Sorry, this is a long post, but I've thoughtfully put a lot of effort into trying to resolve this issue.
TL;DR summary:
I have been a Sonic customer since 2012. Our internet’s been down for 22 days after 4 AT&T visits. I think AT&T broke our internet (it stopped working right when they visited, and never came back!), Sonic hasn't done a good job resolving it, and don’t think it’s right to have to pay for a Sonic technician visit because I don’t think it’s our fault. And if I do have to pay, I’d rather just switch to a more reliable ISP with better service.
When I signed up with Sonic, I felt that Sonic offered great customer service and I confidently recommended Sonic to others. I feel the opposite way now. I’ve encountered poor customer service, poor internet service, and I’ve wasted a colossal amount of time. I don’t think I’m the only one suffering: their Yelp reviews 4-5 years ago when I signed up were at 4.5 stars! Now they are about 2.5 stars!
I’m posting this here in hopes that sharing my experience will help resolve my situation before I switch to a better ISP, and hopefully help others avoid similar problems.
The back story:
A month ago, our DSL was spotty, and appeared to work better after fixing our interior wiring and changes to settings on the line performed by Sonic. A Sonic representative suggested an AT&T technician still visit to work on the line to make sure there weren’t other problems. Our DSL went down during that initial visit, and hasn't been back, despite 3 additional AT&T visits.
This is what I know:
Here is a full timeline of steps and missteps:
06/08/17: Called Sonic because DSL cut out frequently, and then eventually stopped working completely. Representative (Hunter?) scheduled an AT&T visit for Saturday, June 10th at 12:00pm
06/09/17: I realized that a telephone jack in our apartment had been damaged. I fixed the jack, noticed a good DSL connection, and asked Sonic to cancel the AT&T visit. The very helpful representative suggested that AT&T still visit, as there may be some line trouble that could be fixed. He also made some changes to the speed profile of our line to prioritize reliability over pure line speed. He reduced the maximum download and upload speeds and it appeared that the number of CRC errors detected by my modem decreased. Internet was working fine after this call.
06/10/17: I waited at home until 1:00pm because I understood that an AT&T technician needed to get into the box and would need access to our building. An AT&T technician did not come, so, frustrated, I called Sonic to reschedule. I was informed that the visit window was 12:00pm - 7:00pm, and that a technician may come any time before 7:00pm. This wasn't my understanding when Hunter had scheduled the AT&T visit. I rescheduled the AT&T visit for 06/15/17, when I knew I would be home for an extended period of time.
06/15/17: Internet service had been working since 06/09/07, but stopped working about 2 or 3pm this day. This timing coincides with when an AT&T technician visited our building and changed the F2 cable pair. A Sonic representative followed up afterward and was surprised to learn that the line was still down. I informed him that DSL was still down, and that it went down around the same time as the AT&T technician's visit. The representative informed me that AT&T would be sent out again to troubleshoot. There was no dial tone in my unit, and I had not made any changes inside my unit.
06/19/17: Internet still was not working this evening. No dial tone. I called Sonic to inquire, and the representative informed me that an AT&T technician had visited today. He said that the AT&T representative changed the F2 cable pair again because the previous repair was bad. I told him that I still had no internet and no dial tone. The Sonic representative said he would not close the AT&T ticket so that another AT&T technician would visit to further troubleshoot.
There is a grey Network Interface Device inside our apartment building (but outside of our unit) that I checked to see if I could get a dial tone. There was no dial tone, which made me suspect that something was wrong with the wiring outside of our building.
06/20/17: I request text message support from Sonic. The Sonic representative suggested that a Sonic technician come visit, for a fee. I disagreed, because it seemed like the problem was outside of our unit, and our DSL stopped working at almost exactly the same time the first AT&T technician visited. It may have been a coincidence, but it seemed that our DSL disappearing was connected to the first AT&T tech visit. The Sonic representative agrees to maintain the already planned AT&T technician visit.
06/21/17: An AT&T Technician named Wyatt calls me, asking for access to the building. He manages to find access to the distribution terminal and tells me that nobody has provided him with any information about the history of my ticket.
