10 Confessions Of A Charter Customer Service Representatives
Did you know there isn't a formal way to report a Charter cable outage, and that you're entitled to a $20 credit if your tech is a single minute late for your appointment? These, and other fantastic tips to get faster, cheaper service from Charter, as told by a former customer service representative, inside...
I wish there were uniform tips for dealing with CSRs, but there's such a variety of quality - anything from an outsourcer in the Philippines who is following a script to agents who are in their third year of working through a CS degree. Don't assume that just because you're talking to someone without a foreign accent they're going to be useful - we have several outsourced centers in Canada and the U.S. that are just following Logicall (our call flow guide) and even the inhouse call centers are encouraged to follow it, especially for their cross specialties. (a year ago upper management decided that we could sell more new lines of business if they cross-trained the internet centers in video training and vice versa. Then they decided that training is expensive so they only gave us two days of it and told us to follow Logicall)
1. We have a lot of outages. Some are planned, some aren't. The planned ones - "scheduled maintenance" - have ETRs; unplanned outages don't. For unplanned outages we are supposed to say "It will be up within 24 to 48 hours" but agents don't like listening to the "OMG TWO WHOLE DAYS WITHOUT SERVICE" that inevitably follows so they'll make up a time of 1-4 hours. Usually it will be fixed within that time anyways, but don't take any timeframe we give as a guarantee unless you're calling in after midnight (99% of scheduled maintenance is in the early morning.) If there is a verified outage you should get one day's credit for your services according to the official policy. However, it has become common practice that customers should call back after the outage for credit (and of course management has done nothing to discourage this) and it's up to you if you think it's worth arguing with the rep/requesting a supervisor or not.
2. There is no way to report an outage. If you suspect there is one in your area the best option is to encourage your neighbors to call in and schedule appointments to trigger an auto-outage. Occasionally our pathetic excuse for an outage management team will collect information on suspected outages, but we have no control over when they ask for it. This is incredibly stupid but there's no way around it - a sup won't be able to do anything else either.
3. If your tech is late, you should call for a $20 on time guarantee credit. This will only work if the tech arrives after the time in the billing system. For example: if you have a 10-12 appointment and the tech shows up at 11:50, no credit. This also assumes that the time frame in the billing system is the same as what we told you.
4. If you need a tech and aren't happy with how long it will take to get someone out, you can request a "must do" or next day appointment if at least one line of business is completely down. So, if you have no dial tone on any phones, or RF (bad lights and bad signals on your modem) or no TV service on all TVs, you can insist on one. You aren't eligible if you have slow speeds, intermittent connection, a busy signal, TV service on TVs without a digital box, or if your appointment is an install or for a line issue.
5. If you have a home office and you rely on the internet, please get a charter business account. Most of the time you'll get same day appointments and much better CSRs - CB is reached only by internal promotion so all of the agents there have been with the company for at least six months and most have taken or are taking some sort of IT courses.
6. The promotions we offer vary by area, but standard rates are $29.99/mo for 5 meg internet, $44.99/mo for basic, expanded, and a digital converter, $19.99/mo for telephone, and $5/mo for a premium (HBO, Showtime, or Stz/Enc). If you're being charged more than this you should do the standard trick of calling retention and (nicely!) threatening to cancel unless you can get those rates. This doesn't include any extras like faster internet, digital views, modem rental (not that you should be renting a modem from us anyways - buy your own and you'll save money over the long run), etc.
7. Our email service sucks. Please just use Gmail. And don't call for Outlook/Thunderbird/etc issues - all we can do is verify your server names and then tell you to use webmail.
8. Wire Maintenance is our version of an extended warranty plan and a complete rip-off. We try and pressure you into it because it's the highest commission non-truck roll item ($2.50), but you should only have it on your account if you have a signal issue done caused by something you did like installing your own splitter or having a dog who chewed your coax. You should call back and take it off after the tech comes out. The only reason to keep it on is if you've had ongoing issues with being mischarged for truck roll fees and would rather pay the monthly fee than worry about arguing with the billing department.
9. Our Wireless service (Home Networking) is also a rip-off. You're paying $10 a month for us to walk you through changing your SSID/wireless key and pin resetting your router. Buy a router, spend five minutes on Google, and save yourself the money.
10. We have to upsell, like every other call center. The highest commission is on new Lines of Business. If you want to be a horrible person, you can tell the rep that you're interested in getting telephone service (gives the highest commission - $15) if they can get your issue resolved and then change your mind at the end of the call. The rep will be highly motivated to help you but you'll never reach moksha.
