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The good, the bad, and the ugly - discover what customers are saying about SureWest

Welcome to our customer reviews and complaints page for SureWest. We understand that making informed decisions about where to invest your time and money can be challenging, which is why we've created this platform for our community to share their honest feedback about their experiences with SureWest.

On this page, you'll find a comprehensive collection of reviews and complaints from real customers who have used SureWest's products or services. Our reviews are authentic and unbiased, providing you with a complete picture of the company, its products or services, and their customer service.

Whether you're considering doing business with SureWest, or you've already had an experience with them, our community's reviews and complaints will give you a valuable perspective on what to expect. Our goal is to help you make informed decisions about where to invest your time and money, and we hope that our platform will be a valuable resource for you.

Please feel free to browse our reviews and complaints and share your own experience with SureWest. Your feedback is an important part of our community and will help others make informed decisions.

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7:04 pm EST
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SureWest Service/Termination

I signed up with Cable/Internet with SureWest due to the price I was provided. When talking to a sales person I informed them and asked them about early termination/cancellation fees. I was ensured there are none with the service/package I was signing up with from SureWest. When the installation tech came I asked the same question and he confirmed that there are no termination/cancellation fees. Four months after the service was installed and multiple calls about the service I called in to cancel. I was informed that there is a termination fee and that I was given a contract that states what the termination fees are from SureWest. I told everyone I have spoken with that I didn't sign a contract nor any document I have from them says anything about termination fees. I have been around and around with them on cancelling my service. Their latest fix is to have me pay back $175 in discounted service fees to let me out of my contract. This company is very unethical and is holding their customers hostage by telling them one thing to sign them up then lying to them about what they signed up for with SureWest. I have filed a complaint with the BBB and Attorney General. I hope people looking at SureWest read this and other information before ever signing up with them, don't sign up with SureWest, you will regret it and the service is horrible.

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Franklitsmama
, US
Jun 19, 2012 8:07 am EDT

I am having the same problems with Surewest. I called to move my service and was told there wasn't service available where I was moving so I had to cancel. I asked how I needed to cancel and what it involved and they said I only needed to turn my equipment in to the office and they would send me my final bill. I brought in my equipment and asked what I needed to do and they said that was all, I would receive my final bill soon. I received my final bill and paid it. A month later I received a bill for $280.00 in cancellation fees. I called in concerned because for the 3 years I was with them I never signed a contract and I was NEVER informed I was on a contract or that there would be cancellation fees. They told me when they installed my internet 6 months prior with a discounted rate that that then put me on a "contract" when I signed the service technicians work order after he installed the router. I was also told very immaturely by a kid that mans the phones that I should have taken in account that I would be liable for cancellation fees when I agreed to a discount and when I moved that I would also be liable for those fees. Their customer service when you are a customer is great but once you have to leave because they only cover small areas of Overland Park they are complete A holes and shady. I will NEVER use Surewest again and I will make sure I tell EVERYONE I know to never go with them. Their HD channels are not HD either. When I just got Time Warner I realized that by the complete difference in my picture quality.

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2:34 am EDT
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SureWest Price Gouging - Price hiking mid contract

We signed up for a cable/internet/landline package for supposedly $89 for 6 months, within a month the bill was over $100 and the next month close to $200. The sales women promised the price would not go over $100 when we first signed up, but they did not send a contract with that stated, in fact they did not send and we did not sign a contract.
Every month we'd have to phone and argue with them to get the price back down even a few dollars. In the end we cancelled service and a month later Surewest sends us a bill for nearly $1, 300. And we are not the only ones, neighbors on either side of us and our landlord have had similar problems. If these bills are not paid it can affect our credit rating. Surewest are committing fraud and actual extortion and hurting peoples' credit ratings by price gouging. Surewest business practices need investigating.

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4:44 am EST
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SureWest turned off tv signal

I was in shock today when dealing with the reps from Surewest.com, first of all I had a bill in my hand that said due date of 3-2-2011 and decided to pay most of it today, made the payment online and then within hours my cable was turned off. I called and asked why in Earth they had shut my cable off when it wasn't due until the second of March and they sounded surprised too, then was told I would be charged a restoration fee because even though I made my payment today it may take 48 hours to process so I am being penalized because their bill pay system takes 2 days and even if that is the case the payment wasn't due until 3-2-11 I am so mad that I switched from Comcast, it has been one problem after another, they missed my first appt to install my internet and cable, they always charge me more than we originally agreed upon and they are really pissing me off by not giving the service they promised, not keeping appointment times and on top of that turning off my cable 3 days before its due...good thing my internet stayed on so I could share this AWESOME review of their crappy service.

