Why does Charter suck so hard and get away with it? Why do they, and other big companies like them, continually make billing "errors" that almost always favor them? Shouldn't billing errors tend to be neutrally positive and negative? Anyway, I've never really liked Charter, however, like many, I have little choice in the matter. I take some solace in the fact that I am using their network to publish a short negative message about their pricing, billing, and customer services. Take that!
I don't enjoy reading long accounts of what happened to some disgruntled customer (unless it's particularly horrendous), so I'll spare the entire story. Here are the highlights:
The story will continue as I plan on exploring these caverns and dungeons until I find the demon behind this.
I am currently paying $72 per month--give or take depending on what miscellaneous nickel and dime charges get arbitrarily added to the bill. The other options, whether 3MB or 5MB or 10MB or Cable-TV or no Cable-TV are within $10 of each other. So what Charter should say is simple, "We want you to pay us at least $62 per month no matter what." Why not just say that? I guess when you have a forked tongue, you can't help but beat around the bush and disguise your meanings. Don't even get me started on how they treat business customers.
PPS: I realize that individuals within Charter are not evil. Most are probably super wonderful people with families and dogs and rose gardens. My apologies to those hard working people.
UPDATE: It's been two years since I posted this, and finally, some competition is coming to Greenville. Alison Hall, vice president and general manager for AT&T in the Carolinas said in the article:
“Cable has been the only game in town for too long, and we're excited to change that today in Greenville,”
Amen.
I work for charter , the employees are undertrained and understaffed !! and now phone? I dont know about you but I depend on my phone we have at least 4-7 system outages a week in our area....
Charter has been run into the ground by you know who P.A a spoiled rich kid who wants to be the biggest and the fastest at all cost cable is old school to much to go wrong dish the way to go dsl well its dependable and ill keep my phone thank you........
cable man with a dish
Maybe that'll kick them into gear? Maybe someone will buy them out? Maybe this is their comuppance?
Who wants to buy a company full of debt?
Paul A needs to run back to Bill Gates and learn how to run a company...telephone is the last nail in thier coffin. FCC won't stand for there mistakes, try working for them you will learn more about corruption than you ever wanted to know
Now there being sued by over 8000 employees for overtime , more problems whats next? go charter go
I just want to expand on the "you will pay us at least $62". This is my chat session with a "Charter Representative" today. As mentioned above, all services in any bundle are THE SAME PRICE. The promotions are crap. The lesson here is that Charter doesn't make or lose any money based on your cable package or internet speed. You can upgrade, you can downgrade, just pay up.
Bob: Thank you Margaret, I show you are under a promotion and are paying for a non cable charge of $10.00. Do you watch TV at home.
Margaret Staton: Well, I would like to avoid a $10 non-cable charge, but I don't really want to pay for cable, either, we don't watch TV.
Bob: Let me see what I can do, but your best pricing with 5.0 meg may be a bundle with cable.
Margaret Staton: Ok, I'd love to hear my options.
Bob: Thank you for waiting. Here are some of your options.
Bob: Downgrade to 5.0 meg your cost $62.95 plus tax. That is with the current no video charge.
Bob: Go with your current 10 meg and add basic cable and your cost would be $72.94. This is for 6 months.
Bob: Get the expanded basic promotion and 5.0 meg for 6 months and That cost is $72.94.
Bob: You could also downgrade to 5 add basic cable and it would be $70.90. No promotion.
Bob: You currently pay $72.95
My parents have ongoing battles with Charter...and honestly, Time Warner here in Cola. isn't much better.
Same game with Bellsouth / AT&T. You must have telephone to have DSL. I don't need a local phone anymore, but still pay $15 a month plus about $10 in taxes, or $25/month for something I don't need.
Call Bellsouth and they will upgrade your package to a $30 a month which gives you extra features on the phone line you don't need. Then they can give you $5 off. So, now I'm still paying $25 for phone, plus two additional features I don't need. Then, they switch me around a couple of times and all of a sudden I'm not getting the $5 off. So, now I'm paying +$30/month on top of the DSL price.
