I started with Armstrong "service" upon purchasing a second home in Eastern OH since I have business interests there.
In this area it seems Armstrong is the only game in town for Internet service. I started in 2017 with a price of $45 per month, the fine print said this was an initial discount, in a few months the gouging began at $75 per month. I'm only getting Internet, no TV or phone service.
With my first visit for the setup in a house that already was wired for service the associate went through the house, in and out. It would have been hard not miss the massive cabling.
NOTE: I'm a network systems engineer, degree in Computer Science and fully certified with Microsoft. I have years of experience setting up networks in corporations and small businesses. I've run cable through offices in skyscrapers in Chicago. So, I know a little bit about Internet, Computers, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, so on and so forth. I've worked and installed servers, workstations and trained people.
So George finally comes inside and decides he needs to drill a hole in the hardwood maple flooring near where the modem is going. Nice!! He drills the hole next to an existing hole of the same size. Yes, I couldn't make this stuff up. He finally installs the modem, runs some tests and then want's me to sign some paperwork. In the dining room he starts talking about local sports, I'm not interested, but he can't shut up about it. On and on I finally get him out of the house. Before that another associate arrives and they yak, yak, and yak some more.
These two birds continue their conversation in my driveway. I ask them to leave so they move their vehicles into the street. 40 minutes later they finally leave.
I decided to have a look around my basement, and outside to see the entry point of the cable. On the West side of the house the cable is detached and about two feet away from the building. All it needed was a small bracket/clip to attach to the house. George skipped that part, I fixed it.
In the basement I removed unneeded cable, up to 100 feet of it. George didn't see the point in this, he was interested in sports.
Fast forward, January 2022. Over the years we've had very short-term service disconnects from the Internet, nothing too terrible. Almost like flipping a switch off then on. I've reset the modem at times and it was all good.
Outside I noticed some cabling hanging from a pole on my neighbors property flying in the wind and a bundle of cable on the ground. This is not a good thing. I call Armstrong with intentions of also notifying First Energy. The Armstrong phone rep is barely audible, speaking in a whisper. I set my phone volume all the way up. Said Rep want's to set up an appointment to have someone come inside my home. Honest, the pole and cable are all outside, not on my property. I'm getting nowhere with the incompetence on the other side of my phone. He says he'll notify the office. OK, if that makes you happy. Later I receive an email telling me about an appointment I have with Armstrong between 11 am and 2 pm the next day. Say what???
Next day around 11:30 am I notice an Armstrong van in my driveway and brace myself. Nothing, no knock, no doorbell, no phone call. In about 5 minutes the van is in the street but at the poll on my property, West of the poll with the cabling problem.
Now let's back up for a minute. On the previous day, after my phone call to Armstrong I reported the same issue to First Energy. A lineman arrived at the poll in question within 30 minutes of my call. 30 minutes!! He got out of his truck, cut the cable, attached the end to the poll, picked up the bundle of cable on the ground, threw it in his truck and left. All in less than one minute. You might ask, why didn't I perform this function with my experience. Because it's not my property, not my responsibility, I'm not authorized.
Back to Armstrong. The young man was last seen at the pole on my property. He was sitting in his truck, talking and playing with his phone for 20 minutes. Finally, he exits his truck, fastens on his tool belt, hangs some other equipment including a safety belt to his waist all while talking via Blue Tooth. This guy likes to talk. He then gets his ladder from his truck and climbs the poll. still jabbering away. My wife asks, who's talking so loud??? He spends about 5 minutes up the poll still talking away.
Next he comes down, takes his equipment off, replaces his ladder on the truck, climbs back in said truck and spends around another 5 minutes playing with his phone. I suppose they would tell me he was documenting his visit.
On a side note, George told me I'd never get Wi-Fi back in our sunroom. WRONG!! I have ROKU streaming setup and it works very well. Sorry George!!
That's my story and I'm sticking to it. read more
