2-11-16
(Washington, D.C.) – Ninth District Congressman Doug Collins has called out north Georgia Telephone and Internet provider Windstream, for the quality of service they are providing to residents of the ninth district.
The congressman has sent a letter to telecommunications provider regarding, what he called, their unsatisfactory and substandard service to their customers. Collins, in the letter, requested information from the company, which received government money from the Phase II Connect America Fund, as well as preferred tax status from the IRS, on why their service continues to under perform in Northeast Georgia, despite the federal government’s involvement.
Collins wrote in the letter, “ over the past three years, the voices of my constituents and the appalling reports of your company’s behavior have only increased in volume and quantity. It’s time for Windstream to take my concerns, and those of your Northeast Georgia customers, seriously. “
Collins called on the company to provide a detailed status update regarding Windstream’s progress in upgrading their copper line network to modern fiber and wanted to know how much of the fees the company currently collects from subscribers is being used to upgrade the infrastructure.
The Congressman told the company in the letter, “ I have no doubt this letter will go unheeded, as the complaints of thousands of your customers have also gone unheeded. But I was sent to Washington, D.C. to represent the hard working families in Northeast Georgia, and I will continue to persist until we reach resolution.
The full text of the letter is below:
Mr. Tony Thomas
President and Chief Executive Officer
Windstream
4001 Rodney Parham Road
Little Rock, AR 72212
Dear Mr. Thomas,
I am writing to you in regards to the hundreds upon hundreds of complaints my Congressional office has received regarding virtually every aspect of Windstream’s conduct in Northeast Georgia. While I firmly support free enterprise and believe the Federal Government’s role should be limited, the nature and consistency of the reports I have received leave me no choice but to write to you directly. Since elected to Congress, I’ve tried to work closely with your staff, sharing with them the nature of the complaints and urging their swift resolution. But over the past three years, the voices of my constituents and the appalling reports of your company’s behavior have only increased in volume and quantity. It’s time for Windstream to take my concerns, and those of your Northeast Georgia customers, seriously.
Although Windstream is a private company, the telecommunications industry is both heavily regulated by the federal government and significantly dependent on federal grants and other forms of funding. Given these facts, Congressional oversight of your company’s actions in Northeast Georgia is more than merited. And I believe, compelled. I have no doubt this letter will go unheeded, as the complaints of thousands of your customers have also gone unheeded. But I was sent to Washington, D.C. to represent the hard working families in Northeast Georgia, and I will continue to persist until we reach resolution.
As I’m sure you are aware, I’ve previously written to Chairman Wheeler with the Federal Communications Commission about Windstream’s acceptance of Phase II Connect America Funds and your lack of demonstrated ability to meet the upcoming benchmarks. In addition to the concerns I expressed in that letter, and shared with your staff, there have arisen several other areas of concern that I respectfully request you review and supply a response to me in a timely fashion. If you seek additional clarification to any of these questions, I encourage you to reach out to me directly, or my staff. I will, of course, be sharing this letter and your response to the thousands of frustrated and angry Windstream subscribers in Northeast Georgia.
- I am concerned that your networks in Northeast Georgia are at over-capacity. Would you agree with this assessment? If not, please provide documentation demonstrating that Northeast Georgia networks specifically are not operating at over-capacity. If they are, please outline your plan to address this situation.
- Please provide a detailed status update regarding Windstream’s progress upgrading your copper networks to modern fiber in Northeast Georgia. Specifically, what percentage of the copper network has been replaced and what is the timeline for full replacement with modern fiber?
- Of the fees that you currently collect from Windstream subscribers in Northeast Georgia, what percentage are being used to upgrade infrastructure in the same area as those subscribers reside?
- In 2014, Windstream was granted by the Internal Revenue Service Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) status. Based on media reports at the time, Windstream’s tax savings from this change in status was estimated to cut your company debt by $3.2 billion and produce $115 million annually in free cash flow. What is your estimated tax savings to date from REIT status, and what percentage of that estimated savings have you invested in broadband upgrades, both nationally and specifically in Georgia.
I appreciate your review of these questions and I look forward to your prompt reply.
