*Edit- This has now been resolved. Read this post, then check out what Cablevision did in light of this
Ah, good ol’ Cablevision. As my friend Lance says “Adam, you’re now living in 1993. And you’re kind of like a Mennonite.”
I love to talk about companies that are getting it. UPS did a great job helping me with problems in the past. I love how Gary Vaynerchuk talked about companies that are doing great things in customer service in the new economy. I get excited by stuff like this. Then stuff like this happens:
Cablevision comes to install internet in our new place. They tell me the wires aren’t good enough to run internet. Apparently, the people who moved out 2 weeks ago had internet by magic. So, we have to go 7-10 days until they lay new wire, then call and have the tech come back.
Well, 8 days go by, ground is still not marked for digging. I figured I’d call and see what’s up. First rep tells me that there’s no note in the system about new lines, they just have to schedule someone to come with the right equipment. So I’ve wasted my time. Great . Keep in mind that my wife freelances for one of the largest computer companies, I freelance for a web design company, and helped to found another web design company. And we’re needlessly without internet for almost two weeks.
He then talks with a ground tech. I never even know what happens there.
Next I get a supervisor. She tells me that the initial guy at my house was right, and they have to mark out the ground, lay lines down, then get a tech back at the house. Two people, two different stories. All she has to do is schedule a time for a tech to come now. It takes me 10 minutes to explain to her that they still haven’t marked the ground, let alone run lines. Finally, she gets it, perplexed, and says she’d have someone call in 24-72 hours. More time lost.
It’s now 10 days later. I contact comcast cares on twitter by accident and they replied right away. Too bad problem wasn’t with them, they get it. Soon after though, I get a phone call from a contractor. The contractor calls me, the only helpful person. He says that the problem is that the marking company they contract out never came, and didn’t let anyone know. They couldn’t find the address, because they were looking in a town over 25 miles away. So, Cablevision didn’t know what their contractors were doing, and weren’t going act. They just happened to because I kept calling and let them know nothing was done.
I call them again. This time they tell me that they messed up, but really can’t do anything about it. They can expedite things to take 10 days instead of 10-14 (which really isn’t expediting, just keeping in their window). So now, because of their mistake, I’m out about another 2 weeks, once the new tech comes. We also don’t know that this is going to go well, based on past experience.
The final supervisor I talked to said he could credit my account for an amount that will not even cover the first month’s bill. This doesn’t take into account time I spent correcting all their mistakes, chasing people down, lost wages, etc. He apologized, but it comes across as pretty insincere when he won’t do anything else about it.
So, now I’m stuck without internet at home for another 10 days, at least, trying to figure out what to do, and still really haven’t received any real help or support from Cablevision. I’m out for 3-4 weeks because of their problems, that they admit to, but won’t correct. But really, have we come to expect anything else from cable companies?
So….what do you do when a company keeps messing with you and there’s no alternative?
Flaming bag of doggie doo