Bad Experience with Pay TV

[ivinsfan]

a couple of things...
First, I'm not dumb enough to rail at a rep who is in a foreign land. Their job depends on their efficiency and it doesn't help to challenge their skills.

Second...
Each call begins with a verification of the account, so the details and sequence and number of calls shows on the representative's screen. Even letting a issue lie for a day or two, is picked up. As I mentioned on one of the above posts, I'm reasonably sure that the "Supervisor" is the person at the next desk.

The only time I had a run in , was in the supposedly department manager, who became quite belligerent and difficult. That was the last call, just before the charges showed on my email.



Afraid not... In a much simpler way, this is the way the problem began.
Dear me... never try to help. My original call was to try and let the company know that the links that are on the page don't work. A courtesy call that must have confused the first rep. that set off the whole escalation bit. I thought that calling back and asking to cancel would get some action... No... no understanding.

Yes the calls will be logged but the two person rule is for the customer calling in, A..it's easier to remember the conversations and B for myself the more I have to repeat myself the more annoyed I get and from my experience the reps don't waste time reading the screens otherwise you would not have to endlessly repeat yourself.

 

[Lakewood90712]

This is a little bit of a longshot . Find the non roll free phone number of the Corp hq in Texas. ( hint check co profile on marketwatch.com ). Ask for the office of the general counsel . Assuming you get through ,when they ask about the nature of your call " wirefraud by the company ". Imho this is an accurate statement.
This does not always work , but I have gotten the attention of "the giant "a couple of times

 

[JoeWras]

If this is the same Big Service Provider in Texas that I'm thinking of, then I have a way to talk to US based agents.

Call their number during US business hours. Don't do anything else except say "retention" as many times as possible until you get actual retention. They usually will identify themselves as such, ask them where they are. It may be Dallas or Kentucky.

Then explain you are thinking about cancelling everything unless this can get cleared up. They have always been extremely kind to me. As a matter of fact, since I'm on a 1 year contract, they suggest to me to set a calendar reminder and for me to not forget to ask for retention only next year. Maybe they like my discussions (which usually result in about a 40% price cut).

 

[imoldernu]

This is a little bit of a longshot . Find the non roll free phone number of the Corp hq in Texas. ( hint check co profile on marketwatch.com ). Ask for the office of the general counsel . Assuming you get through ,when they ask about the nature of your call " wirefraud by the company ". Imho this is an accurate statement.
This does not always work , but I have gotten the attention of "the giant "a couple of times

Yeah... probably so, but by the time I got to this point, my frustration said...
"If it happened to me, why not to other people my age." The four prong approach was to at the very least, leave a trail for the various "help" departments in the atty gen office, BBB etc.

The last time I had a problem, the Illinois Attorney General's office went to bat with a "warning" to the company... (not pay TV), so hopefully to avoid the same kind of problem for others.

 

[imoldernu]

FWIW....
for those who are following this thread... here's a copy of the letter that I sent to the four offices mentioned.

To Whom it may concern:
I am writing to seek help or action to deal with what I consider to be possibly fraudulent charges from ***************.
In short, I was charged for four TV services totaling $600, without my approval, and without my knowledge. In attempting to correct the problem, I spent the better part of 2 hours on the phone, without resolution, on October 30, 2018. On Nov.1, I called again, but don't believe the problem has been solved. So far the charges have not been removed, and the rep told me I would be charged on a prorated basis for the time I supposedly had the service.
I feel that over the time I was on the phone to settle another matter that one of the many"supervisors" that I spoke with initiated the charges which I discovered on my Email after one of the supervisors hung up on me. Briefly, here are the charges that were added to my account according to Four Emails I received from *******.