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4:44 pm EDT
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SureWest lots of calls to my number are not for me

I have had to change my number twice, because of other people calling constanley, morning, noon, and night. This has been going on not just one or two calls with the wrong number, these are people with names who do not recide at my number, you had changed for me. I have contacted you about it, you say their recycled numbers, I don't care, I should not be getting such calls, I'ts turned into arrassment. My last call, before I left home today, was from the same person, threw out the day and night, I don't have time for my line to be used like that, I have other very important calls that are trying to come in for me. I do have the two names that I have been getting calls for, I hardley call, or even use my phone, and I'm sure I'm getting charged for what's happening here, somethings very wrong, these calls are every day, diffrent times of the day, sometimes 4 to 5 calls in one. I'm really considering dropping your services, I can not use my phone the way it should be used, I have already told these people to STOP calling here. When my phone rings now, I leave my message pick it up, but I problably lose an important call when I should have picked it up. Your services are not good for me, and I've addressed it, when I pay my bill to the operater, all they say is thank you for choosing surewest enough is enough, I'll probably be dropping your services.

Deborah Rodricks

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12:42 pm EDT
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SureWest Cut off Service

A work crew accidentally cut through my cable tv/internet/phone lines a few days ago and I called to have the lines restored by Surewest, my provider. The customer service rep immediately told me they could restore my phone and internet but not tv, because I was not paying for tv service. I insisted I had signed a contract with them 3 years ago for all three services and have been receiving them since, although I admitted I don't itemize my monthly bills. I just pay them. He insisted I should look at an old bill. I did and saw he was correct, tv wasn't listed. But why was I receiving service? He didn't know but scheduled the lines to be restored and got off the phone. He never offered me tv service, which is what I had thought I was paying for all along. He additionally insinuated I shouldn't say anything when the person came to fix the line, because maybe I would find I still had tv service. The whole interaction had a heavy tone of reference that I was somehow a thief of services I was not paying for, and presumably should have known all along.

The next day my internet and phone were restored, but not my tv... which I had not been paying for and technically shouldn't be still on.

So, Monday I called to find out the price for tv service to be added. The rep quoted a price and then gave dead silence on the phone. I asked if he was joking. There isn't a bundle price for an existing customer? This is twice what the competitor offers. He transfered me to someone else. The next person quoted a HIGHER price than the first and said no there isn't a bundle price, I'm paying more than the competing service because I will receive better customer service. Well, if this is the case, where was my customer service when my line was cut and I was talked to like a thief? Where was someone to suggest I keep my tv service but now pay for it? That is poor service, if you ask me. It's horrible to be a customer for years and then one day be told you are having service cut, that you didn't pay for it in the first place, and having the company NEVER refernce that it was THEIR error, not mine. I insist she pull my call and review it from when I first called in and stated I wouldn't add tv service for such an outrageous price if the company isn't even willing to try to fix what was done poorly by their staff over the prior days. That evening I also sent an email of complaint to customer service.

Today I got a call from their office. The person started by saying they reviewed the call and the intital rep I spoke with did nothing wrong, handled things by the book. They asked what I still wanted. At one point the person even referenced that I had been receiving over $1200 in services free of charge for the past few years. This made me boil over! I don't know of any single parents who have time to work, live life, raise children, and then sit and itemize bills like that. I have the service, I pay my bills, if the service goes out I call. Why did they bother to review the phone call and call me if they are only going to insist that they have done everything correct in this situation? Why tell me the dollar amount of service I received if they accept that I was not in error?

Bottom line... They kept my service on and never drove a truck through my area to turn it off. I deserve an apology for their error over the years which led me to believe I was a tv customer. I deserve an apology from the customer service rep who thought it more important to insist I find an old bill, insist I never had paid for the service, and not have a shred of compassion or care in how they talked to me... someone who now didn't even have telephone service. I also deserve apology for the rude manager who thought it more important to defend her staff and her company than to keep a customer or try to make me feel better about the whole interaction. I didn't expect a superb deal necessarily, but I did expect someone... anyone I interacted with on the phone to care about keeping me as a customer and stop treating me like a deadbeat who stole cable.

To be fair, I wrongly ended the call/series of interactions by cussing out the last rep on the phone. I shouldn't have done so. But her quoting the dollar amount of services her company gave me and received no payment for... well, that just set me over the top. I could not believe that this was the person they were sending in to FIX this whole matter.

Surewest is losing my business over this and if keeping a strong stance on such things and making the customer feel wrong is important, I would guess they will lose many more customers other than just me. Bottomline after all this... I do not see any functional reason to pay more for the same service 3 other companies can provide, if I'm not even receiving customer care that is top notch. Forget it. I'll save my money, pay for cheaper service and an automated system, and use my savings somewhere more important in my life.