At least Charter is only $10 a month if you don't want the TV. Though, their real "non-promo" prices are about $15-$20 more than DSL.
So, in a nutshell. Internet service is about $20-30 more a month than advertised, regardless of who you are using.
On a good note, I had a talk today with Josh about wireless campuses he's setting up at The Cliffs. The equipment for this is getting cheap enough to recover initial investment fairly quickly. Perhaps it's just a matter of time before we are paying neighborhood associations for shared Internet.
I've had service from Cox, Charter, and now Comcast. There must be some secret industry contest to see who can charge the most for providing the least. It's a close race. I do appreciate Comcast's customer service though - they don't always solve my problem, but at least they're nice about it.
They've been pulling this crap with us for 8 long tedious months. Ever since we signed up for their phone/internet/TV bundle, they started screwing up our billing.
The snafu started with a free installation and free phone service for the first 3 months that was (of course) never properly credited to our account. Thus began our monthly 90-minute-long phone dance with customer service operators.
In spite of our religiously paying our Charter bill every month, our TV cable service would be abruptly cut off anyway. That very evening, our exhaustive phone session with no less than 5 operators resulted in our account issues being allegedly settled, a heartfelt promise that the problem would not happen again.
Only it did.
For 8 months in a row.
Some guy, somewhere in the Philippines: "In order to reactivate your account, I'll need you to pay $73.93 cents today."
Me, in G-Vegas: "Um... no. You're still trying to bill me for a free installation and a three months of free usage."
90-120 minutes later, the problem was fixed, complete with apologies, etc., but 28 days later, it would miraculously rise from its ashes once more to turn one of my evenings into an exercise in advanced level anger management.
Which is why Charter can now come and get their stupid phone box thing out of our garage, because we're done with their crap.
Perhaps they expected me to give up and finally pay for the free installation and 90 free days of phone service they used to lure us in to their bundle package.
Tough chance. We've given our greenbacks to Verizon Wireless instead: Casa de Blanchard is now hard-line telephone-free. Domestic calls are handled via cell phone, while international calls, video conferences and faxes are handled via internet.
Thanks for killing your own VOI business before it ever got off the ground, Charter. Brilliant.
I have half a mind to bill them for the time I wasted talking to them. (About $1,200, by my latest estimates.)
Charter does indeed suck.
I have gone to war with every cable provider south of Kentucky, and now I may have found a home where there is real competition in the industry.
In Chicago, RCN and Comcast are in direct competition, and have comprable infrastructures throughout the city. I went with RCN because, well, lets just say comcast and I are still disputing a couple things. RCN has actually done a pretty good job. Granted, 6-7 channels don't work very well, but at least they fix things when they break.
FWIW, I just got off the phone with Patrica from Charter Business. Nice as can be and helpful too.
I will give them that. When they know it's a business customer, they are very pleasant. But the principle of the matter still bothers me. They're pleasant because they are charging us twice as much for the same residential service.
charter is the SPAWN OF PURE EVIL, im not even the complaining type, but im only 2 1/2 months into my service and ive had to have 4 service calls (which none of the "techs" have been able to figure out how to make my "wireless service work"
ok...so i have no wireless......
im subsequently billed, for not just wireless service, but for wireless hardware. The kicker is that even if my wireless did work WHICH IT DOES NOT, there is not supposed to be a extra charge for it anyway
on top of it i was billed for the service call when they were unable to fix the problem
ive been charged a mysterious 5 dollar "end user common primary line charge", which at my old house (3 months ago, same charter service) was 19 cents.
after much woe (ive spent 20 plus hours between phone calls and waiting for installers) I thought i had the account straightend out and made my payment.
