TDS Telecommunications review: Poor service! 72

I completely agree with everyone who has said that they are getting horrible service from TDS. We have been forced to use them for 5 years now and we have lost service, both internet and phone ever since we signed up and all they can say is that its capacity issues or their equipment is failing due to overloads. You would think that if they know what the problem is they would get off their butts and fix it but they won't. We have contacted The Better Business Bureau and told them about this horrible service. We got no results because TDS ignored them. So we are going to an attorney to see what we can do about this. We are hoping that it will finally get their attention and that they will finally do the upgrades they need to satisfy the needs of all the people who live in these rural areas that are forced to use them. Not everyone in the country can afford a cellphone so those of us who are in that category are forced to be without a phone and have absolutely no way of getting help if we ever were to need it. What if our homes catch on fire or God forbid someone get hurt. How will we call 911 to report it when everyone out here is without a phone and cell service is minimal. This is absolutely unacceptable. We have been without a phone for almost 24 hours now and they told my husband that it wont be fixed until Monday or Tuesday because they can't get a technician to come out and fix it on the weekend. That is supposed to be top notch customer service? That is a joke. This is absolutely the worst telephone/internet company I have ever had to deal with.

I am located in Blue Ridge Ga and TDS has the market here. I have complained about slow internet svc for 8 years. At first they had me on a plan for 15 and finally last year their tech said I'd never get that at my location.L ucky to get even 1. So been paying for nothing. Still putting in tickets for slow service. They have threatened to disconnect my svc if I continue to complain. Tech says its a capacity issues, but their office claims it's not. No credit given, no solution. TDS is horrible.

The company I work for uses TDS and it's pretty awful. They sold us a new phone system that they didn't even know how to use. One of my coworkers had to figure it all out. They were supposed to send someone to train us and they never did. At one point, a few of us were supposed to go to them for training but the place was closed when we showed up at the date and time they provided to us. We constantly have issues with our phones. We do most of our business over the phone so these issues are more than an annoyance. They've overcharged us, failed to provide adequate technical support and training, and their customer service leaves much to be desired. If I treated my clients the way TDS has treated us I would have been fired a long time ago. The kicker is that the contract is almost up and they still don't seem to give a crap that they're driving us straight into the arms of another company. Any other company. TL; DR: If you prefer decent customer service and to get what you pay for, don't use TDS.

TDS SUCKS! I too am monopolized by them; a small rural area in CA. TDS bought out our small company and downhill we went. Phone and internet service are sketchy if at all. Cell phones are not an option, dead zone! I would get rid of them if there was any other available service!

I live an area also monopolized by TDS, and I wish there was some kind of valid competition here. Wireless coverage is awful, so the only other choice is by satellite. This company constantly pulls crap like overselling available bandwidth in the area then shrugging off complaints that our residential bandwidth drops well below 1 mbs. Last November, for the second time, our bandwidth dropped from 6 mbs to 512 kbs and the only explanation I got was that there was some big project starting up that would restore our bandwidth - wtf? No offers of reimbursement, nothing. Although we now sometimes achieve bandwidth rates between 1 and 2 mbs, we have never, NEVER, had our bandwidth returned to what it was. The first time this happened our technician let it slip that they'd sold bandwidth to local businesses that they didn't have to sell, leaving residential customers with sub-standard performance. This company sucks. If I had any other viable source of internet, I'd get the hell away from TDS in a heartbeat.

These complaints are deffinately with merit.

I too fell for the 15 mg promise except I'm lucky to get 2 mg's. I've been paying for 15 mgs for 2 years now and have never gotten it. They have offered to give me $10 off per month for 1 year.BS! I will be starting a class action lawsuit. contact me at mikerose18@netzero.com

I have problems with TDS and I am going to try to start a class action suit. Send me your names and contacts. mikerose18@netzero.com

TDS is horrible! We signed up for a phone and internet service with them, and they a) screwed up our phone line, b) sent us a worthless router that would lose connection every 30 seconds, c) sent us a "replacement" router which was identical to the first time (and another pile of crap), d) HANGED UP on us almost every time we called them to complain about lousy service; then we finally switched to Charter and the service is much, much better, but TDS now wants almost $ 200 in fees for service during the month when we already did not have them! Literally they said: "your membership was cancelled on September 20th but this is a bill for October since we charge a month ahead", even though when I originally called them to cancel the service they said that all the fees are cleared and that we owe them no money. I am going to file a complaint with BBB, since the last thing I want is for those suckers to forward their "bill" to a debt collection agency. Do not get TDS EVER (and if you have no choice, try getting a cell phone service instead)- they will suck your money, destroy your phone lines and piss you off indefinitely.

