US Cable Support > Charter Internet/TV > CSRs lying "It's a great day at Charter".They seem wor

CSRs lying "It's a great day at Charter".They seem wor

Re: CSRs lying "It's a great day at Charter".They seem

reply to horseathalt7
There's probably notes on your account from EVERY time you call them explaining what you called about. They read them and realize they can't help you, but they can't just hang up on you either so they have to just sit there and take it from you.

It's like you're trying to bargain with the grocery checker over the price of milk.... the price is what it is and you don't want to pay it. You can go down the street and find it a little cheaper for half the size, but you don't like that store.

You've been saying this for what.... 4 months now?
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Two is one, one is none. If it's important, back it up... Somethimes 99.999% availability isn't even good enough.

reply to horseathalt7
Dude! let it go and please move on.

reply to horseathalt7
CSR's are human, (of course) but I've never heard one stress about an obnoxious CEO with draconian business models. Work *can* be unbearable because of obnoxious callers/customers, regardless of the area. You could be a store clerk with the customer arguing about an invisible stain on the clothing. Or a restaurant manager trying to appease a disgruntled diner. The tone and words used by the complainant can cause the respondent to adopt a cold or resigned tone.

And as Dr. Drew states, an account full of detailed notes alerts the CSR. Or getting the same customer over and over. One day a customer called in very early, to a co-worker, and then demanded the supervisor. I heard the entire transaction. Ten minutes later, I had the same customer, who started off with complete lies. Stated the CSR had hung on him when he requested a supervisor. Wanted a supervisor right now. Yes sir, I will get the supervisor, xx. Was he surprised!!!

NightOwl:

You don't think Tom Rutledge's new policies haven't created a major headache for the CSRs on the front line with all the less than pleasant changes? LOL You must be sitting in the executive offices in Stamford, CT.

Just to let you guys know....

The only times I have called I have been very polite and friendly, not confrontational at all and kept the call to just a few minutes or so.

I actually haven't called that many times.
I'd say I've called them six times in the last few months to inquire about the bill increases, and whether the 15/3 plan I am grandfathered on will be reinstated as a regular plan as was rumored by a Charter CSR in the first place. Yes, I did mention to a couple of the CSRs that I think the exec manglement is not giving the customer adequate choices to meet the needs of many, and also mentioned that it makes more business sense for them to offer lower priced product so they can keep a customer paying a bit less than losing that customer entirely.

That being said I will not be going anywhere after I leave Charter next week. I'll still be right here commenting on what I think of them here on BBR in both the Charter forums and the main articles on the front page.

Whether Tommy Boy likes it or not.

That is the one beautiful thing about the internet, even a top dog brass tack can't "make it go away", or get his way just because he is influential.

reply to horseathalt7
I've called Charter about half a dozen times in the last 30 days and have yet to get someone on the line that seemed depressed. They've all been upbeat/normal.

Oh google2, I do think they have tried to be upbeat, but I can detect something else, you need to listen a bit more closely.

Another poster on here called to ask a question about a rate increase on their bill (one of probably tens of thousands now with the new policies ) and he said that the CSR was being quite a biotch without him doing anything other than inquire about the price increase.

Also a lot of subs are dealing with the prices increases by dropping service levels or dropping services all together. So probably for the most part those increases are being negated by customers lowering service level.

reply to horseathalt7

msmisfit:

I'm not going to "flood" this forum with multiple versions of the same complaints or concerns after I leave Charter, but you will see me post here on occasion. I guess I should have clarified that to begin with.

reply to cork1958
Glad I could be of some comic relief cork. LOL

reply to cork1958

@horseathalt2 I am not sure why you feel Charter is such a rip off. Here is a list of different internet packages from different providers. Cost per megabit, Charter beats them all in cost. I was only able to find the intro rate for Time Warner, but if you see their 30Mbps plan is 64.99 at intro pricing. Now, you can argue lack of selection as that is apparent, but as far as standard rates and cost per megabit, Charter is the winner.

