Tuesday, September 11, 2007

An Open Letter to Charter Communications

An Open Letter to Charter Communications

Good Afternoon. I hope this letter reaches an audience that can help me. You see, I am an extremely dissatisfied Charter Customer. My ongoing efforts to get my issues resolved have been nothing but a comedy of errors. I have issues with the cable service, which then leads me to billing issues with your company. One day I called seven times and all seven times I was hung up on by your highly incompetent overseas staff. Each time I specifically told the CSR that I wanted to speak to someone in Customer Retention. Each time I was hung up on. One time I was told just to go ahead and cancel my cable service. Some how I don't think that is quite the message you want your Customer Service Reps to deliver to your customers. One time I asked for a Supervisor and the overseas Service Rep told me there were not any supervisors, that there was no one higher in the company than she was. I find that extremely hard to believe.

In summary, here are my problem(s). My service does not work as advertised, then my rates go up. To be blunt, I'm not going to pay for something that does not work and to take it one step further, I am not going to pay INCREASED rates for a service that does not work. My latest problem is that the lower channels unviewable and the "Pause Live TV" that Charter advertises does not work. from approximately channel 100 down.

The week of August 20th I placed a service call and spoke to several Customer Service Reps. I finally got a supervisor who said they would send a tech out at no charge to me and credit my bill due to the problems we were experiencing. Neither of those things happened. She did send a tech out, but I was charged $26 for a service call. I've never received a credit on my bill for the Service Call or for the loss of service. When the tech came out, he placed connector caps on the cable junction box, stating they were never installed. This did not fix the issue and I had to place a second service call the week of August 27th. A second tech came out and stated the first tech "did not tighten down the connectors". Our neighborhood has underground utilities and the second tech did not replace the Cover of the Cable Junction box in our yard.

We're still experiencing problems. My husband is a heart-lung patient and has been in the hospital so some time has transpired since the last service call and my having time to contact your company again. You see, it takes multiple calls and a minimum of thirty minutes to place a service call. To take this one step further, it is not just my house. It is our entire neighborhood. There are Charter Repair trucks in our neighborhood weekly, if not daily. We spoke with one of the techs as they were driving through and they explained that there is water in the lines and that they are trying to trace it down. At this time, September 11, 200,7 our channels still have snow and the "Pause Live TV" does not work. From channels about 100 down, when we pause TV, the screen becomes pixilated, then when we press play, the screen stays pixilated. The screen is not viewable while so pixilated. In order to correct the problem you have to press the "live" button on the remote, so then you miss the segments you attempted to pause. Basically, it does no good to use the Pause Live TV feature. Each time we place a service call, the problem gets worse, not better.

Now to the bill. I don't mind paying for cable service if it worked. I do have a problem paying for something that does work correctly. My August 2007 cable bill increased. I called and asked that something be done about the increased rates. I was told that there was nothing anyone could do because I was in a "package that expired" and I had to pay full price for three months before I could get another discount. I don’t want to be put in a "package" that will expire in a couple of months, I want a credit on my bill for all the grief and aggravation I've gone through, for the amount of time I've spent on the phone with your Customer Service Reps, for the amount of time that I've missed work to be home for your technician to come out, for all the time my cable is out, does not work as advertised and is not viewable. Actually, it is not necessary for me to be home because the problem exist outside our house but the Customer Service Reps do not understand this and they will not send someone out unless we are at home. When the Charter Rep calls to confirm the appointment, they insist someone be home before they send a tech out. I have stated too many times to count that the problem is not within our house and that there is no reason for me to be home, yet they insist I miss work. At this point, I honestly do not think there is anyone who works in your Customer Service department who can comprehend the actual problem.

We built our home in 2005, moved into our new home in June 2005 and have had Charter Cable ever since. In those two years, we've gone through four boxes. I would like an explanation as to why Charter can not provide their customers with equipment that works consistently and correctly. Two of the times I placed service calls, the tech came out and replaced the box, then we were charged for service calls. This required even more calls to get the incorrect charges removed. Within the past month we've had a box go out and had to get a replacement.

I pay an additional fee each month for the extended Discovery Channels. This includes FitTV. Without notifying your customers, you decided to take FitTV out of the Discovery Package and put it in the Sports Package. While this is a great move from a Marketing perspective, it is horrible Customer Service. I should have at least been notified that the channels were moving. Ethically, I don't think it is right of your company to advertise that a specific channel goes with a specific package, then change the channel/package line up around at a whim and without notification.

These issues are just the issues I've dealt with over the past three weeks and does not include the multiple times per week that the cable and internet service goes out. My issues are ongoing and unresolved. I would like someone to contact me regarding this. I would like my cable service problems corrected. I would like a credit on my bill and my bill reduced.



Thank you,

A Very Upset Charter Customer