So my living room TV has been without cable for almost SIX weeks now. Granted I wasn't home for 4 of those weeks, but still! When I took my cable box in, after it got fried they told me they were out of cable boxes and they could put me on a wait list for another one. They said the wait would be 3-4 weeks and since I was going to be out of town I arranged for a friend to pick my box up for me when they called. They never called.
When I got home I called the cable company only to learn that the local office apparently doesn't HAVE a phone number for me to call and thus NO way to find out when I would be getting a new cable box.
Come to find out, they DO have a phone number! (Imagine THAT?!) I even ran across a nice lady (at a DIFFERENT cable company) who shared this phone number with me. Unfortunately the only way to actually talk to someone is if you have a 5 digit extension number... which I didn't have.
SO today I called Charter back and asked VERY politely if THEY could please call my local office and just find out WHERE I am on this waiting list. I explained my situation to the guy who answered (who spoke VERY little English) and our conversation went a little like this:
Me: (after explaining the whole story) ...SO is there any way you can call my local Charter office and find out where I am on the waiting list?
Charter: Oh you've been waiting for SIX weeks? I'm so so very sorry. We can reimburse you the money for the time you didn't have cable.
Me: No. that's not why I'm calling. I just need you to CALL my local Charter office so I know how much longer I have to wait.
Charter: So you need the address to your local Charter office?
Me: No. I KNOW where it is. I have a child in a wheel chair and the office is not handicap accessible. I just need you to CALL them on your other line and find out where my name is on the waiting list.
Charter: WOW I'm showing here your box fried in JUNE!
Me: Yes.
Charter. That's a long time.
Me: I know.
Charter: And they're out of boxes?
Me: Yes... I think so, that's what I need you to call and find out.
Charter: We can reimburse you!!!
Me: No. I just need to know where I am on the waiting list.
Charter: What waiting list?
Me: FOR A CABLE BOX!
Charter: Oh yes, we'll help you, we'll reimburse you.
Me: NO, I just need you to call them!
Charter: Call who?
Me: The local Charter office.
Charter: Oh we can't give out that number.
Me: I KNOW. Can YOU PLEASE call them for me and find out?
Charter: Find out what?
Me: Seriously?!
Charter: One second I'm going to help you and talk to someone else and we'll reimburse you!
And then I sat on hold. For 10 minutes. And then I hung up. Stupid Charter.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
14 comments:
OMG Renee. I swear, some people. And I HATE it when they don't speak English very well. It gets quite frustrating.
If it's any consolation, I got a good laugh out of your blog. It really made up for the blah Friday I'm having! ha ha
Hope they settle all that soon though. I'd be out of my mind with Keandre & Jasmyne if the box went out!
Have a great weekend!
Michelle
That sounds pretty close to the calls we make to our medical insurance company!
Jen
OMG, crazy. Switch to Dish. You know you don't need the cable box to get most cable channels. You just couldn't get the paid ones like HBO. Just hook the cable right into your TV. You have a cable ready TV, right? Joe says if you don't know how to do it he can walk you through it.
Try living in the same house as the cable guy!! If one of our boxes were to go out, he doesn't just get to go out to the van and get a new one. Nope, he has to call in to dispatch. They have to place an order. Then when the new box comes in, it has to be provisioned for every channel known to man. Then we have to go stand in line at the local cable office (where Chris is based out of). We have to wait while the girl at the counter figures out which locker is hiding the box. And then fill out the paper work.
This is where Grandma comes over to watch the kiddos and you make a trip to the OFFICE.....and after a few WORDS...you come home with a cable box!! Good luck and I'm sure you'll let us know the outcome!
We gave up on cable and are doing great with our digital antenna. Sorry you are having such trouble~!
OMG! I would so be cancelling that and getting a dish. Although I'm not sure how exactly you'd cancel if you can't get a &%*$(#& number for the @&$^)&$ office. #&%^!!! I'm irritated on your behalf, can you tell???
Oh yes, the joy of Charter. We have Charter, too. Only not for TV anymore. Just for Internet. DH's job pays for our Internet, but when we had cable, too, they couldn't figure out how to separate the 2 bills. So his job got OUR cable bill. And that almost got him fired for misuse of company funds. Needless to say, we didn't have cable with them for long. I'm irritated for you, too. ((Hugs))
We deal with Time Warner Cable over here, they are just has bad. Thou much better about speaking English. I have had Techs out to my house about 5 times in the last month...and still my cable/internet goes out almost nightly!
OK, I am having a panic attack just reading this because our cable (Charter of course!!) has been out since the day we left for VT and it is *still* out (no idea why) - my sister's cable wires got pulled out of her house by a truck that couldn't turn around (she lives in the bend of a road) and it took N I N E days for Charter to fix it!! Uggghh I'm screaming! Good luck!
Heather
OH Yes! The LOVELY Charter folks who are.....you said it....STUPID! They are the only cable providers here on the Oregon Coast. Trouble, trouble, trouble, but I hate dish so Charter it is! I feel for you!
LOL...well I just gave my box back to Charter last week :) So they have at least one! HA HA I'm a few hours away from you though so I doubt we have the same "local" office...I'm not even sure where mine is.
You know, there must be some "funky" air out there in Tennessee! You seem to encounter more than your share of clueless people.
Oh my word! I'm banging my head against the wall FOR you!!!!
Post a Comment