In April of 07 I received my monthly bill from charter communications. My usual billing statement was around $88.00 a month. The bill I received in April was over $100.00 so I called the customer service number to find out why my bill was so high. I was told by a male customer service representative that my promotion had expired, which was why I had received an unusually high bill. I asked to be put in a new promotion, and after explaining to him the channels I wanted and the amount I would be willing to pay, he told me my new rate would be $75.27. I was excited because this was much cheaper than my previous rate. I told him that that was what I was going to pay that month in place of the higher bill that I had received, he said that it would be fine and I would only be charged $75.27. The next month, which was May, I opened my bill and was surprisingly charged $206.66. I immediately called the customer service number to dispute this amount. I spoke to a woman from the Philippines this time. Her accent was familiar, as she sounded much like the gentleman I spoke with the previous month. She told me that there was no record of me calling the previous month and that my account was past due because I only made a payment of $75.27. I assured her that I had spoken to someone that told me that he would put me in a new rate of the $75.27 per month. She apologized and said that she would put me in a new rate of less than $100.00. I told her that that was still a little high but I would be willing to make it work as long as the monthly bill doesn't exceed $100.00. She said that I just needed to pay the difference from the previous month (which I was told a false rate of $75.27) and the new months rate which came out to the total of $107.35. I then paid the amount she requested over the phone with my debit card.
At the end of May I was scheduled to move from my apartment into a house. I called to have my services transferred to my new address. I was told there would be no problem and the cable technicians came to set up on June 6th. Around the 10th of June we received our first bill from Charter at our new address. The amount enclosed read that we owe $233.49. I was outraged! I immediately called the Charter customer help line (once again) and asked to speak to a supervisor. I spoke to a man who said his name was Vince (he sounded as if he were from a foreign county). I went over all of the details of my faulty charges and asked that he explain to me this insane amount that I knew I did not owe. He did not answer any of my questions, and he refused to admit that there was an obvious billing error. He insisted that the charges were from a past due balance on my account from my old address before I transferred my services. This was not true, when the charter technicians came to install my cable on June 6th I received a copy of the work order that stated that before my services were installed, I had a zero balance on my account. I explained this to Vince and after several attempts of trying to decipher the bill, he told me that he would submit my billing issues to account services where my bill would be submitted for review. I was told that within a few weeks I would receive a corrected bill mirroring the changes that we discussed. I waited and waited and finally received a bill on July 10th (one month later). I opened the envelope to review what I thought was a corrected amount and to my astonishment there was $100.00 ADDED to the already incorrect bill! The new bill read that I now owe $330.83! I immediately began to cry. There was nothing I could do. I had even spoken to a supervisor and still my problem was getting worse. I decided to try my luck at contacting someone locally and in person, so I went to the local customer payment center where I live, in Denton, TX. After going over all of the charges and payments I had made previously, the girl behind the counter said to me, "I don't see where some of these charges are coming from." She kept shaking her head saying "this doesn't make sense." She also said that unfortunately she can't do anything to help me because it is out of her jurisdiction to alter or make changes on a bill because "this is a payment center". She said that I would have to call the customer service number listed on the bill in order to correct the mistakes. I was not happy with this suggestion as I had explained to her that I had already made several failed attempts to resolve this matter by calling the customer service number and nothing has been done. Once again she replied that there was nothing she could do.
When I got home I called the customer service number for the 5th time since all of this began. I immediately asked to speak to a supervisor. Minutes later a woman answered the phone, and I had a hard time understanding her. I asked her where she was located, and she replied that she was in the Philippines. I went on to tell her that the lady from the payment center in Denton, TX told me that my bill was incorrect and that I had to call someone from the customer service line to make the necessary changes to correct it. Her exact reply was "if she thinks there is a problem then why can't she help you?" I replied with, "she doesn't work in customer service and she doesn't have the power to override a bill, she said I had to talk to you." After going back and forth I simply asked her if there was any way she could connect me to a call center in America because felt that she was having a difficult time understanding me. This was her exact reply "If you want to talk to someone in America, then call America!" She then hung up on me! A supervisor from a customer service center for Charter Communications actually hung up on me! Now in tears, I made a few other attempts that evening to call and talk to different supervisors, but unfortunately none of them would admit there was a billing error and none of them would explain why. I truly feel that not one person that I have spoken to at Charter Communications really cares enough to resolve the issue.in fact, since this dispute began I have contacted five customer service representatives and four of their supervisors via the customer service number and all of them have been located in another country, none of them will admit that these charges are wrong, and none of them could explain why. I began to the think that the real issue at hand is that my cable problem in Denton, TX means absolutely nothing to the person on the other end of the line thousands of miles away. The only person that seems to agree with me that my bill is wrong is woman I spoke to from the payment center in Denton, TX, but all she does is apologize that she cant help to change the incorrect amount. I have been to the payment center a couple of times to talk to this individual recently and she keeps turning me away and telling me to call customer service. I am truly outraged! I have never been treated this poorly by anyone. I feel that this billing incident is nothing short of highway robbery. I am at my wits end!
On July 28th I had my service disconnected. I now receive cable and internet services through Verizon Wireless. Today is August 14th and I just received a statement from Charter, billing me for the month of August (remember my services where disconnected July 28th). Charter is actually billing me for services that I do not even have with them anymore! My cable bill has managed to manifest itself into a grand total of $403.47. I must admit, it is very clever how this company handles their customers. They push our problems aside by leaving us with only one option, which is to call the one and only customer service number listed on the billing statement, where you get to speak to someone [in another country] who may or may not even understand what you're saying. It's a clever little trap. I however will not fall victim to this game. I stopped paying for Charter's services after I was hung up on by the'supervisor' from the Philippines. I do not plan on paying this bill! I do however plan on sending this letter to the corporate office of Charter Communications, the Federal Communications Commission, and to the Better Business Bureau. I also plan on sharing my story with everyone and anyone who will read or hear about it, as I will be making this matter well known.
Jessica
Denton, Texas
U.S.A.
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