Wildblue Satellite Internet is a Terrible Company to the People of Murphy NC

Posted by I Love Murphy on

About a year ago, I wrote an article as to how Wildblue Satellite Internet was a great opportunity for folks in Murphy, North Carolina because it brings high speed Internet to anywhere in Cherokee County. Now I must tell you how poor my experience with them was.

After having them for a full year now, I can personally provide a testament to their disservice.  Do not waste your time or money on them unless you have no other option. Although I’ve not used them personally, I would consider the other alternative company, Hughesnet.

Don’t get me wrong, Wildblue works fine when it is set up correctly. Their problem is customer service is atrocious at best. They are not willing to do anything to help the customer, If you do decide to use them, make sure you do a speed test and it has the amount of bandwidth you’re supposed to have before the technician ever leaves.

If you would like to know more details of the experiences I had, here they are in bullets:

  • First sign was when I first got it, they were not willing to alter plans to show me the different speeds even though I was possibly willing to pay more. They wanted to bump up the plan, force me to pay for the entire month when I wanted less than ten minutes just to see if it was worthwhile to upgrade.
  • I referred at least two clients/friends to them when I first signed up that I know for fact purchased their service. As part of their referral program, they agree to take $50 off your bill as an incentive to send them business. Both I know mentioned my name and told them about the referral. They never gave me one cent credit on my bill even though I called them and told them about it, who bought their service. They could easily verify it on their computer.
  • After having it for a couple months, it caused problems switching back and forth between service providers. Example, going back and forth to the office was painful. I called and they had me change some setting. It helped some, but it took our office technician to actually fix it.
  • After 4 months or so, I inquired as to why I was only getting half the speed of what I was paying for. The representative agreed there was a problem and asked if I would like a technician to come out and check the dish. Of course I would! Good – that will be a $99 charge. What??!! I didn’t touch the dish and it has been like this since the beginning? Even the phone company comes out and fixes the lines if you have problems. In the end they would do nothing to help.
  • Blue Ridge EMC is running fiber Internet and I signed up with them around month 10 of the service just to have true high speed and began using it.
  • Month 11 – I call to cancel. Can’t do it till closer.
  • Month 11.5 – I called to cancel again. They agreed to send a technician out and fix it for free. Nope – too little too late. Offered a free month of service. Again, too little too late. Finally was able to cancel. Received a confirmation number (THANK GOODNESS I wrote it down) and made sure that I would get no more bills. Nope, Nothing, The end is what I was told.
  • Today – I’m on hold with them having to fight a charge they told me they wasn’t going to happen. I don’t expect much help. Thankfully its on my American Express who will dispute it for me if I get no where with them. And now after holding for 50 minutes and 19 seconds, I’m hanging up with them and letting AMEX deal with it.

John and Jessica Poltrock – The POLTROCK TEAM at RE/MAX of Murphy NC – Real Estate Services – www.MyMurphy.com – JohnPoltrock@gmail.com – Call Toll Free (877) 837-3002 and demand The POLTROCK TEAM!

Satellite Internet Brings High Speed Internet to ANYWHERE in Murphy NC!

Posted by I Love Murphy on

Satellite Internet is nothing new – but it is certainly new to me. Many of you probably have heard of, or perhaps even use, this great service. It will work in any part of rural America where dial-up has long been our only option.

Here in Murphy, North Carolina, I live just a couple miles from where the DSL line stops. I’ve used dial up, but it is painfully slow. Using it for anything, especially the MLS, is a lesson in perseverance and probably results in a dependency on Zoloft. Even desolate regions no longer need to worry! Forget your antidepressant and keep reading.

I signed up to use to WildBlue, which seems to be the best bang for the buck. Go to www.WildBlue.com for more info. Their equipment and monthly subscription was cheaper (yes, you have to pay for your equipment up front) than HughesNet, which is the only other real competitor.

The largest problems with it? 1)It can be cost prohibitive. 2) Web pages load a little slow. 3) They limit the amount of bandwidth you can use each month.

It is fairly expensive to sign up, but that is only determined by what the value of high speed internet is to you. The second problem is one of my main issues. It can download files amazingly fast to not be hard wired to anything, but yet the average web page seems to take quite a while to be up and running when compared with the speed of say, DSL. The third issue is the other thing you have to be aware of – both companies actually cap the amount of bandwidth you can use in 30 day period. For most people, we will come no where near the amount they allow. For those who download a lot (more than 5 gigs a month), this could be a barrier. If that’s you, make sure you ask what your limits are with each monthly package.

What does this have to do with real estate? A lot! With much of the population being more and more internet savvy, they want the ability to not be tied to dial up. No matter who you are, where you live, or where you work, you now have the option to have high speed. It’s a great thing to know when looking for real estate in other outer regions where it has never been available before.