They change your payment every 6 months. I started at about $53 and now I'm at about $103. There is ZERO difference in quality, yet they rack up your bill. I have no choice but to have this company due to my apartment building. read more

Traaaash!!!! Always a random outage and my service been out all weekend especially during this winter storm. It went out a day before the storm even happened that's when I called it in. They made me set a appointment after the weekend (Monday) for someone to come fix it then call me the day of to reschedule when the weather already had calmed down around 3pm (appointment was scheduled from 1pm- 5pm) the ice was melted already. Seriously they suck! I had no service stuck in the storm all weekend and they still have the audacity to ask me if I want to upgrade to their TV and mobile service SMH! They're straight garbage!!! They could have came before the storm like Saturday morning for example you know work with me since they know the weather was gonna get bad over there having storm updates on their website. You need internet for everything now days and I was stuck in the Stone Age all weekend paying $80 a month for BS service very Disappointing!! read more

Internet keeps dropping. Called to report issue. Tech came out and assessed the situation and apparently other customers on the same street are having the same issue. He escalated issue to the network team. Called the next business day and customer rep did not have a clue of what was going on. Suggested placing another service call to have a technician out again. It is absurb that we have to go through the same rodeo again when this issue is impacting multiple users. read more

Horrible company, outages are very often and last very long. There's no real ETA or reason for the outages. Prices are too high and the app sucks! read more

I'd leave half a star to 0 stars if i could.. When they have outages, it last for days on end and when u contact customer service, its only an automated system that wont allow u to speak to a live human because "unable to connect to a service representative until service is restored". Worst internet provider I've ever experienced. read more

would rate lower if i could. The internet service is terrible, It goes out all of the time and when it does work it randomly goes from 300 megabytes to 2 kilobytes for a minute or 2 through out the day. when i called to talk to someone they didn't really help, all they told me is that they didn't see anything like this on their end when they looked up my service info. read more

Service drops out for up to 24 hours at a time for our whole apartment complex. When it works, it's very slow. Finally dropped them today after years of declining quality, and won't be looking back. read more

The absolute worst cable service. I wind up missing most of my programs and this company don't even give you credit for not having cable service. Just got my bill and it seems to have an increase in taxes and service charges, absolutely ridiculous. read more

Shockingly good customer service received. When I signed up for internet I got a year of Max for free as a promotion. However, we couldn't log in to it and get the accounts connected. When I went to call there was a pop-up recommending I use my phone's text messaging app to TEXT customer service and it was incredibly impressive. Getting through to an actual person was quick and easy, I just told the robot I needed help with something else and bam, a person. As a side note outside of the customer service, I also get a gig and a half of speed for a genuinely great price. read more

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Pitiful service. Would not send me a confirmation of our service being out so I could give that to my work. Grande was ok. These folks are the worst of many bad options. read more

Astound | Austin - Not real customer service - Internet Service Providers Near Me - Austin, Texas

Updated review: I originally left a grumpy 1-star review because I had been having some frustrating recurring connection issues. However, once I finally just called their customer service line, they were able to send a technician out first thing the next morning. It'd be great if technical issues never arose, but the fact is sometimes they are unavoidable. The next best thing is to address them promptly and professionally, which Astound did in my case. Both of the technicians I've had visit for service calls have been professional, friendly, and knowledgeable. That's definitely worth something. read more

UPDATE: They've responded to this review asking I DM them- there doesn't appear to be a way to even do that on Yelp, all calls go to the same customer line that does nothing. If I could give a negative review, I would. Please save yourself some headache and pay a little more for a better company. This has been non-stop problem after problem. They don't care about customers, they don't keep your data secure (someone else was able to access my account and credit card info) and their "supervisors" have no actual ability or desire to solve anything. Oh and try to cancel? Sorry- you have to pay for 30 days of service you didn't receive! Garbage. read more

I started with Astound when it was Grandecom several years ago, and was very happy with the services provided (Internet and Land Line). But since Astound acquired Grandecom, service has gone from good, to ridiculously bad... All the while they keep raising their rates. For the past THREE months I've had hourly, daily, and WEEKLY intermittent Internet losses, often in the middle of online activities. My land line has gone off for weeks, and is currently off now. I was willing to put up with occasional outages, but this has gotten out of hand... I'm dropping THEM like a Hot Potato after tomorrow... I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND ASTOUND BROADBAND to ANYONE... I would also mention, that if you do not sign up for "automatic bill pay", Astound charges a "$1.00 Convenience Fee" if you pay your bill online... Disgusting! -- JJK read more

