Fiber-Optic Internet is OK I guess

[AdamK47]

My local phone company took it upon themselves to tear up my front yard to install a box containing fiber optical transmission equipment. They did it while I was at work unbeknownst to me. They didn't even bother to reseed my lawn (thankyouverymuch). I had to do that myself.

Anyway... a month later a door-to-door salesman from the company comes to my house asking me if I wanted to switch to their fiber optic internet and TV bundle plan. This was the first interaction with the company since they tore up my yard to install the transmitter, so I began my rant to the poor guy about all that. After I got that out of my system I politely accepted the offer. 300Mb down / 80Mb up plus a TV plan loaded with all of the channels that mostly play commercials. It's $80 a month with the usual 1 year introductory rate. I originally wanted just the Internet, but they like to bundle (like most providers do) and this is actually cheaper compared to Internet alone.

It seems to do alright. They do have 1Gb available.

 

[UsandThem]

At least it only grass they damaged.

When the AT&T subcontractor was doing the fiber optic lines in my neighborhood they damaged my water main, which ran under my driveway. A month, and 25,000 gallons of water later, water began pooling up near my house. I had to have an entire new water line installed, which was $5500. It took over 4 months and an AT&T corporate engineer getting involved for the subcontractors to reimburse me. It really was a big hassle because they just blew me off for the first 110 days.

 

[AdamK47]

That is terrible. Now I'm glad it was just grass they messed up.

The installers did do a good job of marking all of the existing electric and water lines.

 

[UsandThem]

The guys the local company subcontracted to didn't speak any English, they were caught dumping trash and debris into a city owned water-way (when caught, they said "No English") we have in our neighborhood, they hit the water main at the house next to me, shutting off the water for everyone (which is why I didn't catch the damage to mine). The city came out and had to replace the line. Lastly, they hit a power line in the HOA president's yard, knocking out power for about half the neighborhood.

I guess you can say they kinda sucked.

 

[AdamK47]

Sometimes the lowest bid on a contract isn't necessary the best option. Not saying that's what happened in your circumstance, but it does seem that way.

The contractors my local phone company got were at least a step above yours. Although, they did seem to have the "I don't give a F" attitude.

 

[UsandThem]

Yeah, from the Google reviews I read on the company, it seems like they hired all people with questionable skills, and likely paid them cash.

I understand the need to make a profit, but like you said, if they accept a bid solely because it is so low, they will have problems. This subcontractor paid for it with bad reviews and press, so hopefully large corporations like AT&T will not use them in the future.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

The first house I bought was new construction. Anyway, I had lived there maybe 2 weeks and went on a business trip. Fortunately, my mom stopped by to check on my house. When she went inside, water had backed up into the tub and other places. It turned out that Comcast had been trenching and hit a line under where my driveway was eventually poured. To their credit, they didn’t argue or dispute it - they paid to have it fixed and even paid the original contractor who poured the driveway to pour the new replacement section.

 

[UsandThem]

You had a better experience than I did. The local sub-contractor was just horrible about the entire thing. If the AT&T engineer didn't get personally involved (he actually came to my house and then went to their office), I probably still would not be reimbursed.

 

[mnewsham]

My previous house had fiber installed about a year after we moved in. It was a town house though and they just dug a trench out back behind the row of town houses and laid fiber in that trench then put an ONT on the backside of each house. About 2 months later they came back to install service with Ethernet or coax (MoCA) from the ONT to inside the house.


With the new house fiber was already installed so I didn't have to deal with anything. I just plug my router into an ethernet cable which plugs into my ONT.

 

[chimaxi83]

At least it only grass they damaged.

When the AT&T subcontractor was doing the fiber optic lines in my neighborhood they damaged my water main, which ran under my driveway. A month, and 25,000 gallons of water later, water began pooling up near my house. I had to have an entire new water line installed, which was $5500. It took over 4 months and an AT&T corporate engineer getting involved for the subcontractors to reimburse me. It really was a big hassle because they just blew me off for the first 110 days.

Good thing AT&T wants to eventually replace all of our union craft positions with subcontractors. Woot. They're not all trash, but there's a reason they have their reputation,