Complain about a product or service

Fairpoint

Lynn of New Ipswich, NH November 13, 2009

Today, I called Fairpoint, for the fifth time over a 14 month plus period of time. They owe me monies and continue to send a statement showing the credit balance. Each time, I am told the refund will be issued, it takes 30 to 60 days for the check to be cut. I do not have Fairpoint services, as they were very rude and uncooperative, therefore, I dropped them over 14 plus months ago. I continue to be haunted with a statement monthly "do not pay" showing the credit balance...but cannot get Fairpoint to reimburse the monies...

Torrey of Pittsfield, VT October 16, 2009

Had Fairpoint DLS with Voicewing VoIP. Voicewing went out of businsess and my DSL was canceled in March 2009. Since then, I have called multiple times a month and replace the orders that Fairpoint keeps canceling to get phone service....It is now October 16th. I still can't get phone service. I get the excuse that they have multiple orders in their database and they keep canceling my order...they claim they clean out and cancel all old orders and replace the current order...and when I call to find out what is going on the following month, I get the same run around.

Robyn of Canaan, NY September 3, 2009

Eastern upstate New York is another rural area where Fairpoint has established itself as a monopoly, gluttonously taking advantage of its customers who have no choice but to "choose" them for local phone and internet service. From the moment I signed up it's been nothing but a headache. Simply because of the date I signed up, I was sent a "prorated" bill - meaning they immediately charged for two months service. This amounted to over 150. No one informed me they would do this, and living on a very tight budget I couldn't afford to pay that all at once, so within the first two months I started receiving disconnect notices. Thanks to help from a friend, I eventually paid them off in full, only to receive the following month's bill of about 83. When I signed up, I was assured my monthly bill would be around 70-74. I have a basic phone and DSL package (1.5 Mps). When I questioned this bill I was told the "introductory offer" had expired. I hadn't been told there WAS such an offer or that anything would expire, causing my monthly dues to go up so much. 83 a month for no-frills phone and internet? And I have no choice! I need phone, I need internet, but this is incredibly difficult to afford month to month. When I have called to complain about their prices, customer service has been condescending, insisting that their pricing is "competitive". Aren't monopolies supposed to be illegal? Can't the FCC or Attorney General look into this company's practices?

John of Glen Ridge, NJ August 26, 2009

I have telephone service through Fairpoint communications in Maine. I recently ordered direct tv through them for the price of 39.99/month for two a two year contract and was told that this service could be could be suspended during the winter months when I am not in Maine.

Yesterday I received my first bill from direct tv for 62.54. Included the bill was a notice that I would have to go on line to request the 21/month rebate bring the monthly total down. This was not an easy website to request the rebate. Giving up - i called and was told that my rebate would only be 16/mo. This company is just not forthcoming with actual costs and does not tell you about the rebate until the bill is received.

Thoroughly aggravated. Consumers should be aware of their underhanded tactics.

Barbara of Norwich, VT August 21, 2009

I was a fairpoint customer at a residence in Norwich, Vermont between November of 2008 through January of 2009. I left that residence in early January because of vandalism to the home requiring that I evacuate it (police reports made). I called Fairpoint to have service disconnected for January 31 in order to leave access to my landlord (no cell service up there) as he checked on the damage and worked to obtain a new tenant.

I just found the bills for that line indicating charges were still accruing. The line was never disconnected and Fairpoint claims no disconnect order was made. I recall doing so through their automated system because it was very distressing for me to leave that property under such circumstances. I am also sure that phone line wasn't used although no one at Fairpoint will validate that fact for me. They just insist I pay the extra bills and 'offered' to end charges made after May 30. I dont see why May is preferable to Jan 31 if they agree a mistake was made regarding the disconnect order. Either they agree that my disconnect order was followed or it was not.

Rebecca of Charlestown, NH July 21, 2009

They Have not been sending there statement on a regulae monthly schedule they send 2 at a time, then 3 at a time. I am on a monthly budget, and I paid all my bills on time. What I did was take there bill and break it down month by month. I finally got so that I just disconnected them and went with another phone company. Now they are still hounding me with there late statements, that I feel I have paid.

teri of manchcester, NH June 29, 2009

we moved from a second floor unit to first floor unit and transfered our internet and phone . that was on june 3 . the rep called me on friday june 5 said it would be turned on , on june 9 . i recieved a confermation on our order on the 15th it was dated the 11th . well i checked my phone all day on the 9th and 10th no phone. so on the 10th i called fairpoint they said there was some kind of error and would call me when it was fixed . thinking it was going to be fixed within that day or the next . we were ok with that .

but again no phone so i called i talked to some guy he said it would be turned on by friday 12. again no phone or internet. by the way i pay all my bills online , i told them this severel times . i get no paper bills . BIG MISSTAKE .ok we have called ever other day about this issue with them . they give us a different reason evertime , its not 911 compatible or some other codes that the operators dont have a clue about . here it is almost a month now and we still havent got phone or internet . i have read in the newspaper that their constomer service has gotten better . i wanna know where .

