[QCLUG] Even More Information from the Dispatch about Solo Direct

[Jim Kristan]

Looks like Mark hit it right on, it appears that Solo Direct still
thinks it's the customer's fault.
Jim K


Posted Online: Posted online: October 17, 2007 6:12 PM
Print publication date: 10/18/2007
Unhappy customers jumping ship at Solo Direct
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By Brandy Donaldson, bdonaldson@qconline.com.
Many of Solo Direct Connect's newly-acquired Internet Revealed
customers are jumping ship -- citing a lack of service for the exodus.
In March, Solo Direct took over nearly all aspects of the Moline-based
service provider, including its name, Internet domain and more than
1,000 customers. Solo Direct president Andy Tyrrell said the
transition caused a few "glitches" that were all successfully
resolved.
"At this point, for the most part, everybody is up and running," he
said Wednesday.
Some of his new customers, like Annie DeGeeter of East Moline,
disagree. She said her service has been practically non-existent.
"I have been out of service since Oct. 15, and I'm still out of
service," she said. "And this isn't the first time I've been down.
We've really had nothing but trouble for the last six weeks."
Ms. DeGeeter, a 10-year Internet Revealed customer, said until now,
she rarely had problems with her dial-up service. She said later this
week she will be switching to a new provider. Not being able to reach
Solo Direct by phone for assistance was unacceptable, she said.
"You call (Solo Direct) during the day, and it's busy all day long.
You call in the evening and it just rings and rings. They're no good
to me if I can't even get on-line," she added.
Laura Schweinberger, who lives in rural Hillsdale where she said only
dial-up service is available without a satellite, has been having
similar issues with the provider. She also recently took her business
elsewhere.
"I can' t even get in touch with them to tell them we're not using
them anymore," she said."They're not answering their phones. We've had
nothing but problems since they took over. ...They have handled
everything wrong."
Mr. Tyrrell said his company is correcting issues as fast as possible
given their new volume of customers.
"We only have four lines here. There was such a flood of calls, and we
weren't used to that," he said. "This is something completely new. A
lot of times, the phone may ring until someone is available to get it.
... Those calls are dieing down now."
People tend to over-react when there's a problem with their Internet
service, Mr. Tyrrell said.
"When people's Internet goes out, they feel helpless without it and
may lash out and say things that aren't true...," hes said. "All the
problems were just simple things and it's all working now."
Ms. Schweinberger disagrees.
"To say all the glitches have been worked out is just a lie," she said.
Cheryl Heimburger, administrator of the Tri-County Jewish Center in
Rock Island, said the lack of service from Solo Direct Connect is
unconceivable given the $49.95 a month they pay for DSL service. She
thinks customers are possibly being intentionally ignored.
"We've already paid for October, yet we have no service," she said.
"I'm curious to see if we get a bill for November. We've already
decided to switch, but it would be nice to get our Internet back in
the meantime.
"It's bad enough when it's your home, but when it's a business, it's
unbelievable. And they don't answer their phones. It's always busy.
And I'm sure they're doing that on purpose."
Ms. Heimburger also said there was rarely a problem in the past.
"We've been with Internet Revealed four or five years and never had
any problems with them until they sold out to Solo Direct. There's no
comparison. Once in a great while there would be a glitch, but I never
had a problem getting through to them. They always answered their
phone and were always apologetic. We were never without service for
days at a time."
The center has been without Internet for 10 days and counting, Ms.
Heimburger said, and off and on several times before that.
According to Mr. Tyrrell, because Solo Direct is strictly a wireless
Internet provider, all DSL customers have been, or will be,
transferred to either AT&T or Qwest. So some people may be complaining
to the wrong company, he said.
"That type of switch over doesn't happen overnight. Most (customers)
have been taken care of. Those that aren't yet, will be soon," he
said. "We're not part of that process. It's up to AT&T and Qwest.
That's when problems have popped up, during that transition. We do
what we can to help. We continue to give them customer support
although we're not a part of that."
DSL customer Jane Johnson of Moline was told in August she was being
switched to AT&T and that her modem would have to be replaced. That
still hasn't happen, she said, and feels Solo Direct should take
responsibility because they're the ones still receiving her payments.
"They're pretty much casting blame to everyone else and not taking any
responsibility for their customers," she said. "It's very interesting
to me that they haven't contacted their customers by mail about these
issues. Obviously we can't be contacted by e-mail. But we're getting
all our information from the newspapers, because you can't get through
on the phone. I was calling 12 to 20 times a day.
"I don't mind if things have happened, but I do expect appropriate
communication. I've paid hard-earned money for this service and don't
mind paying as long as I'm receiving my service."
Dial-up customers are being outsourced to Level 3, a national
provider, but technically are still his company's responsibility, Mr.
Tyrell said.