Socket Telecom

I own a local, small business in Columbia (a dance school) that made it through the worst of the pandemic and quarantine period, not without struggle, but we made it. I am not asking for anything as I take responsibility for my mistake but I wanted to share our current situation to warn others: We had signed up for Socket internet to offer virtual classes for our students. Unfortunately, in the rush to get internet as quickly as possible, I must’ve skimmed the contract for service and missed that it was a 36-month contract. Of note, Socket is the only internet provider option for my business. Now, we are needing to cut costs and are no longer teaching virtual classes so no longer need internet. I called Socket to inquire how we cancel and the process for getting that started. I ended up calling 10+ more times over 6+ weeks to find out via an email response that I have no options other than to pay over $3700 to terminate our contract. I embarrassingly begged on the last phone call that they work with me as they claimed to have done with other businesses. I also just found out that not only are they charging me for the services we are cancelling (including the internet service and the router rental fee we will no longer be using) they are adding in the previously waived set-up fee of $854. I am still in shock that any local company would be comfortable doing business this way.

Don't do business with this company. Charged me for 10 Mb service, I recieved 3. They were incapable of getting it any higher, after literally hours wasted on the phone with them, returning a defective modem, etc. Still charged me for 10. So I switched to cable (literally 70 times faster than what I was getting). I was behind on my bill with Socket (my fault), and they shut off my access on the 1st. I called to cancel on the 6th, and they insisted on charging me for the full month. Let me repeat - they SHUT OFF my service on the 1st. I literally got no service from them AT ALL in March. I canceled my account on the 6th. THEY CHARGED ME FOR THE WHOLE MONTH. And for 10Mb service they knew I wasn't getting, since they had spent hours on the phone with me not solving their speed issue. They're crooks. Don't do business with them.

Been with Socket now for a while, happy to support a local company. Last month I called them to set up an on-line login so I could pay my bill that way instead of having to call it in every month. When I tried to do that, the login wouldn't work. I couldn't pay the bill by the due date because of that, and got charged a late fee. When I called the next business day to get things straightened out, I found the reason the login wouldn't work was they had left out two of the characters of the email address used as the log-in ID. (Calling them by phone and telling someone what to enter is apparently the only way to set up an on-line login). The customer service person I talked to was apparently an idiot. Him: "Okay, I've got that updated now. Why don't you log in to test it out?" Me: "I can't. My service was cut off because I didn't pay in time, remember?" Him: "I guess you'll be paying by phone then. Will you be using card or check?" ...and not ONCE did he apologize for their screwing it up, or offer to waive the late fee because it was their screw-up. Going to be switching providers as fast as I can get an appointment set up.

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I love it and will continue to use them in the future!

First, their tech support had me do 20 or so minutes of routine troubleshooting. Once they determined that my DSL modem was the problem they gave me another which is working perfectly

Socket sent a service representative to the house prior to the installation to go over the installation process with me. The representative answered all my questions thoroughly and courteously. The installation went smoothly and the service has been great. I would recommend Socket.

We have always been very pleased with the services received from Socket. We have been customers for over 20 years (since we got our first computer, whenever that was). Their service reps have always been very knowledgeable and many times able to walk me through an issue to resolution.

phone and internet

New service in our area, they provided what they said they would deliver. Great follow up too

Unless you live downtown Columbia, do NOT sign up for Socket. They won't tell you that the service is not working if you don't live within one mile. I live 5 miles from downtown. My speed never ever reached even 1MB, was always about 6-8kb. I tried for a while to see if I could make it anyhow, I really wanted to give my $ to a local service, but no, impossible. I work from home and I need fast connection. My mistake was not calling them the day after service was installed. I waited a few weeks (I was busy, and we all know what it means to make phone calls to services) and asked for a refund. They're waiving the $60 cancellation fee (which they charge if you cancel before one month service) but are not giving me a refund, I have to pay for my month of service. They should know that at my address service can't be even close to the advertised speed, therefore, for honesty and transparency, they should not offer installation. I had all the trouble to go get the modem, call for a technician to come fix the outside connection because the modem was not getting any signal. I would have saved all this trouble and time - and well, saved $40 bucks, because this month I really did not use their services (I was using a friend's WifI most of the time). I should have been granted a refund for having been mislead. They should not have offered their service at my address, not making me responsible for cancelling within 24 hours.

It has been a frustrating experience with continuing excuse after excuse. I have not been given a single straight answer nor given an acceptable resolution.

Greeted me. Went over the install. Let me know what needed fixed because of a short on the I/w. He helped me fix it at no charge.

Not only was I impressed wtih the service at the house, but their technical support was above and beyond my expectations. I appreciate dealing with a local company that focuses on customer service. I received prompt answers to my questions.