Over the past five decades, I’ve always tried not to use my television shows or columns to address a personal grievance. That would be self-serving. Besides, nobody wants to hear about my problems anyway. There is, of course, an exception to this rule. If I have a problem that also affects thousands of people, then I have an obligation to shed light on the situation. Such is the case with Brightspeed, whose very name is an oxymoron.
Two years ago Brightspeed bought Lumen, the parent company of CenturyLink, and there has been ample time for a smooth transition since then. But the transfer of residential telephone and internet service from one company to another has been anything but smooth. It has been a customer service disaster.
My wife and I have had landline and internet service in Kernersville for the past 20 years, provided by an array of companies including Embarq, CenturyLink, and now, Brightspeed. There have been glitches and outages along the way. Back in 2009, for example, we lost internet service 400 times in one 300-day period. But that was because company infrastructure was old and pairs of wires would randomly rub against each other at the pedestal that services our neighborhood. My point is that faulty equipment can be repaired, but consistently poor customer service cannot, and that’s what thousands of Brightspeed customers have been experiencing over the past two years.
Just Google any number of blog sites and websites and you’ll find one complaint after another about Brightspeed service.
Here’s a sampling:
TallProgress1732 writes, “If you have a problem, don’t try to contact them [Brightspeed] either by phone or chat. Waste of time.”
VegetableSoil1851 wrote, “I called today 3 times and got disconnected three times. On the 4th call, I was told there would be a two-week delay before a tech could come out. Brightspeed is the worst I’ve ever dealt with.”
Salt-enc posted, “I have worked in the tech industry for over 20 years and I’ve called and seen a lot of bad support. I have to say Brightspeed doesn’t care that their reps have zero accountability, and their outsourced support is terrible.”
There are also plenty of complaints registered with the BBB against Brightspeed, including these two recent ones:
“My internet service has been out for over 2 weeks. I have contacted customer support numerous times, only to be transferred and hung up on multiple times. I have since spoken with 4 different representatives and had to repeat the same information and run the same diagnostic tests every time. I still have no service.”
“I called Brightspeed on behalf of my parents who are in their 60s and have health issues. They live in an area where cell phones have no signal unless connected to WiFi. On July 31, I called to report my parents’ phone was out and no Internet service. I received an email from Brightspeed saying a tech would be sent out on August 15. Later I received an email saying the tech would come on August 26th. That date came and went, and I was told someone would come out on September 26. Still no tech support or service yet, and if my Dad should have a health emergency he can’t even call 911.”
I know how these folks feel. In May of this year, I began to hear a loud hum on all three of our landlines. A tech was scheduled but arrived a day early when I wasn’t home. He quickly listened to one extension and told my wife to replace the battery in the hand-held unit, and then he left. It took numerous calls to Brightspeed before I could convince one of their techs that there was a problem with their lines at the street level. After three more tech visits, they found frayed wires at the street and replaced them. So much for replacing a battery!
One week later we suddenly lost our caller ID function. It took over a month and a half before caller ID was restored.
Two weeks after that we lost our long-distance service on all three lines, and that took over a week to restore.
I then decided to cancel my Brightspeed broadband service and go with Spectrum. On that day I spent over an hour on the phone, first with one rep then another, each one trying to talk me out of canceling and then writing up an order to cancel my phone service instead of Internet. Once we cleared up that matter, I received a new invoice in which I am still being charged for the broadband service that I canceled.
In addition to service interruptions and poor customer service, Brightspeed continues to have a communication problem, beginning with a network of CSRs in foreign countries where English is their fourth or fifth language. They cannot be understood, and they impart inaccurate information. For example, in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, we lost our phone service. The storm had caused death and destruction, so there was no need for me to call in a trouble report. However, since my internet was still working (thanks to Spectrum) I visited the Brightspeed website for an update and it stated that there were “no outages” in our area. That meant we must have a problem with our phones and would need to schedule a tech to come to the house. It took two days of constant calling to finally get someone at Brightspeed to answer the phone. The foreign agent assured me that their website was correct and that there were no outages in my area. The next day before a technician could show up, our phone service was restored. Storm-related damage (not our personal phones) had caused the outage that Brightspeed claimed did not exist.
If you are a Brightspeed customer, you have my deepest sympathies. If you don’t have Brightspeed, please tell me where you live so I can move there.
Brightspeed: All Circuits are Busy
Over the past five decades, I’ve always tried not to use my television shows or columns to address a personal grievance. That would be self-serving. Besides, nobody wants to hear about my problems anyway. There is, of course, an exception to this rule. If I have a problem that also affects thousands of people, then I have an obligation to shed light on the situation. Such is the case with Brightspeed, whose very name is an oxymoron.
Two years ago Brightspeed bought Lumen, the parent company of CenturyLink, and there has been ample time for a smooth transition since then. But the transfer of residential telephone and internet service from one company to another has been anything but smooth. It has been a customer service disaster.
My wife and I have had landline and internet service in Kernersville for the past 20 years, provided by an array of companies including Embarq, CenturyLink, and now, Brightspeed. There have been glitches and outages along the way. Back in 2009, for example, we lost internet service 400 times in one 300-day period. But that was because company infrastructure was old and pairs of wires would randomly rub against each other at the pedestal that services our neighborhood. My point is that faulty equipment can be repaired, but consistently poor customer service cannot, and that’s what thousands of Brightspeed customers have been experiencing over the past two years.
Just Google any number of blog sites and websites and you’ll find one complaint after another about Brightspeed service.
Here’s a sampling:
There are also plenty of complaints registered with the BBB against Brightspeed, including these two recent ones:
I know how these folks feel. In May of this year, I began to hear a loud hum on all three of our landlines. A tech was scheduled but arrived a day early when I wasn’t home. He quickly listened to one extension and told my wife to replace the battery in the hand-held unit, and then he left. It took numerous calls to Brightspeed before I could convince one of their techs that there was a problem with their lines at the street level. After three more tech visits, they found frayed wires at the street and replaced them. So much for replacing a battery!
One week later we suddenly lost our caller ID function. It took over a month and a half before caller ID was restored.
Two weeks after that we lost our long-distance service on all three lines, and that took over a week to restore.
I then decided to cancel my Brightspeed broadband service and go with Spectrum. On that day I spent over an hour on the phone, first with one rep then another, each one trying to talk me out of canceling and then writing up an order to cancel my phone service instead of Internet. Once we cleared up that matter, I received a new invoice in which I am still being charged for the broadband service that I canceled.
In addition to service interruptions and poor customer service, Brightspeed continues to have a communication problem, beginning with a network of CSRs in foreign countries where English is their fourth or fifth language. They cannot be understood, and they impart inaccurate information. For example, in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, we lost our phone service. The storm had caused death and destruction, so there was no need for me to call in a trouble report. However, since my internet was still working (thanks to Spectrum) I visited the Brightspeed website for an update and it stated that there were “no outages” in our area. That meant we must have a problem with our phones and would need to schedule a tech to come to the house. It took two days of constant calling to finally get someone at Brightspeed to answer the phone. The foreign agent assured me that their website was correct and that there were no outages in my area. The next day before a technician could show up, our phone service was restored. Storm-related damage (not our personal phones) had caused the outage that Brightspeed claimed did not exist.
If you are a Brightspeed customer, you have my deepest sympathies. If you don’t have Brightspeed, please tell me where you live so I can move there.