The Cable Installation from H-E-double-toothpicks!

[blueerica]

Time Warner Cable sucks. No, they blow. They suck and blow so much that it's really hard to tell which direction they're going.

Whether it's the clueless installation people (I really don't think it's their fault, with the exception of one guy who I suspect was just lazy and didn't want to run wires through our house), customer service that runs around in circles away from the point (seeming to just make up stuff to say to me), or if it's just the "it's a month later, and we still don't have farking cable" - I'm pissed.

Round 20 - Installation guy comes a couple of hours later - not too bad, I figure. Except this time he's got a $110 C.O.D. charge that I have to pay before he'll do anything. WTF?! Up until today, everytime I've talked with a representative or a technician I've verified that there are no additional charges. Now this? They bungle my appointment times over and over, so when someone finally shows up to do the final piece - THIS?!?!??!?!??!?!?!

When I'm in a better mood about it, I'll post a little more.

I am getting off on the wrong foot with these people. As much as I can't stand Verizon's ever-rising prices, Time-Warner is about to lose a customer before she even got started.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Time Warner just basically fired their entire LA-based management team they've been so horrible. I recently spent almost 2 hours trying to get through to customer service, it was appalling. The main reason for the big shakeup are these horrible customer service stories. Hopefully the changes will actually make a difference, but I'm not holding my breath.

[katiesue]

Hmm San Diego must have better staff. They've been great to deal with for me. Any appointments have been on time. It does seem to take flipin forever to get a customer service person on the phone, but once I have they have always been really helpful and solved my problems.

[Alex]

One thing to keep in mind when dealing with large service corporations is that you'll find people with only great things to say and others with only horrible things to say.

We did some lab usability testing at work a few weeks ago and several people said they used our company because customer service is so great while the others were horrible and impersonal. Other said the same thing but with the companies involved reversed (we were horrible).

Every interaction I've had with Comcast in the last two years (has been pretty darn good; only complaint is long hold times but once on with someone it has been great) while I know several people who absolutely refuse to deal with them because their experience was so poor.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by Alex Stroup

One thing to keep in mind when dealing with large service corporations is that you'll find people with only great things to say and others with only horrible things to say.

Except that in Time Warner's case, it was consistent enough that they felt it better to hand control of the entire Los Angeles operation to their New York outfit.

[Alex]

Oh, I'm not challenging that it was generally bad, especially if they publicly admitted it by firing people. It was more a response to katiesue and having had good experiences.

[blueerica]

In terms of customer service people, I don't really have a bad time with them - I just feel like they're changing what they're saying every couple of minutes. I clarify (which is why I ask every single time if there are any charges outside of X, Y & Z), only to have them act like we didn't just talk about whatever it is we talked about. The whole thing has led me to feel like they're just saying whatever they feel like saying without taking any kind of notation.

I'll start with the very beginning. I set up my service time, etc online - which was perfect. I called them up, because there was some sort of error that popped up, and talked with someone that seemed to be a friendly operator. (I have his name somewhere, but not in front of me.) I set up the time, date, told him how many televisions would need to be connected, wanted 1 digital box for downstairs, cable internet for upstairs, and also mentioned that it had been at least 15 years since we'd had cable at this location.

Fine, whatever, appointment made.

Guy comes out the following week, as scheduled. Bewildered, but otherwise nice, this guy didn't seem to accept my explanation of how the house had been set up (we have a ground in an additional area, and the house was set up to wire things around pretty simply). After we compromised on a plan, he went across the street to whatever thing is underground, and says that the stuff running to our house is ancient. He says that it'll be no problem, that they'll fix it all, and that the service is at no charge, since this is a service that Time Warner provides for the area, and that they are supposed to maintain the lines.

The new guys come a couple of days later to "drop the line" or whatever they were calling it. They spoke almost no English, which I'm not faulting them for, so we had to make-do with Spanish. They explained that when they call in, I will get a call from Time Warner with the new installation appointment time.

