Since Time Warner tricked me into installing their high-speed internet service in my home office in August, the following nightmare began.
- My First Mistake: I called the toll-free number Time Warner advertised, and a sales representative arranged for me to have service installed for $26.95/month for the first six months, no installation fee, a $25 rebate and a free wireless router.
- Several weeks later the TW technician who was to install the service showed up, stayed 15 minutes and left.
- When I called to inquire about the non-installation, I was told that my order had been cancelled and I would need to place a new order if I wanted service — for $44.95/month plus installation. I said forget it.
- My Second Mistake: At this point the customer service person breathlessly explained that Time Warner couldn't (?) honor the sales agreement it had made with me but, while there would be no $25 rebate or free wireless router, she could waive the installation fee and give me a $90 credit to make up for the six-month cost savings I had originally been offered. I foolishly agreed. How very soon I would regret that lapse in judgment.
- In fact, given what had transpired thus far, I should have been able to anticipate what followed. I immediately began to receive bills for the installation fee and $44.95 each month; no $90 credit ever appeared on my paperwork. Over the past 10 or so weeks, I have talked to about a dozen TW customer service representatives who all eagerly agreed that my bill was wrong, but who apparently did nothing to fix it. One even suggested: Just pay whatever the bill says and sometime in the next four or five months it'll get straightened out and you'll get a credit. I politely declined to send Time Warner money that I did not owe, money that Time Warner itself agreed I did not owe.
- My last futile call to the Time Warner Customer Service Keystone Cops on Nov. 19 resulted in a fervent promise from Denita to immediately post the $90 credit plus a credit for the $27.95 installation fee (total credit $117.95). I was told that $53.74 was all I owed and my account would be current and nobody would bother me again.in defeat, I agreed, paid, and within the week had received a threatening notice to terminate service and a plethora of harassing phone calls demanding more money (money I, of course, do not owe, as everyone at Time Warner seems to agree with the exception of their rabid billing department).
- Here's The Best Part: Since service began in late September the Time Warner internet connection has gone out two to 15 hours at a time, over and over and over. I'm a freelance writer who mostly works with clients via email and if I hadn't had the common sense to keep my Earthlink dial-up service (an additional $21.95/month) as backup, my business would be in shambles by now.
I sadly have not found it unusual to encounter a dishonest business entity. I also have dealt with a number of incompetent businesses. But to have this level of both shameless dishonesty and stunning incompetence in one company. I don't understand why the FCC allows Time Warner to operate in this manner. Isn't consumer fraud still illegal?
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