I moved to an area serviced by Shentel in June of 2024. Now, March of 2025, I have completely cut any services with them. I switched to another provider and couldn't be happier I did. Should have done it sooner. The list of problems with them is endless but the highlights would be:
1. Price
In order for having cable to be worth while for me, I need to be able to view ESPN and sporting events. Outside of that, I'd almost never use it (I stream my entertainment off services like Vudu and such). So that is what I get when choosing my cable TV package: Whatever the lowest level is that I can get that offers ESPN. Well, that paired with their best internet (2GB), I was making a car payment. Not a cable bill payment, a car payment. My price was HUGE. Absolutely not worth it considering the problems I had despite what I was paying.
2. Internet
Unreliable and not nearly as fast as they advertise. My internet went out daily, albeit at odd hours of the day (I work weird shifts so being awake when most are not, is not uncommon for me). Sometimes it was short lived, like 15min., other times it was a bit over an hour and in some select instances, my internet stayed unusable for three hours or greater. Considering the price, it should never be out except in extreme cases (major storms and such). By the way, run a speed test on your internet after it's installed. The results will disappoint you and surprise you at the same time.
3. Customer Service
The thing that I just couldn't wrap my mind around concerning Shentel was, you have to jump through hoops to pay your bill. Let me say that again so it's very clear what I am saying:
You have to jump through hoops to pay your bill.
Their online site is clunky and down half the time so no luck there (seriously, their own site is almost always down. I guess the server is working off their own internet or something). Setting up autopay (which they prefer yet.....) is impossible because, it's done on their site. Going to one of their authorized pay sites never works. The paper version of your bill never has the information they need to process the payment. It simply isn't printed on it. In the end, you have to pay by phone, which goes through a third person and thus has a huge upcharge. I eventually found the gold at the end of the rainbow and logged into their site when it was actually up and running. I set up autopay and all that. But I had to do it twice, my information somehow got erased after my first payment (the payment cleared but then, I was magically removed from autopay and had to sign up again. They had no explanation for it).
I tried paying directly at their office in my town (it's like, not even a mile from my home) when the service was new to me. Said office is never open when it should be. There are signs on the door stating the building is "Temporarily closed". Those signs never come down. Three separate times I tried paying my bill at the office and the building was locked, not a soul in sight. When I turned my services off, corporate said I could return my stuff there and acted like they thought I was drunk or something when I informed them that office was never open. I went, equipment in tow, and yes, the office was closed. I called them, informed them only to again be talked to as if I were making it up. They danced around it for a while before emailing me a shipping label to send everything in.
Which leads to the next golden idol of their version of customer service. Three people have had the exact same problem, not having a place to return their equipment, and corporate resolved it with a shipping label. Problem was, they sent the equipment in only to be told it was never received. That's not coincidence, that's a trend.
Quality
Poor quality cable TV wise, same as the internet. Serious, if you were alive in the 80's, you will get a sense of nostalgia. It's like you're watching a Tube TV.
I do not recommend Shentel on any level. When I dropped their services, it was like a great weight had been lifted off my chest. read more