The end of Dec on the 26th of the month I believe, I called Time Warner to ask about their package deals. I was given some information on a deal that included cable, phone and Internet services. The price was good but wanted time to think it over. I called back the next day to set up services.
My call to TW lasted well over an hour. The service rep suggested a package he thought better suited my needs. It was a whole house system with an additional channel package added on so that we could keep the same lineup of channels we currently had. The price quoted was $148. We went over EVERY aspect of the package. The equipment charges, the types of equipment, the download speed for the internet, the phone service charges, long distance, the cost of keeping the same number. No stone was unturned. Repeatedly I was given quoted a price TOTALING $148 plus tax.
Included in the package I was getting was the following (my notes were extensive and I had all of this written down along with the price quote and my order number) For $148 Whole house dvr system 2 dvr boxes and 1 playback box for a total of 3 cable boxes. Price of equipment was included in package. This was stated several times and confirmed.
Phone service, long distance included. Several calling features. No charge for keeping current number
Internet service. 10 mb dowload speed. 1 mb upload
Install fee of $50 for the setup of the system
At the end of the conversation I asked the customer service rep to go over the charges and the features one last time to confirm. I was given the rundown of services and the total of $148 plus tax. He even said, "there will be no surprises"
A week or so later the etch came to set up services. To our surprise, he installed only 1 dvr. He told us that the sales person had misinformed us and that the package only comes with 1 dvr. We had him set up the system and I had it in mind to call TW to ask about this inconsistency.
Today we received our 1st bill today. It was HUGE! Base charges for our package were $220 a month! This is $80 more than we were told. With all taxes and set up fees etc, the bill came to $499 and change. I was also being charged for an "additional 3 cable boxes" that were supposedly "requested"
Well, i called TW in a hurry! Basically, I was told I was mistaken about the charges promised and there was no such plan ever offered. I told them to investigate it as my conversation was detailed. I was transferred to a supervisor. He promised to listen to the recorded phone call, do an investigation and get back to me.
An hour later I got a call from the man who sold me the services. They listened to the recorded call and my claims were verified. He called to try to rectify the situation and apologize, saying he had a "dyslexic moment" When I reminded him that the price was quoted several times during the call he changed his tune and said he had done bad math. After another hour plus on the phone he found something in his computer that explained the story. They indeed offered the package deal I was sold, it DID say equipment was included and it was in fact supposed to include 2 dvr units... Not 1 like I had been given.
The problem... It was something internal. One computer told him the equipment was included.in another area, it said equipment was an additional charge. Regardless of why the mistake was made, I had been quoted a final price of $148 and it was there on tape, several times. As was the promise of no charge for the equipment. The $148 was the end total of all services, except the tax.
Once the rep found this, he told me he was going to contact his supervisor, explain the internal issue and try to get me the $148 rate. I was told he would call right back.
An hour later they got back to me. What did they offer to fix this? Basically nothing! They tried to tweak my bill, offered me fewer services and got my bill down to a little less than $180 a month. I told them this was NOT acceptable. Not only is it $30 plus a month more than I signed on to pay, but I was receiving fewer services than promised.
I made it clear that I switched to TW because of this package and because of the promised price. I spent hours upon hours on the phone with different providers changing services and canceling services so I could set everything up with one account with Time Warner. I had a tech scaling the house and setting things up for an entire day. All of this was supposed to save me money and get me some decent services. Now I am spending more money every month and not getting the service promised.
Now I am in the position of having to pay this ridiculous bill or set up accounts for the phone, the Internet and cable with other companies and pay set up and installation fees? Wasting more of my time and money?!?
Time Warner either lied about the services and package to get me to sign up or they have totally incompetent people working there. Either way, I was given a price, promised certain services and should be given those services at that price... End of story!
I was told they would call me back in a few days and they would try to get a supervisor to lower the bill even more. We will see what happens. I am disgusted at this point and resent having to put in any more time on this.
Beware of Time Warner!!
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