Complain about a product or service

Broadstripe Cable

Lesley of Seattle, WA March 13, 2010

I feel stuck in this monopoly where I'm FORCED to have Broadstripe provide my internet and cable; it's the only provider I can get in my building in Seattle. I had their "high-speed" cable for over a year. The price got ridiculously high. (67 for one person??)

I decided to get digital cable with a DVR since I was already paying so much. I was quoted a monthly price that would only be 25 more than my current rate. Sounded pretty good so I set up a time to have the cable installed. On a Saturday. Waited all day. Nobody ever came. Called customer service. They said someone would call me back. No one ever called. After waiting around all day, I finally left my house. Then finally someone called, 5 hours after they were supposed to be there. I didn't want to return back home at that point, was already across town. No one ever called back to reschedule the service installation.

Finally, I called and got the cable with DVR installed. This must be the cheapest, crappiest DVR box available. My first bill was waaaay expensive. I called and they said to just pay it and they would credit my next bill. Ok, fine. But all my bills since have still been higher than what I was originally quoted. I'm still trying to figure out what I'm paying for. They never mentioned the monthly cable box rental fee. That is 25 itself! How could you fail to mention that!

My internet service has become quite intermittent. I'm having to reboot my modem too much. My digital cable service is disappointing... there aren't even TV shows or movies in their On Demand! Why does this company exist and why am I forced to be their customer? Why do I send them so much money every month only to get terrible service? Somebody help!!!

Richard of Seattle, WA March 6, 2010

This is the sorriest excuse for a business providing a service I have ever encountered, I mean it they are so bad at ALL aspects of everything, I believe they either have there staff trained to be complete jerks or they get so many bad phone calls every day that they are just plain jaded. I have been stuck with this company for almost 2 years now because of where I live, I am actually thinking about moving because of my cable service, imagine that moving out of your home because you hate your cable provider so much. I am serious about this.

First off it took them 1 month to hook up my cable, after they hooked it up almost half of my channels looked like they did back in 1984 when I called they said that because of the fiber optic network that is as good as it gets, my Internet is so bad that I can barely stream a movie or do my work on the Internet because it keeps going out, even if it doesn't go out it is so slow I feel like it is dial up. that is just one of the many many problems I have with this company, I cant express my anger enough with them.

When you call there hours are Monday thru Friday and if there is a problem after hours you have to wait till they are open, however if there is a problem while they are open you sure as hell will get no help with there mindless poor excuses of employees that I believe are trained to make everything your fault not theirs. I have been on hold for 1 hour many times to ask a simple question or to try to resolve an error on their part, the only time you are not on hold is when you pay your bill, they are very quick to take your money where that brings me to the final part of my rant THEIR BILLING!!!!! Don't trust it EVER, they have taken so much of my money because my bill is always different, every month it said something different for some reason, plus you cant even read their bills (if you even get an updated one) I pay on line every month so one month they decided to use my credit card and take 260.00 out of my account without my knowledge, I was pissed, when I finally got ahold of them they said there has been a billing glitch and they have been undercharging me for months, I thought they were overcharging me! when I finally got this resolved after paying it, they then gave me a late fee on top of that. I HATE THIS COMPANY, I want them to just go away for good so I may live in peace. I wish their bankruptcy last year killed the company but it didn't they are still making every ones life a living hell.

Daniel of Haslett, MI March 5, 2010

I have Broadstripe's bundle of phone, internet and cable tv. I got behind in my payments and Broadstripe discontinued the cable tv part of the bundle for a month. I do not dispute I owe for the phone and the internet part of the bundle. I don't think I should have to pay for the cable tv part of my bundle for the month Broadstripe chose to turn the cable tv part of my bundle off. Basically, Broadstripe's response is too bad, so sad. Broadstripe's explanation is that is what we do. Seems illegal to be able to charge for a service not provided. I'd like to hear from anyone else this has happened to.

The consequences are that I had to pay about 60 dollars more on my Broadstripe cable bill than I feel I should have to. If Broadstripe has done this to a lot of people and I would think the odds high Broadstripe has charged for services not provide a lot. I doubt I am the only person in this situation. There is strength in numbers.

Allen of Portland, OR February 23, 2010

(1) Internet download service has been very, very slow, as low as 5kb/s. (2) In the last 5 months I have been billed for cable modem rental in spite of the fact that I have supplied my own modem for 5 years and they know it since this billing has only begun recently. I have tried repeatedly to telephone them to get at least the billing issue straightened out and have waited for nearly an hour on hold without ever getting any human pick-up. My time on hold is limited by battery charge life on my cell phone.

Steven of Grass Lake, MI February 20, 2010

I live in a small town located in Southern Michigan. Until just recently, other than satellite Broadstripe/Millenium was the only cable provided available in my area. I have been a customer of B/M since 2/2006 using first their T.V. service, later their Internet service, and latest their phone service.

My customer experience with B/M has been a very frustrating journey. Numerous prolonged cable outages, dropped phone calls, continuously resetting of the modem, and very poor customer care. DSL came to my area 3 months ago and dropping B/M to the DSL service was like a breath of fresh air! I am yet to have an outage with my DSL provider and the speed is much faster.

On 11/23/2009 when making the change to DSL I dropped the B/M Internet & phone services, which required me to return the modem. I returned the modem to the nearest drop-off center and received a signed receipt of the modem drop-off.

Now 3 months later being charged over 50.00 a month for Expanded Cable (no movie channels) I decided perhaps it was time to downgrade my B/M services to Basic Cable. So, last week I researched the price for Basic Cable and it was discovered that B/M has been charging me for the modem rental that I returned on 11/23/2009. The sales rep/agent informed me that the modem rental would be removed and the credit would be applied to my account.