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If you're being charged more than this you should do the standard trick of calling retention and (nicely!) threatening to cancel unless you can get those rates.
My current promo plan is up after this month, so I'll be doing just that! Thanks!
For the record, what do you mean by "calling retention"? Don't think I've heard that one before. Anyone?
@Gaambit: The "retention department" is most places' new name for the cancellation department. So-called because their entire job is to convince you not to cancel -- hence retain you as a customer.
I wish I could get service at those prices. Here cox charges $49.99 for expanded cable (not digital, mind you- just regular channels 1-60), and the $29.99 internet tier is 1M down and 256k up- too slow for me to citrix into work, which makes it useless.
That's cheap! Here 72 analog channels (Mediacom) cost around $70 with taxes. Cable internet is somewhat cheaper and $29.99 gets you a 3/256 service.
It sucks that this company can't simply post a standard price and not force people into this promotional merry-go-round every few months.
I once had a Charter rep tell me he wasn't going to re-up my promo rate because Charter needs to make a profit. He went on to equate my asking for a promo rate to me stealing food from his family's dinner table.
Ditching Charter for AT&T U-Verse is the best thing I ever did. Fuck Charter.
I despise Charter. When I moved into my last apartment, no one showed up for my scheduled appointment. I rescheduled and they STILL didn't show up. I didn't have a choice with cable at that place and was forced to schedule a third appointment, in which someone actually did show up after much threatening on the phone from my end. I ended up filing a complaint with the BBB and noticed that they have a negative rating with them. Shocking. Wish I'd known I was owed two credits.
Charter is a never ending game of promotions and specials. It is impossible to know what your bill will be from month to month. I had to call every six months or so to renegotiate a new deal, and could usually get it down to ~$105 a month for internet, digital cable, HD DVR and phone.
But the last go-round they raised my rates to $162/month. I called and was told that I was not eligible for any promotions, so I told the rep to cancel everything and I'd drop all the equipment off the next day. At the office they tried some last-ditch specials to get me to stay, but I was done. Clearly having seen this before, the person said, "Tired of playing the game, huh?"
I went home and ordered naked DSL from AT&T for $35/month, put an antenna in my attic and bought a TiVo. Even after paying for the TiVo service I am saving almost $1500/year.
Oh, and a few weeks after I canceled everything they sent me a "we want you back" mailer offering phone, internet and cable for $69/month. I have to admit it was a bit tempting since DSL is slower, but I am not falling for it because I know in six months it will be back over $100.
I was a customer for almost five years and have never been so frustrated with a company.
That applies for pretty much every other cable company...
surprisingly, my cable company is really good. not many people can say that, but we have a smaller time cable company here, mediacom, and any issuses we've had with them were ALWAYS settled with same day service. phone+internet(+2HD digital boxes)+10mb/s internet is about $100 a month
so whenever i read all these complaints on consumerist about cable companies i always chuckle, and hope that if i ever move i can keep decent service.
granted its not always perfect, but i have never had issues close to most complaints here
I have been dealing with Charter since January and I have to say they are the worst company I have ever had to deal with and I have AT&T Wireless (iPhone) and had Comcast till I moved.
Charter is down all of the time. Every week all three services go down for a few hours. Sometimes more than once a week everything will go out. The TV service sucks and the internet service is slow. (I used to average 1-2Mbps on a "10 Mbps" plan. I would leave Charter but they have a monopoly in my town so it is them or a 3G wireless card. There is not even DSL.
I did get better speed after fighting with Tech Support for three months who said 1-2 Mbps was "normal" on a 10 Mbps service and three tech's coming to my house service has been better but up time still sucks.
Again I cannot say this enough. I HATE CHARTER!!!
I hate that the government allows these kind of monopolies. The Governments only involvement in the free market I feel should be to foster free and fare competition yet the government fails at this task thus allowing crappy companies like Charter to screw there customers. I will leave them as fast as I can and will never live in another house with Charter being the only ISP.
@HeartBurnKid uses Linux: the taint of OS's: And further to that, knowing the name of the department might help you... if the first-line CSR isn't going to budge (or transfer you to retention right away) you can explicitly ask to be transferred to "retention" and that usually puts you back on the path of rate reduction. You probably don't want to do it right off the bat, because CSRs like to think that they can solve any problem. So sometimes you have to play the game, let the CSR go through their spiel, then ask for retention and get down to nuts and bolts.