Sincerely,
I am in the process of moving to Cleveland.Ga. and have been appalled at the things people(many people) have had to say about Windstream. Surely,the residents of this area should not have to go through this trial.
Thank you for addressing this issue.
As a subscriber of “”Badstream”” also I hate the problems we have but where I am I have no choice.
I fired Windstream’s trashy business, which I am now pleased with Hughes Satellite Network. Have been with Hughes for over 2 years this spring. Totally a differ service than Windstream is capable of providing.
Windstream is nothing but a sorry thief in our community! I have some many horror stories with the local Windstream thief.
I would like to know how many customers Windstream adds fees to without their knowing. I personally had a “unlisted number fee” added 9 months ago without my request to do so. The employee I spoke with said I could see it on the paper bill that Windstream begged me to quit using and go paperless a year ago. I would also like to know why they require me to pay $50 per month for phone service I do not want. It is also a scam to charge customers that have their service disconnected $30 for the internet line and $30 for the phone line when they are the same line. It is absurd that your competition can provide 100X the service for a 1/4 of the cost that you do. Shame on you Windstream
Worst tv service I have ever had, they know that they are the only game in town. I live where I can’t seem to get dish or direct tv. I have tried both and have considered cutting mature trees around my house to get satellite tv. I have fiber optic Internet and it is great. I would like to see a company work with Habersham emac to use their lines to get tv n my area.
i have a windstream landline that should be totally reliable but for some reason it is not. this has been ongoing since i have been a windstream customer. thanks mr. collins for looking out for the NE GA windstream customers.
I am also sick of (CRAPSTREAM) to., we are not getting our moneys worth for sure. why can`t we have a different
provider in white co.? I am tired of all the charges on my bill, I do not know what most of them are for. I think everyone should cancel ther phone and dsl service until (CRAPSTREAM) starts giving us the service we are paying for..
This is White County people nothing is ever going to change with this company !,,, always has been a Dead beat County always will be!
Tari you need to explain your comment a lot better!!
It baffles me that that my Internet costs $74 a month. While other companies charge a lot less. I don’t even use my home phone anymore, but I am still required to have it. I even tried to downgrade my Internet to save a little bit, but was told they had recently gone up in pricing and it would cost more. This makes no sense, so now they a charging a higher price for a lower speed. Beware if you are new and thinking about joining Windsuck!
If I had any other choice in a provider, I would switch today. We lose service frequently and are never compensated for the interruption in service. The connect is slow and I am paying for the highest speed option. My bill keeps increasing a few dollars each quarter it seems like and now I am paying $65 a month for only Internet with no phone service at all to try and get the bill down. I call different providers every time I see an ad, but I always hear we are not in your area at this time. I would love to see improvements or another option since I teach online and depend on the Internet for income.
As a college student at UNG, I obviously dont make a lot of money. My wifi bill is $80 a month, windstream makes me have a landline, or they charge me more. The plan i signes up for was supposedly somewhere in the $50/month range, but my bill is well over that after hidden fees and costs, plus we pay for the 24mb plan and speed tests show we only get 12, if there was an alternative I would have switched a year ago.
I worked for Windstream until they cut my department and sent the jobs to India.. They are such a crooked company. Taking tax payer money to upgrade the network and then sending the jobs overseas ! I hope they are hjt hard and get put out of business
How does a telephone company qualify as a REIT?
Why doesn’t somebody just SUE them in a class-action suit?
Don’t we have any lawyers up here?
Congressman, While you wait on Windstream’s reply, may I suggest two courses of action.
(1) you communicate with the FCC Wireless Bureau for them to establish direct communications with local officials to promote fixed wireless broadband as an alternative broadband service in these underserved areas. Fixed wireless deployments require structures more like electrical utility poles than cellular towers, yet most local governments will require a Wireless Internet Service Provider to follow the same application process for a 70′ fixed wireless broadband tower as they do a 250′ cellular tower.
(2) provide and promote a broadband loan/grant program for small businesses (less than $1 million gross revenue per year) to install and manage broadband services within the community they are physically located. Millions have been given to paper only entities under the existing programs with big nationwide promises. All the money spent on consultants and engineering services for a few years with little or no actual construction to provide actual services to the public
I have funded and currently operate a fixed wireless broadband service in NEGA with approximately 400 customers. With a little cooperation from local officials on their restrictive tower ordinances and access to low interest loans or grant, I could have just as easily provided service to 4000 customers.
