Cavalier looking to compete in Hampton Roads, VA
By Darren Murph 
posted Apr 3rd 2008 7:56AM
posted Apr 3rd 2008 7:56AM
We'll be honest -- we're not exactly sure the television hotbed that is Hampton Roads, Virginia would be the first place we'd look to compete in the industry, but Cavalier Telephone & TV apparently sees opportunity. The Richmond-based company -- which stands as "one of the few survivors that emerged as a telephone service industry player after the phone business was deregulated in 1996" -- is reportedly gearing up to compete with Cox and Verizon in the region. Interestingly, Cavalier actually pushes its digital TV signals over Verizon-owned lines, and if you're wondering how it'll compete without high-def, the company is already busy "signing deals with networks so Cavalier can carry their channels in HD." Hey, if one more in the mix keeps prices (more) reasonable, we're all for it.
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For those of us that live in Hampton Roads... It may be true we're no hotbed, but it still hurts when you say it. :-P
BTW --> Cavalier blows.
I doubt very much they will get anything worthwhile off the ground.
Their residential services have always been for people with bad credit.
Their business side can't even get all our numbers ported to our new voice trunk line, and its been 6 months. They installed two different internet connections, neither worked worth a damn, so I stayed with Covad.
Their home TV service right now is over DSL, and it looks like ass. HD? Maybe if they do some wavelet magic over multiple loops to your house, but I just don't see that happening in any sort of scale in Hampton Roads. Hell, I live about as close on Shore Drive to Great Neck as you can get without being a complete asshole (I don't have an Inlet Sticker, or an OBX, WRV, etc.) and I can't even get FIOS as an alternative to Cox.
Cavalier is the worst telco I've ever encountered. Their support is incompetent, their installation procedures worse. The service is decent, when it works. I'd rather give Comcast my money (which is saying a lot).
Hmmm, I have had Cavalier phone service for like 5 years. 3 years ago I bought a new house and thought I would switch back to Verizon for my phone and DSL service, but was told I had to get a new number since I had a different CO or pay a $26.00 a month foreign CO fee. With Cavalier I kept the same number and have 10 Meg DSL service and phone with tall the bells and whistles for $67.00 a month including taxes and fees. The DSL is good; I generally get download speeds averaging 8meg. And my switching or staying has never had anything to do with my credit. And as I recall all those years ago when I switched from Verizon to Cavalier they checked my credit.
I inquired about their TV service shortly after it first came out and was told at that time HD was not currently available (but it would be), they had no DVR service (but would someday), and they can guarantee good TV service on 2 TV’s any more than that would be questionable. So I stuck with DirecTV and am pretty happy there.
Cavalier is the most crooked business I've ever had to deal with. Granted, their DSL service is great - when it works - but they treat their customers like crap. I finally dropped the service after they forced me to pay an "overdue" bill which wasn't due for another week and when they altered a contract AFTER I signed it for business service to make my TOS with them for 5 years! I kept that service for 8 months and switched to another provider and two-and-a-helf years later they notified me that I had violated the contract and expected me to pay over $1000 to rectify the situation. We had to fight that out in court, but since I had the original contract with no TOS specified they had no leg to stand on. I dropped all Cavalier service and would never recommend them to anyone! Beware!
CAVTEL Service is very good for phone and internet. I know they have some issues with a few things. A lot of the time it is Verizon throwing roadblocks between CAVTEL and their customer's. CAVTEL has had to go to federal court a number of times to make VERIZON act appropriately. Their TV service does not work very well. But they are trying to improve it. Verizon has been complaining loudly to the federal goverment that CAVTEL has hurt there business while using VERIZON's own lines to do it. They are trying to block CAVTEL by asking for permission to raise their lease fees etc. Their phone service has always been fantastic and the DSL can't be beat. I have a wide open broadband pipe which gives me over 10 mb downstream for most things. I could not be happier with it. I did get get rid of the tv service and go back to the sat. but I know CAVTEL will get better. Hampton Roads is very lucky to have them in the market when our only options before was COX and Verizon. They were customer service winners....with ever increasing prices and a customer service departments that would rather blame you for the issue than actually fess up and fix it.
Obviously you work with Crapalier as "CAVTEL" is pretty much an internally used moniker only... And - btw .... the current company NEVER won any customer service awards. Talk America, the publically traded company that was acquired by them in 12/2006 and then systematically decimated piece by piece, is who had actually won several JDPower awards several years in a row for their outstanding attention to Customer Service. Anyone who is thinking about switching service to Crapalier should take a long hard look at the company, its practices, and products. Old saying of "you get what you pay for" ... is very true.