Windstream Bundle Packages: Buyer Beware About the Quote You Receive and Hidden Fees

My husband and I could not wait to kiss the high cost of cable goodbye and say hello to a bundle package promoted by our local telephone company Windstream Communications. After our initial calls, we were ecstatic about the money we could save by combining our telephone services, broadband, and Dish Network. What we received though was a lot of misinformation and definitely not the bundle agreement we had bargained for.

When I called Windstream Communications, I was connected to an employee named Sasha. I had already researched what I wanted and could tell her specifically the plans and channels I was interested in receiving a quote. I could not believe my good fortune when she gave me such a low quote for the bundle package. After carefully reviewing everything and asking many questions about the bundle package, we gladly jumped with both feet.

However, after Dish Network finished installation we noticed we did not have the channels we had discussed with Sasha at Windstream Communications. When I called Windstream to question the mistake, I was told the price for that bundle package had been misquoted. In fact, I was informed the prices quoted to me were for a lesser bundle package and that if I wanted these agreed upon channels the charges would be more.

I was also told that I was misinformed by the Windstream employee about the period the bundle package prices were good for as well. It was further conveyed, that Showtime would be a separate charge and did not fit into the package deal at all.

Through further discussion, I found that my receivers from Dish Network would be another monthly charge on top of the mounting bottom line. Nearly everything I had been quoted and promised by the Windstream Communications employee had been taken back after installation for the three services began.

After over an hour on the phone, Windstream Communications did agreed to give me a one-time credit that should cover most of the differences in price for the course of a year, but not all.

This credit was not easily given by Windstream. It took me threatening to call the Better Business Bureau and at one point even telling them to come and unhook the whole system. I feel my experience very much resembles a bait and switch tactic.

Set up of my broadband with Windstream was not without its surprises as well. I was originally told that the setup and modem were free but come to find out the modem came with a fifty dollar charge. I was given a rebate form but was told not to expect my money for about 6 months by the man making the installation from Windstream.

When I expressed how upset I was about this latest omission by Windstream for my bundle package, the man making the installation told me, “He hears this all the time”. He confided, “They tell people whatever they can to get them to switch”. He also advised me, “Not to trust anything they say”. It is sad that deception and hidden fees are used as a sales tactic. Save yourself some heartache and do not jump with both feet over the promise of lower prices. If it sounds too good to be true, just like the saying goes, it probably is.