When contacting customer service, the usual reply is that they cannot access anything that is advertised online. Have been told to access online account to further "assist" myself. When attempting to access said online account, the website is very limited and does not allow me to do anything other than pay my bill or set up auto account. I don't know who's in charge of their policies, but they're terrible and their agents are in the habit of not taking accountability for their employer. read more

They offer a fair price but my internet goes out at least once a week. They recently raised their prices and it upsets me because the reliability has only gotten worse over time. I'm currently writing this review from my hotspot since my internet is out - I'm waiting for assistance from Astound, and I'm 78th in line at the moment... read more

My son moved into his apartment in the West campus area of University of Texas at Austin on August 17, and still does not have WiFi. The Astound techs apparently cut wires during something, and have yet to fix it. In addition, they blamed another company for the cutting! Classes started yesterday, and my son and his 3 roommates do not have internet. Astound has sent techs out twice - who have fixed nothing...and told the apartment manager that it would be next week before they could fix it. This is not ok and horrible customer service. I tried calling Astound myself, and was on hold for over 15 minutes - nobody answers the phone. read more

I have no complaints about the quality of their service connection but I do not recommend contracting with this company. They get you with false advertisements and slap you with a hefty bill greater than expected. I was referred by my apartment management to receive a service plan provided for low income families. Used referral, couldn't get a bill until almost the second month of service and bill was over $200 charging me over $90/month for their service. I also opted to combine my internet service with my phone service yet never received the credentials. Was told phone was not applied to bill and still they hit me with an internet bill greater than my light bill. Shame on them. read more

The worst experience I have ever had in living on my own over 20 years. Internet suddenly slows down to un-useable or completely shuts off every 2-4 months. I call them, they send a person and it happens again in 2 months. The last person they sent just showed me a computer screen claiming the modem was producing the 600 Mbps in my plan, despite the fact my phone and laptop were barely able to pull down 30-50, tops. That technician also blamed the physical infrastructure and materials of my apartment when brought that information about the still poor performance. I've had the router replaced and have even bought and connected one of those WiFi nest network systems to help improve performance and this unreliable service, for which there are no available alternatives except those provided wirelessly from cellular providers, all to no avail. The literal only solution is to move, and hope I can find ANY OTHER ISP at my next place. Jesus Christ. read more

This internet provider is a$$. I constantly have internet issues and it pauses my devices even though they are not paused in the app. The customer support doesn't help at all, its like they don't even know what they are doing. I wish I could have someone else but forced to use them for the apartment I am in. I hate having to use them... complete trash. read more

Once again "Jackie is writing telling me to private message them without telling me who to private message or any way to do so Unbelievable Writing this review to update that their tech finally came out and went to the neighbors backyard to check the "pedestal" and left without saying anything I have no idea how long he's been gone he showed up 2 hours and didn't even give an update before leaving. Wtf?!? How do you not update a customer?!? Called customer service to hold for 30 mins the customer service team requested I reach them via private message on my previous yelp review with absolutely no guidance where to contact them lol wtf I'm getting AT&T because this company is a total clusterfuck DO NOT GET THIS SERVICE NO MATTER WHAT read more

Moved to a new town and got a good deal with Astound by Grande with a two year price guarantee. It lasted one month as the price doubled the next month. I called and got a lot of nonsense in response. I told them that they weren't the only game in town. When I switched in the middle of the new billing period I was told the cancelation would take place at the end of the billing period since I was only an internet customer. I guess they need very penny they can get their hands on. NOT to be trusted. read more

This company has the worst internet I've ever experienced - it's ASTOUNDingly terrible. The fact that apartment buildings make you have this service shows how they can only get contracts with apartment buildings because no individual consumer would buy this product and if they did, they'd immediately cancel at the end of their contract. read more

Absolute trash company!! They STEAL YOUR MONEY! I paid for the highest package, fastest internet and they weren't giving me what I paid for, over charged my account constantly, gave me half the speed I was paying for, trash customer service then I returned my equipment and they are still trying to charge me over $540!!!! AVOID THIS COMPANY AT ALL COSTS!! They steal, lie, and don't even provide decent decent service, you don't get even close to what you pay for! read more