@ Employees Must Wash Hands- The best response for that would be to say "I hate to take food from children, let me cancel right away." I believe that they give these promo rates to make people feel better about getting shafted by a five hour window for an appointment. Most people would not pay for it unless they had these specials.
@DirectAnon: This is true, but Charter-specific info is golden if you've ever had to deal with them. I've had Cox, Charter, and Comcast service in my many moves and the service from Charter was hands-down the worst. Easily. Yes, I said it was worse than Comcast, and I'm sticking to that.
@Employees Must Wash Hands: It's not 'asking for a promo rate' if you're threatening to cancel though. That's being a bitch.
I hate Charter but have no other choice because they are monopoly in my area. I am too far from DSL, Uverse won't sell me internet only without TV but Uverse TV don't have the channels I want from Charter.
At least I am holding onto my landline with ATT. Charter keeps calling me to switch and I have to keep telling them I won't give Charter any more money. When they ask why, I tell them I don't want my phone line to go down as often as my internet line. Not a single salesperson contested that statement so far and they just thanked me for my time and hanged up.
"A ... Representatives" ???
My download speeds on the 10MB plan are generally in line with the service, I can't complain about my internet much but the cable service is just plan horrid. I'm tempted to drop them for Dish Network and get more HD channels. Perhaps later this month.
So last year I called Charter and asked to cancel because I think I pay too much. I tell the rep this, nicely of course, and rather than transfer me to retention or offer me lower rates, he cancels me. Well, this made me mad because I think I am a pretty ok customer - always pay on time, have never had service turned off for non-payment, pay a bill of $200 monthly, and don't call in with issues - so I found the number to an executive support team for Charter and called there. I explained what had happened and was apologized to and was given lower rates on my services.
@blueneon: I just want to be perfectly clear here. You called to cancel, they canceled you, this upset you for some reason, and you managed to get an apology out of them for having canceled you?
Congrats. You are officially What's Wrong With America.
I'll be switching to a new service myself sometime this month. I've been with Charter for years, and I'm tired of it.
The connection goes down often. I had it go down for well over a week last year because of some faulty underground wires which they first tried to blame on my modem that they replaced twice. They even tried to charge me for the repair visits even though it obviously wasn't a problem on my end.
As for getting a business account since I work from home... uhm, no. Why pay so much more when all I need is a basic connection just to get them to do their job?
I've had Charter for years. They have the sole cable franchise in the town I live in, so it's not as though I can just shop around. Some of this information corroborates my experience, some doesn't.
I've called them to report outages -- most of the time this is because a storm came through and brought down a line somewhere -- and never had any trouble doing so. They also brought it back up in short order (though not instantaneously!). So I'm not sure how this guy is saying there's no way to report an outage. I've done it, so I know it's possible.
They've also been to my house a few times for various reasons (initial installation, addition of services, etc.) and have always been on-time. Of course, they use a contractor, it's not their own personnel. But I have no complaints there either.
The main problems I've had with Charter -- which does coincide with this information -- involve non-catastrophic problems. On two occasions I've had a digital cable TV box fail on me (both times it put strange designs in its display and the TV was black). Another time my Internet connection was abysmally slow (as in, sub-dial-up speeds).
With the cable box failures I was forced to go through a "reset" process ... which I had already done on my own before calling, but on both occasions, the rep insisted on doing it a second time. I was also told they detected nothing unusual from my box, on their end -- although the view from here was a black screen and odd designs on the box display. Both times, the rep refused to do anything more, and both times I had to threaten disconnect, before the rep -- reluctantly, again in both cases -- put in a replacement order.
As for the slow Internet, getting that diagnosed took several calls and again the person on the phone forced me to go -- again -- through steps I had already taken myself (such as connecting the cable-modem directly to a computer and bypassing my router). Telling the rep that I'm a computer professional who had already gone through the basic connective and diagnostic steps, was fruitless. They treated me as if I were a 3-year-old child who barely knew what a "cord" was.
After three calls over three days, which included ineffective solutions such as replacing splitters, and again threatening to disconnect over the matter, I got them to send someone out. The next appointment, they told me, would be another 8 days! I said that was unacceptable and asked to change the appointment to an equipment removal instead of a repair. That got the appointment moved up to a mere three days later.
Once the tech arrived at my house, he knew within moments what the problem was -- the cable-modem had failed. He said that the model and make of modem I had, had started failing all over their system. I guess it had reached its optimal lifespan. He was surprised the reps were so unwilling to order a replacement, since (he said) this was a "known problem" and they would have seen from my account information that I had the make & model of cable-modem in question.