We used to have a local telecom for over 25 years. TDS bought our carrier and the problems began. Price increases, and poor service were among the few things that made us want to switch to cable. We contacted Time Warner Cable who had offered a "Bundle". When they came to install the cable they said our home was too far from the road and they could not provide the service. That is where the major problems began. Our phone number had already been ported away from TDS. A number that we had for 25+ YEARS. We contacted TDS to restart our service which was disconnected without our knowlege when TIME had ported our number. They said it would occur in 1-2 business days and they also offered a "bundle with cable and DIsh Network. Two weeks later still no dial tone but the Dish network was set up and the Internet as well. The problem was the phone number associated with the account. After the number had been ported we could no longer use our number according to TDS until Time had released the number. According to Time TDS had the phone number and it was currently I spoke with a TDS rep who told me that if a "Port" does not go through the number is lost in cyber space forever and the FCC wont allow them to re-use it. Lo and behold we were given a temporary new number. Problem the new number associated with our account was not the munber istalled to the house. Some how they had assigned yet a 3rd number to our home. we could make and recieve calls but could not get our voicemail because the numebr was different for voicemail and we had no way of retrieving them.

Eventually after sending hours on the phone the phone numbers were reconsiled but our original number was lost. 3 weeks later our Dish network was down. Reason? The dish was associated with our original phone number and thus had been terminated. One call to TDS and they corrected it after another hour on the phone stating my story over and over and having to re-verify my identity several times -- A process that itself becaomes tedius and annoying. Two weeks later we get a bill with a 300 charge from Dish for cancelling our service. Long Phone calls correct all of these minor issues and the service reps are pleasant and apologetic...The problem is the tools the service reps are given. They cannot make changes to accounts or make the needed corrections for accounts immediately. The must fill out a "Service Ticket" which essentially means that the company that hires them does not trust them enough to do the same funtions that most other telecoms allow thier employees to do. The right hand doesn't talk to the left when there are too many administrative layers to go through.

Eventually the Dish was corrected and we set up our payements through their auto debit... Yet the website somehow did not process it. The rep I called when my phone was disconnected for non-payment told me that he could see where I had set it up but there was another "verification code that needed to be entered before it would work. Ok fine great... Lets enter it and correct the problem... Not that easy... You have to start over again and wait until your account is current... OK let me pay my bill and lets get it current. Paid the bill, reset the auto debit... All should be well... NO The dish network gets disconnected yet again and yet again another 300 dollar early termination fee. Again these things are corrected after long phone calls.
Then I get a call from a collection agency for the balance I had just paid. I told them that I had paid it and they confirmed with TDS that the balance was paid two weeks prior. I asked TDS how long they keep a balance before sending it to collections. Two Weeks...My account was two weeks past due and my service was disconnected (error on their part) and my account sent to a collection agency.

The following month I watched to see if the payment had been deducted from my account, , , When it had not I called TDS and they said they would have to again re-enter the information and they ASSURED me that it would be taken care of...My bill was NOT past due at that time... two days later I called again because no payment had been taken... They said my account was up to date... I asked how can that be when the payment was not made... Turns out they charged some other persons checking for my account. I propmtly paid my account and let them know of their error so that they might correct it with the generous poor soul who's account had been incorrectly drafted. They corrected it alright by crediting them both the ammount they took and the amount I had paid on my account... Now my bill was considered past due from their own mistake again and again they disconnected my service and sent my account to collections and again I had to correct all of this. Yet this time they tell me that they had "terminated the service and I would have to set up new service with yet another new number.. I nearly lost it... I explained the long list of errors and the depth of my frustration... The lady quelled my frustration by informing me that my original ported number would be available for me if I chose it... Are you kidding me? 1 year later my old number is still availble and not lost in cyberspace or prohibited by FCC? SHe said it was available the who time and she is not sure shy I was told it was not...

This is just the frustration that occurs in between the slow downloads, dropped service, long outages etc... The company always says they are working on it... Perhaps they should invest less in administrative layers and a little more into equipment and service. And set up after hours customer care for crying out loud... My phone always goes out after hours but I have to wait to report it.

I have no other choice for a telecom right now but if I did I would switch.