PLEASE READ. I would rate this -100 if i could...took forever to get an appointment for install (why? i can plug in and configure my own wifi in minutes)...then when I did get an appointment, I had to call to make a payment for an install deposit (why?), they say you have to pay at least 2 days before install, so i do (paid 6/6 for a 6/8 install date), even confirmed with the agent that i was good to go for my appointment in 2 days. Get an email on 6/7, the day before install, saying they rescheduled my appointment for 6/13. Called and spoke to 4 agents who "couldnt do anything about it" and that it was policy for payments to be made 5 days before install, although i have proof via emails FROM THEM that payments should be made at least 2 days before install. Nobody can help me, but the best part is that the agent told me that if I had paid via credit card and not bank account, it would've been no problem. 2 days instead of 5. WHAT THE F*&%. There's nothing to be done, nobody to help me, I'm just screwed for an entire week of work because I have no internet and work from home. I hope this company fails miserably and the people in charge of this awful service go broke. Edit: left a google review as well and someone named "Jackie" said to contact her at an email address that BOUNCES because it does not exist. Great help. Fantastic. Love it. read more

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I was enrolled in the ACP program as of January the 9th 2024. I have a voicemail from a representative named Vickie, confirming my enrollment and that my $30 discount would be applied to my January bill. However, when the January bill came due I still had not received the $30 discount on my bill and had called in three or four times trying to find out why. I was finally told I had to un-enroll in the auto-pay program; to pay the bill directly because I was getting additional discounts because of the auto-pay. At that point I was also told that the $30 discount wouldn't hit my bill until February the 7th. So on the 31st I had to pay my full bill plus an additional $1 service fee because I was paying directly without the auto pay service. Wouldn't you know? The $30 discount hit my account the same day. Wait, what's this? When I received my February invoice it indicated I'm being charged exactly $71.00 for phone equipment on 1/9/2024!!!!!!!!!!!! I've never had phone service! I called in and after much back and forth; it is allegedly a modem that was also phone support capable that I received in 2020! It was changed out due to an upgrade in 2022. So after a ridiculous conversation with a manager by the name of Lisa who's primary response was "uh-huh" to everything I said, I hung up the phone after a few expletives. I did some checking for voicemails, emails and of my bills. I found nothing whatsoever in any communication indicating that there is an expectation that any equipment will be left in my custody for me to return per a visit from a technician. Had there been, there would have been a time limit on getting the equipment returned otherwise I'm sure they would have financially penalized and with interest!!!!!!! And so common sense says that it is the burden of the technician to ensure that all equipment is gathered/retrieved and removed from the customer's possession; being the technician's burden to return. As a matter of fact, I also told "uh-huh" this; that a technician returned to my house having forgotten such equipment once and his demeanor was such that it indicated to me that he would have either be in trouble or financially responsible for it had he forgotten it altogether. Number two - they (Astound/RCN) do not supply technician names, phone numbers, or email addresses at any part of the process. It's virtually impossible for me to contact the technician as this information isn't provided. Number three - this charge was NOT on my January invoice Number four - how convenient that they (Astound/RCN) decide they are missing equipment years after the fact and on the exact date that I'm enrolled in the ACP Program. Number five - I'm wondering what shenanigans they would have pulled had I opted for the free plan? They're making $70 off me, well it's actually supposed to be $40 which I haven't seen yet. Number six - I'm apparently not the only customer they do this kind of thing to. The BBB is loaded with complaints too! Number seven - this company should have a class-action lawsuit filed against them for such practices! read more

Astound | Austin - Internet Service Providers Near Me - Austin, Texas

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I wish I could give negative stars. Literally the worst internet service I've ever experienced.. I'd choose dial up over this. Stay away. In a time when so many are relying on work from home, you'd think they would have realized they need to step it up. I'm so annoyed I'm stuck with Grande. Counting down the days until Google Fiber is here so I can actually get some work done. read more

I recently moved back to Texas after some years away. Being that I was formerly a Grande customer and I'm a fan of local telecom for internet rather that national conglomerates, I began a new account with Grande despite the abundant Yelp reviews trashing Grande. I figured many of those reviews were either from trolls from other companies' marketing departments, or simply average ignoramuses, and I WAS RIGHT. My initial new service order involved some complex matters, and Grande's longtime representative for "new" customers, Robert, took the time to really listen and intelligently understand my request. Not only that, he solved a problem he said he'd not encountered yet in his ten years in the job. Everything went smoothly. The install technician showed up in the scheduled time framed (and Grande provided alerts) and that went smoothly. My basic Grande internet is super speedy for my office and school needs using Linux OS, and for playing youtube videos. I don't play computer games or stream TV, so can't comment on those. When I needed to change up my service needs again, I called the (866) 2GRANDE number for regular customer service and went throught the automated system then was quickly connected to a live representative within minutes. Darian was super professional, smart, and effective and clarifying the thing I was confused about and validated that an equipment return update had still not been applied to my bill, likely due to the slower nature of such things during the c-virus operations. I am also pleased with Grande's online portal for billing and payments. So, I HIGHLY recommend this company. GO LOCAL. Even if it means splitting your services between companies. Personally I use a nasty multinational company that provides me with a traditional land line that doesn't rely on a router, and a different provider for innovative charity-backing long distance (Credo), but I use Grande for internet, happily. Only downside is the 5G alt network that is associated with my account - I don't connect to it, but it's a network that I can't remove from my menu and I don't like that. read more