-=-= Charter Internet =-=-
30 Mbps = 54.99 (49.99 when bundled)
100 Mbps = 114.99 (109.99 when bundled)

-=-= U-Verse Internet =-=-
3 Mbps = 41.00
6 Mbps = 46.00
12 Mbps = 51.00
18 Mbps = 56.00
24 Mbps = 66.00

-=-= Comcast/Xfinity =-=-
3 Mbps = 39.95
6 Mbps = 49.95
20 Mbps = 62.95
50 Mbps = 74.95
105 Mbps = 114.95

-=-= Frontier =-=-
6 Mbps = 39.99
12 Mbps = 49.99
25 Mbps = 59.99

-=-= Time Warner =-=-
1 Mbps = 19.99*
3 Mbps = 29.99*
15 Mbps = 44.99*
20 Mbps = 54.99*
30 Mbps = 64.99*
50 Mbps = 74.99*

* All rates are only for 12mo, after which rate increases to standard rate that I was not able to find.

I don't think their price per meg is a rip off, the problem lies in the fact that for folks like myself I have a limited budget and not only that but many times through out the year I am not even at home to use the service which can be up to months at a time, and my usage is for things like e mail, forums, and perhaps on occasion a short youtube video. Paying for, and having that level of service I would not be getting my money's worth.

reply to horseathalt7
I have a different problem when I call Charter - I can't understand what they are saying. Although, I'm sure their English is much better than my Hindi.
I've had CSRs where I have just had to hang up and call back.

I also loathe the "It's a great day at..." greetings. Because I know that if they are making people say that, it really isn't a great day. That goes for any business.
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If someone refers to herself / himself as a "guru", they probably aren't.

There's no doubt that Charter's internet rates for speed is better than the competition here where I live. I think some want a lower speed tier so if times are hard, which for most it’s there or getting there, they could get the lower tier and spend less. The only other option here for me would be Uverse and there is no way I'm going back to them. ATT went the cheap route instead of doing what Verizon did. They should have laid out fiber to premise.

reply to miscposter

reply to DrDrew

reply to horseathalt7
May be moving to Charter territory, hence reading these forums.

Saw this on the front page. Hope it is ok to share some of my experiences being a CSR for various entities over the last 16 years:

Some positions held: Telco ISP, One of the Big 3 US Auto Manufactures, one of the top 3 Cell Phone Companies, Revenue Assurance [Fraud] Department for recharging all major prepaid cell phone plans, Casualty/Property Insurance and some others.

1st - Caller ID at all positions only showed what queue the caller was coming from, Windows, Mac, Billing, Support, etc. Would not know who the caller was until answering call and getting name. All callers came through the queue. Though one position, would own the problem from the first time the Customer made contact. If they called my direct line, then if all things worked right, their record would "pop" up. But that only worked if they were calling from their phone of "record".

2nd - Majority of Databases all seemed to have a flaw. It was very difficult to read notes from prior calls. I would just start over with what the issue was, for me it was faster. I am pretty good at uptake and quickly formulating a plan. Plus had multiple databases open at one time to handle whatever the call was about. So notes were specific to a particular database. Another thing I found was that many techs did not do proper documentation for various reasons. Much coded the databases as to the problem/issues.

3rd - We had indicators on our phones as to what level of calls that were coming in. Green - Only a couple waiting, Yellow - some more, Red - time to put things into gear, lots in the queues.

4th - Turnover was high in these positions. There were always a lot of green folks on the floor. The places I worked one first came on as a Temp. If you worked out, 90 days - 180+ days later may be offered to become full time employee for Company.

5th - Metrics. All places had metrics. I did the best job that I could and never worried about them. I was always within the metrics.

5a - Scripts. Some places had them, but I only used them as a guide. For some reason I was never reprimanded, especially if the problem was solved and I was off the call and ready for the next call within the metrics.

6th - Supervisors, Managers, Leads and such, were usually far removed from the technical details we were handling on the calls on a daily basis. They mainly were concerned about metrics. Majority had not taken a tech call for years. In the meantime, new technical issues had raised their heads for solving. Sometimes, if someone was obnoxious and asked for a Supervisor, would transfer them to one that had the least technical and people skills.

7th - Stress was not that big of an issue with me. I have held much more difficult positions in other industries with much more responsibility before my first CSR gig.

8th - Only time would terminate the call, is if the caller was abusive and only after giving 2 warnings. [though there were always techniques to mess with the call quality, giving an impression of a bad connection.]

Sorry if this is off topic or not appropriate. But hope it helps give an inside view of how things work for someone who is driving a desk as a CSR.