Lindsey of Vergennes, VT April 27, 2009

I am a working professional and part-time college student who relies on the phone and internet to support my education and career. I have experienced service interruptions on two separate occasions in the month of April. The first stretch of interruption lasted for just over 1 week. Due to this interruption, my phone was also temporarily unavailable because I use Vonage through my internet DSL line. It took numerous phone calls and hours of waiting for a technician to get in contact with someone who was able to effectively help me. I spoke with a "manager" at one point who stated, "You're preaching to the choir". He didn't take my situation seriously and really made me question the credibility of this company. I'd like to point out that when Verizon owned the service I never experienced such disrespect or poor service. As the week progressed, Fairpoint Communication claimed they would send technicians out to my area. This fixed nothing and no one ever called me back with a status report.

The phone worked one way-and I was the one borrowing a family member’s cell to get in contact with Fairpoint not them calling me. Eventually, the line was fixed and I had to leave work to meet a gentleman at my home to test the equipment (modem, router, etc.) Then, again this week the issue resurfaced. This time, they're telling me it's my modem not the line. They have agreed to send me a new modem that will take about 5 days to arrive. In the meantime, I am at home again with no phone and no internet. I am still not convinced that the modem is the new issue. I think the service/line is to blame. During the first interruption a couple of weeks ago I called and demanded a credit to my account for the lack of service and inconvenience, which was granted after some convincing. When I called today to receive an additional credit for this stretch of service interruption the C.S. Rep refused stating that they can't do it twice in a row.

At this point, I want to cancel everything and get internet through my Satellite Company, Dish Network, but I am tied to Fairpoint Communications because of the Vonage setup. My hands are tied and I'm truly hoping the modem they're sending me will end this ridiculous waiting game. No good paying customer should have to go through this.

Sarah of Newmarket, NH September 1, 2008

Sarah of Newmarket NH (09/01/08)
We live in NH and had Verizon as a phone service with no problems. Verizon became Fairpoint Communications (Fairpoint bought out Verizon, or some other similar business deal). Then, the problems began. Our phone service kept cutting out. Calls were dropped. The line was full of static making it hard to hear people. Sometimes the phone was completely dead. We called Fairpoint. After 3 hours of not reaching a human, we gave up. Our phone service got worse. We again tried to call, but gave up after a half hour. Later, we finally got in touch with a human. She said that we should try to fix the problem ourselves.

We bought all new phones, cords, jacks, etc. The phone still wouldn't work.

We called again and after 20 minutes was able to talk to someone. He said that Fairpoint didn't fix problems unless we had some sort of plan that covered it. The plan would cost an additional 5 something a month (plus about 90 the first hour, and the cost of labor and fixing the problem), but it wouldn't affect until 5 business days. A few days later, my mom collapsed. It took 8 attempts to get through to 911 and the connection was so static-y it was hard to hear. Precious time was lost.

My mom died. I truly belive that if it had taken only 1 attempt to get through to 911 and if the connection had been clearer, my mom would have survived. Even the EMTs said that if they had gotten there a few minutes quicker she would have had a better chance. I'd love to sue them, but, I don't see that there is a point, as it won't bring my mother back, and I don't want to deal with legal stuff (and can't afford it anyway). I just hope that other Fairpoint customers will be able to call 911 should they need to.

Terri of Manchester, NH August 15, 2008

I cancelled my internet account on 7/7/08. I cancelled my account prior to having it for a year, but the representative Nicole told me i would NOT be charge a termination fee. On 7/15/2008 i had my credit card charged for a 79.00 termination fee. I contacted Fairpoint and spoke to Steve. He informed me that there was an early termination fee, but since Nicole told me that i would not be charged one....they will waive it. Steve also mentioned that i should recieve a refund in 3 business days. On 7/24/2008 I contacted Fairpoint for my refund and spoke to a Stephanie who said that Steve was incorrect and the refund would be issued on 8/13/08, on the next billing cycle. So, then on 8/15/2008 still no refund so i called and spoke to Pam who said the same thing...yes its in the computer and refunds could take up to 60 days! 60days to refund money they were never supposed to take out from the begining. I spoke to Pam's supervisor Sarah F, who "could not see they system that issues refunds"...a supervisor that can not see in a refund system. She also stated that refunds could take 30-60 business days.I keep calling for my refund and they tell me there is nothing manually they can do it needs to go through the billing cycle.

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