I have a DSL business account used for telecommuting from my home. The cost for internet and phone kept increasing, now $170/month. I was locked in by email but spent a month transfering to my own domain email. Now that I'm retired I thought I'd be able to transfer to Fidium fiber (available on my street) but can't find anyone to help me transfer from business DSL to residential fiber. Their sales team is absolutely horrible. So, even though their service has been fine, I will now drop them and just use my secondary ISP: Spectrum, who doesn't have fiber yet but has professional sales and support. read more

The worst. 2nd day no internet of phone at our business. No technician scheduled. DO NOT USE THEM!

If there was a zero star option, they'd get it. Worst customer service I've ever encountered - and that's saying a lot. They play the "oh, you'll have to speak to another department" game like nobody's business, hoping you'll throw in the towel. The Maine Public Utilities Commission should shut them down. read more

Outdated, OverPriced, Unreliable The one nice thing I can say is there are nice and kind people who work here- IF YOU CAN REACH ANYONE. But his has been - of all my negative experiences working with a service provider- my worst experience. Keywords- DELAYS, TECHNICIAN NO SHOWS, NO SIGNAL, FAILED TROUBLESHOOTING WITH NO FOLLOW-UP, NO CUSTOMER SUPPORT. INTERNET DOWN. WAYYY OVERPRICED! Right now I am waiting to reach customer support. I have been on hold for an hour. This is sadly typical, they just don't answer their phone. I am calling today to pay my final bill which they have sent me 3 different final numbers for. Everything billing-wise is incredibly confusing with them. Nothing is straightforward. The actual internet signal is abysmal. My internet went down for every single client over Zoom. I had to buy a hotspot with my cellular provider but Consolidated would only deduct anything off my bill for the days it went out 100%, which happened also. Dropped calls with my clients? Not their problem, apparently. They are using old technology. It can't keep up with where we are now, it should not be legal for them to market their internet as any kind of reliable service. And a special note on delays. I am talking about the most simple of things. It took weeks for them to find my address in the system before I could even set a date for installation. Setting up the installation took weeks. Then for the first few months no matter how many times I called, they kept holding onto an incorrect address. Every time I called they could not find my account.... so to make a long story short, this company is barely functioning all around. And by the way, I am still on hold... UPDATE ON BEING ON HOLD- 1 hour on hold then "sorry wrong department", puts me on hold again, "oh they can't do that and oh sorry it is really busy on Mondays", puts me on hold a third time! but the call diconnects. Honesty, this summarizes my experience with them. If you are in a rural area you would probably be better off with a cellular carrier as Consolidated Communications is an antiquated dinosaur in the land of the internet, and for that matter modern life, seeing as they do not answer THEIR PHONE. read more

Service is unreliable and ridiculously expensive for what they deliver. $155/month for completely unreliable service.

The worst internet and service there is ,everyday it's out some portion of of the day, you call service and they tell you your internet is working . The only thing there care is yout payment every month !.!!! Gordon Washington, Maine read more

It has been a nightmare trying to get my internet fixed by Consolidated Communications. The people who answer the repair calls are kind, patient and understanding but they can't fix the problem. I have spoken to supervisors, that hasn't helped. Repeatedly I have heard my repair order was escalated, that the problem will be fixed the next day...this has been going on for 2 months. Does anyone at Consolidated ever check to see that the repairs are actually made? Who is in charge there? If you have an opportunity for internet service ANYWHERE but with Consolidated, do yourself a huge favor, and take it, at any cost. My next plan is to write to the CEO Bob Udell, whose contact information is available thru Google, when you have internet. I never write reviews but this ongoing problem is such a nightmare I had to say so. If you have stock in this company, you might want to sell it. read more

Dogshit company. On average less than 1 Mbps internet speed and they'll lie and say it's not. Owner should punch himself in the throat if he thinks this is okay as a business owner. read more

Internet is ridiculously slow, 1.9 MBPS on today's test, buffers on videos. I also have a land line with Consolidated Comm. When it rains, or snows, or is windy I have a loud buzzing on the phone line and internet slows even more. When I need it most, stormy, I have no service. Techs have come out over and over and politely tell me they have no solution. I am searching for an alternative. The price is high for extremely bad service. Very polite though while not fixing issues. read more

The. Worst. Internet. EVER. I had more reliable internet when I had dial up. Impossible to watch Netflix. Internet stays on for an hour at most. Impossible to work from home. Terrible terrible service. Please help! read more

