CHARTER

[Jocephus]

one time my brother, in a moment of frustration with the cable company said "cox sucks"...those in the room found it funny...

anywyas...yea, i agree...cable companies are a pain the ass...

i used to have cox cable internet in my apt...but somehow the line to my room broke...cox wouldn't fix it (because they said the apt. had to deal with it), the apt complex wouldn't fix it (because they were told they couldn't touch the cable lines)

so i said "screw it", i cancelled and got dsl through at/t...but cancelling cox was a problem...because the line to my room didn't work, it was out for about 2 weeks...but i was still getting billed, even after i told them about the problem...so i had to go down to the main office and cancel in person...and i brought my dad along who is a lot better than me at dealing with these "people/situations"...and they were gonna try and make me pay for that 2 week time period, when i wasn't getting service and was waiting for thme to fix it (but they never did)...but, we were able to get the right amount back...thankfully...

but then, after i had cancelled and been done with cox,i kept getting calls from cox for "customer service" people...and i was like "im not a customer of cox anymore, can't you read that on your computer?"...and i really tore the guy a new one...i was so sick and tired of it...and the guy on the phone started getting defensive and said something like "sir, i live in georgia, i dont know about your past situation" and i was like "well, what the hell is someone in georgia calling me about my (past) cox service when i live in kansas?"

::sigh::...that was so annoying...and i was glad when i dind't ahve to think about it anymore

[cardinalkarp]

I hate cable companies. I've determined that they all do the following thing. You call to disconnect your service when you move and it seems easy as pie. They say, "all done, you'll get a final bill for part of the month." Then they DO NOT disconnect it and keep billing you to see if you'll notice. So you've got to call up, find some old statement, etc., to prove that you disconnected and get a your money back.

On the flip side, if you call and just say you want to cancel because you don't feel like paying for it anymore they will cut your bill in half in a heartbeat to not lose you as a customer.

Good one GK, you saw it coming from a mile away!!

Charter is my most hated company. They are the one company that I will actually go out of my way to tell people NOT to use.

[docellis]

Yep, GK, your post was why I had kept records of when I called to quit etc.

I sat on hold for 49 minutes waiting for a supervisor.

All I wanted to know was how can Charter extort money from me like this.

In the end, I hopefully have this resolved. Hopefully.

[cardinalkarp]

Yep, GK, your post was why I had kept records of when I called to quit etc.

I sat on hold for 49 minutes waiting for a supervisor.

All I wanted to know was how can Charter extort money from me like this.

In the end, I hopefully have this resolved. Hopefully.

So you sat on hold for 49 min w/o anyone ever coming back to the phone?

[docellis]

So you sat on hold for 49 min w/o anyone ever coming back to the phone?

Yep. It was infuriating.

While I was on hold I was drafting an e-mail to Steve Trippen (new executive at Charter who was quoted in the Post as being someone who was going to shape things up there - he even gave his e-mail address to put in the article), a lawyer friend of mine, a few reporters at the Post-Dispatch, and just to make things seem even more intense, I added like, my mom and my sister to the CC list. Just to make him wonder who the heck all these people were.

I typed out an e-mail that detailed every single screw up they had since I began using them.

Then before hitting "send" I hung up (from being on hold) and called back one last time-and got someone who probably could have talked me out of cancelling if I had talked to him before.

I think he cleared things up. We'll see what happens when I get my next envelope in the mail from Charter.

[maddash]

So you sat on hold for 49 min w/o anyone ever coming back to the phone?

Yep. It was infuriating.

While I was on hold I was drafting an e-mail to Steve Trippen (new executive at Charter who was quoted in the Post as being someone who was going to shape things up there - he even gave his e-mail address to put in the article), a lawyer friend of mine, a few reporters at the Post-Dispatch, and just to make things seem even more intense, I added like, my mom and my sister to the CC list. Just to make him wonder who the heck all these people were.

I typed out an e-mail that detailed every single screw up they had since I began using them.

Then before hitting "send" I hung up (from being on hold) and called back one last time-and got someone who probably could have talked me out of cancelling if I had talked to him before.

I think he cleared things up. We'll see what happens when I get my next envelope in the mail from Charter.

Doc, when you first tried to cancel, did they offer you any kind of deal to keep you? Like a discounted rate or extra services for free?

[cardinalkarp]

Then before hitting "send" I hung up (from being on hold) and called back one last time-and got someone who probably could have talked me out of cancelling if I had talked to him before.

The problem is, those reps are so few and far between you don't deal w/ them enough for them to solve your problems WHEN you do have one (and its always a WHEN w/ Charter).

Hopefully he takes care of the problem for you but sometimes even the most helpful sounding people don't know how to do their jobs. Trust me, I found that out w/ Charter before also. I've had supervisors that were more than nice and SOUNDED like they knew what they were doing only to have the same problem on the next bill.

Good luck, and BTW I would still send that email.

[docellis]

Doc, when you first tried to cancel, did they offer you any kind of deal to keep you? Like a discounted rate or extra services for free?

Oh yeah, they offered a really great rate.

This all started late last year. They started mailing me these bills for like $160 for my cable/internet when it had always been about half that before.

