Abandoned by ISP company

[Mike Robinson]

I have (had) dial up internet and the other morning (April 01) I went to log on with no success, I kept getting a busy signal. I thought nothing much about until the afternoon when I got to work and one of my coworkers who used the same Internet Service Provider says to me "So did you hear the news? We're cut off. The company shut down service in our area today!"

So since then I've tried to get an answer as to why we not given any prior notice. Neither he or I recieved an email or letter informing us of the impending cut off. The company claims they sent out multiple emails and letters and I have talked to others who were informed, but I wasn't one of them. The company still hasn't responded to my queries and I am damn angry about being left in the lurch like this.

Any suggestions on what I can do about this or should I just shrug it off?

Thanks for letting me vent.

 

[SgtMaj]

Re: Abandoned by ISP company

Shrugging it off is just about all you can do. They have already made their decision and followed through with it. Since they obviously didn't have enough customer base in the area to continue operations, no amount of arguing with them will make them reverse their decision to shut down operations there.

Just be thankful you weren't left stranded somewhere with no way to get home, like what the ATA shutdown did to many of their passengers.

PS - You don't happen to be on a Navajo reservation do you? I had heard that the ISP that supplies a major Navajo reservation was going to be cutting off their service after they were double-billed, which makes just about as much sense as refineries cutting back production to boost their profit margins this last week.

 

[Mike Robinson]

Re: Abandoned by ISP company

Shrugging it off is just about all you can do. They have already made their decision and followed through with it. Since they obviously didn't have enough customer base in the area to continue operations, no amount of arguing with them will make them reverse their decision to shut down operations there.

Just be thankful you weren't left stranded somewhere with no way to get home, like what the ATA shutdown did to many of their passengers.

PS - You don't happen to be on a Navajo reservation do you? I had heard that the ISP that supplies a major Navajo reservation was going to be cutting off their service after they were double-billed, which makes just about as much sense as refineries cutting back production to boost their profit margins this last week.

Hello SgtMaj

I realize that they won't be changing their decision and I don't really have an issue with them pulling out. (I have signed up with another ISP) I do expect an explanation as to why I didn't receive any advance notice though. Is this reasonable?

What is ATA? An airline I assume. That would be terrible to be stranded like that.

No I don't live on a Navajo Reserve, I live on a group of islands off coastal British Columbia, Canada. The first nations people here are called "Haida" and they call these islands "Haida Gwaii". On maps the islands are called the "Queen Charlotte Islands".

 

[SgtMaj]

Re: Abandoned by ISP company

I realize that they won't be changing their decision and I don't really have an issue with them pulling out. (I have signed up with another ISP) I do expect an explanation as to why I didn't receive any advance notice though. Is this reasonable?

Of course it's reasonable, that doesn't mean you'll get that either though. Most likely, the most you'll get is a 'we're sorry that you did not read the notice we sent you' type of BS apology. But they won't want to admit to any wrongdoing because that could open them up to litigation from any former customers who may have lost business because of their lack of notice.

What is ATA? An airline I assume. That would be terrible to be stranded like that.

Yeah they were an airline that shut down abruptly this week, trapping many people who had tickets in Hawaii. It's such a big problem that the state of Hawaii just put up $5 million to help those stranded tourists get home, and they estimate that will only cover about 1/3rd of it. One can only hope criminal charges get filed against the former officers of ATA. Especially since, while customer's who paid with credit cards can get their money back from the bank, customer's who paid in cash, can't get their money back. That's theft if you ask me, and the officers of the company should be thrown in the deepest darkest hole of a jail cell to rot for what's left of their miserable waste of lives.

No I don't live on a Navajo Reserve, I live on a group of islands off coastal British Columbia, Canada. The first nations people here are called "Haida" and they call these islands "Haida Gwaii". On maps the islands are called the "Queen Charlotte Islands".

Ok, was just curious due to the timing and similarity of circumstances. That's kinda up near the San Juan Islands, isn't it? Beautiful country up there, and entirely too cold for me.

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: Abandoned by ISP company

Of course it's reasonable, that doesn't mean you'll get that either though. Most likely, the most you'll get is a 'we're sorry that you did not read the notice we sent you' type of BS apology. But they won't want to admit to any wrongdoing because that could open them up to litigation from any former customers who may have lost business because of their lack of notice.



