I have had Charter cable service for many years - probably over twenty years. There are no alternative cable services available in this area. Charter has a virtual "monopoly" on cable service in this town and many miles surrounding it.
About four years ago I added internet service which was a disaster. At that time charter forced me into purchasing digital cable service, which I shortly thereafter told was not a "legal" maneuver on theiir part. I did not need digital cable service for any televisions in my home at the time, and their explanations as to why I needed to add this service in order to get internet still make no sense. I later purchased a HD television, and Charter had to come change the box for the one digital television, at which time they explained that I could only use the one set on the digital service and all other televisions in the house would only receive the standard channels. From that point forward, I had nothing but trouble with their television signal and with their internet service.
After several months, I discontinued the internet service, and was "schmoozed" into trying it again later when they offered me a one year deal for a cable modem for $15 a month for a year. They actually called my home to make the offer, and I explained at that time my unhappiness with several Charter problems. Some time back, they had abruptly double billed me for my monthly charge. When I called to ask about the bill I had received, they explained that they had changed their billing system and would be billing for service one month in advance. I complained about the practice, and for several months only paid the current amount due. At some point, they decided to sent me a threat of disconnection if I didn't pay the full amount, including the "month ahead" billing, and I went ahead and paid the month ahead. At least six years ago, I signed up on the Charter website to view and pay my bill online. That worked for only about four or five months.
Suddenly, their system would not accept my information online, and would not allow me to set up a new account that worked. After over a dozen phone calls to Charter customer service, it was clear that nobody was going to fix the website so I could pay online. I ended up paying on phone or in person at the local office every month. The customer service dept at Charter continued to simply give apologies about the online payment system not working and said that it was just a problem they couldn't fix in some areas. My cable signal deteriorated significantly over time. Charter sent technicians over at least three times in four years to "fix" the problem, but it was never improved adequately. Calls to their technicians about cable television or internet seemed to get me nowhere.
Over the past year, I continued to complain about all of the problems I have listed here, with no success. Additionally, Charter continued to send out paper bills on what seemed a random schedule. Typically, I would receive a billing notice online days or weeks before a paper bill arrived, or I would receive neither and get a threat of disconnection instead of a bill. I pay my bills on time, but it became impossible to figure out when my next bill was due for Charter and why I was allegedly being billed for service that was two months past, when I had clear documentation of bils being paid monthly.By November I had called their offices at least monthly for about a year to try to get them to explain their billing. I always paid by credit card to get airline miles, so I had a darned good record available for what had been paid, and the dates payments were made. Despite their billing a month ahead, they insisted in December that I was in arears for a month or two, even after I had paid two or three months of service the preceeding month. Out of frustration, I began to explore a satellite dish as an alternative.
After finally finding a local service that could successfully install a satellite dish, I had one installed earlier this month (Feb 09). I was quite sure ther would be some kind of dispute over Charter's final billing, so I was very careful to contact their office and determine how far I was covered with my last payment. Mid January, I contacted them and told them I would be terminating my service in February. I asked them to check my account and tell me the date that I could terminate my service without receiving any future billing. They gave me a date of Feb 16. I was still convinced that Charter had already over charged me by a month or two, and I am still sorting through old credit card statements to try to verify that I have over paid them. Nevertheless, I was so fed up with them I just wanted it all to end, so I agreed the agent and I agreed that my service would be ended on the day that was last covered by what I had paid, according to their records of my account.
My dish was installed a couple of weeks earlier than the Charter discontinuance date that the Charter agent and I agreed upon (Feb 16). The dish worked wonders. There was no comparison between the quality of reception on the analog television sets in the house. The service was great, and the package from the dish company was much better, and much cheaper than the package I was receiving from Charter, who had almost no HD channels available. I took the Charter box and remote to the local Charter office and got a receipt for it on Feb 13 - THREE DAYS AHEAD OF TIME. I received a "receipt" of sorts when I handed the equipment over to the lady behind the desk, who demanded a signature from me, but would not sign it herself. Very odd, I thought - I return your equipment, and I have to sign something, that you won't sign to show I returned it. Strange. As I suspected, it did NOT end there as it should have.
Today I received a bill for service from Charter, that they now are claiming is for service for some unidentified period of time at the end of Cable service. Once again I called customer service and tried as politely as possible to explain how I had contacted their office to determine IN ADVANCE just when my service would run out, based on what I had already paid them in January. Again I got an agent on the phone who seemed to have trouble with the English language. She first told me that my last payment had been received in JULY!!! After getting that clarified, it was clear that she was struggling with the language and several times again she said my bill only covered me through July... I corrected her about that several times. She could only repeat the same patter over and over and I assume she had a script she was reading or had (poorly) memorized what the Charter supervisors had rehearsed their agents to parrot back to customers.
Another interesting facet of this mess is that the outstanding amount that Charter is claiming I owe, is about half what my normal monthly service bill would be. It appears that the agent who told me in January that I was paid up through Feb 15, either goofed up and let is slip that they were indeed billing more than a month ahead, or she accidentally agreed to terminate my service mid-month.in either case, I am still convinced that I have already paid Charter for MORE than I really owed them and it was their agent who allegedly agreed to my termination of service date of Feb 15/16, knowing quite clearly that I wanted service terminated on WHATEVER date would end the service without accruing any additional billing.
After reading many of the hundreds of complaints of charter here and on other consumer sites on the web, it is very clear that Charter has a serious problem with its billing practices and customer service, which they seem to care little or nothing about. My next step will be to file yet another complaint with the Better Business Bureau on Minnesota, and additionally contact the Public Utilities Commission. Customers should not have to put up with lousy service, advertising scams, and crooked billing practices to get cable and internet service - anywhere. It is time that someone seriously consider re-vamping the laws concerning regulation of these services, as it appears that they have come to be monopolistic in their approach to providing services. They seem to think that they can use intimidation and obfuscation to extract money from all of their customers, and that they have the power to do that with no consequences. A little good old competition in the market place might make them wake up!
Rod knowles
Brainerd, Minnesota
U.S.A.
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