I have been using the "bundle" deal from my cable company for the past several years and, at first, I was happy with it. It was fine at my former residence, but for the past 2-1/2 years, since I bought my townhouse and moved here, I've had nothing but problems with my telephone. Dropped calls, no dial tone, poor quality phone line, 
etc. - plus I've had to replace the modem for my phone and Internet 4 times during that time. I'd about decided to start looking for alternates when problems REALLY kicked in. My phone was in and out, along with my Internet (but not necessarily at the same time) for the past few months. I've called and complained, but really did not get any long-term solution to these problems.
However, Labor Day weekend was the beginning of the end. That Saturday morning, I discovered that, once again, my phone wasn't working (but Internet was). I called for service, and after numerous "do this, do that's" they said they would send a service person to my home. I told them that I needed to leave at 5 PM but would be home until then - and they assured me that was no problem. By 4 PM, I hadn't seen anyone so called again. This time they assured me that someone would be out that evening. Evening? I asked - meaning what time? 5-9 PM I was told. I politely stated that I was promised to have someone BEFORE 5 and they apologized and said they'd see if they could get someone sooner. A few minutes later, a service guy showed up and told me he had been told not to come before 5 PM (am I surprised?). Then he looked at my modem, agreed that it needed to be replaced, but stated that he didn't have one for me. Great, so why did he come? He re-scheduled me for the following morning. Later that evening, to my surprise, my phone started working again, and continued to work the following morning. So I canceled the service call - BIG MISTAKE! An hour or so later, you guessed it - phone was out again. So I AGAIN called for service and was promised that someone would come by 8 PM that evening. Just what I wanted to do on a holiday weekend - sit at home and wait. By 7 PM, no one had called or come so AGAIN I called. This time I was told that my service was scheduled for 8-9:30 AM the following TUESDAY! No way would I have done that - I have to be at work, so I would never have scheduled that time. They refused to do anything any sooner, and I told them not to bother sending anyone then, because I wouldn't be there. And that I was going to start looking for service elsewhere.
My Internet was working, so I started researching and decided to go with the "regular" phone company. While online, a customer service person chatted with me, answered questions, and I decided to go ahead and order the phone connection. This person assured me it would be in place by the following Friday (9/11). I could deal with just cell phone for a few days, so ordered it and figured all was well. For the next couple of days, I experienced occasional use of my phone, but it was out most of the time. Internet was in and out somewhat too, and I'm sure it was because of the modem. But then I got an email from the phone company confirming my phone connection that would happen on the 22nd. That's NOT what I was told, so I tried to call the woman who had signed the email. I made 3 attempts, left voice mails and my work and cell phone numbers - and got no response. The following day, however, she called me on my home number, and magically got through when it was working and left me a message. And she THEN called me at work later that day, and told me that the hold up was due to me wanting to keep the same phone number but it looked like it would be available on Wednesday the 16th. Ok, I can live with that, I thought.
On Monday, the 14th, I returned home from work and found that my modem was TOTALLY down. No phone, no Internet. I called the cable company and was told that my phone had already been shut off because I was changing carriers and apparently they had shut down the entire modem by mistake. I was on the phone with them for over an hour, getting more and more angry about this, while they attempted to get my modem back "online". They finally conceded that they needed to send service out to my house to replace the modem, and that would happen between 7:30 and 8 PM. A couple friends stopped by and sat with me while awaiting the service person, cell phone in hand in case they would call (and YES I have given them my cell number repeatedly). At 8:10 PM, I again called to see why no one had yet come, and was told that my service call had been canceled. Why? I asked? Because they had called me and I had not answered the phone. They called my home phone number! I LOST IT, went completely ballistic on the guy. My friends were telling me to calm down, because I was so upset they feared I was going to have a stroke! How incredibly STUPID - they cut off the phone, then call that number and don't come for service because I don't answer!!!!!! I cannot even begin to imagine the thought process that enabled that to happen. I DEMANDED that they send someone immediately, he put me on hold for 25 minutes, then came back on and told me he couldn't get anyone this late. I told him that was NOT acceptable, and demanded to speak to a supervisor. He put me on hold, then cut me off. I called back, wove through the menu and finally got to a woman who said she was the assistant to a supervisor. I blasted her, told her about the events of the evening, and that I had HAD it with this terrible service. She managed somehow to get my modem back online so I would have Internet, apologized and offered to send someone the next day. I declined because I couldn't be there and was sick of dealing with them anyway. After that Wednesday, I could take the modem back to the cable office and exchange it for a non-phone, Internet-only modem, so decided to do that. But I told this woman that if anything else went wrong, I was done.
Well, you guessed it, the following day I came home and the modem was back out. So I called the phone company and ordered DSL through them. Once it comes, I'm pulling the plug on the cable modem and will take it to the office and THROW it across the counter at someone.
On Wednesday, my new phone line was installed. On the day it was promised. Without a hassle. What a concept! And on Friday, my new wireless gateway for Internet was delivered. Amazing.
Thus, the end of the cable story. Unreal, but true. I'm leaving television with the cable company because, so far, they haven't managed to muck it up. But, unfortunately, it'll happen in time.
