An answer to why Suddenlink has sucked for the last few months (which doesn’t account for years of disatisfaction, but still, it’s an answer). Apparently, Suddenlink’s Modem Termination Server (or Service) has been overworked. The man I talked to says, and I quote, “a new one has been ordered and we should have the problem fixed within the next few weeks”.
He was so nice, he even went so far as to offer to drop the price, back to January, to 1mb, and let me actually keep my 8mb speed. I heart that guy for that, but I turned down the generous gesture. Instead, I made sure he understood I want Suddenlink to appreciate the fact that I’ve been a customer for over 3 years, had persistant problems, dozens of phone calls with techs, several modem replacements, and only now, have they finally made first contact and given me a real answer to the apparent bandwidth crisis in my area.
I gave the guy some tips about how to improve our service and support, starting with some form of social networking. For one, allowing a customer to be able to see video step-by-step guides on how to troubleshoot their issues. This would save money producing online documentation, and would allow people to SEE what they’re doing, versus doing the guesswork on what to plug where. Even with visual guides, the less technologically gifted may still require guidance. Not everyone is as nerdy as… well… me. (Fortunately)
I indicated that a real database system such as MySQL in combination with some server side scripting empowered by AJAX would be very beneficial, allowing customers to file complaints on the website, get interaction directly from Suddenlink Tech support, complete a personnel survey on techs that visit their homes to solve their problems, and see a list of previous problems, their solutions, and the statistics of their current connection/modem. Not only would that benfit the user/customer, but later problems would be easily sorted if a support tech is able to see previous problems, and the point at where the degrade or drop off of service began. Not to mention a list of IP addresses, and flow of traffic. ALL of that is possible using AJAX combined with PHP and MySQL, obviously because many of us do the same thing using awStats and other similar statistic services… combined with a GetSatisfaction form of service built right into the site.
Come on, Suddenlink is a pretty large company, surely they can afford a few thousand to throw at a good CMS suite, at the very least. Integrate a video center where people can look at videos and resolve issues they’re having. It wouldn’t work if you had little or no service, but if you’re troubleshooting multiple devices, getting issues with your router, or trying to troubleshoot bandwidth dropoffs, as well as setting up new connections, it could really pay off. Not to mention an integrated documation and tech support center.
I’m rambling… the point is, I explained most of that with minor detail to a sincere employee (hopefully) at Suddenlink, who reports to Peter Abel. I’m not sure as to either of their status in the company Chain of Command… but surely they’ve got to have some rank on the corporate threshold. I got the guy’s personal cell phone number!
If you have issues with Suddenlink, voice them here. I’ll provide as much feedback as I can, and generate some energy with my current contacts.
-David
Dropping off early today. The time isn’t accurate btw, don’t know why. It’s 10:00 a.m.
Take a look people. Now I’m pulling 8mb of my 8mb connection, with an incredible ping on top of it all. This is just insane! Come on Suddenlink. We know you’re busy merging in Cebridge’s old stuff, but this is just ridiculous!
Unfortunately my internet service is once again, crappy. It seems that no matter what I do, I can’t get Suddenlink to fix the problem. I’ve had around a dozen techs in my house. I’ve probably made 40+ calls… nothing seems to get the right attention. I can’t even use my router right now because, per the typical, it will shave off a few kilobytes.