IBEC was at least partially gov'mt funded. Thanks gov'mt. Much appreciated. It's my understanding they were not performing adequately and there were issues at the time the tornado came through. I've heard varying stories but the most recent is that the insurance company balked on paying the claim and the gov'mt saw that and refused to release any additional funds. They were so reliant on the gov'mt they could not sustain operations nor would the gov'mt give them any flexibility while "waiting on" the insurance company. To my knowledge IBEC didn't try to secure funding from banks or anything along those lines (if they had ongoing operational costs I can see where waiting on a bank to approve financing might have been a problem ) - - - - (although i am aware of SEVERAL projects funded by local banks after the tornado came through that may not have been done without a disaster....the banks around here really stood up)
THAT BEING SAID....yes, it was a very quick shut down. I think, in a way, it was a flawed rollout anyway. The technology might have been sound - but the design was poorly done. Its my understanding the way we'll operate a "node" is order a t-1 from the phone company and see if we can put 150 subscribers on it. hahaha. funny stuff. There were musings of fiber being installed (but could take 6-9 months to install) prior to the tornado coming through. Now had they worked with us (or had we worked with them...and we discussed it internally more than once....but did we really want to help our competition?) .... and had we done some wireless backhaul for them....maybe it wouldn't have been such a horrible service. Was netflix even popular in 2011? I don't think so... ----- Original Message ----- From: Ken Hohhof To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, October 06, 2015 1:52 PM Subject: Re: [AFMUG] reasonable request Why would you give him a break? He didn’t help you build your network with revenue all these years, like your longtime loyal customers who paid full price. Instead, he went with the BPL guys, who didn’t charge enough to be financially healthy, and who closed down due to the “financial damage” of the storm. Probably loss of customers more than loss of infrastructure. Probably the storm gave them an excuse to shut down a money losing operation. This sounds like the pig who built the straw house, wanting a new brick house at a straw house price, plus wanting someone else to pay for his unwise choice and build him the house for free. How is the fact that he paid $100 to this other company for an install relevant? I’m assuming nothing about a BPL install can be reused for a WISP install, in fact it sounds like what he paid for was not so much an install as a BPL modem. If we save money by reusing part of another WISP’s install (like the mount or cable), we do discount the install. He should be happy he got $30 IBEC broadband for as long as it lasted, they evidently weren’t charging enough, but he saved some money. And how is Jay’s company taking advantage? I assume he didn’t jack up his prices after IBEC folded. Other customers paid those prices all along and helped fund the infrastructure. Now the straw house pig wants to get a discount on the brick house other pigs helped pay for? How would that be fair? From: That One Guy /sarcasm Sent: Tuesday, October 06, 2015 1:35 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [AFMUG] reasonable request I would like a follow up on this individual. did you cut him a break, and if so how soon after that did he give you a rectal probe of some sort? On Tue, Oct 6, 2015 at 12:53 PM, Jay Weekley <[email protected]> wrote: This is a communication we received from someone shortly after IBEC folded. "Seems to me that you guys are kind of trying to take a little advantage of the unfortunate plight of the IBEC customers. We got charged $100.00 by IBEC for a modem to get set up for their service and then paid a fairly reasonable monthly fee of 29.95. For this investment we only got just a little over a year's worth of service before we received word that they are ending their service due to their inability to overcome the tornado damage from April 27 2011. Now you guys seem to be trying to capitalize on the present circumstances that IBEC customers find themselves in by charging double the setup charge and double the monthly fee. It's either you guys or back to dialup service for us IBECS at this point. It would just be nice given the status of the current economic situation for someone to have a little sympathy on those of us who are already struggling to make ends meet. I believe I read where WISP banded together to help you guys out and get up and running again after the Tornado back in April, so it would be nice to see you all do unto others as you would have others do unto you. I know you all are a business and have to make enough money to stay afloat, but it would be nice to feel like there was a company out there willing to give the little guy a break every now and then. Hopefully you guys will reconsider the situation and decide to give us a better deal than is currently being offered, because at this point frankly a lot of us IBEC customers are gun shy due to the rug being pulled out from under us. I mean what's to prevent you guys from doing the same thing to us a few months down the road after we put out the money to get set up with your service? Signed, frustrated