Now im getting disconnection notices and after calling in to discuss it have been told that i have to drive a copy of my cancelled check which i now have to get from the bank to a "charter center" or fax a copy with a request
ARE YOU F'N KIDDING ME
AVOID CHARTER LIKE THE PLAGUE, IM SHOPPING FOR NEW SERVICE STARTING TOMORROW
I am actually right in the middle of chatting with a "billing rep" on-line. I have been screwed by Charter since April of 2009. Just moved to a charter neighborhood in November. I will summarize it down quite a bit... April, May, June, and now July... each month called to have bogus charges taken off my bill, each month paid the total bill in full after the "rep" fixed all the bogus charges and now I am sitting here with my July bill in hand... still cannot pay it because it says I owe... READY? $456.17. For the cable/phone/internet bundle. And now... they are telling me that the charges are valid? I have been hung up on... Now the chat lady will not stop asking me to call the billing number.. what good are they if they can't help? I am going to dedicate a little time each to trying to get justice here... I am very tired and angry about this and there is no other choices in my area besides a dish.
The best thing available now, is the $19.99 for 1 Mbps + $10 for not subscribing to their crap video services coming to $30 plus taxes and other nickel dime charges. Yes 1 Mbps sucks, but it is good enough for web surfing, email, xbox live and even good enough for my VOIP service through Vonage.
Yes I am using all of the above services with my 1 Mbps connection just fine.
I just got there service a month ago and can not figure out what the hell is a "end user common Line Primary Tax" for $6.50? First bill and no credit for the cash paid up front that was supposed to be credited for bill. If they think they have a dummie here they are sadly mistaken. I have no problem cutting my losses and moving on!
HI looks like were are all in the same Charter boat! It has taken me a few months to get a consistent price on my statements. They even had the gall to charge me $35 for a service visit to fix their shoddy wiring when my internet went out. My phone calls get dropped constantly, and the only search you can do by title on cable tv is by using the first letter, meaning you have to scroll through hundreds of titles to find what you are looking for!
So to answer your question is simple, "Why does Charter suck so bad and get away with it?" It's a government granted monopoly which means less competition in the market (used to be NO competition, in some areas may still be) and no incentive to do well and provide good service.
Btw, End User Common Line is a charge which goes right into Charter's pocket (same with other phone companies)
I know these problems with charter all too well. They have dirty practices that IMO should be illegal. For instance they arranged with my former apartment complex to add the standard cannel service to every apartment unit at a cost to the renter of $30 a month, which they hide in the rent instead of a charter bill. Then when I called and set up a DVR box/modem it took 2 visits just to get the modem to work and I was charged $80 at the door for the first visit. Later they put another $80 on my bill for "activation".
A few months later I realized that not only was i being charged for the cable services I ordered but was also still being charged the $30 for basic service through my rent.
Here is the real kicker though. Once I moved out of the apartment I paid off my final bill and was stuck with the box and the question of how or where to turn it in. I received bills asking for over $300 for the box if not returned, which is no biggy since it was able to be returned, BUT THEN. After I had got done talking to a woman on the phone that A) could not tell me where to turn the box in and B) told me my account was shut down and once the box was returned I would be cleared. Imagine my surprise when I got an email stating that my charter bill was ready for viewing. That's right, being charged for a cable service at an address where I no longer lived. It looks to me like there are 3 or more years of bad experiences speaking here, and countless others on different sites. It should be illegal to conduct business in such a way.
Amen brother. Let's start a not-for-profit telecom business together -- always neutral, and no bandwidth caps.
I would much prefer it if Charter would simply state how much money they need to charge per month in order to be profitable, rather than nickel and diming their customers. For what it's worth, I switched from AT&T to Charter about 1.5 years ago (long story), and I just got the standard middle-of-the-road package and purposefully tried to find the price point somewhere between $60 and $70 / month -- knowing this is probably their sweet-spot and I'd be less apt to get hassled or shaken down. So far so good.
Charter, in particular, is extremely arrogant and literally laughs at all of us stupid enough to subscribe to their service (we have to since they are the only game in town except for CenturyTel, who is even worse). In reading this thread, it is clear that they do not care. What are our alternatives?
