Comments on: Does The Mom n’ Pop ISP Still Exist? http://www.pcmech.com/article/does-the-mom-n-pop-isp-still-exist/ Helping Normal People Get Their Geek On Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:19:19 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: eli http://www.pcmech.com/article/does-the-mom-n-pop-isp-still-exist/comment-page-1/#comment-27557 eli Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:41:20 +0000 http://www.pcmech.com/article/does-the-mom-n-pop-isp-still-exist/#comment-27557 I use a dial-up mom n pop ISP, due to my location, in Perry FL. It's <a href="http://www.perryfl.com/" rel="nofollow">Gulf Internet</a>. Before I share a big goof on their part, I will say that I switched from a corporate ISP to them because of the horribly unreliable service from FairPoint. Gulf Internet is a very tiny operation, but they have offered nearly uninterrupted service, except for stormy times here on the gulf coast. So, last week I make a trip into the office to pay my bill because you can't pay online, and I've lost my paper bill. It takes about 10 minutes, and searching through 2 different customer databases for them to find my information. Oh wait, they didn't find me, they found my mom who also had service with them months ago. They finally find me, and they see that I haven't paid my current bill due to a credit card company problem with cancelling several card #s from a certain batch due to security issues. I never pay with a card, and I haven't paid the bill in question yet, that's what I was in their office to do right then. They're convinced that I attempted to pay with my credit card, but that it didn't go through because of the credit card company's error. No big deal, I pay with a check, and all is well. Phantom payments and accounts, but that's not all. I know someone who was getting service from them for 6 months before they got one bill. They signed up, got a username & password, got great service, but got no bill for months. When they did finally get a bill, there was no mention of a past due amount or anything. They just began to bill them as if nothing had happened. Strange times in a small town. I use a dial-up mom n pop ISP, due to my location, in Perry FL. It’s Gulf Internet. Before I share a big goof on their part, I will say that I switched from a corporate ISP to them because of the horribly unreliable service from FairPoint. Gulf Internet is a very tiny operation, but they have offered nearly uninterrupted service, except for stormy times here on the gulf coast.

So, last week I make a trip into the office to pay my bill because you can’t pay online, and I’ve lost my paper bill. It takes about 10 minutes, and searching through 2 different customer databases for them to find my information. Oh wait, they didn’t find me, they found my mom who also had service with them months ago. They finally find me, and they see that I haven’t paid my current bill due to a credit card company problem with cancelling several card #s from a certain batch due to security issues. I never pay with a card, and I haven’t paid the bill in question yet, that’s what I was in their office to do right then. They’re convinced that I attempted to pay with my credit card, but that it didn’t go through because of the credit card company’s error. No big deal, I pay with a check, and all is well. Phantom payments and accounts, but that’s not all.

I know someone who was getting service from them for 6 months before they got one bill. They signed up, got a username & password, got great service, but got no bill for months. When they did finally get a bill, there was no mention of a past due amount or anything. They just began to bill them as if nothing had happened.

Strange times in a small town.

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