I had a Grand shopping experience at DOLLAR GENERAL in the new store in a small town. Several days ago I bought stuff there and they gave me a receipt-coupon for "Spend $20 get $5 off", a time limited offer. Tonight I went there at 8:38 PM (they close at 9 PM). There was not a single person in the store except the cashier and the seemed to be a Mr. Manager. They did not tell me they close soon nor they told me anything while I shopped there. Then when I was sure I had $20 worth of goods in my basket (I thought I had something like $21 in my basket) I went to the cash register and she rang and i gave her $20 bill because the total was $20.02 and I said there you go I get a $5 off and presented the coupon to her. The manager came and he told me I can't get $5 off because I have not purchased for $20. They apparently were not ready to give discounts to guys (me) who fail in arithmetics at school! He said the $20 must be pre-tax. OK I said I will get a couple more things, but he said he can not reverse the transaction. Perhaps those are the Rules, but they could be a little more flexible. So I told him I need the $5 cash to buy gasoline, so I can't purchase that stuff full price, but I said I will buy just SOME of the stuff and leave some. He told me I can't do that, they won't do that, then he told me it is already late and I told him I came in at 8:38 PM and they did not say a word to me that the store will close soon. Then he showed me a watch it was 9:15 PM and I suppose I shopped there for half hour or so, so I said I'm sorry customer always wrong, he was unhappy and told me he will give my money back, although I said I still need the stuff, he told me it can not be reversed as he already started the refund process, then I said I will just buy some of those and he said no, because they are already closed (with a customer still inside), but suddenly he told me he can not refund my money because he needs my ID my driver license, and I told him its in my car, he told me go get it, he opened the door, I then remembered that I left my DL at home ([censor] my bad), about 1/2 mile away from the store, he told me I could get a Police ticket for that, I told him to relax, no big deal, although of course I AM WRONG ALL THE WAY! I felt like a criminal, buying for $19.70 not making for the $5 discount and the total was $20.02 which I thought was fine, so for the difference of those $0.30 they could just make an exception and I could buy from them a LOT MORE in the future, and I already shopped there 3 times before, but NO he insisted to a NO and lose a customer because of 30c and all that other [censor]. So I said you are hurting your company's name and I will not shop there anymore and he told me that will be fine. Again. I am wrong, but the whole coupon thing sounded like a complicated GIMMICK. They got me, they can't refund because my DL is at home! Sorry! never happened before! I guess I ran excited to get a $5 off, which I was going to use to buy gasoline for my lawnmower. I was stuck there, I was hanging there for minutes not knowing what to do, because they got my money they won't sell me goods, they will not refund because I got no ID on me and they will not sell to me again because the damn store is NOW CLOSED! So I thought well all you got to do is to call the police and get me a ticket so I can get my money back and go home from this [censor]ing new store with no customers! Then he finally decided to give my money back and I still thought I should still buy but oh well, not, they are closed, as they said, then fock it and I left. That's it. And I went to a FAMILY DOLLAR (old dirty store nearby), it felt very old and very dirty after the new DOLLAR-GIMMICK-GENERAL store. And I bought some stuff there, but I did not find the other stuff I needed and I think now, how this frogging corporate UNFLEXIBLE foxhole works for the People? ;-)

Dont know why that last pic didnt work. hopefully this one does ;)

Here is a speed report proving how slow it can be sometimes. Dont forget this is 15mb download and 1 mb upload supposedly

I live just oustide of Mosinee, WI and I recently purcahased tds' 15mb dsl. It can be fast, if its 1:00 AM in the morning and nobody else in the surrounding area is online. Majority of the time i have to put up with 3-8 mb download and .5 mb upload (should be 1mb) and 100ms pings using speedtest.net. This is unacceptable performance for playing online games or watching youtube, and it also causes regular web pages to get stuck so you have to refresh it every 10 sec or so till it finally loads.

I contacted tds support right away about the slow speeds, they told me to reset the modem... blah blah blah... did that and still not fast. So then they say its a capacity issue and that there are too many ppl in the area using the internet. They told me that this problem was being worked on and would be fixed by the end of the month and i would recieve a call confirming it. About a month and a half later i recieve a call from tds saying the problem is not fixed and won't be any time soon. Thanks tds you f***in suck.

I have been a customer of TDS for 11 years and I've had it with their crap! I have been fighting with internet/phone problems since Jan. 2009 they have given me every excuse possible why it doesn't work.

