Bend Broadband SUCKS!

I cannot begin to count the ways in which I think my local cable/internet/telephone provider sucks.

Their customer service people, particularly in the billing department, are rude and incompetent. They are in my honest opinion also as useless as tits on a boar.

Their prices are literally outrageous, but I guess when you have no competition other than satellite companies you don’t have to charge reasonable prices.

I received my latest bill in the mail today.

$67.74 total, $38.49  for 100 GB hi-speed internet, $18.95 for telephone (which I don’t use), $7.50 for modem purchase, and $2.80 for fees. I decided I was going to drop the telephone since I don’t use the landline and am already paying $40.00 a month for my cell phone.

The $18.95 per month for the telephone  is a bundled price (because I have my internet with them too). That price includes only local calls, if I was dumb enough to use them for my long distance calls I’d be getting socked for another 5 cents per minute.

I have 450 minutes every month on my cell phone (mostly those 450 minutes never get used) and that includes nationwide long distance so why would I use Bend Broadband for long distance and pay another 5 cents per minute??

I’ve already switched to Dish Network for television -7 months ago-and they charge literally less than half what Bend Broadband was charging me.

My Bend Broadband bill would be over $150.00 per month every month if I was intelligence-challenged enough to get my TV programming from them.

Just for shits and giggles, I decided to check my actual internet usage for the last 2 months, since I pay for 100 GB a month no matter what I actually use (unless of course I go over 100GB, in which case they charge me through the nose!)

Any unused GB does not roll over into the next month and they have no smaller packages available.

Last month I used 18.3 GB total.

The month before that I used 17.9 GB total.

As again any unused GB does not roll over into the next month, I am royally being screwed and it gets even better (for THEM, not me!!).

I do not download movies, songs, etc.  I use my computer for email, maintaining my two blogs, the rare visit to Facebook or its ilk, being an admin at 4 incentive-based sites, clicking, surfing, searching, and chatting with friends.

The $38.49 per month for 100 GB of  hi-speed internet access is a bundled price because I have my landline telephone service with Bend Broadband along with the high-speed internet access.

If I drop the telephone service my bill for the internet access goes up $10.00 per month.

So lets see I’m already being grossly overcharged for my actual internet usage, and if I drop the phone service the bill would change to $58.79 including the monthly payment for the modem purchase (I thought that stupid modem was already paid for too).

If the modem is paid for with the May 2, 2010 payment and I drop the telephone service the bill changes to $51.29

However, knowing this company they will manage to increase the bill somehow, they’ve already raised rates by 9% (whinging that the cost of TV programming has gone up markedly) at least once in 2010.

Last month the same services cost me $66.39 because they charged for partial months after raising their rates in the middle of a billing period, how bloody convenient for THEM.

The month before that the same services at a supposedly 9% LOWER price cost me $65.95……hmmmm whats their excuse for that other than gross overcharging?

Hmmm, doesn’t Dish Network get their programming from the same sources, how come they can charge $45.00 per month and Bend Broadband is ‘forced’ to charge $82.00 to $95.00 (they were dumb enough to include a 2010 price list in my bill)  for the same programming .

In my case the pricing would probably be even higher if I received it from Bend Broadband as all the channels I enjoy watching are all on digital cable, such as Discovery, A & E, TLC, The History Channel, DIY Network, Food Network, and HGTV.

I was paying Bend Broadband $127.74 each month until November of last year (2009)  for digital cable (including their converter box and remote), 100 GB hi-speed internet service, modem purchase (April through November), telephone, and taxes.

Only one television (out of 3 in the house at the time) was hooked up to cable and I had NO premium channels at all (in this case premium refers to channels such as HBO, Cinemax, and Showtime).

I now have 2 televisions hooked up to Dish Network and pay $43.99 per month for America’s Top 200 programming.  I could get America’s Top 250 programming for $53.99 and still be paying at least $30.00 less than Bend Broadband would charge.

The digital cable from Bend Broadband was $84.00-$86.00 a month so when that was dropped my bill should have been $41.00-$43.00, but it never has been anywhere near that low since September 2009 when I switched to Dish Network.

In fact, they charged me for a full month in October 2009 after I had already switched the TV to Dish Network and the customer service representative still had the stone balls to say ‘there will be a credit on your next bill’ when I complained.  So what, the idiots got to use MY money for a month while delivering no service at all.

