I think I've found yet another rip-off, especially for people who are in financial trouble.
This is about Brighthouse for central Florida. Brighthouse is a phone-web-cable provider. Yes, central Florida, home of home foreclosures, with a lot of people likely having to cut off their services lately.
I think Brighthouse is trying to rip off people canceling their service, and here's why I think so.
I had a wonky dvr, so I did the online chat with Brighthouse, and they were able to set up a service call, but they said to cancel another small service I never use, I had to phone in. So I called Brighthouse this morning.
Their rather cool voice-activated lead-in channels you to the correct option. I ended up with the ‘end a service’ option...and I was on hold 20 minutes, with the 'all our lines are busy, please hold for the next available operator' message. Literally 20 minutes—I put the phone on ‘speaker’ and carried it around as I got ready for work. (Yes, me and my pile of money.)
At the 20 minutes point (and getting close to when I had to leave), I got suspicious, and called in to the same number from my cell phone. This time, I said I wanted to change my service. I was immediately put through to a person, even while my other phone played the continual 'Please wait.' That person was indeed able to cancel my little service, so it isn’t like everything is stove-piped.
I suspect they are trying to get another day (or days) out of people trying to leave them, or even just cancel, which is rotten of them. It reminded me of the evil fees people are writing about here that get added on when you miss a mortgage payment. (We just rent, but I've heard local stories exactly like I read here.)
Just another stone for the class war.