I live in the rural carnesville area. We have very poor Windstream services. My computer and iPad are so slow and a lot of times I never get a connection. I wish we had other choices!
We placed a service call 2 weeks in advance that was scheduled for MLK holiday as I was off of work. We received prior to the date an updated itinerary stating they moved our service date up to that Saturday. This was their doing. Following that received an email saying we would receive 24 hours notice if they had to change anythING regarding our service call. That Saturday came and went without so much as a phone call. Complete no show no call. Monday came and my husband called me that afternoon and said he finally spoke with a rep and she said they aren’t coming bc something didn’t come in they needed to complete our service call. Mind you it was scheduled 2 weeks in advance and no one called to tell us they needed to reschedule. Well it is now nearly a full month later and we have still not heard a word from them regarding our service call. The lady told my husband they would call when the part came in. Worst company/customer service ever.
I have lived in my home for almost 8 years. Windstream has told me for the past 4 years or so that they are upgrading their system. The service is horrible, and our phone is out, more often than not. Something needs to be done. Sad part is the last couple of times that I have asked for a refund for service outages, I’ve had to file a complaint with BBB in order to receive this. They won’t even do what’s right, without being forced! So sick of it. At least when I had Charter, I didn’t have these problems! Geesh!
Terrible customer service , particularly on out of service reports on weekends.
I lost a VERY good job as a customer service supervisor, working from home, due to Windstream’s service lies. Based totally upon their promise’s of faster speeds, I moved 40 miles in order to keep my job. My employer had recently upgraded their equipment and all employees had to have a 4.5 mb. speed. Windstream’s rep promised me a 6 mb. connection — and also told me that ’12 mb. is available 2 streets away’ in my new neighborhood. I paid deposits, moved my utilities, and had my upgraded Windstream service connected. When I logged on to my work VPN, my speed was barely 3 mb. I scheduled a tech appointment, and he came right out the same day. The technician told me all that was available in my area was 3 mb. and there was no such thing as 6 mb. there and their story of 12 mb. ‘2 streets away’ was totally false. He was very sympathetic, but there was nothing he could do. I lost my wonderful job because of Windstream’s lies.
What I don’t understand is why I pay $70 per month for a phone line and Internet ONLY and some friends of ours have the same service ONLy pay $ 42 per month! That’s a rip off! We don’t even use the phone line because we have cell phones!
I resigned from Windstream last summer. I worked with the phone company for 30 years. I heard these complaints daily for years. I believe when companies take care of their customers, business takes care of itself. We were required to ask effective questions, diagnosis the customer’s needs and recommend a solution based on their feedback. Supposedly looking out for the customer. However, when the interaction with the customer was complete, I was EXPECTED to sell them top speed even if they didn’t need it. I was supposed to make them see just why they needed the top speed, even when they said it was out of their budget. I was expected to sell the bundle ladders (virus protection, etc) & push a new modem on them whether they needed it or not. Same goes for tv service. I told my husband I would be leaving Windstream in 2015. I refuse to sell services that customers don’t want. No different than being a thief. I was constantly thrown under the bus by my manager and her assistant manager. When I left I was promised an exit interview. Didn’t happen. I called my manager’s boss. She didn’t want to hear what I had to share. I called numerous times to human resources. No one was interested in discussing the crooked sales techniques. Bottom line…it’s all about the dollar, not taking care of the customers. I valued my customers and wanted.to truly take care of them but my idea and Windstreams ideas are 2 different things. So thankful to go to work every day for a company that values not only their customers but they take very good care of their employees. It’s hard to decide to leave a place of employment after 30 years, but sometimes change is necessary and a blessing. I know they don’t listen to customer concerns because they wouldn’t listen to my concerns as an employee no matter how hard I tried. Good luck in getting any kind of resolution. Customers deserve MUCH BETTER.
