Letters to the Editor: A Break Up Letter to Windstream

The following open letter to Windstream was shared with the Edmonson Voice as a Letter to the Editor:

Dear Windstream,

Its been over 17 years. We have literally been through everything together. You have been there while I shopped for everything from piston rings to wedding rings, attempted to streamed Netflix for the first time, and all of those Google searches, only to constantly be met with a screen trying to load my results, or buffering trying to load a video.

I wish you had taken our relationship seriously, we wouldn't be in this situation. You have said for years that you were going to improve, that if anyone else moved in the neighborhood things would be fixed. We've had new neighbors move in, only to find ourselves with inconsistent and unreliable internet.

Those magical words on the bill "Up to" really saved you from providing the 25mb. But the truth is, smooth talking and in my opinion - deceptive billing - can only last so long. Thankfully, a new internet service provider took notice that you were the only option and unlike you, they seized the moment. They decided to take care of us and extend their fiber network into Edmonson County. I have two houses with service from you. One for over 17 years. I'm glad to see options, I'm excited for change. I'm excited to see a company who values their customers, instead of a company raising prices, collecting money and not investing in the community they are serving to improve the infrastructure that is in disrepair.

Lets talk billing. Your website shows current promotional rates as $49.99 for months 1-12 and $59.99 for months 13 and after, plus, taxes, fees, and rental of equipment. Bills from myself and others are near or over $100 for this exact service. Your $59.99 published rate is before taxes and fees which are another $13+. Why is my one bill $99 after taxes and fees? And this is for UP TO 25mb service.

Lets be real for a moment, I am averaging about 5mb download speeds. The people of this county deserve better. We deserve truthful billing. Every person in this county should have the same bill amount. Why should we have to fight for credits when there is an outage for days. Why should we stay a customer? My bill shows the UP TO 25mb internet plan as $86, fees, taxes, and other charges are $13. The total is just over $99 before the discounts for the Affordable Connectivity and discount for complaints about service. When I discovered the price difference and contacted Windstream I was told that my rate was lower and due to increases over time, my plan is now $86. I was told $59.99 was new customers only. When I called a second time, I was told by the cancellation department that this was a mistake and the $59.99 was a plan change I just needed to request. So, that is immediately a $26 reduction in the bill. They said my many calls to discuss lowering the bill should have caught this. Why should I have to ask for the updated rate on the same service, i sure haven't asked for the rate increases.

I will end with this - our new fiber company has published rates LOWER than you, that include all fees. If you choose their $89.95 package (with options available higher and lower) that is what you pay and from what I am told, no added taxes & fees. With Windstream, $99 gets me up to 25mb download and up to 3mb upload, terrible customer service, unreliable connectivity, along with poorly maintained infrastructure. $90 from our new company gets me 500mb download and 500mb upload service, that's approximately 100 times faster than my average hardwired download speeds with you, fantastic customer service department and reliable, and brand new new infrastructure.

Windstream. DO BETTER.

To the citizens of Edmonson County, please look at the options you have and make an informed decision.

Kyle Saunders,
Rocky Hill