grumpy about phone service

kentuckyhippie · #1 09/07/05, 07:59 PM

finally today got my phone lines straightened out after fighting with the phone company for 6 years!!! everytime it rained out phone and my internet service would go out. As soon as the ground dried out and the phone started working I would call the company. they would say that the phone was working fine. I would say yes it is now but as soon as it rains it will quit. they say to call them when it isn't working so they can check it. DUH when it isn't working I can't call. I asked them if they couldn't just send someone out to check it and the lady says well we don't have any way of knowing when it is raining at your house. so I have been going around and around with them for almost seven years. this week I got tired of getting on the internet just long enought to maybe post a question here or check half my email and then getting knocked off and not being able to get back on. So I finally got thru to the phone company and told them I was tired of paying them an average of $80 a month for almost 7 years and only having service half the time, either send somebody out to check the lines or cancel me and send me the final bill. I guess they wanted the money cause in about an hour a guy showed up and checked the post the wires run thru before they come to the house and said that an old wire that leaked was hooked up to our line and shorting it out and that if wasn't even supposed to be hooked up. He took it off and its been pouring rain all evening and everything is working fine. Why couldn't they have checked when I first complained? He only took 10 minutes to find what was wrong and fix it. Makes me mad every time I think about how many times I did without service and it would have been so simple for them to fix.

cider · #2 09/07/05, 08:13 PM

Kyhippie,
A similar thing happened to me over a two year span. When it rained and also when the wind would blow. Like you, I kept calling, they kept coming out, they would say it was fixed and then darn if it wouldn't go out agin!!! And like you I was paying every month. I was nice at first but got pretty mad in the end. Not with the linemen though, they can only do so much.
Well, one day I was leafing through the phone book trying to figure out who to call and complain to cause nothing was working and I found the Kentucky Publice Service Commission. I called them and lodged a complaint and do you know...THE NEXT DAY...the phone company came out and strung a completely new line for me!!! Not a problem since. (knock wood)
I'm guessing you're in KY but if not-every state has a commission. They will get after the utility you have trouble with and fine them if they don't resolve the problem. Keep that in mind if you have further trouble.
Best wishes,
Cider

Ana Bluebird · #3 09/07/05, 08:45 PM

I've had similar experience with Southwestern Bell Telephone in Missouri. Our lines are old and look like spagetti inside the local box (I've seen it). I really don't know how the linemen ever find which line to work on. Rain messes it up terribly. Sometimes if I can get someone to call me, that "fixes" it, but I can't call out. If I complain to SWB, then I get billed because the phone has a dial tone! By the way, when I call to complain, I end up talking to someone in INDIA! Ask them where they are---you'll be shocked! No wonder the phone service is so messed up---they don't even know where Missouri is! I guess that progress. A lot of folks here are going with just a mobile phone and getting rid of SWB. GO figure. But a big congratulations on getting your new line!

fordy · #4 09/07/05, 09:09 PM

..................I live about 11 miles from town . I was signed up for those add'tl services like call waiting , identifier , 3 way calling , etc. and I was setup on one of those numbers that allowed me to call all over the metro area . My bill was running about 80 amonth . So , I cancelled all those services , cancelled the Metro line and Now My bill is down to 35 amonth and that includes 9.95 amonth for SBC Yahoo dialup . fordy..

kentuckyhippie · #5 09/07/05, 09:13 PM

I am just soooo glad to have it working. I have a disabled husband and and 85 year old mom and dad with heart problems and I need to be able to use the phone if I need it. it kept me worried to death all the time that I would need an ambulance and have to leave them to go somewhere to a phone.

mightybooboo · #6 09/07/05, 10:55 PM

I know the feeling,tho a little different.Mine was an electrical wire leaking voltage into my ground,I actually had an electric bathtub! They kept saying it was in my wiring.Finally got the house inspected completely(try getting an electrician in a housing boom),then called em back.They started with the same story.Only this time I kept saying wrong wrong wrong.Finally told the guy anything happens here,Im suing him PERSONALLY.That got him up on the cherry picker,sure enough,their wire was damaged.
Why they do that,beats me.

BooBoo

COUNTRY WISHES · #7 09/07/05, 11:13 PM

Wow, Boo Boo that doesn't sound like the kind of "hottub" that you want to have. Ouch.

KyHippie - $80. sounds high for phone service. Verizion is our carrier and we have caller-id and call waiting and our bill is about $30 a month. Maybe you should check to see that you are not being overcharged?