SALINA-SPAVINAW TELEPHONE CO

Unfortunately, they are the only DSL provider available in our area.  We need high speed internet as we work from home, so we are kind of stuck with them.  They required us to purchase a basic home phone plan of $20 a month, which we wouldn't have otherwise.  The phone line is only good for receiving calls, dialing 1-800 numbers, and calling numbers with the same middle three digits as us (XXX- ###-XXXX).  We are not able to call other numbers within our area code which is very frustrating.  When we tried to dial out, we got a message saying that we are required to dial the area code first when making a local call.  I was hesitant to do so as we didn't sign up for long distance.  When I called their office to ask them about it, they said we shouldn't have to.  They sent a technician out to the house and all he said was that you have to dial the area code for all local numbers.  I sort of felt bad for him as they could have just told me that over the phone.
The customer service with the office staff has been very poor.  We had asked them to be there on our move in day as we had to start working from home on the next weekday.  When I called to set up the service I stated that they needed to come in the afternoon as we were closing on the house at 11 am.  Initially, they wouldn't give me a time of day that they would be here, but said they would call beforehand.  I called back the day before and they said we were on the list for 9 am (despite my instructions).  I asked that they wait until later in the day and they said they would call first.  Since we didn't yet have a fridge or any food in the house, and since we hadn't yet received a call, we headed into town for some lunch.  While we were sitting at lunch I got a call from one of the gals in the office (believe her name was Georgia).  She said that the service guy was on site & had called twice, and that she wanted to call us herself to find out why we weren't at home when needed the internet so immediately.  Needless to say, she wasn't very nice.  I told her we didn't receive any calls or voice mails but that we were on the way home.  Our cellphone service around the house is bad, but we would have received any voice mails if they had left any.
They required us to purchase a modem from them unless we were able to come into the office before signing up for service to test our modem.  Since we were moving from out of state, that wasn't an option, and we had to purchase theirs.  The modem wasn't working with our wireless router, so we had to buy a new one.  I called the office to see if I could return it to the office.  Once again the attitude of the staff was very poor.  She said that once I opened it, plugged it in, & it was able to receive the internet we bought it and can't return it.  I fine if hat is the policy, but the tone was once again negative.
If we had the option of another provider, I would switch.  Unfortunately, we are stuck with them.