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Starband

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Seinne of Guffey CO writes (10/9/03):
This is a copy of the letter I am trying to send to Starband. However, there is no e-mail for customer support and customer service phone lines are closed.

To whom it may concern: It's Wednesday evening at 9pm and I have no internet service, again. I've noticed a major delay in internet speed overall lately. Often, loading a simple web page takes a minute or more. And then, many times, like now, it just doesn't work. Customer Service, which used to be availabe 24 hours a day, is closed when I call. The recording suggests that I contact Starband through the internet... as if I weren't frustrated enough?

When I subscribed to Starband, it was a superior service. I've been a happy customer for years now, but the service is awful and getting worse. Unfortunately, I own the Starband system. I will have to invest in yet another satellite service to remedy this. I do, however, inform any interested neighbor or friend of mine, many of whom are also rural and have bad phone lines, that Starband is generally overpriced and doesn't really care about it's customers anymore. Then I suggest they find an alternate solution to their internet problems.

I'm looking forward to one day soon when I can again acquire a decent satellite internet system, to a day when a simple web page does not take more than 60 seconds to load. Since I can't send this e-mail to anyone at Starband right now, and since the support page offers no support, and since the "ask a question" feature doesn't seem to be working at all, I'm using this time to e-mail CONSUMERAFFAIRS.COM about my experience with your company. a 24 hour service NEEDS 24 hour customer help.

I bought the system a few years ago and now I'm out hundreds of dollars if I want to change my satellite internet service provider. I'm also locked into a lengthy contract with Starband after "upgrading" to the 360 modem.

Tony of Tillamook OR (9/19/03):
For over a year now I have been using Starband's "broadband" services. I have the residential package with the 360 modem. This is the largest travesty of poor service I have ever witnessed. Not only (like everyone else complaining about Starband's service on this site) is the connection speed only slightly better and often worse than dial up, it's damn expensive. I call support, I bitch, I talk to managers and get the same sorry answers that have already been documented here multiple times.

NEW, however, is that they now have a better technology in a 480 modem (in the Small Business package) that is almost twice as expensive both in equipment cost and service plan cost. Why am I even considering this? Because I need it. I need better upload speeds because my customers are frustrated by my inability to react like everyone else collaborating over the web.

Here's the kicker. I can't upgrade from residential to small business. There is not a way for me as a paying customer to upgrade so I can benefit from their professed higher upload speeds. Here's their answer... "You can cancel your current plan and buy into the small business plan for the full price. You will receive credit for your existing modem of $90 (I bought it a year ago for $600)." I have to buy the new modem at full price and go onto a new service plan for $130-$150 per month. This to get slower speeds than DSL/cable modem customers get for $70-$80.

Brian of San Antonio writes (8/29/01):
Starband has been anything short of dealing directly with the devil himself. It seems that they will tell you anything, just to get you off the phone, even if what they tell you isn't true.

Installation of this service was a joke, Starband gives anyone that can pass a simple read/comprehend test a Certification license to install this $1000.00 plus equipment. My installer bragged about taking 4 tries to pass it.

After hours and hours and days and weeks of hell trying to get the Starband service to work halfway decent, speeds have continued to decline ever since. Starband Technical support is anything short of help or no help at all. They cannot answer any of the simplest questions, but every now-and-then you may get someone half knowledgeable, but then again all they will do is try and get you to level 2 tech support.

I pay (like everyone else) $69.99 per month for speeds that I can get from a simple 56K connection over poor phone lines. When I contact S-B, I get told "Posted Speeds cannot be guaranteed, since this is satellite technology, therefore you may experience intermittent slow speeds anytime". That is a fine example of "I don't really care, just get off the phone" customer service.

On top of slow speeds, the network is constantly down and the RPA is also down 75% of the time. I know that my complaining should amount to me just leaving SB, but I am also on the 2 year "Beta Test Period" and cannot just leave. The service is overpriced and with the introduction of their 360 modems, has caused a new contract being required, for an additional year of service! You are locked in to already slow speeds, and sign another year, HOPING that you get something better than what you get now.

Albert of New Castle PA (8/27/01):
In January of this year I purchased the Starband System and service including installation. After several months of time and much damage to my home, the system was unusable and I shipped it back. They couldn't make it work even after asking me to open the modem and work on it myself while they guided me over the phone. The service kept going off line and there was no cure they at Starband could offer.

They reluctantly refunded part of my out-of-pocket after I cancelled the credit card transactions that paid for the system. I'm still out $300.00 for the installation and would like to be refunded and have the damage to my house repaired. Dealing with Starband is like talking to a wall. They are neither knowlegable nor willing to help.

Douglas of Stockton UT writes (8/17/01):
Starband ... what hasn't happened? Took 4 months to install after paying for it. Installer damaged my home, (mounted the dish 5' above the ground on a 28' house side). Starband promises speeds in writing, on their website, I paid for a year in advance. Their speeds haven't even once reached the advertised speeds. They recently "upgraded" their modems, the new ones work sporadically at best, going offline and on all day/night. The only solution they offer is to reboot and 'hope' it works.

Their IP addresses constantly change from moment to moment, making use of secure sites like banks, media libraries, and FTP sites nearly impossible. One site I visit 5-6 times a day for media requires that I input my password an average of 50 times per session. I finally coded a keystroke to input this silliness.

