Charter Communications Complaint (and solution)

(*note: I wrote the letter below on the UMatter2Charter Facebook Page.)

Charter Communications has done it to me again. Although I love the benefits Charter Internet has provided, they have given me several problems as well. I will only mention the latest one because it may be the last straw. A few days ago, I received my new billing statement and I was surprised at the amount. My usual monthly internet bill is $19.99 for 12 to 15 mbps service. The new bill showed more than double at 47.99. Last year, a door to door salesman came to my apartment offering a back to school special of 19.99 for 24 months. I still have the pink copy of that work order which clearly shows 24 months. My billing changed just after 12 months. I called customer service and they couldn’t help me, saying that the system only shows 12 months and there is no such thing as a 24 month contract. I went to the nearest Charter office, showed them the work order and they said they couldn’t do anything about it either even though it was a mistake on Charter’s part that they inputted 12 months into their computer system. I have no other recourse but to switch to another provider if Charter cannot honor what they offered me originally. It looks so much like false advertising and I wonder if this can be addressed with the FCC or the Better Business Bureau. Any ideas on which agency I should contact?

Noel,
This situation has to be frustrating. If my bill increases by one cent, I am making some phone calls myself! I would be happy to help you with this matter today! Can you please send a private message with your address, telephone number, full name, and four digit security code to my inbox? I cannot wait to hear from you!
Ashley Watson

Hi Ashley, thanks for your immediate response. My address is …

Noel,
Thank you for the information and your patience! I know understand your frustrations because you were promised something that you're clearly not getting. Can I make it up to you by offering you internet for the next 12 months at $29.99 per month? Please let me know if I have your permission to make these changes! 
Ashley Watson

Hi Ashley, happy to hear from you and I may be amenable to that arrangement. Is this the 30 mbps service that you have now? I already have the cable modem and router so I won't be needing any equipment. Will you also be able to adjust this months 47.99 bill down to 29.99?

Noel,
You betcha! Your next months billing statement will reflect the changes and you will also see a credit of $36.00. Do you have any other questions? You internet speed will be 30Mbps. Sorry!
Ashley Watson

No further questions Ashley. You have my permission to make the changes and send me an updated bill so I can turn automatic payments back on. Thanks for taking care of my concerns and keeping me as a Charter customer.

Noel,
You are welcome! Thank you for giving Charter a second chance! I will advise you to go by out local office and pickup your free internet modem. This will ensure that you are able to take advantage of your blazing new internet speed. Your modem has been updated to the newest internet speed. Do you have any questions for me today? If no, please feel free to visit the Umatter team athttp://www.facebook.com/umatter2charter and we will gladly help you!
Ashley Watson

Wow, you are good! Much obliged for your help and making the customers matter, and looking forward to the next 12 months of Charter Internet.

Noel,
Here's to a brand new start! Cheers ;D Have an awesome weekend and enjoy your internet! 
Ashley Watson

Public comments below, private comments: E-mail Me!

Dr. Charter To The Rescue

          

I was going to write this letter and email it to tech support or customer service but I opted to call them instead.

Dear Charter Communications,

          Ever since we had a service outage about three weeks ago due to strong winds, the speed of downloads has not gone back to the usual. I understand that speed varies but I have done speed tests several times and at different times of the day and it’s been constantly stuck at about 10 mbps and no speed boost. In the past, with speed boost, I would get about 20 mbps. The upload speed is still as advertised at slightly more than 3 mbps. Can you check as to why this is occurring? Thank you very much.

So that’s basically what I told the Charter Communications representative during our phone call. We tried troubleshooting over the phone and he said that it appears like a hardware or cable problem. He was going to send a technician in the afternoon.

Within the 2 hour appointment window and despite the heavy rain at times, Dr. Charter made a housecall. He ran the same speed test I did and got the same results. Then he asked me if I tried running the test on a wired connection. When we did that, the speed came back up. That was strange because I was getting the increased speeds on the wireless connection before. For some reason my wireless router had slowed down. Well, at least the technician discovered the problem and on his way out I said “thank you, Dr. Charter”, which made him laugh. Hopefully Charter Communications won’t charge me extra for the housecall. Good job, Charter! I’m keeping myself wired for awhile.

Here's an update: Charter indeed billed me $35.00 for the service call and it appeared on my next bill which was dismaying. However I thought I might contact customer service and ask the fee to be waived as a one time deal. After all, when you search their website, nowhere does it show that a customer would be billed for a service call, and I wasn't informed beforehand that I would be billed for it. I wasn't expecting too much but if I didn't ask, I would never know if they would grant my request. Well, Charter Communications did me very well again by waiving the service fee! I cannot say enough about the terrific customer service of this company. Thank you so much for your help Charter Communications. For someone like me whose income is not that big, it certainly helps a lot not having to pay the service fee. I'll be more careful next time I need assistance with a tech support problem. Charter Communications, You Rock!!!

          If I make make a suggestion: a disclosure up front would be nice :)
Here is my other post on Charter: A Surprise Gift From Charter Internet

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A Surprise Gift From Charter Internet

Here's a short and sweet post: I’ve been getting calls from Charter Communications (my internet provider) in the past week and since I’ve been at work when they called I couldn’t answer. They finally got hold of me Tuesday night and I told the agent on the other line that I’ve missed a few of their calls. Anticipating an offer for bundled services and before he could start his spiel however, I told him that first, I don’t need cable TV or telephone service over the internet, but to go ahead and tell me what special offers they have so I can say no thanks to him afterwards. We had a quick laugh at that. Well, he bypassed the specials that I told him I didn’t need but let me know that they are upgrading my internet speed from 12 megabits per second to 15 megabits per second at no extra charge. Who could refuse such an offer or did I even have that option? I thanked him and his company. What he didn’t mention is the upload speed was increased also to almost double the 1.7 mbps I originally had. I only found this out when I tested the speed the next day. Once again, thanks, Charter Communications! I forgive you for charging me a couple of week’s worth of extra fees for renting your modem < http://aboutlifeandrunning.blogspot.com/2011/09/tricks-of-cable-tvinternet-trade.html> when I didn’t have to. Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas Charter Communications!

Public comments below, private comments: E-mail Me!