It's
been over two months since I wrote about terrible customer service and cited an
experience with Macy's Department store on July 21st. Waiting on hold for over two and a half hours over
two phone calls was bad, but, Macy's did resolve the problem when I finally got
through. There problem was they just
don't have enough customer service reps to handle complaints. The company is in bankruptcy.
But, the
worst customer service I have ever experienced was from March of 2019. That problem is still not resolved and
Charter/Spectrum has yet to answer for its actions that day. One of its representatives made a promise and
a Prima Donna clerk decided he would not honor it. And when I questioned his actions he became increasingly obnoxious and threatening.
I ended
up cancelling the order because of the clerk's incompetency. Here is the letter I wrote to the Vice
President of Customer Service as listed by Spectrum, Kathleen Mayo. It's been 19 months since I wrote her. Obviously, Ms. Mayo and her department could have cared less
because she nor anyone else on her staff ever replied. It's now been 19 months.
Ms. Kathleen Mayo,
Executive Vice President
Spectrum
400 Atlantic Street
Stamford, CT 06901
Dear Ms.
Mayo,
I am writing
to let you know of the terrible treatment I received from one of your employees
on March 26th at the St. Louis Spectrum store on Manchester Road.
I was attempting to help my 91 year old mother, XXXXXXX X. XXXXXXXX, who has
been a customer of yours for many years, add DVR service to her account. After contacting your call center twice and
getting two different prices for the same service, I received my mother's
approval to add the service to her basic cable account. I called back and the $4.99 per month was
added to her account by your representative.
I was told I could pick up the needed hardware at the Spectrum store.
When I got to the store I was greeted by Gino who started the transaction but
then told me he did not have the experience and needed a co-worker to help
him. This is where I met a large middle
aged white male (whose name is I believe is Jim). "Jim" thwarted me at every attempt
to get what I needed. Jim told me the
account was very old and he could not add the DVR service for the price quoted
to us by your call center. I told Jim I
expected him to honor what we and Spectrum had agreed to earlier and his
response in effect was "they don't know what they're doing there. We have to make this work and do it
right". I was told at that point by
Gino maybe I should call the Customer Service department to clarify things
and come back to him after I had spoken
to customer service.
After
talking with customer service I was quoted another and higher third price for
the DVR service. I then asked to speak
with her manager. The manager (whose
name I do not have because I made the call from your store and could not
document it there) said the clerk was correct and the service could not be
added for the price of $4.99 per month quoted to us earlier in the day and a
new plan at a higher price would have to be added. I asked to speak to his superior and he told
me he was the only manager on the floor at that time. Instead, he referred me to the retention
department because of many years my mother has been a customer of Charter.
The
retention department representative was pleasant and came up with a plan that
for four dollars more per month would provide her with DVR service and give her
the same channels. I received her
approval and got back into the queue at your store. When the individual who had been rude to me
earlier, Jim, called my name I told him I would prefer to work with another
representative. He took my name out of
the queue all together and when I protested that he told me he was with a
customer and if I did not leave him alone he would have me removed from the
store. I got back into the queue and was
finally called by another rep who was friendly in greeting me. At this point Jim came over from his work
area and told me the clerk I was working with was a trainee and only he could
work with me because of the old account.
I told Jim a new agreement had been reached with the retention
department and there should be notes in his system with the new price and
services. Jim looked me in the eye and
said "they can promise you a new Ferrari but they're not the ones who have
to make this work and the way they have it written up is wrong and won't work". He told me he needed to call his boss and
walked away from me. When he came back
he told me he could not give me a receiver for DVR service and tried to tell me
it would cost about $20.00 more per month to add DVR service. During the conversation I tried to ask
questions and each time I was rudely cut off by Jim and he would talk around
the issue. Finally, I asked him if I
could finish speaking after he cut me off again and told me he was trying to
answer my questions. I told him he
hadn't yet answered a question of mine and was talking in circles. At this point he started to lecture me on
Charter procedure and I told him to stop and not make any changes to the
account. I said not to change any
services and leave the price where it was.
My mother still does not have DVR service.
In a related
note I want to applaud your customer service staff for telling me about the
"Internet Assist" program for my mother. The customer service rep who did this went
above and beyond in explaining it and setting up an appointment for
installation the next day and saying there would be no charge for the
installation.
But, I must
also tell you that Jim, while apparently reading the case notes, told me the
customer service department should not have promised free installation and that
there would be a charge of $49.99 to do so.
He told me I should install it myself and that he could give me the
splitter and cables to make this happen.
By this time I was so frustrated I told him just get me the hardware so
I could leave. He turned it over to the
trainee and left the area. When the
trainee returned he apologized to me for the inconvenience.
I took the
hardware to my mother's house and installed it,
but it looked terrible with cables and the splitter both visible laying
on her carpeting. I called your customer service department again and
was met with a pleasant attitude and professionalism named Lauren. I told her what I had to put up with earlier
in the day and how a free installation had initially been scheduled. She apologized for Jim's behavior and set up
another free installation.
I have never
been treated so rudely and spoken to like this by any other company in my
life. If anyone asks me what I think of
Spectrum I will tell them what happened to me.
You have a problem in your St. Louis store with Jim and corporately your
"right hand" at times appears to not know what your "left hand"
is doing. While I am pleased with your
Internet service and the help my mother received with it, I will shop around
for another television provider so she may have the DVR service she wants. Thank you for your time and attention to this
matter.
Respectfully,
XXXXXXX X. XXXXXXXX
Now you know why I give Charter/Spectrum the title
of Company with the worst customer service.
