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Charter Communications Consumer Reviews - Page 3

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Insulting Clown of a Customer Service Agent
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE -- I called to inquire about seeing if Charter phone service was available in my area for my business. The agent could barely speak English and couldn't even answer if they had business service in my zip code or not. I kept telling him it was for a bar; a night club; a place of business where alcohol drinks were sold. He told me that yes, he could help. He said, "Call AA" and hung up!

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Great Service When It Works, Bad Customer Service and Useless People.
By -

TOWN AND COUNTRY, MISSOURI -- I'd like to preface this by saying that I've never had an issue with Charter billing practices or their service. It's their customer service department I have issues with. I am also not saying this to get free service. I've tried resolving this on the phone, but all I get is apology after apology with clever wording each time to not accept responsibility. Tuesday, October 31st I called Charter and spoke to 'Chris' about setting up new service at my new home. I told him that I could take "this Friday" off (9/3/2010) of work to be there for the tech. The agreed upon time was between 1 pm & 3 pm. The order was for 2 HD DVRs and charter service with HBO, MAX, Showtime & TMC.

Done and done. No. Friday September 3rd comes & at 3:17 PM no Charter tech. I call and "Brian" (if I recall) tells me that "no, the appointment is for Friday September 10th." This is incorrect. I tell her. She apologizes and tells me that the only thing she can do to reschedule is to set the appointment for 9/22/10. I ask to speak with a supervisor & I'm put on hold for a bit. She comes back & tells me that she's trying to get a supervisor. Apologies again. She tells me that she'll have a supervisor call me "soon".

4:45 (approximately) and still no call. I call again. This time I get Yolanda & I tell her that I've been waiting for a call back from a supervisor and she somehow manages to get one for me. Apology after apology. But still, nothing is done for this. I'm told that it's a "miscommunication". This is no miscommunication. I know what was said between myself and Chris. I know what "this Friday" means. I have notes that I relayed from Chris as to exactly was expected of me. She even talks to "dispatch" but I already know that there's nothing that can or will be done.

On top of all this, I had to give up a vacation day for this. So I could be at my home to bring the TV out of storage, set up on the entertainment center. I am never going to get that vacation time back and it was a huge waste of my day. Again, I realize that I'm a drop in the bucket, but at $109.99 a month, this is over $1,300 per year. This is not a minor investment. Except for my mortgage, this is the single highest bill I'll have for this house. I mentioned to the person I was talking to that I should at the very least have a month of free service. I had a similar issue with Verizon a few months ago and this is what I got for my trouble. I was told, "That's against Charter's policy."

"Then why am I even talking to you?" Really? Is the time and effort on the part of your customers so insignificant that you're unwilling to sacrifice a little for customer retention? I work as a customer service representative for a medium sized technical company. My company SERVICES companies like Charter. If I said or did this to them, we'd lose the contract, no questions asked. I am not allowed to give my customers this kind of run around service. If someone asks for a supervisor, they are not made to wait like this. We're certainly not going to insult their intelligence by "apologizing for their inconvenience".

In my area there is one other television provider. At this point I am still weighing my options. I've been told that FiOS is coming into the area within a few years and that is an option as well. Fast forward to today. I got an automated message that a Charter tech was going to be at my home tomorrow between 1 & 3 and to have $109.99 ready for the technician. What? This was NEVER mentioned to me at any point by anyone.

When I called just a short time ago to confirm this, I was told by another "Brian" that "We apologize for the miss-communication." This is not miscommunication issue. It was never mentioned to me that this was required. A quick search on Google tells me that this isn't an isolated situation. I hope this counts as the first months fee. If not, I'm going to cancel. I never want to hear an empty apology again.

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Charter destroys local Company, Bankruptcy feared. Charter claims protection under “Tariff”
By -

At the beginning of the second week of November, just about the same time the new phone book came out, I, the owner of a local "home-based"€ Carpet and Rug cleaning company started getting phone calls from customers wanting prices for cleaning everything from suede jackets to complete suits. Repeatedly, I informed the many callers that we did not provide the services they were requesting. For over a week the calls kept coming in for laundry service but none for carpet cleaning, one woman even came to my place of residence to drop off her garments for cleaning.

