DSL Extreme DSLExtreme Deceptive Practices - Slower than Dial-Up!!! Chatsworth, California

If you sign up.......eventually........YOU'LL REGRET IT!

So.....after hearing a radio tech person tout how this is the greatest company in the world, I signed up both my mother and mother-in-law for service.

Their claims?

1.  Award-winning tech support

2.  High Speed internet service

3.  Free Modem

At first, no problems, although the speed was NOWHERE near what they advertise.  The problems came after several months.  Both my mother and mother-in-law started having severe speed issues.  We're talking WORSE than dial-up.  Speed tests consistently proved this.  Tech support is beyond awful.  First, they tell you it's your computer.  Then, it's a problem with the modem, (and they make you pay for another one).  Next, it's a problem with the phone lines, etc...etc...etc.

The bottom line is that for two separate accounts, (both with identical problems although they were in different cities) we had to put up with it, or pay the $250 cancellation fee.

Enter the mess that cancelling the service became.  Once the contract ran out on both, I tried to cancel via their live chat.  Nope....you have to call them, where they repeatedly try to get you to renew.  I then told then I already had another isp, and cancel it immediately.  Nope.  They said cancelling it could take up to 30 days, and in the meantime, you are being charged.  They also, (over the phone) tell me to send the modem back immediately, or they will charge $99 each.  OK, I hustle to the Post Office and send them back the same day, (I have two witnesses by the way).

11 days later, I get an email saying suggesting that I send the modem back with a tracking number.  Huh?????  I already sent it back, and haven't heard anything from them after 6 months, so figure everything is fine.  No new charges on my credit card, so they must have received it.

Nope......for BOTH modems, they claim they never received them, and all of a sudden there are now bill collector calls like crazy.  This is after not hearing a peep out of them for 6 months.  We ended up having to pay for the two modems, which we did not have, and according to them, were "defective".

I now have signed up for a different isp, same phone lines, same computers, and absolutely no problems at all.

None of their so called "contract clauses" was explained when I signed up, or I would not have.  This is a deceptive, devious company, and shame on the radio station dj who keeps encouraging people to sign up with them.

Their advertising is deceptive:

1.  Speed tests consistently (over a 3 month period) showed that speed was slower than dial-up

2.  Service was down constantly, often multiple times in the same day

3.  They do not give you a "free" modem.  It is a lease, and they do not explain this when you sign up.

4.  They do not explain when you sign up, that you cannot cancel the contract if they can't provide you high speed internet access

5.  They do not explain when you sign up, that when you "cancel" there is a waiting period, and you will be charged during this time.

6.  When you cancel, they do not explain that you should get a tracking number when you send back the modem.  Instructions for sending it back do not come until after your waiting period is up.

I suggest that anyone who has problems like this report them to the Better Business Bureau, and contact that radio station telling them what your experience was.  It's the only way to stop these jerks from ripping people off.