Programming: *******************
Monthly Price: $ 199.95 in 1 payment
Programming: *******************
Monthly Price: $ 158.99 per month
Programming: *******************
Monthly Price: $ 211.96 in 1 payment
Programming: *******************Brazzers
Monthly Price: $ 29.99 Monthly
Total $600 subscriptions being billed in the first month.
My only current subscription has been "Choice" @ $106.
I am enclosing just one of the four emails, with the full info from the company.
After seeing these charges, made after my first series of calls, I went back and was bounced around to 6 or 7 more "supervisors, who seemed unable to either fix the problem or turn me over to someone who could. There seems to be some kind of company plan that won't allow any customer service worker to "escalate" a call.
Inasmuch as the workers claim that calls are recorded, it seems to me that any research would find the source of the charges. All together, I believe I made 8 to 10 calls after being left on hold for as long as 10 minutes.
I have notified my ******** Credit Card Co. but was advised that while they could highlight the charge after the fact, because I had authorized automatic pay, they would have to pay the bill to ******* and turn the case over to their litigation dept, to help me with further action.
I apologise in advance for lack of clarity, but feel this is serious enough to warrant further investigation. At age 82 and 83, this has been very upsetting to me and my wife. I shouldn't want others who are older, to have to go through this.

I hope that someone can help.

Sincerely,

***********************


Addressees:
***************************************
***************************************
***************************************
***************************************

 

[JPatrick]

This story is too long, but I'll try to hit the high points.
I've used the service since 1990. Yesterday, I had a minor problem, so called customer service.

Perhaps I missed it, but I'd be interested in what the original problem was/is.

 

[Cobra9777]

We have FiOS, formerly Verizon, now owned by Frontier. Frontier has ridiculously bad phone customer service (although in fairness, Verizon was not all that stellar). However, I've never had any problem with Frontier because everything I do is by online chat. This way, everything is documented and saved. Also, chat eliminates most (not all) of the inability to understand the other person. If I get particularly POed and need to call in, as soon as the robotic voice asks what I need help with, I say "cancel account." This immediately takes me to the US-based retention department, where they have customer service super powers that regular reps do not. I did this two months ago after not getting a satisfactory resolution via chat, and the problem was resolved in less than 5 minutes.

 

[JoeWras]

I say "cancel account."

Good advice. Same as "retention", but "cancel" probably works even better.

 

[imoldernu]

Perhaps I missed it, but I'd be interested in what the original problem was/is.

That's the funniest part. My TV screen shows "messages"... After receiving the same message about ten times in the past month, I decided to do what the message asked. Go to ********.com/refresh to refresh your receiver.

When I went there, there were no instructions about how to "refresh"... simply a page of advertising, different services (not the ones I was charged for, BTW). Simply advertising and new features.
The only connection that seem to apply to me, was the "Chat", button, which didn't work. I assumed that something was wrong, and because I've been a good customer, I'd let them know about the problem, so they could correct it.

So that's how it started...

I confess... Don't ever try to "fix" someone else's problem.

 

[jim584672]

I had Verizon Internet and told them to cancel on the last day of the billing cycle, since I heard they don't prorate. So they cancel and charge me for the next month in error. After long phone calls and four months I finally get the error corrected. Their system isn't programmed right. What a mess.

 

[Sojourner]

I would be shocked if a fresh (and relatively polite) call to the TV company would not resolve this. Stay calm, polite and on point. Keep it simple. Don't get into re-hashing everything. "I called the other day about an issue and now I see I have been signed up for services I did not request. Can you remove those please?" As long as the TV employee you talk to cares about their job (and most do) they'll reverse the bogus charges and apologize to you. I see no need to involve your credit card or the attorney general. My guess is you said something that they thought was rude and a rouge employee played a game on you. Or try chatting online. This should be very easy to fix. If you want to escalate to the attorney general then so be it but I wouldn't waste more time. Bummer for you.

+1

I have been a customer of this same pay-TV provider for almost 20 years, and this is exactly the procedure I have used (and will certainly use again) to resolve any sort of billing issues, complaints, or service issues. The key is to call in and keep saying the words "cancel" or "retention" whenever the voice menu system asks why you're calling. The people manning the phones in the "customer retention" department are trained to be as accommodating and helpful as possible in order to keep customers from canceling their service. A simple explanation of the problem will almost certainly result in getting the charges removed and probably some additional bill credits thrown in to smooth over the waters.

 

[aja8888]

The above set of problems is a good reason not to set up autopay on a CC with anybody.

I've had enough issues with Crapcast over the years that I receive a monthly paper bill and pay them with a mailed in paper check.