Yeah they were an airline that shut down abruptly this week, trapping many people who had tickets in Hawaii. It's such a big problem that the state of Hawaii just put up $5 million to help those stranded tourists get home, and they estimate that will only cover about 1/3rd of it. One can only hope criminal charges get filed against the former officers of ATA. Especially since, while customer's who paid with credit cards can get their money back from the bank, customer's who paid in cash, can't get their money back. That's theft if you ask me, and the officers of the company should be thrown in the deepest darkest hole of a jail cell to rot for what's left of their miserable waste of lives.



Ok, was just curious due to the timing and similarity of circumstances. That's kinda up near the San Juan Islands, isn't it? Beautiful country up there, and entirely too cold for me.

Quite a bit north.....

 

[JB]

Re: Abandoned by ISP company

That is what usually happens when a vendor/supplier goes broke. Customers who were in the midst of a transaction are out in the cold and usually lose some bux.

I was once in an Investment Advisor office, about to give them big bux to invest for me, when the boss walked in and announced that the company was shut down, effective immediately. Everyone in the building was suddenly unemployed and I was the luckiest guy there. Obviously, a lot of folk lost a lot of money.

 

[Mike Robinson]

Re: Abandoned by ISP company

Yeah they were an airline that shut down abruptly this week, trapping many people who had tickets in Hawaii. It's such a big problem that the state of Hawaii just put up $5 million to help those stranded tourists get home, and they estimate that will only cover about 1/3rd of it. One can only hope criminal charges get filed against the former officers of ATA. Especially since, while customer's who paid with credit cards can get their money back from the bank, customer's who paid in cash, can't get their money back. That's theft if you ask me, and the officers of the company should be thrown in the deepest darkest hole of a jail cell to rot for what's left of their miserable waste of lives.

Are other airlines helping these stranded people out? It would seem to be a good opportunity to win some loyalty from these passengers. What if you have flight insurance? Would you be covered for a situation like this?

Ok, was just curious due to the timing and similarity of circumstances. That's kinda up near the San Juan Islands, isn't it? Beautiful country up there, and entirely too cold for me.

We're further north, just south of Alaska. On a clear day one can see Alaska from a beautiful beach on the north end of Graham Island called "North Beach". Relatively speaking it's not too cold here (or too warm) the ocean moderates our climate so temperatures range from -2 to 20 degrees (celsius) which suits me, I'm not a fan of extreme heat or cold.

 

[RubberFrog]

Re: Abandoned by ISP company

-2 C feels pretty extreme to me! I hate anything below about 50 f.

 

[PW2]

Re: Abandoned by ISP company

It's all part of the termperate rain forest. It runs all the way to SW Alaska, gets lots of rain, and grows trees great!

 

[Mike Robinson]

Re: Abandoned by ISP company

Well I finally got a reply from my former ISP today, after 2 phone calls and 2 emails. It's not much, but it is an apology at least. They are also allowing me to maintain my email address through them for 3 months.

Here is what they said:

<Hello Mike,

Unfortunately, due to error on our part, some people did not receive notice of termination. We do apologize for the inconvenience.

Amir xxxxxx
Unified Support Representative
1.877.xxx.xxxx
xxxxxx.com
Providing quality internet and communications services to over 250,000 customers.>

(I've edited out the contact information with x's)

 

[SgtMaj]

Re: Abandoned by ISP company

He was probably just fired for taking responsibility for a problem...

-2 C, moderate? I can kind of handle the 20 C, but even that is on the cold side of comfortable for me.

 

[jollymon]

Re: Abandoned by ISP company

Not to advertise for someone else, but while you are looking for a ISP, why not gmail a try. www.gmail.com It is googles, email service. It will not help you find a ISP, but if you have to change your email, if you go with them, you will not have to worry about ISP changes ever again. I always felt trapped by my ISP, because I do not want to go thru the hassle of changing email addresses, and forget to let someone know, or losing contact with someone I gave my address to.

Now I can move around between ISP and not worry about it. gmail has a good web interface, and works well with most email programs.

good luck