Bridgemaxx Drops Me

Submitted by Bill on Thu, 01/15/2009 - 8:45am


IMG_4171Yesterday I was deathly ill and my internet connectivity kept going out.  This morning I have no internet and the future is bleak. www.bridgemaxx.com is my service provider and I am warning anyone that considers these snake oil salesman.  Don't listen to the radio or TV ads, Bridgemaxx is the absolute worst ISP in the country.  The worst!  Do not sign up with them!

Previously I had them come to my apartment and install a outside antenna.  This got me in trouble with the landlady and the result is that when it is uninstalled I have to pay to have her house restored to previous or better condition. Legally I have to replace her siding where ever there is screw holes and a new porch where they drilled a hole. This will be pretty expensive and I was hoping to do it on my own terms.

That will not happen because I don't want to keep paying my bill to Bridgemaxx since I am getting no service.  This means they are coming out to take down the antenna and thus …. I bend over for the landlady-fix-my-house screwing.

Oh yea, and … my cards are maxed. I am taking pay cuts at work due to days off and no work in this great economy. The light at the end of the tunnel keeps dimming.

So when the readers of my blog think … “geesh, where is Bill”.  This entry will explain, I have no more internet. Great reason to be at City Brew more, right?

Comments

greg beardslee (not verified)

Sun, 01/18/2009 - 9:22pm

Sorry to here of a talented poorly employed bike rider. I was searching the web for information to contact Mountain Bike Missoula with no luck but found this blog page. I too am not working due to the economy. Thanks for supporting the Montana Mountain Bike Alliance. Greg in Bozeman

Bill

Mon, 01/19/2009 - 9:30am

Thanks for stopping in Greg! I hope you become employed and/or something better comes along so that we don't have to rely on the economy and can enjoy cycling more!

Tabby (not verified)

Tue, 02/10/2009 - 6:18am

I am SO confused about Bridgemaxx. It doesn't help that I'm a newbie to broadband/wireless, whatever people call it now-a-days. I'm a dial up refugee. Anyway, my nightmare began when I subscribed through a PC shop downtown in Missoula. I *wanted* 2mb. When the owner heard me request this, he spoke up and told me "No problem! I'll get you the 2mb." A week later, I'm installed, and indeed, had 2mb. About 4 days goes by and BOOM, I am running around 256 kbps! I thought I was back on dial up. So I call the place I subscribed from and the lady tells me she can't help me, that I have to call customer service. So I did, and I waited, and waited, and waited... I waited an hour for someone to help me. Joe, customer service guy comes on the line and says, "No, you can't have 2mb, we only offer 1mb to residential customers." I argued with the guy and told him that the owner gave me 2mb, and that is what I had until I lost my speed. He said he couldn't give me 2mb back, only 1mb. Changed the routing numbers, done and done. Needless to say I was irritated after that. I called back the shop in Missoula and the not so helpful lady says..."Well I don't know what kind of a deal you got, but we only offer 1mb to residential customers". AH the old bait and switch! I'm extremely busy, so I decided to just live with it and move on. Then out of the clear blue sky, I'm back to around 250kbps again! At least 3 weeks after the first incident occurred. Again, I call customer service, and I waited, waited, and waited.... an hour an half went by and I was on hold. I went to their website and wrote an email telling them..."Hey, been on hold for an hour and half, can someone PLEASE pick up?" No one phoned back. I set the phone down on speaker phone and I KID YOU NOT .... 2 1/2 hours total went by before someone from customer service picked up to help me. I was livid. The customer service rep did not even apologize when I told him how long I had been waiting!! Ok, so once again, my routing numbers/ip address needed to be changed, and apparently that was why I lost my speed? Well, anyway, this guy gets all nasty toward me and says "Have you gone into your settings and changed your IP numbers?" I said, "What the heck dude! Are you kidding me?" I wish I never signed up for this crappy service. Since I'm new to Montana I haven't the slightest who to go to. I'm not a fan of bresnan or qwest so my choices are limited. Bridgemaxx is a total rip. Shame on these people and their crappy service!

