content: On Yelp, a 500th review is a milestone.  It's a big deal and for those of us that have written hundreds of reviews, it's a place to talk about a business that has had an impact on our lives  Fairpoint Communications is such a business.  Fairpoint took over Verizon's local phone service in this area recently and this is a review of their ability to deliver.  In a nutshell, it has been a disaster.\n\nFairpoint took over my land line at home and billing was screwed up.  They got the new business when my office moved to Portsmouth.  One day the landlines stopped working and our customers got a message that the number was no longer in service.  When that was fixed, the lines didn't roll over properly.  The billing was never correct.  The internet connection required rebooting the DSL modem up to 15 times a day.  Calls about all of these issues rarely went well.  People were apologetic but problems remained.  Calling about the same problem twice usually resulted in two different answers.  Two different people in my office were reduced to tears.  Most people and companies I know with Fairpoint in New Hampshire and Maine are having similar troubles..\n\nMy company switched carriers recently.  Fairpoint managed to delay the switchover but it ultimately happened.  Someone from the new company was in our office for a few hours and since then, everything has worked perfectly.\n\nTo Fairpoint's management, I can only say that you bit off more than you could chew.  Whoever made this decision was either given bad information or they just didn't care.  I hope you are fined out of existence.\n\nTo New Hampshire's Public Utility Commission, I have to say that I have no idea what you do.  I should review you separately.\n\nI don't generally give out one-star reviews.  This is my 500th review and only my 12th one-star review.  I'm not giving details because all of the billing issues aren't resolved, but I will say that if anyone is looking for a phone company in Northern New England, Fairpoint is not the company you want to go with.