Hey everybody.
Over the past two days I have had the distinct pleasure* of dealing with Charter's customer service. I don't make it a point to call customer service willy-nilly, so there's already a problem here.
Here is the problem:
I signed up for Internet service through Charter in May 2012. At that time, an offer was extended to me, through an authorized sales agent, for Internet service at the rate of $74.99** per month on a two-year contract. I recall, very clearly, asking the sales agent several times during the call that the price was, indeed, going to be good for two years. He responded in the affirmative each time. This constitutes a verbal contract, yes? Yes; yes, it does.
Here is the solution I am seeking, right now:
I want my original contract price for the remainder of the 2-year contract period, up through May 2014. This is a very simple thing, is it not? And, realistically, it's a very cheap option for Charter - put a loyal customer back into a neutral/happy position by respecting the contract made; total cost to the company: $210 ($15 for each of the 14 months remaining in the contract period, Apr 2013 to May 2014), with a possible concession of good public relations for treating the customer well.
The other option - refuse to honor the original contract, make loyal customer irate to the point of filing private-level (Better Business Bureau) and government-level (Federal Communications Commission) complaints and cancelling his service; total cost to the company: $1049.86 ($74.99 for each of the 14 months remaining in the contract period, plus sales tax, Apr 2013 to May 2014), with assuredly negative public relations.
It doesn't take a lot of intelligence to realize that $210 is much cheaper than $1050...and bad PR. Care to guess which option Charter has thus far pursued? Spoiler alert: not the one that gives them good PR.
Now, the details:
My first call to customer service was back in Feb 2013, immediately after the price increase was first noticed. I was able to convince*** them to give me a monthly credit through August 2013 for the increase in price - $15 per month - on the condition that I would be contacting them again in August to resolve the remainder of the contract period. At this time, the explanation for the price increase - and why they decided not to honor the two-year price guarantee - was first given to me. Apparently, Charter's Internet service consists of two charges: the base Internet service price, and another "upgrade" price, depending on the speeds you want to (maybe-possibly-if-planets-align) reach. The two-year price guarantee apparently only applies to the base price.
"Now," think I, "why would that sales agent guarantee me the $74.99 per month price, if the pricing is split in this way, and the offer did not apply to the whole price?" Hold on to this thought for a moment. The customer service representative made it clear that there was nothing further she could do, beyond the $15 credit detailed above.
Not a great situation, but tolerable - for now. Enter March's statement!
Behold my surprise**** when the price increased $15 again. Another call to customer service (this was yesterday, 26 Mar 2013), and the $15 credit was (re)instated. "Clerical error", was what I was told. Okay, I wasn't happy, but maybe it was poor timing. While I was already speaking to the customer service representative (a different one from before, of course) I again explained the issue, and what would constitute an acceptable resolution. And, again, I was treated to the same explanation of the split pricing structure, and that the price I agreed to (in my binding verbal contract) could not be honored. "Okay," says I, "if we can't reach a resolution now, there will be a complaint to the Better Business Bureau." Says she, "I am very sorry you feel that way."
I am seething with rage at this point, but I keep my expletives to myself and instead file the complaint as promised.
(Ironic side note - I had put this out of my mind until earlier that day, when Charter called me to offer more of their "promotions". Oh, how I had a good laugh about that after I hung up.)
Admittedly, I didn't expect them to respond. BBB states that the business has 14 days before I should contact them again. So, imagine my surprise, then, when I receive a call from Charter's corporate offices this afternoon. I am, at first, delighted that any response at all has come about. So, we get to talking, and I hear the same line about split pricing structures and how the two year contract price only applied to the base Internet service price and not the upgrade price. I then proceed to explain how the two year contract was initiated, and the details of the price, as explained to me by their authorized sales agent: Internet service, for a two-year term, price guaranteed at $74.99 per month (plus applicable sales tax), no mention of the split pricing structure, no mention of the inapplicability of the price guarantee to a (to me, at the time) non-existent split price, and - in fact - several confirmations from the sales agent that the price was, indeed, good for two years. I also explain that knowledge of the pricing split was only imparted to me when I called customer service in February. The corporate representative's response? They (Charter): do not offer that service at that price with that promotion; the contract price has not changed; and we (Charter) disclaim in the contract that we have the right to change the price. (I would quote this, but I do not recall the exact order of the words.) I requested a written version of the contract; she responded that this was a verbal contract.
Allow me to explain my incredulity - this corporate representative had clearly acknowledged that, at the time of sale, a verbal contract was enacted for the price that was offered - $74.99 per month. In the same breath, she proceeded to tell me that, because of a written disclaimer in said verbal contract, they can effectively change the contract price without breaching the contract and without my consent because I had agreed to the verbal contract, and they have "documentation" to that effect. But if I ask for that documentation, they don't have it because it was a verbal contract. Serious confusion now, and not helping my mood.
I will analogize this disclaimer business to the following: I tell you all, right now, that you are wonderful people*****, and you will remain guaranteed wonderful people, in my eyes, for two years. However, I disclaim in a written statement that you don't have, because this is a verbal statement, that I can change the meaning of that statement because you have already agreed that you are, indeed, wonderful people. (For illustrative purposes, obviously, there is a disclaimer below.)
So, by this point, I ask for the same resolution I have asked for twice over: restore the price to that mutually agreed upon in the contract. This request is flatly denied, and I am told that this call from the corporate representative is a courtesy, and that the mere existence of the stop-gap mitigation ($15 monthly credit not extended to cover the contract period) is also a courtesy******. Yes, a call from a corporation in response to a complaint, by a wronged customer, in which an acceptable resolution is denied and no other resolution is furthered, is a courtesy. My, what a strange definition of "courtesy" I must have.
All right, to wrap up this call, I state as clearly as possible: should a resolution not be reached now, I will further this issue with a complaint to the FCC. Response: "I apologize.". No further attempt at a resolution is made. I must have counted at least 6 "apologies", and at least as many "courtesies" throughout that call. Number of solutions? Zero. Soooooo, off to the FCC, then? Yes.
I originally was not inclined to spread this beyond a few others, for a laugh, but the ridiculous proportions this has reached demands a wider audience.
That's all for now.
* This is sarcasm. Dealing with customer service is rarely pleasurable, and in this case, in fact, was not pleasurable at all.
** By the way, this isn't just a flat price, this is really a base price and an "upgrade" price, and the promotion only applies to one of them. Oh, you didn't catch that because we didn't tell you? Tough.
*** As if I, as the party being wronged, am required to convince a business to honor our contract.
**** Yes, genuine surprise, but hindsight has since eroded it to an expected exasperation.
***** DISCLAMIER: But, no, really, you're assholes.
****** Ha. Ha ha. HA HA HA - oh.