After more calls came in, I opened the new 2010 AT&T Real Yellow Pages phone book and was shocked to find that I was not listed where I had been for the last six years. However, after turning to the "cleaners"€ section, I found my company information. Completely confused and upset, I contacted Charter Business, my business phone provider, to sort out the problem. This would prove to be the worst nightmare any "home-based"€ business owner or any phone customer could be faced with.

For days I would contact Charter and spend valuable time on hold and/or repeatedly having to explain and re-explain the problem and the effect(s) the problem "WOULD HAVE"€ on my company's income (a loss of hundreds of dollars a day) to people that could not help me, to include being passed around from one representative to another (THE CORPORATE RUN-AROUND).

Finally, I started recording the treatment I was receiving from Charter Business and Charter Residential "Service Representatives"€. To make a long story short, AT&T proved Charter to be at fault and Charter told me to shop around for advertising for the year and e-mail the price to Charter so a form of credit could be arranged for me to advertise for the year. So did, in the end, Charter changed their minds and told me they would not and could not be held liable for "Any" damages to my business because they have a Tariff that states the following.

(This is what is printed on page one, please note that it says "residential") This tariff contains the description, regulations and rates for the furnishing of services and facilities for local and long distance telecommunications services provided by Charter Fiberlink-Tennessee, LLC to residential customers within the State of Tennessee.

3.1.4 Directory Errors and Omissions. The Telephone Company's liability for damages due to errors or omissions in directory listings will be limited to a credit of one month's basic service.
7. Business Services.
7.1. Rules and Regulations. The regulations specified herein are in addition to the rules contained throughout this Tariff and other tariffs of the Telephone Company. Failure on the part of customers to observe these rules and regulations of the Telephone Company automatically gives the Telephone Company the right to cancel the contract and discontinue the furnishing of service.

This was my "sole source" of advertising and it had worked and served me well for over six years and that a business practice of this type is what allows me to keep my prices competitively low. Now I am unsure of what I will do now with advertising prices so expensive. I have contacted the Tennessee Regulatory Authority and their stance is that they have never had to deal with this type of situation and they themselves don't even know why that disclaimer is in their Tariff, as Tariffs deal with pricing protection.

The recordings of my conversations with Charter representatives and the treatment I have received is nothing less than a primer-cap in a very big bomb of "GOIN' POSTAL". In short, because of a piece of paper written by a billion dollar industry, you too can be ruined with no course of action except eat it and smile.

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Worst Cable & Internet Service Provider Ever
By -

GREATER WORCESTER AREA, MASSACHUSETTS -- Charter Communications is a monopolistic blood sucking business operator. They have not received ONE good review from actual customer. You can make out that good reviews are phony once you read through them. They all are stereotype opinions. I has to opt for Charter for internet & cable since there is no other service provider in my town. Here are some red flags from day one.

I called to sign up and asked if they had any good offers for new customers. The CS chuckled and said "I don't have a choice, you can sign up or be left out.' OK so I signed up for $110 for 3 Mbps internet & cable with 10 HD channels and all basic channel. Not a good deal by my standards for new customers! Not a single promotion added. This was their base price. Installation day, the guy is late. He comes at his own sweet time and slaps me with a $ 50 install fee. Hmmm. Internet speed is slow. I call CS. She tells me my neighborhood is hogging the line, I will have to suffer.

Makes me wonder maybe DSL would be cheaper, if I have to live with low speed anyway. Cable box reboots EVERY time I power on the box. CS tells me 'duh, just don't power off the box'. The box heats up beyond belief if kept on overnight. I ask for a new cable box. CS says "no, cannot do that until it goes dead." One lucky day the cable box dies finally, I ask for replacement. CS says "go to your nearest location and get it replaced else wait for 2 weeks for the next appointment." End of first year, I call to cancel service since I am fed up.

