Jorge writes in about trying to get Time Warner Cable to not charge him for service he already canceled.

After he explained his plight, the first rep pretended to credit Jorge, and then pretended his computer went down. The next rep Jorge called demanded Jorge return his cable box and chastised him for stealing cable, even though Jorge had already returned the box months ago.

We suggest he call Time Warner Cable Executive Customer Service at 203-328-4017 which seems to be staffed by people not addicted to smoking freebased cocaine.

Jorge’s letter, inside… — BEN POPKEN

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Jorge writes:

“I have Time Warner’s new Internet Service and it’s always going down. I can’t stay online for more than an hour at a time without having service interruptions. But that’s something that I’ve learned to deal with.

My major gripe with them is that they are charging me for Basic Cable Television service that I don’t have. I used to have it and it was canceled 2 months ago because I switched to a satellite provider and had no need for Cable. So I figured my last months bill was to cover the service from the previous month so I paid it.

Then this months bill comes in the mail and it’s a whopping $72! After examining the bill closely, I realized that their bill says that all services are paid in advance, so the next billing cycle is for Dec. 11th through Jan 10th.

After reading this I immediately called them and tried to get out of paying for a service that I canceled two months ago. Customer Service Rep #1 was cool and calm and told me that it would be taken care of and I didn’t have to pay for the extra $30 in charges because I would be essentially canceling my service today and won’t be using the cable services for the next month. (since it’s paid in advance).

Then things went awry: The rep said , “I’m sorry sir, my system just went down, but don’t worry I’ll make sure to cancel your cable so that you don’t have to pay for television services that you don’t use.” So that was that….

But I got worried. So I then went to my phone and called back 2 hours later. I got another representative after dodging all the automated responses that plague call centers today, and the rep said that the cable was never canceled, and that the system has never gone down at their location. She then told me that I had to return a cable box and remote control before they could cancel my cable television services. I explained to her that I didn’t have a box or a controller since I canceled the service nearly two months ago, and that I’ve been paying only because I thought they were charging me for the final month of television services.

She then got angry or something, because her voice began to grow louder as she said “I can’t help you Sir, please return the box and we can cancel your cable services.” I then replied nicely that I didn’t have a box or controller since all that was given back upon canceling two months ago. She then got louder, and told me that I would be charged until I returned it, even if I didn’t have the cable service working on my television whatsoever. Furthermore they would cancel my internet and send me to collections if I decided not to pay the amount due in full.

I told her that i had no box, and after being yelled at about the severity of stealing cable equipment she said that she was a supervisor (amazing how they change status so quickly) and that I have to figure out how to find a cable box and return it or face the consequences of paying for the equipment out of pocket.

Mind you, I returned all the equipment 2 months ago upon receiving satellite service, and canceling the television portion of my services with Time Warner.

So they hung up on me after yelling a lot, and I am stuck with a bill that I don’t want to pay since I have satellite!

This is the second time Time Warner treats me in this fashion. The first time was when trying to get the internet installed the technician didn’t know how to configure it and spent 3 hours at my house reading the manual while I watched a WWE DVD.

So there you have it, my gripe with Time Warner as of today.

I don’t want to pay, but I don’t want to lose my internet service either, but something tells me I’m going to bite the bullet somehow.

loyal reader,

Jorge O.
Santa Monica, Ca”

UPDATE: Jorge writes again:

“I went over to their offices and talked to their clerk, they found the box canceled the cable, but at this point won’t refund anything.

Weird.

I’m going to see what I can do, because my wife is home now and I’m getting the third degree over having to pay for it.”

UPDATE: 12/12/06

“After returning my box yesterday, and having them print me out a receipt for it. I call up today to make sure that next month’s bill will NOT have cable television services on them. The lady said that they can not cancel cable television services over the phone, even after returning the box. They said that they need to schedule a technician to come out and cancel the cable.

This is exactly the opposite of what I was told yesterday.

So now, tomorrow a technician is coming out to cancel my cable, and the representative said that next months bill will show the changes.

Lastly:

My internet service has mysteriously been shut off. I’m now “borrowing” someone’s signal, because mine is no longer available.

This is the worst company I’ve ever dealt with, and I’ve dealt with some bad ones.

So I hope tomorrow it gets settled and I’m not charged “in advance” for another month of service that I don’t use at all.

-sir Jorge”

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