Has anyone here ever had trouble about bill discrepancies with the cable company, Suddenlink-now-Optimum (or any company to which you have a commitment)? I have been going through an unbelievably bad customer service saga with them for 2 months.
Optimum took control of Suddenlink on August 1, 2022. Two months later I moved and brought my cable/internet with me. Their website says about moving, "Whether you’re a current customer or new, transferring and setting up your services is no sweat. Stay connected throughout your move." Easy. I was told after asking several times that my account fees and package would not be changed. I'm just changing the address.
They lied. Well, they call it puffery, legal hyperbole.
I called, and I used their chat (which I prefer because I can copy the transcript and save it for backup). Each time, the new person would not or could not see past the number showing owed in their computer. Didn't matter that the pay history showed paid.
After pushing them to look deeper—and I definitely had to push—they said it showed I hadn't returned my equipment. I pointed out that when the installers came to my new residence, they put in new Optimum equipment and took all the old Suddenlink equipment with them. Did I have proof? No. My word against the installers, although I don't think they were denying it—I don't think they even asked them. I should have made them sign something, but it just didn't occur to me I'd need it. As it was, they took my word that it was returned. That took off about $250 off the balance. Then the long fight began about the remaining mystery balance.
Throughout this, I made sure I learned the actual amount for the month and paid it each month. But the balance was still huge. At that point, I fought and fought with various agents trying to get this resolved. The customer service people are in another country—even on the chat feature. (And check this out—the chat transcript is not available to the agents on the phone and visa versa!!) Often they could barely put English sentences together correctly. So the language barrier was also a huge problem in trying to make clear the situation. All they knew to do was trust their computers and defend what they saw there. Beyond that, few knew what to do, and several would just hang up on me.
So get this.... despite paying the monthly rate every month, including paying over $154 on Dec 27th, by midnight that night, the cable was shut off. I called shortly after it happened and after asking the computer that answered the phone to get me an agent, it replied, “To restore your service, $99.02 is required to turn on your services," while the website showed—and at this writing—still shows an overdue balance of $263.98. I was not allowed to talk to a human at all. Since the internet was still working, I went to the chat explaining what's happening and gave her the escalation ticket number that had been sent regarding this issue. After having to explain again that the equipment had been returned and I didn't owe anything, the live agent I got said my cable should be back on in 15-20 minutes. It wasn't. I went to bed having never gotten to see how the movie, The Hangover, ended.
Next day, the cable AND internet were disconnected. Now I couldn't even talk to a human online.
So I pulled all the saved chats, emails from Optimum—acknowledging full payments—and screen captures of payments accepted for the year of 2022. So yesterday, I compiled the payment history in a text document, gathered my laptop (ran out of ink) and went to the Optimum office on Woodbine here in St. Joe.
When I started explaining what is happening, the woman made obvious smirking and disdainful facial features at me, while she tried to shut me down mid-sentence. That pissed me off. I confronted her that she didn't need to treat me like that. I was a good customer and didn't deserve it. That pissed her off big time. Then the woman from the next desk came over. A person of controlled reason, she informed me that the office is no longer a customer service facility—it's only a retail center for selling their services. No help for existing customers—except to accept payments. !!!! That means folks, that there is NO HUMAN ACCESS for any Optimum customer when you are falsely accused of being past due.
Well, I was going to be damned if I left without some answers. I didn't give a damn what they wanted at that point since accepting their retail bullshit would mean I had absolutely ZERO HUMAN HELP.
Finally, the 2nd woman gave me a special Optimum biz card with an alternate phone number. She said in order for me to get past the computer denying me access to a live agent, I would have to use someone else's phone, so the computer wouldn't recognize me!!! So—the only way to talk to an agent was through lies and trickery??? Not good enough. I had already been promised lots of commitments—escalation ticket numbers with guaranteed call backs, reduction and/or elimination of the mystery fees, etc.—that never came to fruition.
I wasn't leaving that office until someone helped me.
I showed them my payment history, copies of payment proof, and kept talking about things like the fact that the website up to Nov had been showing zero balances after payments. Where did the $500 come from? I guess the 2nd woman realized I wasn't going to leave until they at least looked at my account. Her conclusion was that Suddenlink apparently claimed I still owed $500 when they went to Optimum. Five hundred even? I again showed her the payments and the zero balances and was relentless that we weren't done until I got the cable and internet back on.
So she contacted her boss who was on vacation. After back and forth conversation in an internal chat, she said he said he removed the bogus balance. At that point, there was nothing more I could do until time had passed that proved whether my cable and internet was back on. I went to Walmart, got the car washed and finally got home around 6:30 pm last night.
No cable or internet.
The upside was we finally got around to hooking up the DVD player and watched movies from my library until we went to bed. If my account wasn't back on by morning, I'd be showing up at that office again today.
Fortunately, it was all back on when we got up. I was almost disappointed I couldn't go back in there and make another point. NOT. LOL!
But this isn't over. I won't really know until the next bill posts if that balance will be gone. As of today, it still shows I have a past due balance of $263.98 even though the Dec bill is paid. And that means if I called, chatted or showed up at their office, they'd still think I actually owe that. So, if by Jan 10, when my new bill posts, if it still shows a balance other than the monthly bill, I'll be showing up at the office, plus I'm sending all of this to an attorney. Maybe the same attorney who is interested in suing Whirlpool for me over that debacle.
And finally, I have to say that I have never had to deal with so much trickery by corporations as I have now (and I understand the corporate world—I've worked in it my whole life). It almost feels like elder abuse—bullies and victims. But by fighting their asses, I'm not a victim. But what about those poor souls out there who are very sick, very old, weak for reasons they can't control? Who is going to protect them from these assholes? Someone has to stir it up and bring attention to it. There is no room in a civilized society for underhanded business tactics. It's a binary condition. You're either honoring your words or you're not.