CS threatens me for 45 minutes that if I cancel they will not let me sign up again for the next 6 months and I will be left in the dark with dish. I chicken out and stick to them and end up paying $130 now with lower # of channels. Same abuse, bad service, unprofessional attitude, internet downtime, cable downtime continue for a year. Beware about their CS. If you have called to change anything on your service, please call several times to confirm, because they never make changes even when they say they did. I have heard blenders run, babies cry, vehicles backing up, crunching & munching sounds while the CS is trying to talk to me.

I am not sure where they operate from but I am sure they are definitely not trained professionals. I finally decided to stop Charter this year. Dish is not offering me anything great, but at least I do not pay for being kicked around and abused by CS. I think it is time BBB took action to fix the obnoxious attitude and low standard service that Charter offers. I am still waiting for some to drag them to the consumer court.

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Terrible Customer Service And Technicians
By -

APPLE VALLEY, MINNESOTA -- I've been reading complaints about problems with Charter's installation, customer service, and DVR service. I shouldn't have been surprised at the ones that were coming from my same area. One of them was within the same time-frame. I've had no problem with Charter's product. My complaint is with their customer service and installation.
When we moved to five miles further south a year ago, we had to switch providers. I've regretted it ever since! I never had any problems with services from our previous provider. Problems were resolved quickly and efficiently as well as courteously.

We had 60 days before closing on our new home so I set up the appointment for service installation two months in advance. I set the appointment for the day after closing. We have VoIP and poor cell phone reception in the immediate area so I called to verify the dates and confirm the appointment at least a couple of times. In fact, I called the day before closing on our house as we weren't closing until the afternoon.

Charter showed up a day early to do the install. That was a slight problem since we hadn't even closed on the house yet! Their response was "We're sorry. We don't understand why the technician came out on Thursday instead of Friday since Friday is the date on the work order. What? You need us to come out on Friday? We're sorry, we can't do that. Friday is full. We might be able to squeeze you in next week or maybe the week after that. Yes, we realize it's our fault for this error. Sorry." We were without phone service for three weeks. Everyone else made the transition without a problem.

Once Charter came out, the technician refused to install the additional outlet ordered because it was unneccessary (we could tear up the carpet and drill a hole through the floor ourselves) and he didn't have time. Never mind the fact that it was on the order. When I complained to Charter, they offered to not charge us for an additional outlet. That was nice of them since they never put one in! My husband has a degree in electronics and has been a media technician for nearly 23 years. He certainly knows how to run wires and if he wanted to drill a hole in the floor, he would have done it. We wanted the outlet put in!

We finally got internet service (and use of our phone again) about three weeks later. I thought our troubles were over until we upgraded services in August. We sent an appointment and waited for two weeks. Charter cancelled the service call the day before because they didn't have a DVR. They sold us the service but couldn't deliver the product. They didn't know when they could fulfill it. Once again, they were "sorry".

Charter cancelled the second service call. They called our home in the morning for a 4:00-6:00 appointment and decided that we weren't going to be home at 4:00. Never mind the fact that the work order stated they were to call my husband's cell number. Customer service confirmed that number was indeed the number on the work order. Underneath it, our home phone number was also listed. We had to wait and make another appointment.

They kept that appointment. Apparently Charter technicians do not test equipment after an install to ensure that it works. My internet service didn't work after installation. Our DVR box didn't work after installation either. I see a pattern forming. By now, nearly two months had gone by. They tried to correct the problem remotely but it didn't work. Another appointment was set. Charter cancelled it again for the above reason. They did it again. I shouldn't have been surprised. Never mind the fact that we called the day before to confirm that Charter had the correct number.

This time customer service tried to claim they did call the correct number until I asked them why it didn't show up on the cell phone caller ID but it did show up on the home caller ID. The problem was finally solved (via remote) and it turns out the problem was at their end. Charter threw $14.00 at us for loss of service we were charged for but never received, cancelled service calls (due to their errors) and the countless hours we spent on the phone as well as time away from work. Everyone was happy... except us.

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Terrible Customer Service
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

FORT WORTH, TEXAS -- You have to literally spend about 30 to 45 minutes to get a live person, and takes another 15 minutes to just find your account!!! This is terrible!!!