Feeling disappointed, and in a fit of just wanting to get rid of Verizon, I called Time Warner about half an hour after the guys left to see if the call came in, and to find out about my next appointment. The guy - Toby, as I very distinctly recall - gave me some ramble about the appointment being for that day. I explained that the guys were already out, I was just trying to be proactive and get my next appointment. Then Toby says something about needing to get permits from the city. Permits from the city? Why for? Oh, because construction is needed. Huh? Whatever... I explain that earlier I was told after the "drop" was done, all that was needed was for the installation to occur. He started spewing words like a can of silly string, so I just waited for him to stop talking, and asked him how long the permit would take, on average, and when I would expect to see someone out here... you know... for construction. I was told 4 days.

OK, so 4 days... Not too bad. Except, 4 days later, no one. A couple of very busy days for me pass by and I decide to call. After all, we'd just started another month of billing with Verizon and we were switching our number from Vonage - I wanted to make sure I was on a good time line. So I call.

This time, it's Jose. On the phone with someone new. YAY! Right... So, this time he sees that the new wires or what-the-eff-ever was needed was done and that, indeed, all that was left was the installation. (Duh...) So, we set up an appointment. Nearest appointment? A week and a half later - a.k.a. Today. I reconfirmed with Toby that I needed internet ran upstairs, one digital box and TV ran to the downstairs TV and two upstairs TVs. To avoid a deposit charge for the box, I give them the last 4 of the SSN of the account holder. The digital box for downstairs is billed for monthly, like a rental. (As is the case for most cable boxes.)

So... here I am today. Ding-dong goes the doorbell. I haul ass down the stairs, greeted by the smiling Jesus. No, not he who walks on water, but he who shows up the correct number of boxes, but insists that the order was only for two televisions to be set up, and that he can't do any more than that because he's on a schedule. He's also the Jesus that bears slips to sign and asks for a C.O.D. for $109.85. As politely as I could (though I know I must've sounded frustrated), I explained that there was to be no charge for anything, as confirmed with every person I spoke to up until him. He said to call TW (Oh that sounds like fun) and talk with them about removing the charge. He said that he'd be in the neighborhood all day, but that I could call customer service at my own leisure. I assured him they would be getting a call in about 30 seconds - which they did.

So I get on the phone with Don, who tells me he can't hear me. If I was on my cell phone, I'd understand, but I wasn't. Don agrees that there shouldn't have been any charges. Then he said there were charges. Then there weren't. Finally, we decide that there weren't any charges and that he would write a memo. He gives me some sort of standardized line that went something like "If you want to check your bill, you can do so online, or if you just want to view your bill, you can do it on channel 1281. Did he forget that I still don't have cable, almost a month and a half after my original order was placed?

So, I reconfirm, as usual, that there are no charges. He says that he will call the technician/installer and let him know what's up. He also says that he's adding a note to the account. I ask him when to expect a call. He said "Today." I said okay, thank you - I'll be looking forward to a phone call.

Not that it matters - he won't be the one calling me, that is, if I get a phone call at all. I'll get someone else who really doesn't give a sh!t, probably gets paid jack **** to deal with people like me, or worse, people who are just crazy and want to yell at people (like me?). I'm trying to have a good sense of humor about it - but it's hard when I'm being told different things by the same people.

[katiesue]

Erica so sorry it's such a mess. I hate dealing with stuff like that. Especially when it shouldn't be such a hassle.

DirectTV customer service has driven me completely mad. I had one woman tell me she wouldn't transfer me to a supervisor period. Lovely. Because "it wouldn't matter anyway". The completely changing stories are maddening not to mention when they aren't listening to a word you're saying, or talk to you like you're a complete moron.

[blueerica]

Ugh - I hate the "it wouldn't matter anyway." Sometimes it's just better to hear the bad news from a manager, because at least then it doesn't reflect as badly on the entire system.

Like I said, I sympathize that these people get calls day in and day out and they're probably exhausted, but IMO, a fake smile, a modicum of attention, and the right combination of words can go a long way. Even if it "wouldn't matter anyway."

I look at what I read above, and the one experience with their CS that was good resulted in a forgotten name. If I was a CSR, I'd want to be forgotten.

[blueerica]

I need to rephrase the above statement.

In the end, I would have felt like I'd wasted my time, though I wouldn't have been able to blame the friendly customer service person who at least transferred me to the manager. I don't know if I'd think the system was any less flawed, but hearing that "it wouldn't matter anyway" would make me feel like I didn't matter anyway, and that I was completely screwed from the get go.

That's what I meant to say.