Since Jan 2009 I went through 5 modems they took my good wireless modem replaced with a non wireless modem, so after a short time more problems again so they told me that modem was bad, sent me a new wireless one and than charged me $3.95 a month for it unauthorized, I never agreed to a charge. I asked for a credit and the guy told me if I sign up for a 2 year agreement he will credit me $20...really?
Our caller ID didn't work for a year, they said our phones were bad, after about 6 calls they finally mysteriously found a problem on their end and fixed it, they gave us a $20 credit...really?

It would take way too long to explain the mas of problems I've had, but here's a summery

1 1/2 years of slow internet/phone trouble
Nearly 40 trouble tickets
In one week I was on the phone with their so called "techs" for 11 hours through out the week...yes 11 HOURS!
5 modems and counting
Unauthorized fees
They sent a tech to install a a whole house filter, they said my lines in house were bad they didn't know I replaced them already, they used that excuse on me before, he hooked it up wrong and I had to repair it myself.(it's worse than it was)
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I pay $40 dollars a month and here are my speeds- Download- 1.5 mbps Up- .3 mbps ping is 68 (has been as bad as 103)
My neighbor lives less then 100ft away and his speeds are( different service $45 per month) 11.5 mbps, 1.47 and ping is 40 1, 000 % better than mine for about the same price...really?

I do not work for a competitor nor am I affiliated, I work at home and can not have slow service, I didn't realize TDS is this slow.
I might as well be Amish, I could fly a kite faster than their DSL...My advice to anyone is DO NOT GET TDS their service is a joke!

It is 2010 and things have not changed. TDS Telecom bought out the small family owned company in Deposit NY and the offerings went strait down the commode. As far as them being allowed to do it, it is because these small companies owned the lines, so no other companies are allowed to offer service. Complain about the service and it will get worse, mine has. For a 5M line connection my data snail's in at .13 to 1.~ most of the time, they then raise the level to something really fast like 15M so they can say my average is within guidelines. This is the bright side of this company, they continually drop you from the net and you have to reset their DSL modem 10 times a day OR MORE. They are circular in their rhetoric and always seem to say it's "your" equipment. If you can, I would get a wireless point from Verizon which is just as much money; but limited to 5G per month. If you can avoid this company, do so at all costs.

TDS (tds.net) cut me off from using newsgroups now without any prior notice nor referral to another service. What a bunch of losers...

TDS is my only option. I hate them. They are overpriced compared to MediaCom, Charter, etc. Unfortunatly, I can only get service from TDS. The 10MB internet service is no faster than the 3 MB and our phone bill is outrageous for just local service! I'm seriously considering just buying everyone in my home a cell phone and getting satelite internet service and saying screw-it to Dish and going to DirecTV. Our bill went from $110 a month last year to $158 a month over the past 3 months even though we didn't change anything! I was told the only way to get a bundle again is to upgrade our services (which we do NOT need). I hate this company with every bone in my body and wish some competition would come into my area!

TDS is the worst service provider. We got a bundle along with Dish Network and when the internet or TV gets not reception (lately 3-4 times a week) Dish tells us to call TDS and vice versa. Plus TDS has NO customer service on the weekend. We are stuck in a contract and have the worst product and service.

We are also monopolized by TDS. We have experienced consistent poor customer service. My most recent experience is when a customer service representative incorrectly keyed my account number when making a payment by phone. Two weeks later -- without any notification - our service was interupted. Considering we use our internet/phone service for our jobs, the 4 days we were without service (they verified that we made a payment and it was their mistake -- just took their time, as usual, to complete the repair) was awful. However, that's not the worst of it. In the midst of this, we were getting our telephone number changed. Two days after reactivating service, we lose phone/internet again. Apparently, rather than changing our number, the technician disconnected our service and instead changed the telephone number of our NEIGHBOR! We only found this out by calling our new number to check and see if it had been changed. UGH! This was reported to them immediately. We were told at 8am and 3pm that the problem would be fixed that day. By 9pm, the problem was still not fixed and I made yet another call to TDS who refused to send an after hours technician to fix his own mistake! We are still without service and I will begin the process of filing multiple formal complaints today. So, at this point, we are at five days and counting of work interrupted by TDS. In this economy, we can't afford to go a week without working. I'm sure this has called multiple problems for my neighbor as well. I'm certain that, as usual, it will be several days before this problem is fixed. I can tolerate mistakes, what I cannot tolerate is TDS's unwillingness to correct them!

i dont get TDS or live in a county that provides it. but i think the supervisors there need to watch their employees a little closer. a few weeks ago. i seen one of the vans they use sitting at a liqour store with a employee coming out with a bottle in his hand. and that was in the middle of the day. and then a few days later i seen a TDS van drive by my house. Like i said i live in a county in tennessee that doesnt get TDS. So it looks like these employees there are using there vans for personal use. Now i own my own business and i know if i seen one of my employees driving one of my trucks around for his own personal use. not to mention with a liqour bottle with him. he would definately be fired.