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Too Many Commercials and Too Little Movie
StarStarStarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 3/51

RENO, NEVADA -- Last night I watched "We are Marshall" and noticed an inordinate amount of commercials. I timed it for 33 minutes and found 6 minutes of movie and 5 minutes of commercials three consecutive times. It was so annoying that I couldn't keep up with the movie plot.

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Worst I Have Ever Had!
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

MINOCQUA, WISCONSIN -- Worst service ever. Gave my credit card multiple times to pay for service and sent to collections for them not running card. Paid them and got sent to collections 3 months later. This is the worst company to work with. The people are robots and read from a script and no one does anything to help you in the company. As an FYI, this is only the second complaint I have ever taken the time to go online and write about.

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Charter Triple Play - Bait & Switch - Don't fall for it!
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA -- The Charter Triple Play was eye-catching. So since we were getting married, we thought we'd drop her current provider & make a “fresh start”… Boy, was that a mistake. I called Charter September 3rd to sign up for the Triple Play ($29.99 for TV, internet & home phone). (I still do not know why we needed a home phone, as we have cells & have not had a landline in years, but they said that was a part of the package, so we bit.) We had it installed October 2, as we were getting married, honeymooning, etc & did not want it till 10/2. I was quoted $107.94 for the first 12 months (the first month was to be $137.93 for installation, etc.).

I received my first bill October 9th in the amount of $301.41!!! I called immediately & asked what the heck was going on. After getting nowhere, even after talking with the supervisor Matt, I told them I wanted to cancel my services & pay up what I have used. I returned the equipment the next day, October 11th.

They have been sending me bills for $71.00 & I asked what that was for, they said that was for the telephone connection that was in place! I told them that I'd told them I wanted it discontinued when I called previously about cable & internet. They said I did not specifically say I wanted to disconnect the telephone, therefore the continuing charge! (We did not even need/want a phone line from the start, they said it was part of the ‘bundle'). In the meantime, Charter has sent my account to a collections agency to collect $68.40.

I am posting this to let all know that they are a scam & to beware of their schemes. I have since switched to AT&T, & while I believe their services to be high, I can afford $106 A month for internet & cable a little better that the bait & switch Charter pulled on me & yes, I am going to pay the $68.40, but I wanted to post this first & I will also be sending them a hard copy of this in the payment!

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Promises Not Kept
StarStarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 2/51

PORAGE, MICHIGAN -- First, let me say everyone I talked to was nice and tried to be helpful except Bonnie. After switching from AT&T due to their rate hiking, I went with Charter and they promised to lock in my price for 2 years. The first 6 months took me literally 10 phone calls (Liam, Jason, Sheri, Felicia, Jamaal, Linda, Theresa, Brook, Andi, and Sonya) to correct my billing. Apparently, their system is complicated and non-user friendly for billing and corrections. On top of that, their modem regularly (2-3 times each week) disrupted my WiFi service to where I had to reset the modem, reset the router, and restart my computer every time.

Their tech specialists who I spoke with and came to my house twice could not offer any solutions until their company received their new modems with better technology. So I was just waiting a few more months until I was going to call again to have that done. Then they audited my account to find that they were not billing me a monthly charge to use their (crappy old school) modem. Of course you weren't! Didn't you read the notes on the account? This is part of what you promised. Apparently, they were not supposed to and would not take the charge off my account.

After reading to them my notes of all the issues I have had in the past 10 months, no one offered any real help or solutions (Chris and Bonnie) until I called (Guy) to cancel because I decided to go back to AT&T. If they would have offered to credit me enough to purchase my own modem in the first place, I would not have changed back. But I am glad I did because now I pay less for the next 12 months and get a $200 Visa gift card. Charter is not worth all the hassle.

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Charter Communications Rating:
Star Half star Empty star Empty star Empty star
1.4 out of 5, based on 53 ratings and
149 reviews & complaints.
Contact Information:
Charter Communications
12405 Powerscourt Drive
St. Louis, MO 63131
1-888-GetCharter (ph)
www.charter.com
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