Time Warner Gives You $1,271, Won't Take It Back

Melissa isn’t sure why she has a $1,271.25 credit from Time Warner Cable, but there it sits in her account, baiting her to order a slew of pricey extras. Melissa asked Time Warner to reverse the credit, figuring the random payout had to be a mistake. “We can’t fix it,” they told her. “It’s an error on our part. Enjoy!”

So after much debate, I decided to downgrade my Time Warner cable service to internet only and purchase Apple TV. Turns out, you actually get all kinds of channels free (even some in HD) if you just subscribe to internet. I don’t have DVR, but I’ll live without. After all, my monthly bill will be going from $145 to $45. not too shabby.

I called to cancel last week, but the CSR told me it wouldn’t be effective until I turned the box in. I did so this morning and when I got my receipt, I did notice that the current balance was listed as -$558.85, but I just figured it would fix itself. I logged into the Time Warner payment site and noticed that in the Recent Activity section that there were tons of charges and credits, but in the end, it told me that the amount applied to next bill would be $1271.25. Hmmmm.

So I called, of course, to figure this out. I got a nice guy on the phone that was completely stumped. I was put on hold a couple of times, then finally he comes back and says, “Well, we can’t fix it, it’s an error on our part. Enjoy.” He said they have no idea what happened, but that it was their fault. I told him to please make a note on my account that I question this. After all, I don’t want to use the credit, then them fix it and suddenly I owe 6 months of service. I’m going to call back tomorrow, but this seems for real.

Ever hear of this??

The credit is a tease. Don’t even think of spending it. One Time Warner customer service representative might be willing to part with money that isn’t his, but the company is going to want it back. If you use their services, set aside the full amount so you aren’t surprised when they come asking for payment.

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.