Astound | Austin - I prefer a simple landline for phone, but I use Grande's basic internet for speedy office work and school work. - Internet Service Providers Near Me - Austin, Texas

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I had Astound Broadband for 2 years, then moved out to their service area. Received an email providing a date in which the equipment needed to be returned and suggested providers of that service. All of which was followed in a timely manor. After about 3 weeks I contacted them to confirm that the equipment had been returned and to check on their refund process. I was told that it usually takes 3 to 4 weeks for the equipment to be received back and checked in, and then another few days for that information to be placed on the account. Was then told there would be a credit placed on my Debit Card or on the account. Nothing happened so contacted them again and was then told that because it took longer than usual for the equipment to be received back (something out of my hands but returned according to their deadline) that a check would need to be processed and that would take another couple of weeks. According to them a check was sent out but to my old address. I've reached out to Astound probably 5 or 6 times to finally ask to speak with a Manager. Needed to wait for the Manager, only to be told that I needed to continue to wait and most likely my check would be sent on the 19th of this month - MORE THAN 2 MONTHS AFTER EVERYTHING WAS RETURNED!! I selected Astound because AT&T wasn't able to take any more new accounts at the time. My suggestion to anyone that's considering to use this company is think long and hard about the BULL you'll need to go through to get your equipment deposit back. While most of the representatives have been pretty helpful there is still a sever lack of training as I was told that the address on my account wasn't updated until June 12th when every representative I spoke with ask me to verify my address!! While their service is decent, dealing with their customer service staff is certainly not worth the frustration! read more

Since Grande sold out / became Astound Broadband, the service AND the customer service has gone from 5 star to 1 star and I would give you ZERO stars if that were an option. We have regular internet outages that last hours, up to a day at a time. No option to speak to a living person and never adjustments on the bill to compensate for the loss of service, not that getting a few dollars off the bill would make up for the inconvenience. We killed the cable months ago due to outrageous prices increase over the last few years. We will be switching our internet provider next week, hoping Google Fiber will be more consistent. Astound deserves to go bankrupt. read more

Someone said astoundingly bad & they could not be more correct. Service reliability is horrendous. My internet was down more than it was up in the first month. On the phone to cancel & the customer service agent LAUGHED at my last name. I recommend at&t wifi! read more

I posted a review on their website in regards to their rate increases which are monthy from $169-(2020) to $334. (2022) with no changes to the service -Basic cable.internet (300). We decide to leave after 10yrs. They will not post a negative review-see below, Please stay away from this ISP. "Leave a review for Astound Broadband Powered by Grande Internet Are you a current or former Astound Broadband Powered by Grande customer in a Astound Broadband Powered by Grande service area ? Share your experience to help other users. *Please note we only publish reviews that are: helpful, relevant, and specific. When writing your review, please support your rating with specific, detailed reasoning. If you are experiencing issues with your router, call Astound Broadband Powered by Grande customer service directly for assistance." Grande website after posting a negative but helpful review read more

I highly recommend NOT going with Astound! They are the bottom of the barrel AWFUL! Their service is not at all reliable and they always have some scripted answer to what is going on and will NEVER tell you what is happening! This is the 3rd time this week my internet has stopped working! I will be contacting BBB about this as I feel I'm being cheated/scammed out of money for a service that is not reliable as promised! Astound do better read more

Switch from spectrum to astound thinking it would be the best decision, NOT, My husband works from home and the Internet goes off randomly I had called customer service before about this issue and she stated it's because it's doing some kind of maintenance on it..This is really getting to be a problem I'm deciding on to go back to spectrum never had that problem with them they should reflect something towards the bill if astound going to do this randomly or at least do it 1 or 2 am early morning cause it really causes a problem when your on phone calls with customers.. read more