I live Mosinee Wi., another small town phone company bought up recently by tds,
I've already ordered my dsl to be installed next week, (before finding this), think I'll keep my dialup for a while alongside, if possible, while I see what happens with this new experience.

They have a bundle sale going on that tempted me to splurge on dsl.

I own a small business in Kenosha Wi. Our phones are critical to our business. After listening to a sales pitch from a TDS rep, we agreed to switched from AT&T to TDS to save money. The TDS service tech determined that TDS could not provide DSL service at our location and couldn't change our phone services over from AT&T to TDS. No problem except that TDS cancelled (without our authorazation) our phone service with AT&T resulting in us losing our phones for 2 days and a major loss of business and income. I called TDS 8 times talked to 13 diffrent people trying to get TDS to relase our phone numbers back to AT&T so they could reactivate our phones. I even called the CEO of TDS Dave Wentworth (who never returned my call ) trying to get our phone numbers released back to AT&T. Two days later the AT&T tech was able to restore our main number, our internet service is still down a week later, the AT&T guy said the TDS tech screwed up the lines. TDS is the most worst telecom I've ever worked with. There cutomer support /repair service people are completely incompetent. No matter what TDS promises they can't deliver. DON'T USE TDS TELECOMUNICATION for your phone service, you'll be sorry.

Thats it! I do not care if they are the only providers, I am going to my representative and submit my reasons as to why this telecom should NOT BE THE ONLY PROVIDER IN MY AREA. Remember Microsoft, lol, I can use the "Internet Explorer", but can use Yahoo. ### that ###, the only way to change this is going through legislation. Other providers should be able to provide their services to US, and it is our option as a customer if we wanna ### with TDS! LMMFAO!

P.S. My internet service is thorugh TDS, ROTFLMMFAO!

The reason you are forced to use TDS and do not have another carrier of choice is that TDS bought these rural areas in the 60's and 70's and there is not enough population density to attract any other providers.

And HBKA the technicians are there to install service not show you how to use the internet.

We are also FORCED to us TDS. They blow you off, in recent, shut down the outgoing mail server and if you did not have an email account with them or did have one and did not use it, that was there mode of communication. I dont use the incoming service only the outgoing. I had to set up a gmail account to send any emails out. The techs did not know how to help.

Great company with minimal complaints. However, TDS service techs should be required to announce themselves by knocking on the door prior to starting repairs. I came very close to using deadly force because a tech that didn't knock or call, began service on my line which is directly attached to my home by the back door.
I remain a bit over-vigilant after returning from a long deployment and advise the company to have techs to either call, or knock on the door of the residence requiring assistance prior to performing work.

I have been forced to have TDS Telecom as phone service for 3 years now and I hate hate hate their service..my phone repetely has static, funny noises, breaking up...and a LOT more..I call repair, guy comes out trys to fix it an has even stated he can't figure out where the problem is...all new wire in the house, to the box...then you call customer service and they are rude, have incorrect info and more...AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL and I am DITCHING them and getting cell phones...screw this...they SUCK and rip you OFF

sounds like you don't know anything about the 1996 telecom act. tds is totally on the up-and-up. every telecom company charges those fees. tds is just honest enough to invoice them out.

btw, i'm an at&t employee (no bias). they were right in charging you the fees.

Taken directly from TDS Metrocom's web site:

'Prices apply to residential service only, and do not include FCC, Universal Service Fund, 911, local, state or federal taxes.'

I signed up TDS metrocom telephone package advertised as $22 a month on their webpage. When I received my first bill, I am very unhappy to find out there were $6.00 line charge and another $6 tax. I believed that the line was included in their package and that fee was not found anyway at their Ad. page. I called to cancel my service. Hopefully they will refund my next month service that has been billed, as the service was disconnected immediately after the call. If they don't, I will complain to Better Business Bureau. To see the least, TDS metrocom is dishonest. So be careful about their FAT HIDDEN FEE.