Our reader Jennifer isn’t the only former Time Warner employee whose AOL account has risen from the dead, prompting collection notices and confusion. Wall Street Journal investing columnist Jason Zweig, a former Time Warner employee, found himself in precisely the same situation, and wrote about his epic customer service adventure.
billing
Everyone Knows How To Handle A Stolen Checkbook Except For Verizon
By 7.3.09
Yesterday I was musing that Time Warner Cable was passing the cost of customer care off to other businesses, by requiring customers to take half-days or full days off of work just to wait for a cable repairman. Today I think I stumbled upon another hidden economic impact of bad customer service: it’s responsible for generating a lot of the “free” content online. The next time you’re reading an IMDB entry about “Damages” or “Big Love” for example, you can thank Verizon’s collection of angry, confused, and possibly insane employees, and all the idle time they create for a customer who has to deal with them.
Zombie AOL Account Crawls Out Of The Grave Nine Years Later
By 7.1.09
Jennifer, like many people, one subscribed to AOL. She paid for the service originally, then received a free account while employed with Time Warner. Then she joined the 21st century and didn’t use AOL at all, but her free account remained in the system. Until AOL started billing her. Nine years later.
Asking Comcast To Lower Your Bill Results In Comcast Lowering Your Bill
By 6.22.09
If you’re paying too much for cable these days, it really doesn’t hurt to call and ask for a discount. You never know, your cable company might surprise you. That’s what happened to reader Nitin.
Vonage No Longer Charging International Rates For Transferred Domestic Calls
By 6.20.09
Vonage apparently rustled up a map and is now apologizing to customers who were accidentally charged international rates for their domestic calls. Reader J.R., who in April received a $38 bill after Vonage billed a call to Los Angeles as a call to Algeria, sent us the telecom’s apology note…
Cox Sees Your Double Payment, Raises You A Double Bill
By 6.13.09
Tamera accidentally paid her $134.61 Cox Cable bill twice, but instead of refunding or acknowledging the overpayment, Cox thought it would be fun to send Tamera an extra bill for $269. If she’s lucky, Cox says they’ll consider waiving their late fee.
Hey, Skype, Why Can't I Change My Billing Information?
By 6.9.09
Over the last 1-2 years Skype has gone from being a great alternative to the greedy phone companies, to being worse than AT&T, Time Warner Cable and Comcast combined. Skype’s shady business practices are unlike anything I have experienced with ANY phone or cable company before. And I am saying this as someone who spends $150/year on Skype subscriptions and at least another $50-$75/year on additional Skype out credits.
"Help, My Comcast Bill This Month Jumped To $457!"
By 6.4.09
This is a sad evening for Consumerist, because this post is about Comcast sending a gigantic bill to an unsuspecting customer and yet we’re going to side with Comcast.
Citibank Comes Up With Elaborate Cash Back Offer That Reduces Credit Limit And Temporarily Suspends Card
By 6.4.09
Compared to what some other banks and card companies are doing to reduce their exposure to debt, we guess Citibank’s cash back offer isn’t that bad—it’s sort of a “let us help you help yourself get rid of your debt” scheme. It’s funny, however, if only because it’s such an elaborate way to get customers to self-select for a reduction in credit.
AT&T Wireless Customer? Turn Off Phone Purchasing Power To Prevent Unauthorized Charges
By 6.3.09
If you’re managing cellphones for a family or your parents, or let’s say hypothetically you have a boyfriend who says he reads Consumerist but really he doesn’t or else he would have known better, you’ll probably run into stupid subscription and content fees from time to time. You know how people are when it comes to fake “free” offers.
Time Warner's Revised Subscriber Agreement Allows For Consumption Based Billing
By 5.30.09
Time Warner has revised their Subscriber Agreement to lay the legal foundation needed to implement consumption based billing, including usage caps, tiered rate plans, overlimit fees, and speed throttling. Though Time Warner’s metered broadband plans lie in shambles after a barely-averted run in with Congress’ legislative mace, the cable giant clearly has no intention of letting such a potentially massive cash cow escape from the paddock. Inside, the dangerous new legalese that may soon appear in teeny tiny print on your next Time Warner bill.
Update: Verizon Changes Mind, Says It Will Give Refunds To Storm Victims If They Ask For Them
By 5.29.09
Since we first posted this, Verizon has changed its mind and announced that it will provide service credits to storm victims in Southern Illinois who were without service for most of the month. The credits won’t be automatic; to qualify for them, affected residents must call 800-837-4966 (1-800-VERIZON) to tell the company that they were without service.
Ordered From ProFlowers.com? Check Your Statements For Easy Saver
By 5.27.09
Mark has been taking a closer look at his finances and discovered a recurring monthly charge from some company called Easy Saver (easysaverrewards.com). He’s not sure where he supposedly signed up for the service, but his online search revealed a potential connection that he thinks others might want know about.
CVS Can't Get Its Billing Straight, Tells Patient He Has To Pay For His Own Kidney Transplant Meds
By 5.27.09
Chris has to take the immunosuppressant drug Prograf because of a kidney transplant, and it costs nearly $300 for a one month supply. Yesterday, he found out that someone at CVS corporate has instructed his local pharmacist to start billing him directly, apparently because his secondary insurer hasn’t been paying for nearly two years.
Comcast Threatens To Cut You Off Unless You Pay $0.00
By 5.22.09
This should be an easy one to resolve. Readers Rich and Alisa doesn’t owe Comcast any money, and Comcast doesn’t want them to pay any money. Still, despite this agreement about what is owed, the cable giant still felt the need to threaten to cut off their cable.
Comcast Credits Your Payment To The Wrong Account, Disconnects Your Cable
By 5.18.09
Reader Adam wrote in to let us know that he’s switching to FiOS after Comcast credited his payment to the wrong account number, accused him of not paying his bill, disconnected his cable, lied about it, then couldn’t get it back on for several days.
10 Confessions Of A Charter Customer Service Representatives
By 5.2.09
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…
T-Mobile Keeps Charging For Canceled Service, Refuses To Issue Full Refund
By 4.25.09
Taylor just noticed that T-Mobile has been billing him $19.99 for a data package he asked them to cancel seven months ago. Yes, Taylor should’ve caught the mistake sooner, but now that he’s found it, he wants T-Mobile to refund the $140 in unauthorized charges. T-Mobile, citing policy, is only willing to credit him $60.