I'm a webmedia designer. Uploads of 250 as they promote is way faster than the 36.6 speed the phone company allows us out here. But ... Starband has never once crossed the upload speed of 33.6. Never. So, I've canceled my phone dialup in favor of Starband, only to be screwed. My clients are angry, I'm angry. I'm frustrated by the hour-plus hold times, and then getting a high-school educated "tech support" who simply reads from a comprehensive version of the owners manual.

I've had to work twice as long waiting for uploads and tech support, and still have no resolution. They throw technical terms that I, as a certified network engineer have never heard of, and when asked for a written definition or location of a definition, they refuse or say they don't know what the meaning of the word is, it's "simply a measuring tool they use." I've spent over 1500.00 on their services, only to see them NOT fulfill their written agreement, and a consistent decline in quality of service.

Follow-Up
On 8/18/01 Douglas sent the following email to Starband:

6.35 p.m.
Ever since I've received this ridiculous toy called a satellite modem, my system is constantly down. Not only do I not receive or transmit at the speeds that Starband GUARANTEED in writing, but it is constantly failing, and so when I'm uploading a 3-4 meg file for a client, service gets disrupted, and the file being sent is lost in the packeting. I can't even load it to my FTP site, because of this nonsense.

I called 9 times in the past week; after a minimum of 45 minutes on hold, I give up. Finally, today I held for over an hour, only to get a girl who didn't know how to assist me, and could only tell me that my co-pole and cross-pole numbers were 'fine.' Maybe they are. But the system is not. I lose connectivity at least once every 3 hours, and usually more often. The sun is shining, it's 100 degrees out, no humidity, not a tree within a thousand yards of the satellite, no neighbors, no local interference, no broadcasting station nearby, no police, fire, ambulance, hospital for over 20 miles. I'm in the desert, hence the reason for my believing your advertisements. (like a complete fool)

I paid for a year of Starband in advance. (like a complete fool) I have YET to get what I paid for. I paid for a satellite system in November, received it in February. It's worked semi-well on the 180 system. Then you take that away and give me this toy, or whatever it is, that constantly needs the IOSA reset, and/or wants to be rebooted every could of hours.

I see person after person filing complaints with the Department of Consumer Affairs, I see the texts from your chats, I listen to people on the radio. Apparently everyone in the world is disgusted with Starband. If you had customer service that treated us decently, instead of hanging up like you do when anyone mentions Windows 2000 and the "N" word in the same sentence (networking) and maybe found some people that actually either: A-cared about those of us who effectively sign your paycheck, or B-could genuinely solve a problem, then nasty, short tempered, rude, and dishonest Tier 1 tech support could be tolerated. But you don't.

8.15 p.m.
My system has just come online, and gone off again twice in the writing of this mail. It's now 8.20 p.m., and I can't even send this to you. It will just sit in the Drafts folder until the system comes back online.

9.55 p.m.
Are your customer service people aware that I work in the Streaming Media industry? that your company advertises in a magazine I write for? That I lecture at NAB, Streaming Media East/West/UK/Japan, REAL Networks conventions, and train Microsoft people in the creation of streaming media? In other words, it's time for me to start making a stink in magazines, and from the stage at these conventions. The very same ones you attend. If you are unwilling to provide the service that I shelled out over $1500.00 for including equipment and service, then the gloves come off. See my articles at www.streamingmedia.com or www.wwug.com or www.creativecow.net.

Check out my ratings as a presenter. You'll find I'm one of the top industry presenters for Microsoft, REAL, and many major groups. It's why HBO, Showtime, National Enquirer TV, and Fox are my clients. Hopefully you'll see that while I'm a pissant in the scheme of your business, I do also have the power to financially affect you to a degree, and in case I forgot to mention that I sit on the Congressional panel for International Internet Standards, tune in to CSpan on November 5. I assure you, if this doesn't get resolved quickly, you'll hear me mention Starband at least 4 times in the session on international television. In a manner you won't like.

10.24 p.m.
Wow! I'm back online!! only 4 hours down....and you guys don't give credit for fees already paid, and why should you? You have my money....why do you care about my service? What a GREAT business model!

David of Santa Fe, NM, writes (5/23/01):
Dealing with Starband has been a nightmare and in keeping this simple I am omitting many details about how dysfunctional this organization is. I live in Santa Fe, NM and wanted to get high speed Internet accesses. I called every Starband installer in Santa Fe to get prices and telling each I trade stocks, use various data streams and require a high speed and low latency connection. Each said Starband would work well.

Had the system installed and it turned out there was a huge latency problem, this service proved to be four times slower than the slowest dial-up ISP I have ever used. (Technically speaking a good isp will have a ping test at under 200, theirs is well over 800)

I also found out when you sign up you are put into a new cluster and mine had problems, which they could provide no feasible date on fixing. Most new sign ups are put into new clusters, which often have problems, which they seemed quite clueless on the nature of the problem and any idea of a fix. I have had lengthy correspondence with Starband on these matters. They also ignored or do not respond to about half of my e-mails, and although customer service promises to call you, they do not.

I am out $200 for the installation of the system, which since has been removed, and would like to be refunded. Despite writing and calling them that all their licensed installers in Santa Fe had mislead me and their advertising is misleading, they refuse to issue a refund.

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