Charter SUCKS
9 commentsOk… So Charter is pissing me off. I’ve been a customer for all of 11 days now, and I’ve already gotten more misinformation than the full 3.5 years I was with Comcast. Ridiculous. So, here’s the story:
My wife and I (I’m fighting the urge to type “@megan405″, lol) just bought a house. About a week before we closed on the house, I called Charter up, gave them the address, and asked what all services were available. They informed me, to my surprise, that everything I wanted from them was actually offered: Internet (up to 20mb), HDTV and DVR. All available. Good stuff, right?
A month or so later, the day before we actually gained possession of the house, I called Charter to order service and setup an installation date. That person informed me that everything I wanted was available, EXCEPT for DVR. “No problem”, I thought to myself. “I’ll just get a TiVo or something later.”
Well, my curiosity got the better of me and later that night I decided to call back and see why one “agent” told me that DVR was available, and one person said it wasn’t. The nice lady I talked to listened to my story and read some information from her computer. Then she replied: “Well, they were correct - DVR is not available. But neither is HDTV.”
“What?! How is it possible that I just scheduled an installation for HDTV 3 days from now, then?”
She checked my account and then informed me thatthe scheduled installation had nothing setup for HDTV installation… Just digital cable + internet. I was angry, to know that I had already been lied to… before even getting their equipment in my house… BEFORE EVEN GETTING MY HOUSE. But there’s nothing she can do about it, it’s not available. Whatever.
Just to help you keep count, that’s 3 phone calls to Charter; 3 different answers to the same question.
So, the next day I decided to get on Charter’s website and “chat” with one of their “live agents” or whatever. I began chatting, and didn’t tell the guy my whole back story. I just gave him my address and asked him what services were available… Wondering if he’d give me yet another answer. And boy did he:
“Unfortunately, sir, Charter doesn’t service that address at all. We hope to move into the area eventually, but as of right now, we offer nothing.”
That’s right. I now have 4 contacts to Charter and 4 different answers to the same question.
I went off. I made sure the guy knew that I was not directing any of this anger towards him, but at Charter and their apparently horrible record keeping. After telling him my whole story, he still swore up and down that Charter didnt service my address at all.
“So when the Charter technicians show up at my door Saturday for this installation that’s scheduled, are they going to just say ‘Hello, thanks for being a Charter customer. You owe me $110 for installation.’ and then take my check, turn around and leave?”
The poor agent must have felt like an idiot. He wasn’t, I’m sure. He was just telling me what his “system” was telling him… But I have a scheduled installation for a couple days from then for a service that doesn’t exist? Come on…
So immediately after getting off the chat with this guy, I called Charter again… I told her my whole story and asked her what in the crap was up. After looooootssss of hold music, she informed me that when they type in my address into their system, the initial screen that pops up lists the available services. That screen says that it’s all available. HDTV, DVR, the works. But, when you go “deeper into the system” and actually try to setup the services, the “drop down menus” don’t list either of those as options for installation.
The nice lady told me that she’d have to talk to “The Serviceability Desk” because they were the “final word” on what’s available where. Unfortunately, it was past 9pm when the desk closes… She promised she’d check with them first thing the next morning and call me back as soon as she knew something.
The next day was Saturday - the day my “non-existent” services were supposed to be installed. The tech’s showed up and introduced themselves and confirmed with me what was supposed to be installed. They did not list HD or DVR. I spared the poor techs from having to hear my whole story because I know they can’t do anything about it…
Unfortunately, the two techs were only given 2 boxes to install, even though the order that he brought with him and had in his hands said 3 (which is what we ordered… 3… not 2). So long story short, he installed 2 and then said that someone would be by Monday afternoon to install the 3rd box.
To my utter amazement, Monday afternoon, there was a knock at the door and a guy came in and installed the 3rd box.
“Wow! Charter actually told the truth for once!”. And yes, I literally said that. Out loud.