Since they are really the only game in town when it comes to reliable internet access I will grudgingly stay with them.  Since they will screw me even worse money-wise if I unbundle the services and drop the telephone, I will also grudgingly keep the telephone service.

I have however made up my mind that the computer will be on 24/7 and I already added the 4 additional email addresses that I am allowed to have (for a total of 5).  I will be damned if I pay for 100 GB every single month and use less than 20 GB every single month.

I’m amused that two of my new email addresses are ‘using100GBifitkillsme’  @ bend broadband and ‘bendbroadbandsucks’  @ bend broadband.  I’m nothing if not creative when it comes to expressing my disgust with poor customer service and price gouging.

Personally I think this company has lost a lot of business to Dish Network and other satellite providers.  I think they are trying to make up for those losses by gouging the hell out of the people who are forced to remain with them for whatever reason.

Am I impressed with Bend Broadband?  I DON’T THINK SO!!

17 comments

  1. Hi – John here from BendBroadband. I received a google alert on this posting and wanted to take the opportunity to respond to the concerns expressed here.

    First and foremost, the video pricing comparisons presented are misleading. Both cable and satellite companies routinely offer special pricing to new customers or customers that add a new service (in our case adding video, high speed or phone to an existing account). These are highly discounted offers that in many cases are at or below cost during the discount period. After that the prices go up to the normal retail price. In the post above he’s comparing Dish’s special offer to BendBroadband’s normal price. (a sidebar – to get the full Dish special requires a 2 year commitment and we don’t do that). Now we don’t claim that our pricing is always less than Dish. Typically Dish will be a bit lower on pricing and DirecTV will be the same or higher. But you have to make the correct comparison and often people don’t.

    Here’s an example of a correct comparison – taken directly from the Dish website. Dish normally charges $62.99 for Top 250 package. That doesn’t include HD access (another $10)nor does it include a service protection plan of $6. Now you’re up to $79. BendBroadband charges $66.99 for our complete channel offering excluding premium (no premium in the Top 250 either). This includes all of our HD simulcast channels. If you wanted to spend $9 to add the HD Plus package you’d be at $76. Add 1 std and one HD set top for another $10 and your at $86. BendBroadband pays a franchise fee to the cities of Bend, Redmond and Sisters. Satellite doesn’t have to pay this – we pass this fee on and it’s 5%. It goes into the city’s general fund. So add another $4 and you’re at $90. But, most people take high speed and you get a $10 bundling discount for having TV so figure that in and you’re back to really paying $80. So a correct comparison would be $76 Vs $80. Included in our video service is access to a wealth of video on demand – satellite can’t do that (their VOD is really content they download to your DVR). Also if you’re a Blazer fan we have it and they don’t (and it’s an expensive channel).

    As to phone pricing – we beat the phone company when you compare your total bill including taxes. On the basic package it’s about $20 Vs $27 with LD on a per minute basis.

    I’ll end here. If the above poster would like to contact us directly via our website feedback we’d love the opportunity to discuss the other concerns expressed in the posting.

    Reply

  4. This really is a really great piece of writing, while I was reading through this I could not help but agree with you. I’m going to add your site to my own set of favorites and i look forward to reading through your other posts. Carry on the great work, this is one of the better sites online.

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  8. Its true they rape you! i just got back from being away my parents have been with bendcable now for 11 years so when we signed up for high speed internet there was no maximum amount a person could use, therefore i am illegally being put into a new contract where since the room i am living in doesn’t have one of the 9 boxes we rent a month i have to use netflix. now half way through the month i get a warning Im 70% threw my usage. this is a monopoly that people need to boycott. bendcable is overcharging for services they are making up and getting away with plundering the people!. this is an outrage from the bendcable eight years to the now bendbroadband we have. i personally know 12 people who have left to other services like quest and clear and iv just been home for a month. these people are far more happy with out there wallets being drained for a mediocre service from bendbroadband. where you get nickled and dimed for every aspect of usage. this should be illegal like. I SAY ME MAKE BANNERS SAYING BOYCOT BENDCABLE GOTO DIRECTV DISH QWEST DSL, internet tv anything to make this company’s profits dry up so a reasonable competitor can come in and liberate this unjust market. do it now before they charge you per letter you can type on an email!

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