UNITED STATES—Trust me, the tale I’m about to share with you is based on actual events, things that literally transpired for the past 3 months as I fought tirelessly to get my internet provider to do their job. At the start of June my internet service started to go haywire, so I contacted my provider (I’m choosing to leave them unnamed just as a sign of respect), but if you really want to know just email me.
I was told that I needed to upgrade the modem that I currently had as it was outdated. Ok, I take my modem back to the local service station and get the new modem and hook it up to my cable line. My internet should be working fine right. Nope. My service had gotten so bad; I seriously thought it was my laptop that I purchased about 4 years ago. So what did I do? I went out and purchased a new laptop. Ok, with a new laptop and new modem the service would be working right? Nope. Now, I’m starting to get slightly peeved. I call my provider the first week in June and I’m literally on hold for an hour before I get to speak with someone.
Of course, they want to go through the entire account situation, but just by entering my telephone number all the information is there. To make a long story short, they reset the modem and tell me everything should be operating fine shortly. Of course, when your provider tells you something take it with a grain of salt. Nope, still can’t get wireless internet in my home. To make matters worse, I’m connecting my Ethernet cord to the modem from my laptop and things still are not working.
Now, I had this ongoing issue for the entire month of June, where I was calling every other day to report the issue, as I need consistent and fast internet for my second job that I do from my home office. So what’s the problem? My provider failed the #1 rule in customer service: do your best to accommodate the client. I mean I’ve called countless times to no success. July rolls around and I’m out of town for a few days on business, new laptop works perfect in the location I was in. However, I get back home and the same problem. I’m no longer peeved, I’m pissed. I contact my provider probably 6 times in one day about the issue. I’m on hold about 30-45 minutes each time, because every time I got a customer service rep on the phone they hung up the line on me.
No, I know what most of you are thinking, he had to be rude. Nope, not the case, but after the fifth hang-up I was livid. I demanded to have the issue fixed ASAP and to be retrofitted for the past 2 months. Why? I was paying for an internet service that I was absolutely not getting from my provider and they knew of the situation, because they had a log of every single time I made a call reporting the problem.
The technicians I spoke to were extremely helpful, those in the billing and customer rep department not so much. I spoke to a tech guy for over an hour on a Friday night about the issue, and he said point blank having a technician come out would not solve the problem, I needed a router. I said WHAT!I have to spend more money after being told by your staff I no longer needed the router because the new modem had everything in one. He bluntly told me it’s not true. I had been adamant about fighting against a technician coming out because the company wanted to charge ME to pay for someone to come out and fix their service that was causing problems. Yeah not happening.
I get on the phone with someone in billing and she was just a rude, nasty mess. I was so disgusted I told her to get me her supervisor ASAP. She even said if you need to switch your provider do what you have to do. What company tells a client to go elsewhere? I’ll tell you, a company that only wants your money and nothing else. I’m waiting on hold for nearly 30 minutes, no supervisor yet. I’m told supervisor would call me in 5 minutes, no call. So I just lost 2 hours of my time messing around with a disorganized, rude and pathetic billing department. This is the reason many companies lose customers. If you’re in the wrong you have to own up to it. My internet provider knew exactly what the issue was and didn’t take any steps to resolve it.
Finally, I get a technician to come out after vehemently making it clear in no shape, way or form was a paying for the service. This is after I waited on two separate occasions for a tech to come out and they never showed up. Yep, they screwed up my weekends and couldn’t give me an answer as to what transpired. I already knew the solution, I was wondering if the technician would: I needed a router. I had to spend additional money out of my pocket to have a service that is supposed to be the best, to actually work to some degree.
After 3 long months, I’m still in uproar about the situation and anxiously waiting to receive the credit on my account that I deserve for a service that I was deprived of, even though I paid consistently without being late for those three months I went with inconsistent internet. Trust me; if my provider does not do the right thing, I have no problem saying sayonara. If you’re not willing to provide me with the service, I’m certain I can find someone who will.