Bill

Thu, 02/12/2009 - 5:15pm

I hear you Tabby and I can totally relate. My nightmare is almost over. They came and uninstalled the antenna today and now I have to just get a contractor to fix the house. Once paid, I am free. I wish there were more choices in Missoula.

Guest99 (not verified)

Wed, 04/06/2011 - 10:42am

You have to be some kind an idiot to think that ONE company caused you all this heartache. I have been a HAPPY client of Bridgemaxx for years now. My rates are never raised, unlike Bresnan does on consistent basis. I love the correlation between you being "deathly ill", and your internet service going in and out. Also, it seems strange that the landlady would give you permission to have the outdoor antenna installed, and then complain about the holes. Sounds like there is a bit of a disconnect there. Maybe you being "deathly ill" affected your ability to listen and understand.

Bill

Wed, 04/06/2011 - 11:21am

Hi Bridgemaxx Employee who does not have enough guts to post their real name. Or maybe you ARE the land lady from Hell. Oh no you couldnt be because your IP is from BridgeCrap. I seen the latest commercials where they are offering 4G ... Hahaha give me a break. Still think you are a employee. No one hates me this much.

moos (not verified)

Mon, 01/19/2009 - 1:18pm

I love the photo - I'd be glad to send you a heavier hammer, Bill. You're being too gentle on Bridgemaxx.

Catnapping (not verified)

Mon, 02/02/2009 - 3:49pm

I came this close to signing up with BridgeMaxx...they came highly recommended by someone very undependable...so I went with Bresnan. I know they're costly, but I do like the speed. Dayam. I am soooo glad I didn't try BridgeMaxx. If anyone I know says anything about changing ISPs, I'll be sure to warn them about these folks. I think the economy's just beginning to spoil. Even with Obama's plans, I think it's gonna be rough goin' for another two years... I've been hoarding toilet paper, ramen noodles, and chocolate syrup. I'm all set.

Bill

Tue, 02/03/2009 - 10:41am

Hi Catnamming, I am so glad you found my post and was warned about Bridgemaxx. This is one of the good things about the web, us little people have a voice. I wished I would of done my homework before getting Bridgemaxx. The nightmare is almost over. The antenna is scheduled to be taken down on the 12th. The good part is that they released me out of my contract so I guess I should say that in their favor. Now I just have to have a contractor asses the damages to the apartment.

Sara (not verified)

Sun, 06/07/2009 - 6:54pm

Hi, Having horrible probs with bridgemaxx, phone svc ahsnt worked since day of install 1 month tomorrw. Has been a customer svc nightmare. How did you get out of your contract? Thanks, will elobrate later!!! Sara

Bill

Sun, 06/07/2009 - 7:41pm

Hi Sara, I contacted the attorney general (for Montana it is online) and filled out a complaint against them. Once they found out I was taking action they agreed to let me out. They are a bad company and they know they are ripping people off. Good Luck!

Earl (not verified)

Wed, 09/29/2010 - 6:18pm

I am currently looking for an internet service provider and was about to go with BridgeMaxx. I'm glad I saw your post. That would have sucked to be in a year contract with them! Thanks!

Bill

Wed, 09/29/2010 - 9:27pm

You are welcome. I posted this to warn people.

thatguy (not verified)

Fri, 02/06/2009 - 12:55am

I’m confused, If you knew that your landlady didn’t want external antennas mounted why did you allow them to do the install in the first place? I don’t see how you having to fix the siding is bridgemaxx's fault, would you not run into the same scenario with any wireless service including satellite tv ?

Bill

Fri, 02/06/2009 - 7:46am

Hey thatguy, thanks for stopping by. Word of advice ... you don't need to use a app like MS Word to make sure you spell everything right. Just type stuff out, I won't pre-judge you. Those punctuation marks are not web worthy (look how they render on the front page). I don't really have the time or energy to put into an explanation for you. This subject has already made my life hard enough. Short answers. The Landlady did give me permission. Bridgemaxx is advertising false claims and I bought into it. They could never get me the service they promised even though they had to go to extra links to get it working (external antenna). I didn't even want that damn thing but I didn't want to pay th opt out charges. Bridgemaxx is a terrible company with awefull "fake" customer support. In my view they suck, plain and simple.

