Charter doing business as usual

Posted Sun February 1, 2009 10:54 am, by Jack A. written to Charter Communications

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I was erroneously charged for a pay-per-view 101 Dalmatians movie. The online rep said that since the box was synced to the Charter system, I must have ordered it and he wouldn't credit my account. I ordered another movie later that night - in fact, while the first one would have been allegedly running. So in the process of reviewing my bill, I learned that I have been charged for an extra cable box for at least the past six months. Didn't we just learn that cable boxes were synced to Charter's system? How did that happen? Well, here's the transcript, listed below.

Thank you for choosing Charter Chat Live! A Customer Care representative from Billing Inquiries will be with you shortly.
You have been connected to TTD Walter .
TTD Walter : Thank you for contacting Charter Communications. My name is Walter. How may I help you today?
Jack Albrecht: Hi walter
Jack Albrecht: I have a charge on my online bill
Jack Albrecht: for 101 Dalmations
Jack Albrecht: as a PPV
Jack Albrecht: I ordered two movies this month
Jack Albrecht: well, January
Jack Albrecht: Iron Man and Step Brothers
Jack Albrecht: no Dalmation movie
TTD Walter : I will be more than happy to assist you with your billing concern.
TTD Walter : For me to pull up the correct account, could you please verify the phone number on the account, the complete name and service address, and the last four
digits of the account holder's Social Security Number?
Jack Albrecht: 817-XXX-XXXX
Jack Albrecht: Jack Albrecht
Jack Albrecht: 7XXX MXXXXX VXXXX TXXXX
Jack Albrecht: FXXXX WXXXX, XX XXXXX
Jack Albrecht: XXXX
TTD Walter : May I know who I am chatting with?
Jack Albrecht: Jack
TTD Walter : Thank you.
TTD Walter : Please give me a moment.
Jack Albrecht: thanks
Jack Albrecht: Also, in reviewing my bill
Jack Albrecht: I am being charged for 2 add'l recievers and 2 add'l interactive services
Jack Albrecht: I only have two boxes
Jack Albrecht: and one I've had for about 5 weeks
Jack Albrecht: how long have I been charged for that?
Jack Albrecht: since I only have one additional box
Jack Albrecht: and it's fairly new?
TTD Walter : I can see here that the 101 Dalmatian movie was ordered on 01/16 at 7:34 PM.
Jack Albrecht: must have been an error
Jack Albrecht: since we ordered Iron Man at 8:10\
Jack Albrecht: same night
TTD Walter : The system will not automatically add a charge if the movie was not ordered. Our system and your cable box is syncronized. All the movies ordered even if you did not watch it until the end as long as you ordered it, will reflect on your account.
Jack Albrecht: so if all this is synchronized, why does my bill reflect having 3 boxes when i only have two?
TTD Walter : Let me check.
Jack Albrecht: and by the way, I'd never have to order a Disney movie on demand
Jack Albrecht: my wife is a promotions director for Disney
Jack Albrecht: we have every Disney DVD in the known universe
Jack Albrecht: but that's fine if you want to dock me three bucks for something I never watched
Jack Albrecht: or ordered, unless by error of some sort
Jack Albrecht: anyway, I guess I'm not surprised
Jack Albrecht: kind of like when I requested for your company to stop calling me and asking if I want a telephone bundle
Jack Albrecht: and they said it was impossible since that was farmed out to a subcontractor
Jack Albrecht: and when I got upset that Charter basically gave my personal contact info away to try and make a quick buck
Jack Albrecht: I was told it was out of their hands
TTD Walter : Thank you for patiently.
TTD Walter : Thank you for patiently waiting.
TTD Walter : I can see here that you were charged for three cable boxes but your account is only showing two cable boxes. What I'm going to do is to remove the charge for third equipment.
Jack Albrecht: How long have I been charged for it? Do I need to dig through all of my statements?
Jack Albrecht: For instance, my August bill I was docked $5 for an additional receiver when I only had one
TTD Walter : I can see here that it was just added last December.
Jack Albrecht: Yeah, I put a TV in the bedroom
Jack Albrecht: and then got a box
Jack Albrecht: but I was charged in my August 16th statement for an additional box
TTD Walter : Let me check your bill for the month of August.
Jack Albrecht: same on the September 16th bill
Jack Albrecht: same for October 17th
Jack Albrecht: same for November 16th
Jack Albrecht: then for two extra on December 16th
TTD Walter : I can see here that the additional equipment charge was added starting on the August bill. What I'm going to do is to credit the previous charges starting on August until this month.
Jack Albrecht: on the 12/16 statement, I was even charged partially for a month since I got the box 12/15, but charged for two full additional receivers and service for the entire month
Jack Albrecht: why do I have a feeling I've been charged for that since I got service from you back in '06?
TTD Walter : The system only shows the bill for the past six months.
Jack Albrecht: Super.
TTD Walter : I'm going to give you a $30.00 credit.
Jack Albrecht: So let me get this straight - some PPV charge has to stay on because the box is synced to your system, but you are charging me for an additional box? Shouldn't you know how many of these I have if they're synced?
TTD Walter : The system is sync with your cable box, but adding an additional box to the system in manually added by a representative and I guess it was added incorrectly. That is why I'm going to waive the extra charge for the box.
Jack Albrecht: So are we done here?
TTD Walter : Yes.
TTD Walter : The credit will reflect on your next bill.

You owe me $145 dollars for overcharging me for basically two and a half years. Also, you can take that Dalmatian movie off...that part I can't believe. I ordered Iron Man less than 45 minutes after that charge! Finally, I don't want another sales call from your company or anyone it subcontracts to do telesales - ever. I don't want your phone service, upgraded internet, or more cable channels unless it's the NFL Network.

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Re: Charter doing business as usual by Donno Posted Sun February 1, 2009 @ 11:34 AM If you examined your statement each month, you would catch erroneous billing and be able to call immediately to get it corrected. You are now assuming the erroneous charge was added 2-1/2 years ago, but you don't know because you haven't reviewed your bills. The CSR was patient and professional in the face of rants and the fact you attempted to do a sudden real-time impromptu review of your account for 2-1/2 years through an online chat, while the CSR was attempting to answer a different question. That's amazing - they should give that fellow a raise. It seems quite coincidental that one of two movies you say you ordered in the month was within 40 minutes of the questioned charge. There are 44640 minutes in a month. And being such fans of Disney supports the possibility this was ordered. Reply