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PrivateKSMom
Kansas City, US
Jul 01, 2010 7:28 pm EDT

Surewest is an unscrupulous company. I know this because I work there. I am just trying to put food on the table for my family. However, I have seen it time and time again that they overcharge customers for services and are only willing to go back 90 days! I know of an instance where we charged an elderly customer $8.35 a month for six years for a set top box that in fact she had never had. That is quite a bit of money. I went to a supervisor and he went to the customer service director, John Walburn, and he was only willing to issue a $25.00 credit and advised us to tell the customer she should have checked her invoice for the error. If she was my mother or my grandmother I would be livid!

They also sent out a a notice last year of the annual rate increase, effective 11.01.09. There was a billing cycle though that they started the rate increase 2 calendar days before that which was only a difference of .19 but multiply that times the 20, 000 customers on that billing cycle. Again, the customer service director and his superiors we unwilling to correct the error for everyone in that billing cycle. If a customer caught it they would credit the .19. That's not right. I was taught right and wrong as a child and that is basically a lie and theft.

I am currently looking for a new employer but for now work for a company that doesn't know what business ethics mean.

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6:51 am EST
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SureWest Scam and stealing

SureWest was my local provider for phone, internet and cable. I had signed a contract with them to provide me these services. When I bought a new house and was moving, I called them to see if they provided service in my new area (same town) and they said they did not. They canceled my subscription (at my request), said they were sorry to lose me as a customer and told me where to drop off the cable equipment.

I was told the drop off was open on Saturday and Sunday and given the hours. I went on a Sunday within the hours I was told and the place was closed. There was a sign that said 'Closed Sundays'. I had to return on a Saturday to drop off the equipment and was told that the phone support is open but not the drop off. The woman apologized for my time.

My main complaint, however, is that I shortly received a bill from SureWest and was charged for 'early termination' of my contract... I called the SureWest office and explained that they did not provide service in my area so how could I continue with their services? I also said that I was not told of the early termination when I canceled. Of course, I wouldn't have sold my new house so I could move back into their area... It just seemed illegal to hold someone to a contract when they move and the service is not provided in the new area. The customer service rep told me she would check with a supervisor and call me back later with the answer. I was called back shortly and was told that I had signed a contract and they had a right to charge an early termination fee even if I had moved to an area where they do not provide service.

So, rather than face collection charges, I went ahead and paid the bill. I also told them I would let anyone and everyone know what a ripoff the early termination fee was... so here I am.

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Sam Mallone
Rocklin, US
Jun 04, 2011 12:24 am EDT
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Who do you complain.
Surewest is the only ISP and they price gouge
Comcast provides 12Mbps for 35 dollars a month
Surewest being the only provider here charges 60 dollars for 6Mbps

Somebody is getting paid off some where with my money (and potentially yours)

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Sam Mallone
Rocklin, US
Jun 04, 2011 12:22 am EDT
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Why is surewest the only isp provider in Rocklin CA
This is like tax, no choice

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duckball
, US
Jun 03, 2011 6:37 pm EDT

Surewest just raised my rates even though I am in a 2 year contract-very shady if you ask me.

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PrivateKSMom
Kansas City, US
Jul 01, 2010 7:35 pm EDT

Surewest, as a company, have no business ethics. They, in private, laugh at their customers and how stupid they are. They need to be put out of business. I know all of this because I am an employee in Kansas.

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only dave
Overland Park, US
Oct 01, 2009 7:02 pm EDT

surewest makes you pay one mo. in advance, then cheat you out of it when you change to a differnent co. every mo. you better check your charges. i did and had to call every month for credit to my acct. i have 2000 email friends i'm sending emails about being cheated if you have had the same problems let all of your friends know what kind of cosurewest is also contact the BBB

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trick
, US
May 15, 2009 5:34 pm EDT

yea..surewest is ###ed up.
i had service with them for almost two years, first year with 10M fiber internet plus TV package. they were bundled for at about $70~$80 range per month. though i knew at setup they told me about the one year contract requirement or early determination fee which was fine.

but a year later i called in trying to cancel the Tv serverice and only keep the internet since i hardy watch Tv (the receiver box is not even plugged into the wall) and the customer service dude ALEX heard i was cancelling a service so he put me on hold and came back 5 mins later said he can give me a deal for about the same $70~$80 range per month and keeping my TV. I didn't wanna bother to go to their local service office and turn in the equipments so i went ahead and said yes (the deal= one year contract starting that day) was not mentioned in the conversation.! now i'm moving out of this house so i have to cancel all services. unfortunately i spoke to the customer service again and was told that i have to pay for this damn termination fee although they pretty much TALKED me into the deal without telling me once i accepted their deal also implies that i knew about the one year contract they're tieing me into.

their services are decent thru two years of experience, but the customer service is tricky. will talk you into any kind of deal without telling you what's the trick behind it.
unethical service provider let's put it that way.
i wonder how much money they make on these termination fee.
probably more than their regular operating revenue .

p.s. you can see from my experience that surewest will do ANYTHING to keep you to their service when you tell them you want to cancel one of their services.

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