Grammar Police (not verified)

Fri, 02/06/2009 - 10:33am

"Previously I had them come to my apartment and install a outside antenna." Should be...
Previously I had them come to my apartment and install an outside antenna.
Remember, using a or an depends on the sound that begins the next word. So... * a + singular noun beginning with a consonant: a boy; a car; a bike; a zoo; a dog * an + singular noun beginning with a vowel: an elephant; an egg; an apple; an idiot; an orphan * a + singular noun beginning with a consonant sound: a user (sounds like 'yoo-zer,' i.e. begins with a consonant 'y' sound, so 'a' is used); a university; a unicycle

Bill

Fri, 02/06/2009 - 10:45am

LOL, nise ...o/o

Inside Info (not verified)

Wed, 08/12/2009 - 5:19pm

I worked for bridgemaxx. 1. They know their service is unreliable. 2. They push their sales people to sell even in areas they know will have problems. 3. They know the 1 meg service usually isn't 1 and the 2m service is never 2m. 4. They know people in rural areas don't have a choice and go off the opinion, "at least we're faster then dial up." 5. They are BROKE. The service they provide is so unreliable and they have so much turn over, to this day the business is not yet profitable.

Chris (not verified)

Tue, 06/21/2011 - 7:52pm

Hi everyone, we have been customers of DigitalBridge - aka BridgeMaxx - which use to be Montana Wireless for over 12 years, we signed up for service in the late 1990's to be able to have 'high speed internet' in our rural home. Well, we did have high speed considering it was 1999 - seemed lightening fast at 256kbps, now it seems just as slow as dial-up (DSL, Cable internet have made us so spoiled!).

Well, we were happy with the service, until about 3 years ago, we started having almost twice monthly ISP blackouts here in western Montana. The internet would just stop working and a call to Bridgemaxx service department would only tell you that the service in Missoula, MT was not
working - really quite helpful.

So after 3 years of this occasional internet blackout we have decided to switch to Qwest - I used to have Bresnan when I lived in Bozeman but it's not offered where I reside now so I am going with Qwest DSL instead. I'm hoping it goes better than Bridgemaxx, it's too bad Bridgemaxx doesn't offer better and faster service - I would stay with them. Another deciding factor was that Bridgemaxx just raised their rate by $4 for our 256KBPS, and Qwest offered us a deal of 7MBPS for $15 when we added it to our phone service, just switching to Qwest for faster service is a savings of almost $11.

Bye, bye Bridgemaxx.

Montana Girl (not verified)

Fri, 07/15/2011 - 8:28am

Qwest/MSN is the worst ISP provider there is. They shut my Mom's internet off just because she didn't want to upgrade. She couldn't get on the internet, but when she called them, they said it showed that she still had internet and she didn't. Qwest is SLOWER THAN DIAL UP and is the worst. I have been with Bridgemaxx for quite a few years in Montana and have NEVER had the problems or rate increases I see people post about here. The customer service is great and I wouldn't switch to anyone else for any reason.

kyle (not verified)

Fri, 07/15/2011 - 5:21pm

aha, another bridgemaxx employee..
bridgemaxx is easiest the worst ISP in the area.
absolutely terrible .

Scott Godfrey (not verified)

Fri, 01/20/2012 - 9:32pm

I will keep this short. I have "4G Wimax from Bridgemax in Missoula. I rarely get above 1M -- usually less. I was naive enough to sign up for the 2 year contact. YouTube tracks all usage download speeds and they show an average of aprox.7.86K for Bridgemaxx Missoula. This is a gross breech of contract. They have only given me the run around. I have been with them for over 1/2 year with no satisfaction. I understand that all this is business as usual. We need to approach this problem as a group -- individually we cannot hope for action. I'm setting up an email address for this purpose only. Please contact me at scottgodf@hotmail.com. I like to support local and small businesses, But stealing is not acceptable.