The worst experience I have ever had with any company
Written: Oct 23 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Cable Modem
Cons: Tech Support, Customer Service, Sales..pretty much everything else
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| cgard71's Full Review: RCN Cable |
My first experience with RCN was when they came and did a presentation in our lobby for resilink. This is a package that includes phone with unlimited regional calling and cable with 115 channels. We decided to sign up with Time Warner did not offer digital cable or cable modem on the Upper East side of Manhattan. So we signed up and made an appt. for October 9th. About three weeks away.
My boyfriend stayed home from work that day to wait for the guy to come and hook up our phone. When the installation guy shows up, he tells him that he needs to drill all kinds of holes in the wall and that we will need a note from our building manager before he can install the cable or the phone. When I get home from work that night, I am furious. Why didn't they tell us that three weeks ago when we made the appt?
I call to make another appt for Saturday because there is no way we are sitting home for another entire day. The woman who answers the phone tells me that she has to contact dispatch about the appt and she will call me back. I never hear from her again. I call again about two hours later and there is nothing in my acct. that I ever spoke to anyone. I go through the whole thing again and she never calls me back. I call again and ask to speak to a supervisor. The first thing you learn about RCN is that they never ever want to transfer you to a supervisor. I wait on hold for about twenty five minutes after literally threatening the rep's life and I get Todd on the phone. He tells me that installation people do not do saturday appts but he will make me an evening appt for thursday night to install the cable and telephone. I call my building manager and they immediately fax me a note giving RCN permission to drill holes in the wall.
When the installation rep arrives on Thursday night, he tells me that he knows nothing installing the cable but he will happily install my phone. I try to call Todd on the extension that he gave me in case there were any problems and the extension doesn't exist. He installs my phone and leaves. I am in tears. I call customer service and the woman tells me for all my troubles that they are going to give me a coveted saturday appt. and she will call me back with the time ( I am obviously more informed than she is and know that they don't have saturday appts but I don't tell her that). That doesn't matter because she never calls me back. I call again it says in my acct from the woman that I had previously spoken to that I had my cable and phone already installed. I tell her that I want to speak to Todd after I learn that she knows the saturday appt. secret. Apparently Todd doesn't work there because no one has ever heard of him. I get another supervisor on the phone who tells me that she is going to try and get me a saturday appt. and she will call me back. No one ever calls me back and I decide that I am going back to Time Warner before I throw myself off my balcony.
At approximately 7:30 AM on saturday morning, the installation guy is at my door with two cable boxes and two remotes and tells me that my RCN cable is installed and he just has to hook up the cable boxes. I say what about the holes being drilled in the wall. He says he didn't need to drill any holes and he doesn't know where that came from. We are thrilled with the cable and decide to hook up a cable modem to our computer. We were feeling that good. After all it only an upgrade to the "gold" package and an extra $20 a month.
First thing monday morning, I call RCN to make an appt to hook up a cable modem. After twenty five minutes on hold, they tell me that I have to go through sales and officially upgrade before they can make an appt. I get transferred to sales and the woman tells me that I am not eligible for any "resilink packages" and that I will have to pay for all services a la carte. I am officially blown away. How can that be I ask? They spent a week in our lobby selling us these packages that don't exist. I am beyond tears at this point. The final bill would be about fifty dollars more than I signed up for. I ask to speak to a supervisor. IT takes me about fifteen minutes to convince the customer service rep that I really do need to speak to someone higher up in sales. Yes, I have just been sold a fraudulent package. She finally gets me someone after twenty more minutes of being on hold. The supervisor confirms that I have been sold a fraudulent package. She however does not agree that this might be illegal. Nor does she sound suprised. Unfortunately we get disconnected and I have her name so I call back. Her assistant answers, puts me on hold and then tells me that the supervisor has gone on break and will call me back. I never hear from her.
My first course of action is to call the woman who was in our lobby and sold me the package. I finally determine that she is in the New York office and She answers on the first try. She has no idea what I am talking about and tells me that she will call me back in fifteen minutes. She even gives me her cell phone number in case she doesn't call me back. She doesn't call me back. I try her cell phone number and get her voicemail. I keep trying her office # for an hour until she picks up the phone. She immediately tells me that she is on the phone with another customer and will have to call me back. Immediately after we hang up, I call the front desk and get the name of her supervisor and leave a message for her. Then I get the name of the VP of sales and I leave a message for him. Two hours later the salesperson calls me back and tells me that it was a mistake on their part and that they will charge me the agreed upon amount. I tell her that the only way I will sign up for a cable modem and keep any of their services is if I can get a saturday appt. She apparently is a member of the "no saturday appt.s" club. I tell her no deal. She has her supervisor call me. The supervisor calls me and tells me she will throw in phone cards and free pay-per-views and a saturday appt. I agree pending on the saturday appt. The salesperson calls me back and tells me I have been scheduled for an all day thursday appt. I tell her no deal. She gets the supervisor on the phone who lies right through her little teeth and says she never promised a saturday appt. I am done.
I call the VP of sales again and get him on the phone. I tell him and the head of customer service my whole story. Of Course, I can get a saturday appt. That should never have been a problem. They make the proper arrangements and I get my saturday appt.
Of course, there are other things I could tell you. The phone going dead, the missed appt.s, the installation guy stealing all my prescription medication...but you are probably wondering why I stayed. Simply because I knew that even though the customer and tech support was the worst I ever encountered, I couldn't deal with the nightmare of going through it all over again with Time Warner and Verizon. That is where they get you. I urge everyone to stay far far far away from RCN. Just remember that the only person who is your true friend is the Better Business Bureau.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
cgard71
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Member: Cara
Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 0 members
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