Windstream has never been truthful with customers in north Georgia. I worked for the predecessor of Windstream (Standard Telephone Company which “merged” with ALLTEL which split it’s business and sold the Wireless division to Verizon and and the landline division became Windstream) for over 10 years. Prior to the 1999 merger that brought Alltel to town (and eventually Windstream), many customers complained about a small, locally owned telephone company that was nicknamed Sub-Standard Telephone Company. During that time, employees worked together to provide the best service possible and we were truly a family. That was destroyed when ALLTEL came to town. We all began to see that our “little” company was far more advanced than the larger ALLTEL, and in fact, many things were more than 20 years out dated with our new, larger owner. Since that time in 1999, the service has reached the point that you can’t even call it service. No one at Windstream seems to want to help a customer because their jobs are now based on sales of service they can’t support instead of offering customer service. I have their “Fastest Available Internet Service” which is supposed to give me “up to 12 Mb.” Some days my service is fast and some days my old dial up 56K service would have been faster than my premium? service. I call, report a problem and it may improve or get worse for a few days. There is no dependability any longer for any of their services including landline, Internet, and Cable TV. The company can’t keep employees because they are paid to sell and not help customers. I rarely use my landline, but I must have it in order to have Internet service because no one at Windstream Corporate has taken the time to file for a tariff change so that landline isn’t required. And why not? Requiring landline service just adds cash to the coffers and other services such as Internet and Cable TV aren’t regulated by any local, or state agency. I have family that are still employed with Windstream and they are miserable in their jobs; however, they really have no alternative for a “good” job in our area and are stuck until the next round of layoffs or the stress impedes their health. So not only do we have no other choice other than Windstream for service, many have no choice other than Windstream for employment either. It is sad to not be able to say where you work for risk of retribution from dissatisfied customers. Yet the only other employment in our area is entry level retail. Sorry to rant on and on, but Windstream customers and local employees deserve much better than what they are receiving!!!
My son was working for “The Company” in customer service during his 90 day training period. He had the highest scores in his “class” of new agents, and was really great at his job. He, of course, hated it, but he was good at it. About 45 days in to the training period, we received work that his great-grandmother was days away from passing. He asked HR what would happen if he needed time off to attend the funeral. He was handed a piece of paper to sign stating that he resigned on the spot and was escorted from the building. FOR ASKING WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF HE NEEDED THE TIME OFF. She passed about 4 days later. He was a pall-bearer. BTW, he said that the computer system the customer service agents were using was reported to be 15 YEARS out of date. There’s your customer service.
Thank you Congressman Collins for adding your voice to the vast majority of dissatisfied Windstream customers in Northeast Georgia! Here is another example of the Windstream corporate attitude: Many years ago when the Deregulated Administration Fee was added to the “Surcharges and Other Fees” section of Windstream Detail of Current Charges, I called to find out exactly what the charge was for. I was told it was a fee they charged customers “just because they could” and that “it is another source of income for the company.” That FEE now shows on my monthly bill as $3.76! I think “greedy” and “corrupt” are good adjectives for this fee – what do you think?
Thank you Congressman Collins for addressing this issue. I live in Jackson County and Windstream has been our “so called” provider for many years. VERY DISSATISFIED with their service. I have NEVER spoken to anyone that has anything good to say about this company. As much as people use cell phones now, there should be no reason that you have to pay for a land line for Internet service. If they can not provide the service needed in GA then we should, at least, have a choice of providers and not be stuck with them.
I started with Alltel to which changed to Windstream many years..I have had a problem with my phone going out every time it rains..They don’t send their employees to check it..they send people that work part time in a personal vehicle. .It takes 2 weeks to get anyone to check for problems. .buy that time the phone is working. .so they tell me that I have to find the problem. .I also pay insurance for inside wiring. .so I’m covered. .This has been going on for over a year. .I just decided to stop calling. .I just wait for it to stop raining and use my cell..
Our internet worked well for the most part until they had a new upgrade all of the sudden it wouldn’t work for days we kept calling they kept sending techs it would work for about a week and do the same thing. They told us we needed to upgrade our service for 20 more dollars a month because we used so much internet it was stalling put so we did and it works exactly the same as it did before they had the upgrade.