I'd call to try to find out why my bill was so much (it wasn't itemized with any details that would explain the increase) and I'd never get an answer...I'd get put on hold. Or I'd get an answer that didn't make sense.

They'd say the next bill would be the correct amount. But nobody would ever tell me the same amount twice as to what I was supposed to be paying.

So finally in January I decide it isn't worth the cell phone minutes on hold, it isn't worth the hassle and I call to cancel my service.

And they offered me a great deal. $55 total for cable and high speed internet. I liked that deal a lot.

Unfortunately, every month my bill would be a different random amount with nothing that said "$55" anywhere in the itemization. So I'd call and ask and sit on hold each month. And each month I'd get a different explanation and a promise of some random amount the bill would be next month ($53.01 or some random amount like that).

And to this day, none of the bills ever said any amount that I was promised.

In March I refused to pay their amount. I paid the $55.00. They came and shut off my service.

I paid like $300 to get them to turn it back on (stupid me) because I needed it.

(Oh and I am skipping the part where they miss 3 appointments to reconnect my service and lie about showing up)

After reconnection I was told I was current and my April bill would be $54.22 (or something like that). It wasn't. It was $185 or something close to that.

So I called again. Again I was put on hold again. I was promised again some random number in the low $50.00's.

In May I got my bill and I gave up.

When I called to cancel I already had all my new services connected. They tried to get me to "talk about what I was unhappy about with Charter" and I said there is no more talking. Just cancelling.

So - short answer-no offer this time. Long answer above.

[cardinalkarp]

Doc, when you first tried to cancel, did they offer you any kind of deal to keep you? Like a discounted rate or extra services for free?

Oh yeah, they offered a really great rate.

This all started late last year. They started mailing me these bills for like $160 for my cable/internet when it had always been about half that before.

I'd call to try to find out why my bill was so much (it wasn't itemized with any details that would explain the increase) and I'd never get an answer...I'd get put on hold. Or I'd get an answer that didn't make sense.

They'd say the next bill would be the correct amount. But nobody would ever tell me the same amount twice as to what I was supposed to be paying.

So finally in January I decide it isn't worth the cell phone minutes on hold, it isn't worth the hassle and I call to cancel my service.

And they offered me a great deal. $55 total for cable and high speed internet. I liked that deal a lot.

Unfortunately, every month my bill would be a different random amount with nothing that said "$55" anywhere in the itemization. So I'd call and ask and sit on hold each month. And each month I'd get a different explanation and a promise of some random amount the bill would be next month ($53.01 or some random amount like that).

And to this day, none of the bills ever said any amount that I was promised.

In March I refused to pay their amount. I paid the $55.00. They came and shut off my service.

I paid like $300 to get them to turn it back on (stupid me) because I needed it.

(Oh and I am skipping the part where they miss 3 appointments to reconnect my service and lie about showing up)

After reconnection I was told I was current and my April bill would be $54.22 (or something like that). It wasn't. It was $185 or something close to that.

So I called again. Again I was put on hold again. I was promised again some random number in the low $50.00's.

In May I got my bill and I gave up.

When I called to cancel I already had all my new services connected. They tried to get me to "talk about what I was unhappy about with Charter" and I said there is no more talking. Just cancelling.

So - short answer-no offer this time. Long answer above.

Sounds pretty close to my experience just not as bad as yours. CHARTER IS TEH SUCK!!!

[Arthur Dent]

Doc, when you first tried to cancel, did they offer you any kind of deal to keep you? Like a discounted rate or extra services for free?

Oh yeah, they offered a really great rate.

This all started late last year. They started mailing me these bills for like $160 for my cable/internet when it had always been about half that before.

I'd call to try to find out why my bill was so much (it wasn't itemized with any details that would explain the increase) and I'd never get an answer...I'd get put on hold. Or I'd get an answer that didn't make sense.

They'd say the next bill would be the correct amount. But nobody would ever tell me the same amount twice as to what I was supposed to be paying.

So finally in January I decide it isn't worth the cell phone minutes on hold, it isn't worth the hassle and I call to cancel my service.

And they offered me a great deal. $55 total for cable and high speed internet. I liked that deal a lot.

Unfortunately, every month my bill would be a different random amount with nothing that said "$55" anywhere in the itemization. So I'd call and ask and sit on hold each month. And each month I'd get a different explanation and a promise of some random amount the bill would be next month ($53.01 or some random amount like that).

And to this day, none of the bills ever said any amount that I was promised.

In March I refused to pay their amount. I paid the $55.00. They came and shut off my service.

I paid like $300 to get them to turn it back on (stupid me) because I needed it.

(Oh and I am skipping the part where they miss 3 appointments to reconnect my service and lie about showing up)

After reconnection I was told I was current and my April bill would be $54.22 (or something like that). It wasn't. It was $185 or something close to that.

So I called again. Again I was put on hold again. I was promised again some random number in the low $50.00's.

In May I got my bill and I gave up.

When I called to cancel I already had all my new services connected. They tried to get me to "talk about what I was unhappy about with Charter" and I said there is no more talking. Just cancelling.

So - short answer-no offer this time. Long answer above.

Sounds pretty close to my experience just not as bad as yours. CHARTER IS TEH SUCK!!!

Isn't making false promises like that teh illegal?