Never Imagined Frontier Communications Has Such "Shady" Business Practices & Poor Customer Service! Rated "F" by the BBB (Sarasota: low income, sales)

[wondermint2]

I recently switched internet service from Comcast to Frontier - and the transition has not been smooth at all. Tech didn't show for installation appointment and they have pulled a "bait and switch" promising me certain prices before I agreed to service - and then jacking the price up compared to what was agreed upon. Numerous calls to customer service has not resolved anything.

Also Frontier tacks on a hefty state sales tax for internet service - whereas Comcast was not charging me tax for internet. I researched and found out that before Verizon was taken over by Frontier in Florida, Verizon was not taxing internet only service. I found the following information online about taxes and internet service:

** This is currently a “gray area” tax, meaning it’s both legal and sort of illegal. Technically, internet service is not subject to any miscellaneous taxes or fees thanks to the Internet Tax Freedom Act that became a permanent law in 2016. The Act specifically prohibits federal, state, and local taxation on Internet access.

It’s still legal, however, due to a grandfather clause built into the Act allowing any state that charged this tax before 1998 to continue with the same fee. The good news is that the grandfather clause has an expiration date, and all taxes on the internet will be banned by June 30, 2020. **

https://broadbandnow.com/report/broa...ry-single-fee/

Next I did a bit of research about consumer complaints against Frontier Communications and according to the Better Business Bureau Frontier is not accredited with them, has an "F" rating, consumer reviews are rated 1 star (the lowest possible rating), and there is currently a BBB "warning" about Frontier Communications:

https://www.bbb.org/us/ny/rochester/...orp-0041-31775

On the following Consumer Affairs web site Frontier has a consumer rating of 2 stars (out of a possible 5 stars) - however all of the recent ratings appear to be only 1 star. I spent some time reading a bunch of these reviews and it's like a real horror story. Check it out and read some of the reviews:

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/cell...nt&filter=none

[wondermint2]

Also beware that if you cancel Frontier internet service even only 1 day into their new billing cycle - they will go ahead and bill you for the entire month! This is "hidden" in the fine print of their terms of service. At least with Comcast if you cancel service during the middle of the month they will prorate your bill.

[Ladywithafan]

Not sure why anyone would want other than internet with either Frontier or Comcast and get stuck in a contract. Cost inefficient & redundancy in programming.

[wondermint2]

As bad of a reputation as Comcast has with it's customer service - at least it has a C- rating from the BBB and a consumer review rating on BBB of 3.5 stars (out of a possible 5 stars):

https://www.bbb.org/us/pa/philadelph...-0241-80003221

Not the greatest, but at least it's better than the "F" and 1 star consumer rating Frontier has on the BBB web site. And from what I've read Verizon customer service was not bad - but went downhhill fast after Frontier took over.

[joshan]

Originally Posted by Ladywithafan

Not sure why anyone would want other than internet with either Frontier or Comcast and get stuck in a contract. Cost inefficient & redundancy in programming.

Ease of use and valuation of your time.

It is far easier for me to pay one service to get everything I need than try to manage subscriptions to all the individual providers. Sure I could probably save $40 a month by getting rid of cable and subscribing to each service I use individually. But my time and stress levels also have a large amount of value to me.

I have found that dealing with customer service from corporations usually leads to me being frustrated and elevated stress levels. Sometimes it is just nice to take the easy road and spend my time doing things I enjoy.

Think of it this way "Why does anyone pay tolls, they can just use streets without tolls". It has the same answer, time savings and lowered stress levels.

[DanBev]

Originally Posted by wondermint2

Also beware that if you cancel Frontier internet service even only 1 day into their new billing cycle - they will go ahead and bill you for the entire month! This is "hidden" in the fine print of their terms of service. At least with Comcast if you cancel service during the middle of the month they will prorate your bill.

Maybe why stock is only worth eighty three cents????
I am going to have to give up dialup after many years,to slow for use on internet,I have Frontier for my dialup,probably why??I am unfortunately now in the miserable tax happy state of CT after 25 years in north Fl where I had Southern Bell,this because of health and age.
Lake City was a pleasant place for us with access to interstates with no driving time and zero taxes.
For my purposes on the internet I only need 2mbps according to computer tech.
Frontier is cheapest but do not trust them,might be my only choice,haven't checked yet.

[wondermint2]

Originally Posted by DanBev

Maybe why stock is only worth eighty three cents????
I am going to have to give up dialup after many years,to slow for use on internet,I have Frontier for my dialup,probably why??I am unfortunately now in the miserable tax happy state of CT after 25 years in north Fl where I had Southern Bell,this because of health and age.
Lake City was a pleasant place for us with access to interstates with no driving time and zero taxes.
For my purposes on the internet I only need 2mbps according to computer tech.
Frontier is cheapest but do not trust them,might be my only choice,haven't checked yet.

Is Comcast available in your area? Comcast has a $9.99/mo plan for low income people and seniors. It's called Comcast Internet Essentials:

https://internetessentials.com

They have certain requirements to qualify - one of which is you cannot be a Comcast customer for the past 90 days. But if you think you might qualify it's definitely worth looking into. In this program there is no additional fee for their router and the download speed is 15 mbps. That's plenty fast enough to stream movies in high definition.

