Dispute With Storm Internet Services For Unwarranted Service Charges, Refusal to Cancel My Services…read moreand Replace My Damaged Equipment
We recently placed a review regarding Storm Internet Services, to publicize an extremely poor customer service response. In addition, we have escalated this issue with the BBB for arbitration. We had been customers for about 15 years and the final experience has been disappointing. We reside in a rural location and have a 60 ft. Tower, which upon being struck by lightning, disabled our internet service for several days. While trying to restore our access, their technician confirmed that our router likely sustained irreparable damage from a lightning strike, as their power surge protection facilities probably failed. Due to this revelation, we requested compensation for our loss through an equivalent service period credit as an exchange. Afterwards, they flatly declined responsibility, even after 3 months of our persistent attempts to obtain recompense. Our total hardware equipment replacement costs were $598.82.
We notified them that we wanted out of our service agreement, as they would not meet us halfway to acknowledge our loss. This went on for several months before they finally actioned the cancellation. As a result, during that period, we disconnected their equipment and signed up with BELL Canada for our internet services. BELL, offered a vastly more affordable and faster internet service at $50/monthly for a speed of 25 mbps without a contract. In comparison, Storm was charging $126/monthly (at one point) for only 10 mbps of download speed and with a 2 year contract! Meanwhile, Storm was still charging us for unused services, and threatened collection of "unwarranted arrears" for the amount of $439.42 and to submit a complaint to the credit reporting bureaus.
Our observation has been that their stance on client concerns is frequently patronizing and unsympathetic. To be fair, they have provided good services at times, but on this occasion they completely failed in a big way! When you express any constructive criticism, they project an image that "they can do no wrong" and are beyond reproach! Storm maintains a "Prove it to Us" attitude and often exerts an unprofessional defensive attitude.
Their strategy seems to stubbornly ignore customer complaints with the hopes that you will eventually give up the dispute. They typically ignored our communiques, and often failed to document complaints accurately, saying "Oh we have no record of that"....do you have proof!? Storm would not even give us, as longstanding clients, the benefit of the doubt that our grievance was legitimate. Storm claims that they record all conversations, but are evasive to refer back in order to confirm allegations of the issues from an earlier date. Perhaps they should document notes to summarize complaints, which would be easier to track as most businesses do!
In conclusion, all that we had originally requested was to be released from a contract due to unsatisfactory service. "Storm" would not guarantee the safety of our installed devices affected by their system, dependent on their "inadequate" power surge protection set-up. Our equipment damage and replacement costs, far superseded their right to hold us hostage to an overpriced and unreliable service. We also feel that we are entitled to an apology for their condescending conduct and overall disrespectful customer service. Finally, any "claimed debt" with them, should be rescinded without lodging a negative credit report against us. Actually, we expect a payment credit of $598.82 refunded to our banking account in lieu of said losses. As well, we want their equipment to be uninstalled from our tower asap.