Customer service, in this industry at least, is apparently a thing of the past. Sad.
etc. - plus I've had to replace the modem for my phone and Internet 4 times during that time. I'd about decided to start looking for alternates when problems REALLY kicked in. My phone was in and out, along with my Internet (but not necessarily at the same time) for the past few months. I've called and complained, but really did not get any long-term solution to these problems. However, Labor Day weekend was the beginning of the end. That Saturday morning, I discovered that, once again, my phone wasn't working (but Internet was). I called for service, and after numerous "do this, do that's" they said they would send a service person to my home. I told them that I needed to leave at 5 PM but would be home until then - and they assured me that was no problem. By 4 PM, I hadn't seen anyone so called again. This time they assured me that someone would be out that evening. Evening? I asked - meaning what time? 5-9 PM I was told. I politely stated that I was promised to have someone BEFORE 5 and they apologized and said they'd see if they could get someone sooner. A few minutes later, a service guy showed up and told me he had been told not to come before 5 PM (am I surprised?). Then he looked at my modem, agreed that it needed to be replaced, but stated that he didn't have one for me. Great, so why did he come? He re-scheduled me for the following morning. Later that evening, to my surprise, my phone started working again, and continued to work the following morning. So I canceled the service call - BIG MISTAKE! An hour or so later, you guessed it - phone was out again. So I AGAIN called for service and was promised that someone would come by 8 PM that evening. Just what I wanted to do on a holiday weekend - sit at home and wait. By 7 PM, no one had called or come so AGAIN I called. This time I was told that my service was scheduled for 8-9:30 AM the following TUESDAY! No way would I have done that - I have to be at work, so I would never have scheduled that time. They refused to do anything any sooner, and I told them not to bother sending anyone then, because I wouldn't be there. And that I was going to start looking for service elsewhere.
My Internet was working, so I started researching and decided to go with the "regular" phone company. While online, a customer service person chatted with me, answered questions, and I decided to go ahead and order the phone connection. This person assured me it would be in place by the following Friday (9/11). I could deal with just cell phone for a few days, so ordered it and figured all was well. For the next couple of days, I experienced occasional use of my phone, but it was out most of the time. Internet was in and out somewhat too, and I'm sure it was because of the modem. But then I got an email from the phone company confirming my phone connection that would happen on the 22nd. That's NOT what I was told, so I tried to call the woman who had signed the email. I made 3 attempts, left voice mails and my work and cell phone numbers - and got no response. The following day, however, she called me on my home number, and magically got through when it was working and left me a message. And she THEN called me at work later that day, and told me that the hold up was due to me wanting to keep the same phone number but it looked like it would be available on Wednesday the 16th. Ok, I can live with that, I thought.
On Monday, the 14th, I returned home from work and found that my modem was TOTALLY down. No phone, no Internet. I called the cable company and was told that my phone had already been shut off because I was changing carriers and apparently they had shut down the entire modem by mistake. I was on the phone with them for over an hour, getting more and more angry about this, while they attempted to get my modem back "online". They finally conceded that they needed to send service out to my house to replace the modem, and that would happen between 7:30 and 8 PM. A couple friends stopped by and sat with me while awaiting the service person, cell phone in hand in case they would call (and YES I have given them my cell number repeatedly). At 8:10 PM, I again called to see why no one had yet come, and was told that my service call had been canceled. Why? I asked? Because they had called me and I had not answered the phone. They called my home phone number! I LOST IT, went completely ballistic on the guy. My friends were telling me to calm down, because I was so upset they feared I was going to have a stroke! How incredibly STUPID - they cut off the phone, then call that number and don't come for service because I don't answer!!!!!! I cannot even begin to imagine the thought process that enabled that to happen. I DEMANDED that they send someone immediately, he put me on hold for 25 minutes, then came back on and told me he couldn't get anyone this late. I told him that was NOT acceptable, and demanded to speak to a supervisor. He put me on hold, then cut me off. I called back, wove through the menu and finally got to a woman who said she was the assistant to a supervisor. I blasted her, told her about the events of the evening, and that I had HAD it with this terrible service. She managed somehow to get my modem back online so I would have Internet, apologized and offered to send someone the next day. I declined because I couldn't be there and was sick of dealing with them anyway. After that Wednesday, I could take the modem back to the cable office and exchange it for a non-phone, Internet-only modem, so decided to do that. But I told this woman that if anything else went wrong, I was done.
Well, you guessed it, the following day I came home and the modem was back out. So I called the phone company and ordered DSL through them. Once it comes, I'm pulling the plug on the cable modem and will take it to the office and THROW it across the counter at someone.
On Wednesday, my new phone line was installed. On the day it was promised. Without a hassle. What a concept! And on Friday, my new wireless gateway for Internet was delivered. Amazing.
Thus, the end of the cable story. Unreal, but true. I'm leaving television with the cable company because, so far, they haven't managed to muck it up. But, unfortunately, it'll happen in time.
Customer service, in this industry at least, is apparently a thing of the past. Sad.
