Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/27/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Property located at *** ******* *****, **********, VA
  In March of 2024 Zitel placed underground cable through the top area of our property through the center of a run-off ditch that was created at the time the home was purchased in 2020 to protect our home from run-off. I reached out to Zitel in April about reseeding and leveling the area back to what it was before they used their equipment. I was told they were not finished and would be back by ****** with Zitel. They never returned and I eventually filled a hole that was left approximately 12 inches in diameter and 24 inches deep, very dangerous for our children playing in the yard.
  In August of 2024, I was mowing and noticed raw sewage seeping to surface where they had installed the underground cable. I reached out to ****** at Zitel and he informed me that I needed to get it repaired immediately and they would have their engineer review the concern. I have documented this entire process including pictures from ****** ** *** **** that made the repairs and determined without doubt that Zitel ran the fiber line directly through my sewage line. We were unaware of this process occurring and noticed on our security camera there was heavy equipment in our yard in March. I contacted our neighbor immediately to check on the situation and he went over to tell them about the sewage lines that ran from our three homes to the leach fields above our home. Zitel contractors told him at that time, they marked the lines and were aware. I did not ever see any markings. Included in the attached document is a complete time stamp of each event and the "no reply" from ****** at Zitel. I am requesting a full reimbursement of $2342.71 for repairs, mileage, and seed/straw. I did not request reimbursement for my time lost (irreplaceable) but at this time due to their failure to resolve, I will add that to my request along with attorney fees if required.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/17/2024

  This resident has a sewer line that is placed inside the utility easement for his road.  it crosses underneath the road to a drain field across the street.  this mean he should have registered it with Miss utility , the 811 service so that he was notified when utility companies were digging in the neighborhood and preforming work.  All residents in the area were notified per our policy by placing a door hanger on the door to notify them of the utility work.  It is not our responsibility to check the tax rosters for their mailing address and this home owner lives out of state and this is a rental property.  his tenant did not notify him of the door hanger.  We are not responsible for this damage as it was not properly marked like other utilities that are inside the easement.  Our crews never knew they has struck the line as they were installing the fiber optic communications cable.  Initially when they called about the ground not properly repaired after the work, we dispatched a technician and it was properly seeded and staw was placed and it looked satisfactory. see the attached picture after the cable was placed that shows no seepage of water from the ground or a wet spot,  the area is graded nicely and grass would germinate over time, as the was taken in July of 2024 when the are was fairly dry.  The main point here is that the resident has a utility line that is within the public deeded utility easement for the neighborhood.  he needs to get it registered with Miss utility as a micro-utility so he can begin to get it marked in the future. as we will probably not be the last utility company to place underground infrastructure in that area.  ZiTEL is not responsible for this repair.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/18/2024

  I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.We were never notified by a door hanger or any other means of communication. This is a false claim. Our neighbors were also not informed of this process. No one was aware of the fiber line being placed in the area that I have spoken to. My neighbor informed them of the sewage lines as they were unloading equipment and they proceeded anyway. The area was never raked, reseeded, or straw placed down after the destruction. The picture Zytel included shows that nothing was done afterwards and only the lower section of my property is pictured, below the actual damage. We do not live in the home full time so a door hanger would not have been a communication method to reach a home owner as many home owners in that area are not full time residents and it was never placed on our door anyway.  I was never informed of this nor were my neighbors. Zytel was informed of the sewage line locations by my neighbor but  they proceeded anyway. We were never given the opportunity to mark the lines before this occurred, my neighbor informed them verbally due to me seeing their equipment unloading on my property via property cameras. Zytel was negligent in the entire communication process. We were never notified or had any reason to reach out to Ms. Utility to mark lines.  Zytel is responsible for the damage and repairs they caused.  ****** informed me his engineer would inspect the area and view the photos I submitted. I would like a copy of that report.  My photos from the company that made repairs clearly demonstrate the fiber line destroyed our sewage line. Regards, ***** *****

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/07/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Contract signed - March 1st 2024.
  
  Line was trenched about a week later. I was told by several employees 2 weeks. Even in your videos with multiple news stations its quoted at 2 weeks. Here it is 4 months later and crickets..
  
  I personally advocated on your behalf to ******* county supervisors, state senators, and local congressional reps to choose zitel after talking to ****** who shared my frustration over larger corporations (******* and *******) pocketing money for decades failing to deliver to undeserved neighborhoods. I went door to door getting citizens engaged to call their local supervisors to choose zitel over large corporations such as *******, *******, and *******. I talked to ****** over the phone and he convinced me telling me the story of ******* failing to deliver to his
  neighborhood prompting the start of Zitel.
  
  I fully understand setbacks such as vdot, weather, and telephone poles being older than me. But come on some clarity would be nice.
  
  Please don't turn into ******* and *******. I've watched ******* reps toss away money to *** **** providers(When it's nothing but foliage), *******, and *******.
  