So our informant is very much correct that Charter reps do not handle non-catastrophic problems very well. If it's not an outage, their scripts say nothing, and they have no idea what to do ... so they refuse to do anything. And they make you badger and threaten them into acting. There's no good reason for that.
@MissPeacock: Most of the cable companies will waive any install fees if they can't make it withing the time frame. Service calls get $20 credit.
So if your install was free anyway you did not miss anything.
@blueneon: And that's the risk you're taking when calling in to get lower rates by 'canceling' your account. You have to be ready to follow through. Besides nobody ever told you that works all the time.
@PsiCop:
There is a simple process that needs to be followed. If your service is somewhat working you will get next available appointment slot which can be up to 5-10 days away. People with total outages get priority and they go into 'must do' pool.
I've had many jobs for 'no picture' only to find out it's one or two channels missing or one TV is not getting any service and I know this happened because the customer did something like you did (threatened to cancel or called corporate etc). I've had 'no dial tone' jobs for non-phone customers. I admit sometimes I'm really tempted to code jobs as created in error and simply close them without ever showing up at your location but I never do that.
BTW they should not have given you such hard time to set up a trouble call. I see no reason for that at all.
@PsiCop The techs that were sent to my home were really nice too. One told me that Charter knew about the faulty wires and that a lot of people in my neighborhood had been complaining, so he didn't know why they kept sending people out to each person's house over and over instead of just repairing the wires.
A week later they finally did just that.
I have Charter here in Reno and have had no real issues except for the price of services. I just canceled my cable TV service and upped my internet to 10 meg. Speeds are consistent and I am saving over $60/mo. All the tv shows I want are on the internet anyway, so I don't miss anything.
"Did you know there isn't a formal way to report a Charter cable outage"
I know it. There was an accident in front of my house which brought down a utility pole. I tried calling locally, no one would answer. I tried the corporate number. No one I spoke with understood what I was saying. They kept asking me when I wanted to schedule an appointment. Sure, my cable was out, but it wasn't down on my property. Within a couple of days someone from Charter finally came out and fixed it. I called up on got the days credited.
@Gaambit: @blueneon: I agree with PunditGuy. If I get someone calling in to cancel, I will usually do as they ask because I assume they're trying to avoid a runaround from me. If you want to be saved, say so. Or better yet, get through to retention directly by choosing the option to cancel/downgrade your service in the automated menu. Honestly CSRs rarely if ever judge someone on being a "good" customer. So it doesn't have anything to do with you.
I used to be a CSR for a major publisher in North Carolina. I wrote an article and it was published in Salon.com.
Like to read it? Here it comes!
It must be because we are in a small local area that we have little to no trouble with Charter. If its gone down more than 4-5 times in the last 9 years we've had it, we were unaware. The techs are great and the local office is staffed with wonderful folks. Yeah its a bit pricey, but when I called to cancel (the whole gotta cut something out) instead got a great deal thats actually a bit lower than the prices posted here by the OP; in fact, we locked in to that for a year :)
I was a CSR for Charter in their largest call center based on the US. This was approx. 2 years ago so things might have changed. Another thing is if your internet is very intermittent like mine is call and tell them so and ask for a credit. They will schedule a tech appointment but the tech wont show if your net is working when he checks over his work orders for the day. He won't show and your internet will continue to be crap. However, keep calling back and keep a long of when you first called until a tech actually shows then call for a credit. You should get one for the entire time.
Also, you can get any service Charter offers for a month free. However, remember to call back before the month is over or you will be charged otherwise FREE! If there is a sporting event you want to see but don't want to pay go for it. The sports package is usually only $5 extra a month anyway when I worked there. This is somewhat greyhat but if your tech was helpful and polite I say go for it because they get commission even if you don't keep the service.
Also, if you have a router remove it and directly connect to the modem. If you don't the CSRs are trained to tell you to fuck off. I always helped the customer anyway because it was quicker to solve the problem than to listen at them scream at me for 10 minutes (we weren't allowed to hang up for any reason). I never understood why we couldn't assist the customer if we knew how, it only resulted in call backs and a larger queue+angry customers. 70% of the calls a Charter tech receives each day are angry. The entire time I worked there I did hang up one two people. One customer that kept making death threats against my family and racial slurs and another very drunk woman.
