receive 101mbps broadband internet service.  Shentel worked for several years to roll this cable offering out to most of the homes in Shenandoah county and it has been available for the past 12 months. Shentel prides itself on the high speed and excellent quality service we offer to the rural counties we serve.

Credit for the cable service has been issued on the customers account dating from April 4 to May 18.  I have called the customer and informed her of the $135.03 credit.

In this rebuttal, [redacted] admits she "lives states away".  By ordering service under the premise she would be living at the residence, she was fraudulently aiding a consumer that had a large bad debt with our company, acquire our services.  Our Vice-President, Kevin F[redacted], personally spoke with [redacted] and extended the offer of the pre-paid service with the condition she satisfy the account that is in her name. The long and short of this complaint is the consumer who lives at this address ([redacted] has referred to him as her son in numerous conversations) does not want to pay for services he has previously obtained from Shentel but was trying to continue to use our services.

[redacted] was an authorized user on a bad debt account of over $900.00.  This account was disconnected for non-pay in December of 2012.  While the actual account was not listed in her name, the account documents her as being authorized on the account.  With this documentation...

she should not have been allowed to open an account in her name at the same address in December of 2013 without the account being paid in full.  This was not bad debt account was not discovered when the account was opened nor  during the two years the account was established.  The account in [redacted]'s name was not always current and frequently the customer established payment plans to prevent the account from being disconnected.  When the customer called to reestablish the service, the history of poor payment on the account in her name triggered the need for a deposit. Additional investigation uncovered the bad debt account that should be paid before Shentel will open a "post-paid" service account for her.  We will work with her to make these payments in installments.  Shentel offers a pre-paid network service for credit challenged customers.  Our Vice-President of Customer service did authorize [redacted]  [redacted] to be eligible for this service (typically existing and recent customer are in-eligible to apply for this service) with the condition that she pay the $171.74 still due on the account she has recently held in her name. At this time she has not accepted this offer.

[redacted] had received a bill for $134.45 the first week of September for the service period 9/7/15 thru 10/6/15.  This bill was due to be paid on 9/27/15.  When she called September 25th to cancel service, she indicated she would be paying the bill due September 27th. ...

During the conversation the Shentel representative did state she would receive a refund for any of the time she canceled service but had already paid the bill.  The service was canceled effective September 28th.  Shentel never received the payment the customer indicated she would pay.  Since we did not receive a payment, the customer did owe for the period 9/7/15 thru 9/28/15.  We did lower her final bill from $134.45 to $102.14 to reflect the period from September 28 to October 6th that the customer did not have service.  This was a valid bill and this was explained to the customer when she called January 4th after we had reviewed the call.  Unfortunately it was a high call volume day and a supervisor was not available to speak to her directly.  I have left a message with the customer to give me a call if she would like to listen to the call to better understand the cause of the confusion.

On August 8th, this customer was mailed a late notice (redacted copy attached) which specified $129.62 had to be paid  by 8/21 to keep services from being disconnected.  By that date the customer had made a payment of only $30 so the service was temporarily disconnected on 8/22 and...

permanently disconnected early September.  A service that is permanently disconnected in the field has to be scheduled for re-installation as it requires a technician visit.  This customer contacted us on 9/13 indicating they wanted to re-install the service and were demanding it to be re-installed the same day.  Each time a representative attempted to get a team lead for escalation, the customer hung up before it could be resolved.  On 9/13. arrangements were made to escalate the installation and the customer's services were restored earlier today, 9/14/17.  The attached bill dated for 9/15/17 indicates credit of $46.97 for the service period from 8/22/17 through 9/14/17 since at the time the bill was drafted it was presumed the customer would no longer be getting service.  No further credit is due.

Shentel does not throttle a customers speed at any time.  If this customer is not receiving their subscribed speed they should contact us real-time so we can provide trouble shooting when the problem occurs. A diagnostic review of their services today does not indicate any current issues with...

their service.

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.  I also pointed out that their disclaimer needed more attention given to it that the draft date was different. Using a different font, bolding, italicizing or a pop up window would clue in customers that the draft date was different. As it stands, it is written in plain text in a paragraph of about 5 sentences.  
Regards,
[redacted]

In the telephone conversation, this complainant stated her mother still held the lease on the account.  We have a bad debt account in her mother's name.  For this person to be eligible to apply for service Shentel, she would need to provide a lease in her name and the landlord would need...

to state the mother is no longer living at that address.  We do not allow service to be installed at an address where we know an previous customer with an outstanding debt still resides.

On Friday, May 5th, our representative agreed we would provide service to this customer without requiring a new deposit once the past due balance is paid.  Shentel has not received a payment since February and must have the due balance paid before we can restore service, especially if it...

is to be done without a deposit.  Arrangements to make this payment and re-connect the services should be made by May 18th to insure a new deposit is not required.  The account is noted as such. The customer will be billed for un-returned equipment since the accounts have been disconnected. Depending on when the re-connect is ordered, charges for this equipment will may not have posted to the account. When she restores the service, these charges will be reversed.  If the customer does not re-store the service, she must make arrangements to have this equipment returned to Shentel's possession or she will be responsible for the cost of the equipment.I do not know why this customer is only receiving some of her mailed bills and notices. Shentel has been using the correct address for all mailings.  We have had no issues with mail being delivered to the Blackstone area and the Blackstone Post Office has not received any complaints of Shentel customers not receiving mail from Shentel. She should check with the local Post Office to insure the mail is being placed in the correct receptacle.  Also, Shentel account holders can view their bills on-line if they have not received their bills on the due date.  Abill pay helps keep services from being disconnected if a bill not received, mislaid, or forgotten.