  1st Phase complete.
  2nd Phase complete
  3rd phase not complete. Quoted at 2 weeks with the 4 weeks being around the maximum.
  
  *************************************** ******************************************************************************************** 

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/19/2024

  As we have stated to our customers many times, this is a major construction project, that has many variables, i.,e. weather, VDOT permitting, County Permitting, miss utility marking that can affect the status of this project.  the 2 week estimate is for those areas that have already been turned up and have active customers, Mr. *****'s does not, it is an active construction area that is still being completed.  we do not publish our construction schedule to the public for consumption and all the information we have to give is that we will have the project completed on time with our Grant deadline of March 2025.  This is an extension of the ordinal deadline of 12 month because we took on a re-scope of additional areas at the counties and state request.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/19/2024

  I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. Seems a bit disingenuous to add on multiple new projects and not finish the original projects first. I appreciate the normal corporate talk. I used to get the same responses from cox cable when it took 3 years to add another node. Getting around the 5 month mark.
  
  ***** *****

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/17/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Why are you all working in other areas that weren’t on the list until now? We have been waiting for almost 2 years. My mother had lines ran to her house 2 months ago and never hooked up. I was supposed to be hooked up by now but I haven’t had lines ran or anything. Focusing on neighborhoods that already have internet options while other neighborhoods have no options. I have been told numerous times different dates. My mother signed a contract with no service. They were told 5 days it’s been 60. The company is unresponsive with the same person that answers everytime and gives a different answer each time. So now my mother has wires and her yard dug up with no internet.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 06/25/2024

  We are building all the areas as required by our VATI grant award with DHCD.  Our deadline is March 2025, and we will be completely done at least 1 few months ahead of that.  We do not publish the construction schedule to any of our future customers nor do we prioritize one area above another.  As I have informed this potential customer, her area is slated for construction in the new few months, we are awaiting a VDOT permit approval and will complete construction a couple months following that. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/25/2024

  I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  I have been told numerous times different dates. I was never told 2025 until recently. I was told their grant deadline was 2023. Until they started adding more and more. My mother currently is sitting with wires in her yard and they dug up her yard and was told they would be back to hook up. They signed papers. But yet no service has been hooked up. This was about 2 months ago. They were told 1-2 weeks. So yea your employees are giving dates. I was told numerous different dates. From summer 2023 to end of 2023. To February 2024 then summer 2024. Now it’s 2025. This company is an absolute joke and unprofessional. They should not be bbb accredited. They have started projects that were never even on the original grant. They providing service to areas that have multiple internet options. When ******* area has none. Where country rds meet fiber….. yet they have crossed into ****** va near *******. So 2025 will be another story. It’s very unacceptable. As the only option I have is ******** and this cost 1000s. They should not have given timelines. Their receptionist has given me multiple different dates. I have also corresponded through ******** as well. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ******* ****** 

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/19/2024

  As we have stated to our customers many times, this is a
  major construction project, that has many variables, i.,e. weather, VDOT permitting, County Permitting, miss utility marking that can affect the status of this project. We will have the project completed on time with our Grant deadline of March 2025.  This is an extension of the original deadline of 12 month because we took on a re-scope of additional areas at the counties and state request. There was never a deadline or promise of a time in 2023. This project started in Spet of 2022,  it was for 417 miles of fiber to be place around ******* County,  with an original completion date of March 2024,  in December of 2023 we were contacted by the County and the State to take on an additional 160 miles of another providers project area and an extension of the entire project was granted to March 2025.  This is all the information we have for the customer and when the road that she lives on is completed with construction she will be contacted by customer service to continue with the installation.Thank You.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/19/2024

  I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  my mother on ********* dr in ******* has been waiting as well for months with her yard dug up and wires laying. Wires laying on the side of the rd off ********* rd. Yes , we have been given dates from 2023 to 2024 and now 2025. Before adding other locations, Finish the locations that started on the “project” first. But instead we have no internet options here while other neighborhoods have multiple and you have completed theirs. I work remotely and went remote thinking I would have this internet option in 2023. Now I’m forced to go back into an office bc hotspot isn’t cutting it. So quite frankly, yes, I’m extremely upset by this. ***** ***** or whomever her name is. She has given those dates numerous times. Even the construction crew told my mother they would be back to turn on service within the next week and it’s been months. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ******* ****** 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/30/2024

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Zitel approximately 30 days ago damaged our driveway and adjacent fields with their equipment.. Directly afterwards we notice major erosion in the pathway of the buried internet lines. My wife contacted them twice and we have not heard anything back from them. The problem continues to get worse and our driveway has been deemed unpassible by a delivery company. The erosion in our field is a danger to our animals and wildlife
  
  We just need this repaired promptly.
  
  See attached pictures.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 02/06/2024

  We have worked with Mr. and Mrs. ***** and from our knowledge they are happy and the problem has been fixed. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/06/2024

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. The repairs were made directly filing this complaint.Thank you for your help.
  Regards,
  
  ****** *****