I can truly say I hate windstream with a passion. They were the only provider I could get in madison county. I was paying nearly $75 a month after hidden charges for a service that I was told I had a max speed of 5 mbps (horribly slow, but fastest they could supposedly give me) and I never saw speed over 2 mbps. After calling month after month trying to find out when the lines would be upgraded for higher speeds I was always told that it wasn’t avaible yet. During one of my calls to windstream (which were frequent) and towards the end of my time living there the tech told me he didn’t understand why I had a 5mbps package when they didn’t offer anything that slow in my area and that I was paying the same price of there highest speed in my area of 25 mbps. I flipped out, he said it’d been in my area for nearly 4 months. 4 months of being lied to everytime I called. I got them to upgrade the service (took them 3 weeks to come out) and never was able to get speeds above 10mbps on tests). Finally I recently moved to commerce ga in Jackson county. And to my disappointment windstream is the only one in my area (xfinity is scheduled to be in my area around mid summer, thank god). But I called and had my services transfered to my new house. And had the speed upgraded to there highest of a supposed 50 mbps. The first 2 scheduled times for them to come out they never called, or showed up, just wrote me off. The third time they finally came and hooked up the Internet but only wired me for 25 (couldn’t get over 8 mbps on speedtests) Took me another 2 weeks to get them out to hook me up for the correct 50 mbps. But I can’t get speeds above around 20 mbps on any of the speedtest regardless of what time it is. And windstream has pretty much refused to resolve the issue but still want to keep charging me for the 50 mbps package… I don’t normally wish bad upon anyone but this is one company I’d personally love to see burn the ground and fo out of busniess. There a bunch of slack, lieing, thieves that have a monopoly on the areas there in. Thank god xfinity is only a few months away. There 150 mbps package is half the cost of my current windstream bill of $97 a month for Internet only. This company has to change or go away.
Sadly Standard Telephone taken over by a National Corporation “Windstream” , has been a major disappointment. Residents were promised an improved phone network with up do date service. It however appears that the corporation is obviously only concerned with their bottom line and bonus packages before leaving our market in worse condition than it was before you Carpet Baggers bought Standard Telephone.
Windstream service is not much better in south Georgia. They have some good people but poor service.
They also rape the business customers in South Georgia. They should be forced to refund the government CAF funding for upgrading rural areas for nondelivery. Worst project management imaginable: south GA projects managed by North Carolina project manager. Rural Georgia will not attract new industry with sub-par infrastructure. Thank you for bringing awareness to this issue.
For 11 – 1/2 years, I have lived in the forest in Clarkesville, GA with a 1.5 mbps connection from Windstream. I am a software developer, so need a very high speed connection. Because Windstream is so unreliable and slow, I have to pay for two AT&T hotspots to have cellular internet which, even after capping speed after 22Gb, is several times faster and far more reliable.
I have put off canceling for too long, and FINALLY decided to give up on Windstream. If I calculate the months of overpaying $70 for what is essentially a dial-up speed connection, I have been overcharged to the tune of a minimum of $30/month for 138 months. That amounts to overpayment of $4140. This is a conservative estimate, and doesn’t count the days/hours I have been without service and not compensated.
I must admit, it was knowing that our federal government was providing financial assistance to increase connection speeds here in Northeast Georgia that finally got me angry enough to act.
I recommend everyone else in my position replace your Windstream connection with a cellular hotspot. You will not be sorry, and you can minimize the stress of feeling, once again, screwed by a company that takes advantage of the fact that there is no competition in this rural market.
DEREGULATED ADMINISTRATION FEE now sits @ $5.52/mo.
Customer service wait time in hours….
Most evenings (in Cornelia, when people get home) service drops a couple of times.
Storms or heavy rain can disrupt service completely for days.
Even though the KINETIC HIGHSPEED CABLE has really good bandwidth (still less than advertised), my $45/mo Internet plan costs $76/mo.
We are having the same problem in North Carolina with windstream. All these fees and bad service. I hope everything work out for all of windstream customers.
I live in middle Ga and Windstream continuously goes up in price with add-on fees and provides subpar service. They notify in small writing on the back of the bill about a month before they up the price and they know they can get by doing it because they are the only game in town. It angers me, they charge me to send me their bill. You would think all the surcharges they add, it would cover the cost of mailing out a bill. It seems like the FCC and FTC would have some authority to regulate rate increases