I was already sick and tired of Charter and their high rates/monopoly on the cable and internet service in this area... But this latest fiasco really has me TICKED!
We were having a rough time due to the way things are going with the economy right now and we got behind on our Charter bill for ONE month. I mean... What are we gonna do... Pay the house payment and buy food, or pay Charter? We had to have a place to live and food to eat so we let it slide.
This guy in a Mustang pulls into my driveway and asks is this your residence, blah blah blah. Turns out he was from Charter and wanted to collect our money on that day. I made sure to check his ID and everything. He said if we wrote him a check for 102.00 that would pay EVERYTHING in full and take care of it. He would be able to have them turn our cable internet back on right then and there. (Our cable for TV was still on and working) and he would call to tell them we had made our payment in full.
So... I did. I wrote him a check for 102.00. He gave me a reciept. He called and had the internet turned back on. We were good to go, he said. I must have asked him 10 times if that would take care of everything and he said YES. I figured he was right, because our normal bill is around 65.00. I figured that the extra was for late fees, taxes, etc.
I just got my next bill. Woah. Online it says our balance is 111.74. It showed no payment as being made. I called. Yes, they do have our payment of 102.00 and it has been processed. There is a balance foward on my account of 40.50. There is a 25.00 fee on my account from where the guy came out to take our money that HE never mentioned. The rude lady says "Your actual balance is 136.74 since we are in a new billing cycle now".
I said..."WAIT. I PAID 102.00 on April 24th. This is MAY 1st! How in the H*LL do you get that there is a balance forward? The 102 was supposed to take care of EVERYTHING! I asked!"
She was like..."new billing cycle for May/June now... 40 something balance foward... 25 fee... Blah, blah, blah" (I was not paying attention b/c I was so mad).
I said "no. That 102 was to take care of EVERYTHING what is the balance forward"
She says
"Well, I'm sorry ma'am but what I am showing is that... Blah blah blah (me tuning out again)".
Finally I figured out what they had done to me.
The dude came to get my payment on the LAST possible day. So by the time the check cleared the bank I was late another month and he never mentioned the 25.00 fee to me, so in reality I had not paid that, either.
If you ask me, that is down right SHADY and they are milking customers to get every fee possible.
This does not even include the rate hikes that come wayyy too often!
Well, I know that some of you will say that it is my responsibility to keep bills paid on time, but we were in a real struggle last month. I mean if I asked 10 times if that would cover everything, he should have been HONEST.
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