in Crane Hill. " Brett A Mansfield wrote: My area is a lot of people that seem to be entitled about everything. They are cheapskates of all cheapskates. If they can get away with paying less they will. And the few customers I have that did pay a $50 install fee back when I charged it are the ones I have the hardest time getting to pay their bills. It is certainly different in every market. The vast majority of my customers are brand new families that are just starting out. Thank you, Brett A Mansfield On Oct 6, 2015, at 10:39 AM, Ken Hohhof <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: We overlap with Rise. They do free install + first month free. When I fire a customer for egregious nonpayment problems, I often see a Rise dish appear on their house. And then disappear a few months later. One former customer is on their 5th WISP dish on their house. Rise has installed and de-installed twice. If your area is very upscale, maybe what Mark says isn�t true. I am not so lucky, and my experience is similar to Mark�s. We will break the install fee into 2 payments if the customer makes a credible case they can�t pay it all at once, like retirees on fixed income. *From:* Mark Radabaugh <mailto:[email protected]> *Sent:* Tuesday, October 06, 2015 11:28 AM *To:* [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> *Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] reasonable request We have tried both free install, $25 install and $75 install. There is a significant correlation between the number of short term (<90 day) non-pay disconnects and the free or $25 install. Keeping the install high enough that the customer has at least some skin in the game makes a measurable difference. Mark On Oct 6, 2015, at 12:20 PM, Ty Featherling <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: I wasn't speaking globally. In our area the only company that is offering free installs is the one that can't seem to keep customers. -Ty On Tue, Oct 6, 2015 at 11:11 AM, Brett A Mansfield <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Companies that are hurting for customers are not the only ones that do free installation. I am not hurting for customers at all (I'd actually like to offload a few) and I do free installation. Anyone that has a quality product at the right price for customer and the ISP can afford to do a free installation because that customer will be very loyal and stay with you for a long time. Thank you, Brett A Mansfield On Oct 6, 2015, at 9:47 AM, Ty Featherling <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: I basically told him just that. I told him the only providers giving away installations are those that are hurting for customers. I gave him all to positives about our company and service and told him I hope he finds what he is looking for from another provider. -Ty On Tue, Oct 6, 2015 at 9:26 AM, Ken Hohhof <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: You can�t always get what you want. But if you try sometimes you just might find You get what you need. I would take the position that your service is the best available in your area, and it costs what it costs, no promos or freebies. If it�s the best, people pay your price on your terms to get it. You know all those 50 year old guys you see driving new Corvettes? Most of them have wanted one since they were 20 and kept asking the dealer when they were having a sale. So they drove Malibus for 30 years, until they paid the asking price for the Corvette. Do these guys walk up to supermodels and say �Hey, babe, if you�re ever giving it away, call me�? Does that ever work? And if it did work, would that change the desirability factor? I�ve had people like this ask once a year if we were having a promo or free installs yet and finally after 2-3 years order service. The fact that you don�t give it away enhances your brand image as the best. Or they just continue on their quest for fast, good and cheap with a guarantee but no strings and no upfront cost. And a pony. *From:* Ty Featherling <mailto:[email protected]> *Sent:* Tuesday, October 06, 2015 8:43 AM *To:* [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> *Subject:* [AFMUG] reasonable request Check this out, via our website contact us form: "Message: I would like to use your service but I'm tired of endless promises from vendors regarding reliability and available. Up to xmps is a hollow promise. I would like to use your service but I'm not willing to pay an installation charge or sign a "contract", and want 24x7 availability and reliability. What can you "garrantee" that will satisfy my requirements? Thanks" I replied with my best explanation of how internet service works in the real world. I let him know we could possible get him a dedicated connection and included an estimated cost so that he could see the difference. His reponse was to ask what our plans are to support UHD (Ultra-High-Definition) streaming video. He thinks it is ridiculous that he can only get HD streams to work. I think I got through to him but damn, what the hell makes a person think they can demand more while saying they shouldn't have to pay installation or have a contract. He finally left me with "let me know if you ever have a promotion for free install and no contract." -- If you only see yourself as part of the team but you don't see your team as part of yourself you have already failed as part of the team.