*Note: Comcast Internet Essentials is the program that was mandated by the government in order for Comcast to be allowed to merge with NBC.

[wondermint2]

Here's a recent article (Oct 19, 2019) from an investment market advisory letter (The Motley Fool). They are saying that Frontier is in bad shape and doomed to fail. I'm wondering if they go under what will happen to their franchise here in Florida? (They do have some FIOS customers here that they "inherited" from Verizon). Any thoughts?

Where Will Frontier Communications Be in 1 Year?
https://www.fool.com/pwa/investing/2...in-1-year.aspx (click for full article)

"The short answer: no place most investors would want to be.

The good news is that the cancer might kill you before the heart disease does. That's not an exact metaphor for the plight Frontier Communications (NASDAQ:FTR) faces, but it's not too far off.

A cable and broadband company that spent around $10 billion to double in size right around the time cord-cutting became a serious problem, the company has a number of fatal flaws. It's bleeding subscribers in cable -- which is happening industrywide -- but it's also losing broadband customers because it largely uses telephone-based, not cable-based technology, which has been losing popularity.

Frontier is a company that's trying to manage its decline and find a way to change course. That seems not entirely likely given its past few years of history and its current outlook."

and

"Frontier may be able to manage its death, but it's very unlikely the company can avoid the inevitable. The best-case scenario is that McCarthy sells off pieces of the company until there's nothing left.

This is a company that has a dire future. A year from now, it will either be much smaller or have fully sold off its assets. Frontier tried to get bigger as a way to lower costs per subscriber. It was able to achieve that but made the move at a time when consumer habits were undergoing a massive shift."

[Ladywithafan]

Originally Posted by joshan

Ease of use and valuation of your time.

It is far easier for me to pay one service to get everything I need than try to manage subscriptions to all the individual providers. Sure I could probably save $40 a month by getting rid of cable and subscribing to each service I use individually. But my time and stress levels also have a large amount of value to me.

I have found that dealing with customer service from corporations usually leads to me being frustrated and elevated stress levels. Sometimes it is just nice to take the easy road and spend my time doing things I enjoy.

Think of it this way "Why does anyone pay tolls, they can just use streets without tolls". It has the same answer, time savings and lowered stress levels.

As I work with HOA & COA with costly Cable contracts waiting to expire in ranges from 40-80k a year, you can Imagine the amount of $ The associations would save for their owners out of contract. Verizon/Fios and Comcast have been price gouging people for years.
Lowest tier plans are in the $80 range for basic plus internet. The same channels are available on Hulu for $15/month.

[wondermint2]

Originally Posted by wondermint2

Here's a recent article (Oct 19, 2019) from an investment market advisory letter (The Motley Fool). They are saying that Frontier is in bad shape and doomed to fail. I'm wondering if they go under what will happen to their franchise here in Florida? (They do have some FIOS customers here that they "inherited" from Verizon). Any thoughts?

Where Will Frontier Communications Be in 1 Year?
https://www.fool.com/pwa/investing/2...in-1-year.aspx (click for full article)

"The short answer: no place most investors would want to be.

The good news is that the cancer might kill you before the heart disease does. That's not an exact metaphor for the plight Frontier Communications (NASDAQ:FTR) faces, but it's not too far off.

A cable and broadband company that spent around $10 billion to double in size right around the time cord-cutting became a serious problem, the company has a number of fatal flaws. It's bleeding subscribers in cable -- which is happening industrywide -- but it's also losing broadband customers because it largely uses telephone-based, not cable-based technology, which has been losing popularity.

Frontier is a company that's trying to manage its decline and find a way to change course. That seems not entirely likely given its past few years of history and its current outlook."

and

"Frontier may be able to manage its death, but it's very unlikely the company can avoid the inevitable. The best-case scenario is that McCarthy sells off pieces of the company until there's nothing left.

This is a company that has a dire future. A year from now, it will either be much smaller or have fully sold off its assets. Frontier tried to get bigger as a way to lower costs per subscriber. It was able to achieve that but made the move at a time when consumer habits were undergoing a massive shift."

The way I look at this is there's 3 possible outcomes:

1) Worst case Frontier sells their Florida business to Comcast. We all know monopolies are bad and in this scenario Comcast becomes even more of a monopoly - then procedes to raise prices and quality of service declines.

2) The not so-good scenario. Frontier sells off many of their territories across the country - but decides to hold on to it's Florida business here. It's possible that with the FIOS broadband infrastricture already in place in this area - they could feel this is worth holding on to. Yeah FIOS itself is actually pretty good - but Frontier is a dishonest company and their customer service is lousy. I wish the government in Florida could hold Frontier responsible to be an honest, trustworthy company like the government in Minnesota recently did:

Minnesota customers could get credits, refunds under proposed settlement with Frontier Communications | Star Tribune

3) Best case scenario. Frontier sells it's Florida business to a well managed, trustworthy company. And I don't mean Comcast! IMO it's really important for a growing vibrant community such as Sarasota County to have a good choice between well run internet companies. Being stuck with a turd like Frontier is not a strong selling point for this area.

I'm really hoping for outcome number 3 - but my gut is telling me we're going to get stuck with something like outcome #2.