I tell him about the lack of DSL, dial tone, and that 2 AT&T technicians have already visited, and that our DSL service stopped working about exactly when the first AT&T technician visited.
He confirms that he is able to achieve a dial tone at the Distribution Terminal. He determines that there is indeed a break in our line, about 50' from the Distribution Terminal. I ask him if there's any potential issue in our apartment building or unit that is causing the problem and he says that because the break in the wire is about 50' from the box, it is definitely not in our building or unit.
06/23/17: Still without internet, I ask our property manager who's responsible for maintaining the telephone lines. He shrugs, and tells me to switch to Comcast, since all of the other tenants have.
06/24/17: I complain and detail a history of my issues. A Sonic representative says they will again send an AT&T tech out again in an email.
06/26/17: Bernie, an AT&T tech visits. He locates the phone box, tags it with our address, and confirms that dial tone works for our line at the box. Bernie is very helpful in confirming the location of the Distribution terminal where recent AT&T work has been done with our service.
Later, looking at phone call history, I can confirm that phone calls are made with our phone number. But we still have no dial tone in our building.
06/27/17: I notice that there are 2 nearly-identical Distribution Terminals outside of an adjacent building, where our phone line travels through. The cable from our building appears to travel to the box that Bernie did not operate on. I wonder if AT&T made a mistake and routed our cables to the wrong box.
07/07/17: Still no internet. It’s been 22 days. I'm posting this as a last-ditch effort.
TL;DR summary:
I have been a Sonic customer since 2012. Our internet’s been down for 22 days after 4 AT&T visits. I think AT&T broke our internet (it stopped working right when they visited, and never came back!), Sonic hasn't done a good job resolving it, and don’t think it’s right to have to pay for a Sonic technician visit because I don’t think it’s our fault. And if I do have to pay, I’d rather just switch to a more reliable ISP with better service.
When I signed up with Sonic, I felt that Sonic offered great customer service and I confidently recommended Sonic to others. I feel the opposite way now. I’ve encountered poor customer service, poor internet service, and I’ve wasted a colossal amount of time. I don’t think I’m the only one suffering: their Yelp reviews 4-5 years ago when I signed up were at 4.5 stars! Now they are about 2.5 stars!
I’m posting this here in hopes that sharing my experience will help resolve my situation before I switch to a better ISP, and hopefully help others avoid similar problems.
The back story:
A month ago, our DSL was spotty, and appeared to work better after fixing our interior wiring and changes to settings on the line performed by Sonic. A Sonic representative suggested an AT&T technician still visit to work on the line to make sure there weren’t other problems. Our DSL went down during that initial visit, and hasn't been back, despite 3 additional AT&T visits.
This is what I know:
- Our wiring outside of our apartment appears to be as follows: Telephone pole -> Distribution terminal outside of building (metal box) x2 -> Aerial wires -> Network Interface Device inside building (grey plastic box) -> Inside of our unit
- No dial tone in our unit
- No dial tone at the Network Interface Device (grey plastic box) inside our building
- Our internet was working until near the exact time that an AT&T technician visited, and it hasn’t worked since. An uncanny coincidence..
- Appears to be no damage to the line between our unit and the Network Interface Device
- Appears to be no changes had been made to the wiring between our unit and the Network Interface Device
- I think no changes have been made to the wiring between our Network Interface Device and the Distribution Terminal (exterior metal box)
- There are 2 identical-looking Distribution Terminals outside of our building (Terminal #1 and Terminal #2)
- AT&T confirms there is dial tone at the Distribution Terminal (Terminal #1)
- AT&T says there is a break in our line about 50’ away from Distribution Terminal #1
- BUT, it appears that the aerial cable from our Network Interface Device leads to a different Distribution Terminal (Terminal #2)
- There’s no visible damage to our aerial cable (but I am not an expert)
Here is a full timeline of steps and missteps:
06/08/17: Called Sonic because DSL cut out frequently, and then eventually stopped working completely. Representative (Hunter?) scheduled an AT&T visit for Saturday, June 10th at 12:00pm
06/09/17: I realized that a telephone jack in our apartment had been damaged. I fixed the jack, noticed a good DSL connection, and asked Sonic to cancel the AT&T visit. The very helpful representative suggested that AT&T still visit, as there may be some line trouble that could be fixed. He also made some changes to the speed profile of our line to prioritize reliability over pure line speed. He reduced the maximum download and upload speeds and it appeared that the number of CRC errors detected by my modem decreased. Internet was working fine after this call.