Well, Wednesday rolls around. Remember that lady that told me she’d check with the serviceability desk and call me “first thing the next day”? Yeah… She never called. So I called Charter again and gave them my spill… again… The guy checked with the serviceability desk and informed me that they told him that those services were NOT available at my address.
That sucks, for sure. But at least it’s a solid answer. Now I can look into other options like Dish or DirecTV. Which I did. I posted to Twitter / Facebook asking for opinions on each - which was better, which had better customer service, which was more reliable in a rain storm, etc. I got lots of feedback and decided to go with DirecTV.
So Saturday I chatted with a DirecTV rep online and asked her a few questions and was ready to take the plunge. I called Charter to cancel my cable (I’m gonna keep them for internet, I guess… They’re the best option for that still). After giving her my spill, she begged me to give her some time to look into the reason that their system had conflicting information as to what’s available.
I caved. She told me that since the next day was Sunday, it’d be Monday or Tuesday before she called me back. I made sure she understood that I was hesitant to believe that she was going to call me back, given my past history with being told that by Charter before. She PROMISED me that she’d call me back by Tuesday at the latest.
Today is Wednesday. No call. I know, you’re shocked, right? Anyway. As soon as I got home from work, I called Charter yet again. I told the nice guy, named Steve, my whole story - which is quite long by now (as you know, if you’re actually still reading this). He sat quietly and listened to the whole thing. He said he was going to check with “another department” and see if they knew whether it was available or not, for sure.
“Let me guess - the department you’re talking about is the Serviceability Desk, right?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Yeah… Feel free to check with them again if you’d like, because I know you have protocol you have to follow, but I’ve already talked to a few agents who have put me on hold before to talk to the Serviceability Desk and it hasn’t been much help. One agent told me that they told him, definitively, that HD and DVR were not available… But please, do what you think needs to be done.”
I need to pause here to say a something. I REALLY don’t want to go to satellite television. I’ve heard a few too many horror stories of the picture going out during storms for me to be comfortable to go with it. For example:
It’s 4th quarter in the SEC Championship (Alabama vs. Florida, of course). The sky is clear as a bell in Atlanta, but it’s raining cats and dogs here. We’re down by 2 points with 3 seconds to go and we’re about to kick a field goal from the 40 yard line for the win. All of a sudden, satellite TV goes out.
I’m pretty sure I’d be purchasing a new TV because the one I have has a hole straight through it in the shape of a remote control.
Get it?
Ok, I’ll move on. So the guy puts me on hold, then comes back and tells me - guess what - the Serviceability Desk says that it looks like the services should both be available at my address.
5. Five different answers to the same question now. The serviceability desk said a week ago that it wasn’t, now they say it is?
Did something actually change since then? Was I lied to last time? Was I being lied to now? Who the crap knows?
Steve tells me what his plan of action is. He’s going to send an email to his supervisor containing a summary of my Charter story, and saying that the serviceability desk said it should be available. His supervisor would then contact someone in my region (region? local office? can’t remember exactly what he said now) and they’d try to sort it out. It should take 24-48 hours to get a reply, and - once again - I’d be contacted by Charter.
I didnt even start to whine this time about worrying whether or now I’d actually be called back. I think after listening to my story, this guy get my point. He even promised he’d call, without me making him promise.
So that’s where I stand now. I know it sounds so petty to be so upset over this. But honestly, the problem isn’t that they don’t offer what I want. If they don’t offer it, they don’t offer it. No problem. I’ll go satellite and be done with it.
The whole problem lies in the fact that the big cable companies already have a stigma attached to them about “crappy customer service”, etc… They say that all stereotypes are based on actuality.
I can definitely see where this “stereotype” got its roots.
If anyone from Charter just happens to read this, please feel free, if you are so inclined, to contact me if you think you can help. You can leave a comment, or use the “widget” below and call me.
I know, I know… Nobody but my closest friends are still reading this…. And even most of them probably didnt make it this far…