TDS Telecom

I've had TDS for phone/internet since 1997. I canceled my service because it was getting too spendy. TDS told me I was caught up and would not get a final bill. Opened up mail from TDS that I though was junk, (which I got too often from TDS), but it was for FINAL bill of .27 cents! I tried to pay online but they already closed my account. I then called TDS and they wanted to charge me 4.99 for operator charge, I said forget it, She told me to avoid the charge I could go to my local TDS office! I said, "I'm done talking, Really?" and hung up on her. Our TDS office is closed in Monticello to walk-ins so I taped .27 cents to the bill and am going to slip it under their door. Terrible way to be treated after YEARS of service! I hope TDS chokes on the .27 cents and they get run out of town!! I'm done being Monopolized by them. I'm so glad I switched to Arvig internet. It's so much cheaper and better.

Had this despicable company for an internet provider at the work apartment. Turned the service off and returned equipment on January 3rd. Person at counter tried to sell me a bundle. Fast forward to January 24th to find out the they charged me a whole month because they don’t prorate. Crooks with no masks, do not use this company if at all possible.

I called trying to get some information on their Internet. The salesperson refused to listen to any of my questions he instead kept talking over me. Then he said that he had a list of questions to ask me before he could answer any of my questions. This was a great indicator on how well service after the sale would be. I would never sign up with this company.

Let me start off by saying I work in customer service and try to be very accommodating.

I scheduled my service to be installed in my new apartment a month before I moved as I have a varying work schedule and never know my days off. To request a day off I have to ask a minimum of three weeks in advance. Yet I was moving into an older building and understood there may be difficulties. The first tech came and said he needed a letter from the management company giving permission to access to something vague. He said if I got the letter that day they could return quickly. My management company had never heard of such a letter but wrote me one. I called TDS, they gave me a link to send the letter to them.

After 24 hours, when I hadn't heard back, I called them and was told it would be over a week before they could reschedule and that I was to give a copy of the letter to the tech. I was understandably disappointed but I tried to be understanding. I scheduled it for Wednesday from 3pm-5pm. I explained that I would not have access to my phone, I would be at work, and a friend would be here for them. They said no problem. Wednesday morning I called to make sure they were coming and once again explained my work and phone situation.

I happened to get a chance to glance at my phone around 2pm only to see the tech had already gone to my house. Panicked I called TDS. I was told the tech had come and gone and I would need to reschedule. Frustrated, I asked to speak to a manager. I was put on hold for about 10 minutes only for the guy to come back and inform me there was no one to talk to and I'd need to leave a message. I have worked in call centers, I know there is always someone you can talk to, but he refused. It was obvious I wasn't important as a customer. It was the first time in my life I nearly screamed at a customer service person. Instead, I said I didn't need their business and hung up. The problem being I really needed internet.

However, I remembered a short time later I had worked with a salesman named Darren and I had kept his contact info. I called him and expressed my frustration. He was awesome. He got the tech to come back. When the tech saw the letter he said it wasn't written the way they would like to see it worded but he would try to work with it. It just gave me another reason for frustration as I had sent a copy of the letter to TDS over a week earlier and no one said there was a problem with it then. But between the tech guy and Darren they got it worked out. The tech, Zackery, was also great and stayed late to make sure I got up and running. Individually, there are some great people at TDS. But I'm not impressed with TDS customer service at this point.

TDS is a company with no morals. They offer you a deal, then they come to install it and immediately jack up the price. They overcharge you for months. They refused to lower their prices. Then, when you cancel your service, they accuse you of having equipment you don't have and never had. They continue to charge you AFTER you have cancelled! If you deal with this company, photograph the installation, never take your eyes off them and NEVER under any circumstances enroll in Auto Pay! At this point, I have cancelled my service yet they continue to charge me, and have LOCKED ME OUT OF MY ACCOUNT so I can't delete my auto pay information. They are super shady. Buyer beware!!!!

Worst customer service on the planet. TDS recently started providing fiber at my location. Good price. More or less. They offer voip for $30/mo. Ok, pricey, but I'll do it. Fine print says 'plus taxes and fees'. Which end up being another $30/mo! $60 for not very good voip? Are you kidding? I then ported my number to another voip provider, $10/mo for far better service, and TDS just decided that meant I wanted to close my acct without any confirmation. Suddenly, no internet. It took me 3 days, talking to 13 different people, and over 3 hours on hold during that time to get them to realize they screwed up and reconnect me. Insane. On the plus side, the local field people have been outstanding. Can't understand why they would stay with just a pathetic company. Just run from anything TDSS.

Cancelled my account inside the billing cycle. TDS delayed and set cancellation in the next billing cycle and then charged me another full month for a service I no longer had. I also gave the reason for cancellation and the service rep did not put in notes so TDS said I gave no reason. Worst customer service I have dealt with in a long time. I would definitely stay away from them

Have had TDS managedIP phone service for more than 6 years and would never recommend their service to anyone. If TDS is all you have access to, I suggest you get two cans and a string and your service will be better. After the install is done and the account teams gets paid, do not expect to hear back from them...ever. Our experience has been that if you call because your service is down or degraded, they will refer to you as; and I quote, "a pain in the ???." Their support representatives are rude and offensive every time we have called.
As for the service, They oversubscribed their network and do not apply quality of service to the voice so when the network is slow, you may not even be able to make or take a call...and they don't care. Our service is so bad with TDS that we are paying out the last of our contract to move to a new service.
Regarding features, even though they are using IP phones, they restrict where the phones can register from so that you can't take a phone home to work without paying extra fees for mobile services. They charge significantly extra if you want to use your cell phone with the phone system, and even more if you want the ability to get to your voicemail from anywhere other than the phone itself. All of these are basis features includes in almost every competitor out there. Avoid TDS hosted/managedIP voice at all cost.

02/24/17 6:22 pm I received 2 calls from some foreigner wanting to have access to my computer. I hung up on him. After 1st call I researched for any information on how to deal with such callers from PRIVATE CALLER. I read
that when such call comes in to immediately push *567. Another PRIVATE CALLER rang, it was foreign speaking male, sound like some. I immediately hung up, then pushed *567. A TDS tech came on line, Randall West. Explained what had happened. Following the first call my computer was locked up. Had to Control-Alt-Delete and shut down. Signed on and all was OK. Please know that Randall West was probably the very best tech support I've spoken with. So very helpful. Thanks. TDS is great.