Be nice to CSRs, some are idiots for sure but we are doing the best we can to pay the morgage.
Hmm... Fort Worth must be one of Charter's best markets.
I've been here for almost 2 years, and I use the cablemodem for work. I tend to leave my vpn session connected so I can get up to speed quickly if I get after-hours calls as well, and the data service has been VERY solid, only a couple of brief outages in 2 years, and one of those was weather-related (lightning took out a transformer that supplied the other side of my block, and apparently an amp for Charter.) My 10x1 service always tests very close to its rated speeds.
Video service is just OK... they're catching up on the HD channels, but the picture/signal quality on 2-76 is mediocre. Video on Demand had so many problems I subscribed to Netflix.
I do have to call periodically to get promo'd, and eventually I'll probably run into a limit on that. Hopefully by then, uverse will have all the bugs worked out and I can play the musical-rates game with them for a few years.
@PunditGuy: It's also Charter's fault for encouraging it. I had to call Charter to fix a billing issue months after I'd canceled and the CSR went into a long spiel about how I should have gotten a promotional rate when I asked to be canceled.
When the company is telling people to threaten to cancel to get a promotional rate you can't be surprised when the customers do it.
Wow you're right, I was completely wrong now that I read my post again and the replies. I really feel like a crappy consumer, and I am being completely serious about that. Thanks for putting my head back where it belongs everyone - really.
Want free cable tv with your internet? I've done this with charter & cox (they are the same company too, I believe).
Order cable tv & high speed internet. Cancel cable tv after first month, tell them you got laid off and plan on resuming full cable service again in a few months once you find work. You should now have free cable tv for a very long time now ;) You won't get premium channels, but you should get most the major channels from 2 to 80.
Why does this work? Because when you have cable modem and cable tv and you cancel the tv service, they have to send a tech out to install a blocking device so that you can get internet but no tv. If you tell them you will be resuming service soon, it's a waste of time to send a tech out, so they never put the order in.
I wouldn't do this of course, because it would be wrong to shortchange the poor broke cable companies ;)
Ineded, I have Charter as well and while it's been reasonably stable, when things DO go wrong, getting assistance is basically impossible.
We've all done the helpdesk thing so I understand why, even when someone says "I'm a computer professional", the support agent will still ask you to do inane things like restart the modem, because most "professionals" are just average dopes lying about it, and simple stuff like restarting the modem helps a lot of them.
But for crissake. When it becomes obvious that the modem isn't connecting to the Charter network, why are you blaming "Windows firewall"? It's not a software problem, and the problem would be there regardless of whether a computer is even connected to the modem. And I don't even run Windows, I run Linux, but I dare not say that to the rep because I'd immediately get an "Oh-we-don't-support-that" remark, like the OS has anything to do with the modem.
My favorite was more recently, after the conenction had been down all day and I'd had enough, and the rep told me it was because my modem wasn't DOCSIS 3, which isn't even available in my area yet -- plus, was he actually claiming that Charter would roll out a new infrastructure and not inform the customers until it was too late? Please.
There's no rhyme or reason that I can see, but sometimes when you call, you get the automated help thing, and when I do, I'm actually gratified. I just have to say "Continue" a couple of times, but when it says it's going to reset the modem or do whatever else, you can actually *see* the modem doing things, and oddly enough, it actually fixes it quite often. A far cry from the "Must be Windows firewall" BS I get from the humans.
So its not a monopoly. You just don't like the options that are available to you. Look up monopoly in the dictionary and then post something else!
@AgitatedDot: make sure you select the correct prompts when you call in if you select sales because you think it will get you someone faster. expect a sales process that will take 5-8 minutes before addressing your situation. after all You selected sales not the rep who is trying to do his/her job.
@EdinaGiant: One- It's spelled mortgage. Two- So your the idiot that tells customers its free for 30 days. NO it is risk free for 30 days. You still pay for the service. Yow can cancel it within the 30 days and ask for the 30 day money back guarantee(through retention only), but it is NOT free!!!
@WeAre138: So in other word you are a thief? Why do people think that the cable company is any different from any other company?
Having worked in the cable business for over 11 years almost everything here is completely true. I'd say it differs from company to company but this is pretty much the way things work.
It works trust me. After 6 months my internet and basic cable packages were going to go up I called and complained and threatened to go to Clearwire Wirless and my rates stayed the same for now.
Just in time.....I have to call Charter anyway, and now with these tips, I'm thinking I might actually look FORWARD to the call.