They changed their name from Grande to Astound, but they still lie as always. Right now they're advertising a $25.99/mo. plan, but they don't allow you to use your own equipment, they force you to rent theirs, and the cheapest equipment is +$7/mo. So, it's *IMPOSSIBLE* for you to get too $25.99/mo. rate, you will pay a minimum of $32.99/mo., before taxes. RESPONSE TO ASTOUND'S REPLY: They're basically saying, "SOME customers could get the advertised price." Great for them, not for everyone, including me. For us, it's impossible to get the listed price. read more

I've had Grande Communications for over 5 years. The first 4 years (Before they became Astound Broadband) were fantastic. I ranted and raved about Grande. All of that has changed over the last year. Every week my internet goes out. Every month, there's some kind of outage that customer service reps have no idea about. They will always try to get you off the phone and schedule a tech to come out. They'll give you time frame for when said techs would be able to show up to 'fix' the issue. My most recent time frame for a tech was LITERALLY a full day. 8am to their closing time, 7(I believe). They never take responsibility or offer a discount for an outage. They won't give any information if the service will be back up and running in the next 4 hours. You sit on hold waiting for a customer support rep to answer for more than 30 minutes. Their chat function is just a bot with automated responses. My most recent phone call with them was today (10/11/24). I informed the rep I was having 3000 ping to a gaming server and I had to explain to the rep what ping is. The rep had no idea what I was talking about or even what to do. The only response I was given was 'It looks fine on my end'. Meanwhile, 3k ping to world servers. 200 ping to home servers. When you do try to schedule a tech to come out, it's DAYS before they're able to send anyone out. Not to mention, majority of people work from home now and rely entirely on their ISP providing the internet that the customer is paying for. I pay $100 a month for 600 download. My speed test today was showing 94 download. This has been going on for days now. I've tried everything to fix it and all anyone say to me is 'Have you tried power cycling your modem?' The modem has been unplugged more than it's been plugged in for the last week. All in all, this company has gone so far downhill. It's not worth it. It's horrible, unreliable service, with the most clueless reps you'll ever speak to. I would rather eat glass than keep this ISP for another week. read more

Absolute garbage and avoid at all cost, beware of countless hidden fees, random charges, credits, surcharges, random/spurious fees, etc. that all seem to serve only to obfuscate what you're actually paying for per month. The internet deal I signed up for was supposed to be USD 35 per month all in, here's what I was charged in the first 3 months: - Month#1: 64.38 - Month#2: 107.95 - Month#3: 53.57 Internet speeds aren't anywhere near what's promised either, you can hardly do a Zoom call on the 300mpbs plan... read more

We have had an all-day outage. They don't allow us to connect with a customer service rep until the outage is over. The recording keeps adding time - a longer delay meaning we are unable to work from home. The internet says all is fine in our area, which totally contradicts the telephone recording. we will be switching to Google fiber soon. it's worth the extra expense for a reliable service. read more

Astound forced us to get rid of our Tivo box. I stalled the new boxes and find out when we watch our first recorded program that we cannot fast forward through programming, I.e. we cannot skip commercials. This sucks. We pay a lot of money to get a downgrade in service. We had no say in this. Hate it. they are trying their best to lose a customer. read more

This is a truly horrible company. We used them for our internet service for our business. About a year into a 3 year contract, during the COVID epidemic, we had to sell our office space. We tried to terminate the contract, understanding that there would be a penalty, but they refused to work with us in any capacity. We've tried repeatedly to negotiate a fair termination, but they have been unrelenting. We have paying $750/month for almost two years now for a service we can't use. I will never work with this company again and will actively encourage others not to do so. read more

Astound customer service is the absolute WORST! Just had a phone call with the RUDEST customer service agent I've ever spoken to in my entire life. She had a major attitude right off the bat before I even said a word. My bill increased significantly this month and I called to try to have it lowered (like I've had to do every year because these companies love to price gouge their loyal customers) and she was just extremely rude about the whole thing. She tried to tell me that my bill is the lowest it's ever been and that I've never called to have it lowered before, which is a complete lie because not only was it lower last month, but I have to call about it when they raise the price every year otherwise it would be hundreds of dollars by now. I'm upset she wouldn't help me, but I'm more upset about the way she spoke to me. Acting like I was completely ridiculous for even trying. I'm sorry but $60 for 50mbps of internet is what's ridiculous. Especially when they're offering new customers 300mbps for $20. read more

Astound | Austin - Internet Service Providers Near Me - Austin, Texas