Wow what crap. Just moved to Reno area from Tucson. I was looking at charter to get internet but I saw the ridiculous crap they were charging. An extra 10 a month for wireless in your home?! Stupid!! I mean I was paying 50a month for internet and phone in Tucson. With a wireless aswell. Just ridiculous. I'm sticking to using my cell phone internet! This charter company is just plain stupid. And I can't believe so many put up with it!
Internet with charte;r If you have HSI max 25 mgs call and downgrade now you are paying for than the HSI plus plan that is 30 mgs. The next step is 100 mgs which you dont need unless you are running a server at home. Wireless don't rent get go buy a router at any store and if you can afford it buy your own modem why pay rental on a inexpensive piece of equipment.
I've been with Charter since early 2000's. Have only paid retail once.
Just have basic TV and supposed 8Mb internet.
They had two 480i channels for most of the basic channels. As of yesterday, they dropped all the better resolution 480i channels leaving those channels looking like old UHF channels on CRTs. Talking to a tech today came down to them saying all will be forced to pay more for a set top box (i run cable straight to tv) and screw anyone that can't afford it. I just leave my glasses off and it looks okay. I do still get local channels in 1080i and 720p. Just a few in 1080i since most have or are downgrading from 1080i to 720p to save money and bandwidth and so I've been told by two network techs, most people can't tell the difference. I can with my now unnecessary 1080 TV. Love how these folk manipulate the masses.
Going to save for an antenna that will get past the trees. Advertisement paid for television up until cable. No reason it still can't other than overpaid execs.
CHARTER SUCKS A HEAP OF ASS THE SIZE OF MOUNT VESUVIUS. I have not been renting their lousy piece of crap modem for over 8 years, but just last week they decided they wanted to start charging me rental again so they sent me a letter notifying me that they had overlooked my failure to pay for a modem for a long time but would now generously forgive their oversight and only charge me from this day forward. I spent a couple hours on the phone getting assurances from various levels of management that this charge would not appear on my bill while they 'research' the issue. But of course the bill I received today has the charge on it. So I needed to write about this before I call the customer disservice number, because if I don't vent now my cussing is sure to make that poor lady in India's hair fall out.
ADVICE if you buy your own modem to avoid the rental fee: SAVE YOUR PAPERWORK. FOREVER. I of course threw mine out last year with my annual cleanup of papers that are over 7 years old, so of course they now magically discover that they aren't getting rental from me.
How can there not be any competitors taking down this piece of shit company? The biggest laugh is that I also received a goddam ADVERTISEMENT to upgrade to the bundle. So I can get screwed on phone and TV too! Where do I sign up?
As Lazarus Long stated in the last blog, I am getting screwed by charter's inept billing department. Basically I purchased a modem from them in a separate transaction, and about 1 yr later they decide to add a lease charge to the modem I had already paid for (same store as above). My biggest mistake is cleaning out old records/receipts from years past. Now I have to prove I bought the modem from way back when while they don't have to prove anything including a lease agreement... which they don't have a record of either. I can only hope I find the receipt and set their shady business practices down. Their customer services are so beyond pathetic, if they had competition they would go under in short order! What they need a class action law suit on these crooks!
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I recently got screwed by Charter as well. This is my first time as a Charter customer, and will definitely be the last!
I signed up for the $19.99/month 3Mbps for 6 months. My first bill was for 2 months' service. That's fine. I just received the second bill (for month 3), and it's the standard $53.99. That's REDICULOUS, even for 3Mbps! Whatever happened to $39.99?!
Regardless of the amount, I have not yet even had 3months of service, and they're billing me above the regular rate.
Furthermore, they will not provide any support over the phone, you must go to their local store for billing issues. Unfortunately, it does not state anywhere on the promotion receipt or email how long you will receive the offer. Of course I didn't think to even look for that documentation at the time of signing at installation. Looking at all my paperwork now, it has no statement that your promotion rate is good for a specified number of months!
ARGH ! I'm going to cancel their service asap! this is horrible service!