06/10/17: I waited at home until 1:00pm because I understood that an AT&T technician needed to get into the box and would need access to our building. An AT&T technician did not come, so, frustrated, I called Sonic to reschedule. I was informed that the visit window was 12:00pm - 7:00pm, and that a technician may come any time before 7:00pm. This wasn't my understanding when Hunter had scheduled the AT&T visit. I rescheduled the AT&T visit for 06/15/17, when I knew I would be home for an extended period of time.
06/15/17: Internet service had been working since 06/09/07, but stopped working about 2 or 3pm this day. This timing coincides with when an AT&T technician visited our building and changed the F2 cable pair. A Sonic representative followed up afterward and was surprised to learn that the line was still down. I informed him that DSL was still down, and that it went down around the same time as the AT&T technician's visit. The representative informed me that AT&T would be sent out again to troubleshoot. There was no dial tone in my unit, and I had not made any changes inside my unit.
06/19/17: Internet still was not working this evening. No dial tone. I called Sonic to inquire, and the representative informed me that an AT&T technician had visited today. He said that the AT&T representative changed the F2 cable pair again because the previous repair was bad. I told him that I still had no internet and no dial tone. The Sonic representative said he would not close the AT&T ticket so that another AT&T technician would visit to further troubleshoot.
There is a grey Network Interface Device inside our apartment building (but outside of our unit) that I checked to see if I could get a dial tone. There was no dial tone, which made me suspect that something was wrong with the wiring outside of our building.
06/20/17: I request text message support from Sonic. The Sonic representative suggested that a Sonic technician come visit, for a fee. I disagreed, because it seemed like the problem was outside of our unit, and our DSL stopped working at almost exactly the same time the first AT&T technician visited. It may have been a coincidence, but it seemed that our DSL disappearing was connected to the first AT&T tech visit. The Sonic representative agrees to maintain the already planned AT&T technician visit.
06/21/17: An AT&T Technician named Wyatt calls me, asking for access to the building. He manages to find access to the distribution terminal and tells me that nobody has provided him with any information about the history of my ticket.
I tell him about the lack of DSL, dial tone, and that 2 AT&T technicians have already visited, and that our DSL service stopped working about exactly when the first AT&T technician visited.
He confirms that he is able to achieve a dial tone at the Distribution Terminal. He determines that there is indeed a break in our line, about 50' from the Distribution Terminal. I ask him if there's any potential issue in our apartment building or unit that is causing the problem and he says that because the break in the wire is about 50' from the box, it is definitely not in our building or unit.
06/23/17: Still without internet, I ask our property manager who's responsible for maintaining the telephone lines. He shrugs, and tells me to switch to Comcast, since all of the other tenants have.
06/24/17: I complain and detail a history of my issues. A Sonic representative says they will again send an AT&T tech out again in an email.
06/26/17: Bernie, an AT&T tech visits. He locates the phone box, tags it with our address, and confirms that dial tone works for our line at the box. Bernie is very helpful in confirming the location of the Distribution terminal where recent AT&T work has been done with our service.
Later, looking at phone call history, I can confirm that phone calls are made with our phone number. But we still have no dial tone in our building.
06/27/17: I notice that there are 2 nearly-identical Distribution Terminals outside of an adjacent building, where our phone line travels through. The cable from our building appears to travel to the box that Bernie did not operate on. I wonder if AT&T made a mistake and routed our cables to the wrong box.
07/07/17: Still no internet. It’s been 22 days. I'm posting this as a last-ditch effort.
