Review Of Fairpoint Communications In Maine and New England

A few years ago, FairPoint Communications bought out the New England branch of Verizon in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. They are a phone and internet service provider. There was a lot of debate about whether or not Fairpoint could handle such a large service for so many people. After several years, it has proven itself that it can't. Here is the experience of one family.

Fairpoint Tries To Make Us Pay Twice

When Fairpoint came in, we were a few months away from moving. The move itself went pretty smoothly. We had high speed internet and a phone line with Fairpoint. A few months later, the problems started. You see, our phone number changed when we moved, but for some reason, we did not get a new account number. On our bills, the account number was listed as our old phone number. So, we continued to pay automatic monthly payments into that account.

Then, suddenly we were told that we were way behind on our bill. Finally, they had updated the account number, but they backdated it to when we moved. Here's the clincher:

They told us that all of the payments that we had made to the old account number since we moved had been returned to us. They were not returned to our bank account, though. We kept fighting them on this, saying we weren't going to pay the bill twice. They said that the money we had paid had been returned to our bank account and thus we owed them the money.

Finally, we had our bank step in on our behalf, documenting that we had paid the bills and that they had not returned the money. So, they actually did return our money to us at that point and we paid it to the new account number. That was about five hours down the drain not to mention a hell of a lot of stress from dealing with rude and condescending "customer service" reps who were trying to convince us to pay them twice for shoddy service.

Our Phone Stops Working

After about a year in our new apartment, our phone stopped working. We bought a new phone, thinking it was the phone. It was not the phone. It was the phone line. We don't use the phone much. We are in our late twenties. We are internet people. We occasionally activate our tracfone if we have need, but pretty close to 100% of our communications is through the internet. We keep the land line phone for emergencies.

When they told us it would cost $90 for the first half hour of a serviceman coming out to see what was wrong with our phone, then $50 for every hour after that, we skipped it, knowing that we would be moving soon and it wasn't worth paying the money for a rental.

Internet Is Out For A Month

So, we did move. Well, a few weeks before the move, I called to get everything organized for the transfer of service. They repeated all of the details back to me so it seemed like everything was in order. A few days later, our internet was cut. When I called, they told me that the internet was scheduled to be cut in a few weeks and that they had it listed as still on in the old apartment. Did I want someone to come out and look at it for $90 for the first half hour then $50 for every hour after that? No, I didn't.

The internet came back on in the new apartment a month later, about a week after it was scheduled to. I have a business online. This was not an ideal situation.

It's Like Living In A Third World Country

In the new apartment, our DSL would cut in and out for an hour a day randomly. I have some employees in the Philippines. I joke that their internet connection is generally more stable than mine, but it is not a joke at all. Fairpoint has thrown Maine back into a third world status.

Finally, the clincher came just now. My business has been growing and things were picking up for Christmas. Then, our DSL box stopped working. It would flash on and off, not always recieving power, and not consistently turning on. I called for a replacement. They said it would arrive by Black Friday. Okay. Black Friday would be a big day for me, but as long as I had it by Cyber Monday, I would be fine.

Friday came and went without an internet box. So, I called back. There would be no internet box by Cyber Monday. They had sent the internet box, and it was confirmed to have arrived on Friday, at someone else's home. The internet box might be able to make it to me by Wednesday.

It Is Definitely Time To Move On

There are several other options in New England. They are listed under "Internet" in your phone book. Every area will have different options. None will be as cheap as Fairpoint. Most will be at least double, which is why we hesitated to switch for so long, but at this point, Fairpoint's horrendous service is just too expensive for our family. I encourage everyone to investigate the alternatives. Their lack of service is unacceptable and if more people leave them, it will no longer be viable for them to operate in New England. Good riddance!