I signed up for an $89.99 bundled service package. Time Warner Cable (TWC) required that I pay up front for the first month as well as the installation. It seemed like a good deal and I verified on two separate occasions (prior to installation) that my service would be no more than $90 per month.
I didn't receive a bill so I called Time Warner to inquire and pay the bill. Here's where the nightmare started. First, getting a live person on the phone is nearly impossible. This is of course by design as I later made aware by two separate TWC customer service employees. What happens is you dial their number (1-888-TW-CABLE)and reach a recording. The recording asks you several different questions and gives you options to select from. You'll never hear an option to speak to a customer service rep. So you keep trying to pick the right answer to get to a live person. The only way to get a live person is to not push any buttons and let the recording ask you questions over and over and over again. If you do that, you'll eventually get transferred to a live person.
Once I got a live person, he supposedly looked into the computer and found that my bill was $195. When I told him there was no way my bill could be that much, he stated that I had three services and gave me prices for each one. When I told him that I had signed up for a bundled service package that was $89.99 he told me that was impossible and they didn't have a package for that price. I then asked for a direct callback # so I could gather all of my original documentation and call back in 20 minutes without going through their awful phone system. They said that the number I called was the only number they had. I then asked if they could have a manager call me back in 20 minutes. The customer service person told me they would have their supervisor call me back in 20 minutes. I of course didn't receive a return call.
I called the national sales team that initially set up my new service and they said I would need to call the customer service line. The representative I talked to agreed that the phone system was "the most awful thing ever" and sympathized with the situation. I then called the TWC customer service line again. (It should be called the LACK OF Customer Service Line after the service I received.) Once I reached a live person (Mario), I immediately exclaimed that I was highly irritated and I wanted to speak to a manager. Mario responded with "Managers do not speak to customers directly". When I demanded to speak with a manager, he responded with the same statement again! I then asked who his immediate supervisor was and told him I wanted to be transferred to that person. Mario told me that his supervisor's name was Jose and said he couldn't transfer me until he made notes in the system regarding my account. During the time it took him to enter the notes there was laughter in the background, (this of course added to the lack of professionalism. After being held idle by Mario I demanded again to talk to his supervisor and he said he couldn't transfer me until he was finished with his notes. When he finally finished and transferred me, I got Jose's voicemail. I HUNG UP! Since TWC is set up to avoid it's customers and their managers do not speak to customers directly I will resort to posting this message on poster boards such as FTC.gov, ComplaintBoard.gov, RipoffReports.com, BBB.org and placing flyers in my neighborhood, malls, gas stations restaurants, and new housing tracts. Maybe if I warn enough people in a concentrated area about TWC's deceptive practices, false advertisement and lack of care or concern for their customers it will deter others from being put in the same position I'm in. Until someone within TWC's management team decides that their customers are worth talking to and calls me, I'm making it my mission to find two ways each day to communicate my experience to others.