Time Warner Northeast Ohio Horrible Customer Service; Incompetent Technicians; No Empathy Cleveland Ohio
After having amazing service and results with Time Warner in the Columbus area, my wife and I decided to stay with Time Warner when we relocated to Hudson, OH. I would like to chronicle our interactions to this point so that you can understand where I am coming from.
(1) We first called Time Warner at the beginning of November, 2007 to begin cable, Internet, & phone service. We were told that the house had never had cable and that a site check would need to be completed. We were also told that we would be called back in a few days.
(2) After not hearing from anyone for over 1 week, we called back. We were told that the site check had occurred and cable was available, but the report had not been entered into the computer...they would call us back that afternoon.
(3) After not hearing back from anyone for several days, we called again and were told that the soonest that our services could begin would be ONE MONTH. When we explained that we had been delayed 2 weeks because of Time Warner's failure to call us back, we were told that a supervisor would call us to discuss.
(4) After no supervisor called, we called back and were put on hold for 1 hour. No supervisor ever came to the line. (Mind you, we are using our cell phone for all the minutes because we don't have a home phone at this point.)
(5) After speaking to a Time Warner installer that is a friend, we called and asked to split-up the order so that the cable and modem could be installed sooner, and we would wait on the phone. We were told this had to be done by a supervisor and that although none were available, they PROMISED one would call.
(6) After no one called (surprise), we called back and were put on hold for an hour again before we hung up.
(7) We decided to go with the local phone service, as we could no longer wait on Time Warner for the phone but decided to stick with Time Warner for the rest. When Dec. 11 came, we were informed by the installer that the work that was documented in the site visit had never been completed, so there was no way to begin service. We had to call back and start all over. Additionally, the equipment we had requested did not match what he brought to the house (not that we could use it anyway).
(8) On Dec. 12, we called again. After being on hold for 45 minutes we were told that the soonest the work could be done was Dec. 27, but that it might be late January before we would have service "because of the holidays." Again, we were assured that a supervisor would call to discuss escalating our order. Never happened.
(9) I then sent an email chonicling our experiences to the customer service department. Guess what? No response.
(10) We left for vacation for a week. Upon our return, we called on Dec. 24 to verify that a technician was coming on the 27th. They had no record of it, but said that they would put it in the computer. They said that it would be January before the install could happen though. Wehn we begged and pleaded, they put us down for install on Dec. 31.
(11) On the 27th, someone presumably came (we were told we did not have to be home, as the work was all outside), but they didn't do anything.
(12) We called on the 28th, and were on hold for 30 minutes. The agent said she would put on hold and research the item. Guess what? Yep, they hung up on us!
(13) Called back and was on hold for another 30 minutes. We were told a supervisor would call. Yeah, right!
Time to go to satellite. I mean, how many times can one guy get kicked below the belt?
Sam
Hudson, Ohio
U.S.A.
5 Updates & Rebuttals
Dee
Anytown,North Carolina,
U.S.A.
I had quite a few customers with this same problem
#6UPDATE EX-employee responds
Tue, July 01, 2008
I used to work for TWC in customer service. The first time I encountered a customer who had the same problem you'd had, I didn't know what to do. Let me first briefly explain the procedure of the call center:
I would get to work, start my pc, and then there was a 2 step process to logging in. From that moment, you were not to get out of your seat unless you were on break or had to use the restroom. If a CSR needs assistance, he/she must try to flag down one of the 2 leads who were on the floor. The CSR must not leave the work station. If a customer had a complaint, we were to complete a complaint form, and give to a lead. Those forms would sit for at least a couple of weeks, oftentimes longer. I once had a customer who'd written a letter I'd opened come to the front desk 2 weeks later to follow up on his complaint. I went to the leads' inbox and found the letter buried deep under many other complaint documents. The only letters I can recall that got immediate attention were satellite bills for customers who were converting from satellite to TWC (we got a $25 bonus for this).
The nice lady who called me this day told me that she was waiting for some construction work to be done at her residence so that she could have cable. I tried to go into the system to see if her address had been built. If it had, I would have been able put in the order myself. It had not been put into the system yet. I asked her to hold on so that I could find out what was going on with her address. I got the attention of a lead who called the construction supervisor, who was out in the field at that point. The lead left a message on the supervisor's voice mail. I told the customer that we would have an answer for her once the supervisor returned our call - which I'd estimated would take an hour or two. The lady said that she'd call back. The last CSR who'd spoken to this woman had promised her they would call back, but they never did, and she couldn't remember the rep's name. I gave her my name, and said that she could ask for me when she called again.
A couple of hours later, the lady called again and asked for me. The rep who answered transferred the call to me. I said that I had not heard back from the supervisor, but I would ask the lead if he had any news. I motioned for the lead, but I could not get his attention. I had the lady sitting there on hold while I was standing up, trying to get the lead's attention. I finally clicked the icon on my pc for the call center supervisor (who was located in a different town). I explained what was going on. The call center supervisor called the construction supervisor, and then got back on the line with me and said that she'd left a message with the supervisor. So at that point, the construction supervisor had 2 messages on his voice mail, and I had no answers for this woman. I asked the CCS if she could call the construction supervisor's cell phone. She said that she did not have that number (???) I thought that was odd. I finally had to tell the woman what had just happened. She said that she would call again.
About 15 minutes before my shift was about to end, a call was transferred to me. It was the customer again. I tried once again to get the lead's attention. I could not. I did not want to tell this lady to call back a FOURTH time for someone to say that I was "gone for the day". I didn't think that was good customer service. I removed my earpiece and marched down to the supervisor's office-even though that was forbidden in the call center world. I walked around and asked everyone in the area if they'd seen him (no one had). I went back to my station and told the customer, "I went to look for the supervisor myself and I could not find him. Let me try a customer service supervisor again." I dialed the CCS once again. I said that the supervisor was not in the building & I knew this because I personally got up and went to look for him. The CCS laughed. I told her that I was about to leave for the day, that the lady had called 3x just that day, and I didn't want to pass the buck and tell the customer to keep calling back. She said that she would talk to the customer. That was the last I'd heard from anyone about the situation.
Whenever I got a call, and the customer started out by saying, "I just called and I got disconnected...." I knew that either: a) the customer wanted to order 'basic-only' cable (no commissions), OR b) the customer had a difficult, ongoing problem. I never EVER had a customer call and tell me they'd gotten disconnected, and then say, "I'd like to order the full digital package!"
After that, I'd had plenty of prospective customers call and ask why they were still not able to get service. I noticed that some of them eventually just gave up. I knew that they had decided to get satellite.
Mdbjtk
Porter,Texas,
U.S.A.
have you thought about getting a real home phone
#6Consumer Suggestion
Sat, December 29, 2007
try contacted the local phone provider for the area i am sure that they have bundle package that includes phone, internet and tv
Mdbjtk
Porter,Texas,
U.S.A.
have you thought about getting a real home phone
#6Consumer Suggestion
Sat, December 29, 2007
try contacted the local phone provider for the area i am sure that they have bundle package that includes phone, internet and tv
Mdbjtk
Porter,Texas,
U.S.A.
have you thought about getting a real home phone
#6Consumer Suggestion
Sat, December 29, 2007
try contacted the local phone provider for the area i am sure that they have bundle package that includes phone, internet and tv
Mdbjtk
Porter,Texas,
U.S.A.
have you thought about getting a real home phone
#6Consumer Suggestion
Sat, December 29, 2007
try contacted the local phone provider for the area i am sure that they have bundle package that includes phone, internet and tv