Sage Telecom Never Connected my Phone Correctly But Kept Billing Me Internet

In July 2009, I decided to get rid of my Comcast phone and get a true land line due to issues when the VOIP phone constantly going out.

I didn't want to go with AT&T due to past issues with their rising costs. I found Sage Telecom during a search online of local providers and they had really good prices and options.

I set up an initial appointment to get service set up. I asked if I needed to be present and the customer service rep (CSR) said no as long as the phone box was accessible from the outside--which it was.

I come home and there is a dial tone. So for two weeks I made phone calls to friends and family. But I noticed that my caller id was not logging any calls during the day when I was at work---usually I got 3-5 calls from telemarketers, etc during the course of the week.

So I had a family member call my new number and ....nothing. I could make calls out but not receive calls. I changed out phones thinking something was wrong with my cordless. The new phone didn't work either. I took the old phone to a neighbor's house and it made and received calls just fine.

I called Sage Telecom and they put me on hold to do a check of the line. The CSR came back on and said it appeared there was a problem at the box and they would send someone out the following day. I took half a day off at work and no one showed up at the appointment time.

I called them and they said that someone had failed to show up but he would show up the next day. Again, I took half a day off at work and once again no one showed up at the appointment time.

I called "customer service" and they put me on hold to check on something; we became disconnected. I called back two more times and we kept getting disconnected.

Someone showed up the next day to work on the phone but he left without checking to see if the phone worked. Now I could not receive or make calls. Further calls to Sage Telecom led to more frustration as they would readily admit there was a problem at the box and that they were going to send someone to fix it. This someone of course never showed up.

I eventually filed a complaint with the BBB. After some back and forth with their representative that was going nowhere and with a telephone bill mounting even though I didn't have service, I filed a complaint with the commerce commission in hopes of their helping.

In the end, the BBB and Commerce Commission were not the advocates for the consumer that I thought they were---in fact, the BBB was obviously biased toward Sage Telecom. I just checked Sage Telecoms website and they are touting their rating with the BBB. Do not believe it!

I was able to get some leverage in getting the bill reduced but not eliminated. To protect my credit rating, I ended up having to pay money to Sage Telecom even though I never had a fully working phone from the time I switched to them until I finally called AT&T and asked them to come out and connect service. I was without a working phone for over 2 months.

To boot, the AT&T guy came out and called me out to the box to witness its state when he opened it and before repairs were done. It looked like a bowl of spaghetti. The Sage Telecom guy had ripped wires out and shredded them it appeared. If I can find the photo, I will post one of the box that clearly shows the damage Sage Telecom did it.

Needless to say I would not recommend Sage Telecom. They were rude and incompetent. Stay away from them unless you want a repeat performance.