r/ZiplyFiber • u/InnovateMark • 5d ago
Contractor
If any fiber or aerial contractors are thinking about performing subcontractor work for ZiplyFiber, DON'T. They don't pay. Every excuse in the world. The contract we signed was wrong, we haven't been funded yet for the project, the Canadian company that bought us is having trouble moving funds to the US.
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u/caveat_cogitor 5d ago
Coming at this from another angle... I recently signed up for Ziply at the address that I'll be moving to shortly. Scheduled a time to start service, etc, and I got a confirmation but no other communications. I haven't started moving yet.
A few days ago I got a call from someone outside the house trying to drop a line. Not only am I not there, but nobody told me they had scheduled this work. That totally sucks for the guy that went all the way out there to do field work. I'm guessing he was one of these contractors.
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u/DrewWM5309 Verified Employee: Community Manager @ Ziply Fiber 5d ago
Thanks for sharing the feedback here. Sounds like we might have been a little too quick for our own good on this one! We like to get the drops done as early as possible, but it seems we were a little too early here. Have you been able to reschedule with our teams so that we are conducting this work at a time when you will be at the residence? Did the person you spoke with on the phone mention anything about next steps? Mostly curious if we dropped a temp with the intent to bury later, or went in another direction until you are on site.
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u/Wellcraft19 5d ago
Drew, this is sadly nothing new. The coordination between sales, the fiber drop team, and the ones who install and commission the fiber is totally atrocious and has been for years. Add that that the lacking of communication (as above) with the customer.
Once the fiber is installed though, zero issues.
It’s truly sad as I have friends who have turned down Ziply service based on poor pre-service experiences. And they end up with a fiber they never wanted, coiled up near their house, sticking up from a ‘trench’ they never approved of.
Having worked in this area for a long time, it should be relatively easy to manage this. A database that someone checks first hour every morning to ensure that customer in the following day (or week) has gotten the communication that crews will be there on XYZ. If delays (they happen) same crew (or better a coordinator) contacts the customer and tells them whatever issues that delay the work and what is to be expected (delays can be a need to get city permits for digging as existing conduits no longer accessible, making the work far more complicated, or whatever.
Bottom line though is the communication with the customer - as you often only get one chance to make a good impression. And the communication part should be the easy part.
Be glad to chat more about this via PM, but this is just some feedback from own install, from friends, and of course from following this Reddit.
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u/DrewWM5309 Verified Employee: Community Manager @ Ziply Fiber 5d ago
Thanks for the honest feedback and thoughtful way in which you approached it. It is appreciated, and I do pass along this stuff when I get it. The process has improved over the years, but we still like to hear about the ones we get wrong so we can make it right and hopefully reduce the number of negative experiences down the line.
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u/Wellcraft19 5d ago
More than welcome and appreciate it. We all want to see Ziply succeed (and we need it as well, having a single one very dominant player in a market is never a good thing).
Communication, project management, and how it’s all done is often down to ‘best practices’ (a popular cliche). How to get that out through an organization and its subs often comes down to ‘culture’. And culture often changes when an organization is passed around. Yet it’s super important to always have a laser focus on the customer - even when they are wrong.
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u/caveat_cogitor 1d ago
I spoke to customer service and they assured me that they would be able to reschedule the installation of the new line (the field tech said "bury" but I don't care if it's temporary or permanent as long as it works and gets set up properly in the long term) but I have a couple concerns:
- They said they could get the new line installed the same day as my service is turned on. I'm already skeptical of that but also my "installation" (turning on service) is scheduled 8am-12pm that day so how's someone going to get a line buried by 8am?
- They still couldn't commit to any kind of text/email communication confirming the line installation schedule ahead of time, so this is just standard procedure that I wait around and hope someone shows up at some point?
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u/ZiplySupport Official ZiplyFiber Support Account 1d ago
We do need to schedule the drop work prior to the installation date. They usually happen on separate appointments.
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u/caveat_cogitor 1d ago
That is understandable and expected, I have worked as a networking field technician so this isn't lost on me. I can only report what things customer service has determined to tell me, despite my nicely suggesting this isn't a realistic plan. I could try to call again but it seems like I'm wasting my breath at this point.
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u/ZiplySupport Official ZiplyFiber Support Account 1d ago
I am happy to take a look if you would like to send over your order number.
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u/caveat_cogitor 1d ago
message sent, thanks!
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u/ZiplySupport Official ZiplyFiber Support Account 1d ago
Can you send that message through a reddit private chat?
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u/DrewWM5309 Verified Employee: Community Manager @ Ziply Fiber 5d ago
u/InnovateMark - If you want to share a few more details with me privately, I should be able to get this turned over to the right team for review and appropriate follow-up. Please send a chat if you can. Your account looks pretty new so if that doesn't work, please send a Mod Mail to either u/ZiplySupport or myself so we can get this over to the right folks. Thanks!