Yesterday I contacted B/M to put in an order to downgrade my service to Basic Cable. In doing so I confirmed the price and inquired about the modem credit due me. I was then informed that there was no mention of the modem drop-off issue or a request for credit to my account. I was then giving detailed instructions on how to send an email including all the information necessary and a copy of the modem drop-off receipt to the billing department and I would receive a credit refund dating back to 11/23/2009, where as I followed the given directions.

Today I received a reply to my email informing me that B/M will be happy to remove the modem rental charge retroactively to 11/23/2009. But, due to me placing the order to downgrade my services on 02/23/2010 they would not be able to apply the credit until after that date and that order was processed.

After receiving, digesting, and to my disappointment receiving no apology for their errors in the email, I called customer care (was on hold forever waiting for a human) to complain. My complaint was that I should never have been billed for 3 months in the first place and then last week when noticing their billing error the credit should have been applied then, not 2 weeks later. I further mentioned to the sales rep/agent that due to the fact that holding my money over "what appears" to be an unintentional error on their behalf for what will be at least 3 months that I was requesting interest on my money that they had no right to hold/use.

The sales rep/agent said she was not sure on how to calculate the interest so I requested her to make a note of my complaint and to please forward the information to someone that could calculate the interest. She said she doubted that it would amount to over .20 cents. I then said that I wanted whatever the calculated amount would be.

My thoughts are; .20 cents is not a lot of money to one person. But if this situation or others like it were to happen to thousands of customers nationwide... think of how much money B/M is holding/using without the customers permission due to "what appears" to be unintentional errors? B/M has no right to that money and should be required to not only return that money but also any/all interest accumulated/due! If ever possible, I would be honored to partake in a Class Action Law Suit against B/M.

w of potterville, MI February 16, 2010

I have had the internet service for a year, the TV service since forever...I have ALL the same problems as expressed here, and I want to say that they truly do not give a @#% about customer service. I read their offer of help here from the Charlotte Mi Broadstripe, don't believe it...thats MY service provider....just more lies.

Elaina of Coupeville, WA February 6, 2010

I have had nothing but trouble with this company ever since the service contract began. First, you don't get the service they are suppose to provide, but they send you a bill for it. They schedule someone to come out to fix the problem, but they either never show or claim they can't find a problem. You spend at least one hour or greater waiting on the phone in order to speak to someone. They require you have a contract with them for a year and to have ACH payment, but their billing is so screwed up they can't charge you correctly.

They promise to credit your account thenext month and turn it into a nightmare of charges. My parents are elderly and must have a reliable phone for emergency help. My mom could not get through to 911 or anyone when the phone did not work and my dad had an emergency. She had to run next door to get a neighbor to call for help and she is disabled herself. They are charging me for fees and services that are bogus and not IAW contract. They keep promising to correct problems, but never never do and automatically take money that does not belong to them and not returning it and increasing the stolen amount each month.

Lynda of Coupeville, WA February 4, 2010

I cancelled my cable on Feb. 2009 and at the time was told they would send a box to send back my cable box because I lived far away from any drop of sites. I called on march 30 because I hadn't recieved the box and again on May 27th. I finally got the box the middle of june and UPS it back on the 23rd of june. I still am being charged for the cable box even though I don't have the box. I have called several times only to get the run around and false promises.

I last called on two weeks ago and was told by the customer service person that he would have to call the warehouse to see if my cable box ever got there and so I gave him the UPS tracking number and he said he would call back and let me know and he would also try to get the charges taken off my bill. I did not hear from the customer service person and still have not resolved the issue. I had to pay from February to June for the cable box until the sent me a box to return it in. I then have been still being chardge for it from July until the present date. I don't seem to be getting anywhere with this company. I am a single mother on a fixed budget and I can not afford the rental charge for the cable box. Help what do I do?

Broadstripe of Charlotte, MI January 27, 2010

We here at Broadstripe value our customers, and would like to help you all with any and all issues that you may have experienced. Unfortunately on this site, it is hard to determine your acct information. If you can email us directly at earningourstripes@broadstripe.com We will be happy to help you to resolve any issue you may have.

Kasey of Seattle, WA January 27, 2010

By far the worst company I have ever dealt with EVER! I live in Pioneer Square Seattle and have BS as my only option for internet. I work from home and need my internet to be reliable. The TV and internet go in and out at will and have for the entire 2 years I have had the service. When I call to complain they tell me the service looks fine on their side and they cant credit me for any service interruptions they can't see.

When I tried to get a card for my new Tivo they told me the techs were too busy but they would have someone call me in 24-48 hours...nobody called. I called them again but still nobody was available but they promised someone would call me in 24 hours...nobody called. I called back and was able to schedule a tech...he never showed up. I called to see where he was and the call center was very rude. They refused to give me a credit for my time and said they could not call the tech becasue he was on another call and not aloud to use his phone at customers houses. When the tech finally showed up 1.5 hours after his 4 hour window...he was on his phone the whole time. The call center refused to let me talk to a manager but PROMISED they would have one call me...nobody called me. I sent in a responce card and checked the box to have someone call me...nobody called me.

They have telemarketers call my CELL PHONE constantly even though I have complained. THEY EVEN CALLED MY CELL AT 7AM ON A SATURDAY to give me the same telemarketing pitch I had repeatedly complained about. I'm all for the little guy but this company is criminal and should be shut down.

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