I Think My ISP is Ripping Me Off
I *Know My ISP is Ripping Me Off
Unfortunately, I do not have Xfinity, Verizon Fios, or Google Fiber available in my area. I am located in a rather rural area. When I moved to this area, I realized I had three options. The first option would be to sign up for Starlink, the second option would be to sign up for T-Mobile Home Internet, and the third option would be to go with the local internet provider, Shentel.
Starlink is cool, don’t get me wrong. But I need serious bandwidth (or at least I tell myself I do). I am constantly downloading and uploading multi-GB ISO files and SQL dumps. I can’t be bothered to wait 30 minutes for a file to download. It is not happening. With average download speeds of 150 mbps, Starlink was not really an option. Latency could be an issue as well. I have seen many user report that their ping could spike all the way up to 200ms. No matter how fast your download speed is, 200ms latency makes using the internet unbearable.
T-Mobile Home Internet is similar to Starlink. I do have 5G towers in my area and more then likely my speeds would be on the higher end (33 mbps-182 mbps). Those speeds are still not fast enough for me.
I was forced to settle for Shentel. The local ISP that boasts “amazing coverage, reliability, and prices.” I can say, without a doubt, Shentel is the worst ISP I have ever given my money to. That’s saying something from a former Xfinity customer. I have been begging Xfinity to come to my area since the very first month I signed with Shentel. What makes them so bad?
To start off, their plans are atrocious:
50 Mbps Internet
$65/mo
Data Allowance 1 TB
150 Mbps Internet
$80.00/mo
Data Allowance 1.25 TB
300 Mbps Internet
$110.00/mo
Data Allowance 1.75 TB
1 Gbps Internet
$200.00/mo
Data Allowance 3.25 TB
For context, Xfinity is offering a 1.2 Gbps plan with unlimited data at just $79.00. That is $120 LESS than Shentel’s 1 Gbps plan!
I do not understand how they can honestly get away with this <insert argument against monopolies here>.
I decided I had to bite the bullet and pay $200 a month for gig speed. I called them up.
The install tech came out, explained to me that their eero wifi mesh system would be way better than my UDM Pro and Unifi network. I told him I did not want to use their stuff since I already had my own. He respectfully told me that he could not hook me up to my new service if I did not use their modem and eero router. I told him he was wrong but that I would take care of it later. I confirmed with him multiple times that the cost of the hardware itself was included in the price. I had my suspicions but he assured me, the only cost I would see would be the $200 for service. Dude hooks me up to Shentel (after having issues with setting up his eero stuff), tells me that I need to call customer service to swap out the equipment and leaves (staying in my driveway for about 20 extra minutes probably so he could bill for the entire hour).
I call customer service, give them the MAC to my modem, they swap it out just fine. I tell them I will be using my own router and I will not be using theirs. They said all was good and to just put the eero stuff in my closet so I could return it after I moved out. I asked if I would be paying anything for the hardware and the rep assured me that everything was included in that $200/month price. All was squared away.
Days later, I got an email about an outstanding bill. I knew that they would find a way to charge me for the installation and I was ok with that. I expected my bill to be $200 + the connect fee. My bill was over $500. More than double what it should be. I was livid and drove to the closest Shentel location.
Upon arriving, I was greeted by a very nice customer service rep who had no idea what was going on. Luckily, I was able to get to a manager who looked over my bill with me. She explained that there were in fact two installation charges that would show up on my bill. The first charge would be $30 for the connection to the network and the second $30 charge was because the tech had come out to my house.
I said, that’s fine and all, but quick maths says 200 + 60 does not equal over 500. She agreed and got on the phone with someone else higher up. After chatting with them for a bit, she showed me a piece of paper that she had printed up. On it, my bill was broken down item by item. I noticed immediately that there were two $99 charges and one $150 charge for “failure to return unused equipment.” After being assured multiple times that I would not be charged for the hardware (eero wifi router and ap and the modem), I was being charged for the hardware.
Needless to say I was quick to point out that I should not be charged for the hardware since I had been told it was included in the plan. The manager agreed with me and got in touch with the higher up. I decided to make a deal with them. I told her that I would be returning in 45 minutes with all the hardware and thus it would be taken off my bill since I returned it before the first bill. She agreed and I headed back home. I grabbed my Shentel hardware, brought it back to the location and the manager scanned it into their inventory system. She told me that she was sorry for the issue and the changes would be reflected on my bill.
Finally, I said to myself. All is good. Fast forward two or three days and my bill still showed $500+ on the Shentel website. Time to call customer service. I get on the phone and explain to the rep that they might want to send me directly to a supervisor. The rep assures me that he will be able to fix my problem. I explain to him what was wrong and he says, let me get my supervisor. After a ten minute wait, a very nice supervisor gets on the phone and looks over my bill. She sees the previous notes that the store manager left on my account. She clicks her tongue and says, “I don’t know what this manager is talking about. You can’t remove a line item from a bill even if it’s wrong. At this point the bill is set.” I explain to her that I am frustrated because what the install tech told me did not match up with what the store manager told me and what she is telling me now does not match up with what the store manager told me.
The supervisor proceeds to tell me that she has no idea why they said what they said. They are wrong and she is right. I tell her why would I want to be a customer of a company that has no SOP and has a clear lack of communication across departments. She says I am right, that was bad. I say, how are we going to fix this? She says she has a plan.
This very nice supervisor tells me that I will have to pay the $500+ on my next bill, but since she is a generous employee and wants my experience to get better, she will put a credit on my account for the next month for the total of all the various “failure to return unused equipment” charges. Great. Progress. I tell her that she should also waive the installation fee and the hookup fee. She agrees. She also mentions that I need to return the unused equipment. I tell her I returned it to the store already. She says she will follow up with the store manager.
I had no more fight left in me. I told her I would call if anything popped up. She told me to have a nice day and we ended it cordially. I paid my $500+ bill and hoped that she would fix my next bill.
Next month rolls around and, praise the Lord, I see three credits for the unused hardware fees. Of course, she conveniently forgot to waive the install fee and the hookup fee. I was done with calling. I had to nail the coffin shut.
Sorry for the rant, now onto the real reason for my article.
Shentel is ripping me off.
First off, I realized quickly that I was behind a CG NAT and did not have my own public IP. I called up Shentel, told them I was a valuable customer since I paid for their most expensive plan, and asked them to add a static public IP to my account. The rep tells me that’s an extra $30 a month. I tell her that Xfinity gives almost all their customers their own public IP. She says she doesn’t know what to tell me. Great, now I have to jump through hoops to self host stuff. This is a ridiculous policy.
I also decided that since my internet is so expensive, I should make sure that I was not being cheated. I spun up a great little application called Speedtest Tracker developed by Alex Justesen over on GitHub. What this nifty docker container does is simple. At <time interval> a ookla speedtest is run and the results are stored in a local db. I set the run interval to every 30 minutes and I let it run for a few days.
I decided to check out my results. To my dismay I see several speedtests that are not even close to 1Gbps.
It would seem that at several times during the day and at night, my internet drops as low as 50Mbps down and 10Mbps up. My UDM Pro also reports (about once a week) that my internet was dropped for a few minutes.
I am very unhappy with my situation. Unfortunately, I can’t do anything about it at the moment.
Shentel is the only high speed internet provider in my area. Luckily I have been seeing several Xfinity trucks around and they laid some cable in my yard a few weeks ago. As soon as I possibly can I will be switching to Xfinity.
Shentel, if you are reading this, your service is terrible. But you don’t have to care until there is competition. Many people are stuck in a situation like myself. At least try and get your teams on the same page with your policies.
That’s all from me.
Cheers,
Joe