I called in because I was not given instructions to do with my router that fried. I got attitude from the "customer service rep" who would not let me speak and say why I was calling. I had no questions on my account, I wanted to know what to do with their equipment. She proceeded to ask me "security questions" which has never been asked in 2 years when I have called in. There have been interruptions in the service galore, it's the worst. If I had another provider in my area I'd switch in a heartbeat! read more

I have been a customer for the last 4 years. We were locked into a 4 year contract that included a $35 monthly credit, bringing the cost of the advantage premium internet down to $79 a month. The very friendly agent told me to call back in 4 years to add the credit back. Fantastic! Now, that 4 year savings has expired, and I called back like I was told to do and was told that credit no longer exists, and the best they can do is a $10 per month credit. So, our bill went from $79 a month to $105. I finally had to downgrade our service speed to get the "better price" of $95.91 a month. I asked the agent if new customers were given better discounts and he said "yes, those discounts are reserved for new customers." Unreal! So, if you are a new customer looking for internet, by all means sign up with Consolisated. Just be prepared to find a new provider once the credits making the price affordable come to an end because they do not care about their existing customers at all! read more

Even trying to write this review while utilizing Consolidated's internet service is almost impossible. I can't imagine a worse monopoly exists on earth. Forced to use this spotty, slow service or nothing at all. Absolutely awful. Negative 5 stars, would not recommend. read more

In my 27+ years of using the Internet, I never realized such bad Internet existed until we moved to the outskirts of Ellsworth ME and were forced to use Consolidated Communication, the only Internet provider in that area. The Internet is down almost every day, multiple times. Sometimes we can just restart the (new) router, sometimes it just doesn't come back for hours. Any time I reach out to customer service, it takes hours to get through and the last few times they just send a response a few days later saying our Internet is working perfectly. Service techs have been out here multiple times. At first ,it took 3 times to get any internet at all. They all say the same thing, the equipment is old and too crappy to function properly. I work online for a living and have 3 students living here and it's a big problem for us. I would move if it wasn't such a bad time economically to do use. I literally had no idea that such sucky Internet was a thing. Looking into GoogleFi and Starlink to free us from this Consolidated Communications hell. read more

My mother's bank account just got charged $227.63 for phone and internet services to a Maine summer house that is without residents, without electricity, without devices that use the internet! I called to explain the situation, but they won't refund it, because their rules now are that we can only have the service on seasonal suspension for 9 months in a calendar year. In a typical year, that would not be a problem -- we would have been up there with everything turned on. Well, this is not exactly a typical year, is it? Maine would not permit us to visit without covid tests that we could not easily get, and being over 90, my mother did not want to fly in the pandemic anyway. But Consolidated Communications will make no allowances. They insist that we are obligated to pay for the "services" they are not actually delivering. (It's bad enough that we have to pay $44 per month now just to hang on to our phone number from year to year.) How is this not fraud, to extract money for services that are not provided? I had the same situation last year (when it was only $20 and $187) and they did refund some of it. But this year, when people all over are struggling and dying, they are digging in their heels. It's a really good profit model, isn't it? Soak an elderly consumer for $227 and provide nothing in return -- it's all profit, except for paying the wages of the poor reps who get to listen to the complaints. Even the $40 per month for no services is pure profit. How do they get away with it? Lack of competition, I expect. BTW all the reviews of this company in the "not recommended" category are valid. If you have a choice -- which unfortunately we may not -- do not do business with this company. Choose tin cans and string instead. read more

Horrible company. I used them for our phone provider. I had a credit on one balance and owed double the next. The company sent back a check and I was told my account was closed. When I called customer service they told me I owed $11.00 and wanted it over the phone. read more

My closed account with this ISP ended with a very small credit balance and it took me over 3 months and 2 written refund requests to receive a check from them. read more

Well so far I can't say much positive about this company. They did send people to put in wires and then another very nice person to set up the system. As soon as we tried to put the new password for the TV system, we were locked out. I spent an hour on the phone with a tech and it still did not work. He said a ticket was arranged and either someone would call or come out -Tuesday came and went. Calling customer support is a fruitless labor. One of them will promise a person will be out while another one says that wasn't true. They are still trying to fix it remotely which is clearly not working. If you plan to use this company, be sure the system is up and working before the technician leaves your house. I may have to cancel this service before they will make it work. read more

Absolutely the worst customer service and transparency of any company I've had the misfortune of doing business with.

I called them when my Internet was not working. They gave me a three day window when they would come. They showed up two days after the window had ended. It took them over 2 weeks to fix the line. When I called for an update to see when they might come, they could not provide any information. Apparently they have a policy where the phone reps can't talk to the dispatchers. Instead, they have to email them. There was no evidence any of the emails were read or have any influence. It is too bad they are the sole provider in many communities. If they were subject to competition they would probably be out of business. read more

I'm using cell data because my connection has dropped YET AGAIN! Starting with Fairpoint, I (and others) have had nothing but trouble with internet connectivity on their DSL service. Dropping connection sometimes daily, (multiple times daily from June to October) has become the expected pattern over the past 2 years... 7Mbps is a pitiful speed to expect, nationally, but would be adequate for a small household - if it were RELIABLE! I have taken to just calling tech support to log my dropped connections. DONT BOTHER sending anybody out to try and fix it again... just calling to say 'HI' and log another dropped connection! XXOO Unsatisfied customer read more

Imagine this! You cannot even talk to anyone or use the automated service unless you remember or know your "PIN" . lol As soon as I find an adequate replacement for this company I will get rid of them just as I did my home internet service with them. read more

In early June I called Consolidated - after doing my research they were my first choice for providers who said they covered Bayside, Northport ME. I chose them first because they offer 40mbps speed, and have what appears to be a good TV app including local channels. My initial experience on the phone setting up the order and scheduling the installation seemed fine, the person was very courteous and seemed knowledgable. The only problem at that point was they were backed up and the installation was booked a month out, which seems excessive but I went with it. The reason for 1 star is that after waiting almost a month for the appointment, I received a phone call from Consolidated telling me that they could not service my property because they had run out of phone connections nearby. Now, they should have known this at the time I was scheduling the installation (or soon thereafter checked to verify), rather than calling me two days before the appointment to tell me this. I suspect they are overextended in their efforts to enter the Maine market - that is the nicest thing I can say. Fortunately I was able to get Redzone to come to the house the next week before my renters moved in, and so far I am happy with Redzone. I can't comment on Consolidated beyond this experience as apparently they do not have the means or desire to have more customers in Bayside, Northport ME at this time. read more

This is truly a company that if I could I would give zeroor-0 stars too. I recently decided to transfer my home phone to a wireless company and leave my Internet with Consolidated Communications. According to my wireless provider this is normally an almost immediate process or at least it was the company was Fairpoint with Consolidated Communications it takes a minimum of five days. The order was written by the wireless company to Consolidated Communications to transfer number but leave internet service in tact. The internet was turned off anyway. CCI stated it was the wireless fault that the wireless company write the order wrong. The wireless company called them and proved to them that the order that the order had been written correctly and it was their fault. I have been with CCI throughout the history of the company starting with Verizon traveling through Fairpoint and now CCI. I Called the company back to sort this matter out and have my Internet started back up and they told me I had to start a new account. I have a freeze on my credit report due to a breach. I had to lift the freeze to get the wireless a week ago which I did but they use a different company and that one you cannot reach a person to have the freeze lifted. They would not help me. They just kept telling me we have to set up a new account because your Internet was terminated and because you have not had a credit check through us we can't do that. So I call the credit reporting service they use and cans get a person only automated ti lift the freeze but you can't do it that way needs to be through email or snail mail. Call CCI back to let them know and see what we can do since technically the service wasn't to be terminated anyway and I have been with the company technically since 1995. They tell me can't help unless credit check can be reviewed. Wireless store clerk helped me and we got freeze lifted on on company CCI uses and the told me still wasn't lifted. I had confirmation. So still couldn't set up a new account and therefore the credit check will not go through then we can't help you basically is what they said it did not matter that they could look back through my history through the three companies and see that I've been a loyal customer. They would not just turn my Internet back on I said all it is is a flip of the switch oh no it's much more than that they said. I have all the equipment all they have to do is it back on. If they can flip a switch to turn it off they should be able to flip a switch to turn it back on I spent the better part of a day talking to many different people on the phone with them for hours that I didn't have to spare only to be told it would be at least a week before they could get me Internet service again. I find this totally ridiculous!they don't want to work with the customers and I would recommend anybody that has Consolidated Communications to get out while you can because this company is not about customer service this company apparently is only about making money! read more

It's really too bad you cant give negative stars. Why? Well because Consolidated Communications (fair point) promises internet, and then crushes the hope. I've had them for 20 years simply because of their monopoly on the internet in my location in central Maine, and I can't wait to go somewhere else. My internet constantly crashes, and when it's working the max speed is a disgusting 5MB per second. I don't even connect to the WiFi anymore with my phone cause it's faster and more reliable to just use cellular data. If any more than 2 people try to stream a show, internet becomes as slow as a glacier, with frequent stops to encourage you to get off. If you're the type of person who wants internet that will make you frustrated, give up, and live off the grid, Consolidated Communications is a great option. If however, you want to actually dependably accomplish things with your connection, then avoid them at all costs. read more