Former Charter Employee: 'We Lie' They have no idea why your tech missed his appointment A former Charter technician tells the St. Louis Post Dispatch that their technician tracking system is utterly dysfunctional. So what do Charter support reps tell customers who call in to see why a tech hasn't arrived? "We lie to them," she says. "We tell them, 'Absolutely, the technician will be there.'" Customers who persist are directed to a second phone number, which may or may not work, according to the article. The company was recently scolded by the Better Business Bureau for service complaints in St. Louis, most of which had to do with missed service appointments. Update: A Charter field tech has this to say: "This is a problem that is caused by a few things- outsourced call centers who are a good phone call or three away from us techs, sales reps who tell the customer one thing (sure, the tech will install your phone, tivo and blender and he'll be there at 8:00) and then set up something entirely different (1-5pm for hsi install), and a small army of contractors who frequently simply don't show for jobs that are unpleasant."
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 nonymousPremium
join:2003-09-08
Glendale, AZ Reviews:
 ·Callcentric
| Never really know how long a job will take. So? It is a job that you can easily take either much longer on a particular job, or it can go easy. If you overload a tech and tell them to make the commits quality will suffer.
Outside field techs can never tell to a certain extent what is going to happen or how long it will take. | |
|  | | | Re: Never really know how long a job will take. Been there,done that-still no reason to lie. | |
| |  duh
@comcast.net
approval from:
antdude 
Ben Cisco
| Former Charter Tech: 'We Lie'
it's not just charter people, it's all isp's...lol, i do not miss hearing, come on people, get back on those phones... | |
| | |  Homer JMmmm, Free Goo
join:2000-10-05
Springfield | Re: Never really know how long a job will take. I used to work for Client Logic taking calls for Bell South ADSL in Oak Ridge. I was written up for coming to this site for a solution I remembered seeing. It helped the customer and they did not cancel the service (they had been up to level 3, who could not fix it, and he was calling to cancel service.). Coming to this site was against their rules, even though it saved a customer. I pointed this out to my supervisor. His response to me was "you job is not to help the customer, it is to answer the phone" I did not stay much longer.
I travel all over the world with the job I took when I left there and things have gotten much better. I bumped into this supervisor at Walmart a while back, and he told me he left for another call center. I figured it was for a supervisors position there, but no he was an agent answering calls. Funny how life works sometimes. | |
| | | | wispagod
join:2001-06-28
House Springs, MO | Re: Never really know how long a job will take. i worked for SBC DSL, and i had the same shit, all the red tape made me leave, though i kinda went postal. | |
| | | | | | | Re: Never really know how long a job will take. Any AT&T call center job that is directly under AT&T makes its employees want go postal/telco. (i.e. You can't go to the bathroom or leave the phone more than 6 min a day, you can't be 3 min or more late to work, you have to resolve the customer issue for calling and try to sell tons of products to them within 7 min and remember to say all the disclosures in that time as well...and if you fail at any of this, YOU'RE FIRED!) lol | |
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| |  BassistguyAlrighty ThenPremium
join:2001-07-14
Ballwin, MO | Re: Sounds Like an Episode of Seinfeld said by meskinct:JERRY: I don't understand, I made a reservation, do you have my reservation? RENTAL CAR AGENT: Yes, we do, unfortunately we ran out of cars. JERRY: But the reservation keeps the car here. That's why you have the reservation. RENTAL CAR AGENT: I know why we have reservations. JERRY: I don't think you do. If you did, I'd have a car. See, you know how to take the reservation, you just don't know how to *hold* the reservation and that's really the most important part of the reservation, the holding. Anybody can just take them.  LMAO!! I LOVE that episode! But, yeah, I really wish there were still more cable options other than Charter. An example I had a few weeks back.... I had DVR installed. During my order I was told the tech would be there between 10am and 12 noon. I get a call from Charter's "automated robot" at 9am the morning of the appointment confirming my appointment between 12 noon and 2pm! I selected to get transferred to a customer service rep. I tell the lady (from India)that I was told differently when I placed my order, and she tells me that it was set up between 12 and 2pm. I said that that is BS and that it seems the sales guy just told me a bunch of lies (there was more to this than just the appointment time) to make a sale. She agreed with me!!!! PLEASE, someone start up a new cable company! lol
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If you miss 1 day, you notice; you miss 2 days, your band notices; 3 days, the crowd notices.... | |
| |  en102Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA | I've been there before... Pearson International - terminal 2, 2 years ago.
ME: I'm here to pick up my rental, here's my reservation
Rental Agent: We don't have any of those left, but I'll rent you $25/more a day car for only $15/more a day.
ME: Why should I pay more ?
Rental Agent: There are some other smaller vehicles, if you don't want to wait for another hour, or pay extra.
Of course, I sent a message to the corporate of this car rental agency for bait and switch. Typically, I've seen this with Enterprise and not Avis... but there's always an exception. | |
| | | | | Re: Sounds Like an Episode of Seinfeld said by en102:I've been there before... Pearson International - terminal 2, 2 years ago. ME: I'm here to pick up my rental, here's my reservation Rental Agent: We don't have any of those left, but I'll rent you $25/more a day car for only $15/more a day. ME: Why should I pay more ? Rental Agent: There are some other smaller vehicles, if you don't want to wait for another hour, or pay extra. Of course, I sent a message to the corporate of this car rental agency for bait and switch. Typically, I've seen this with Enterprise and not Avis... but there's always an exception. I had the same thing happen to me using enterprize in Seattle Wa. When I went to pick up my car they said that they didn't have it. They did upgrade me to the next level with no additional cost so it worked out ok for me. | |
| | | |  RayWPremium
join:2001-09-01
Layton, UT
kudos:1 | Re: Sounds Like an Episode of Seinfeld said by Caddyroger:I had the same thing happen to me using enterprize in Seattle Wa. When I went to pick up my car they said that they didn't have it. They did upgrade me to the next level with no additional cost so it worked out ok for me. Happened to me in Dallas once, but I do not recall which company (corporate travel office spread the wealth back then). Went from a compact to a Chrysler Pacifica, and no time to try it out in the rough country  .
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I am not lost, I find myself every time. | |
| | | |  Combat ChuckToo Many CannibalsPremium
join:2001-11-29
Verona, PA
1 edit | Budget rent a car Tampa International
me: I'm here to pick up my car.
agent: I see you rented a compact, we're running a special where we can upgrade you to a midsize for only $15/day instead of $20.
me: no, I still want the compact.
agent: are you sure, it's a really good deal?
me: yep, I'm fine with a compact.
agent: (after some typing) here are your keys, slot 22
I walk out to find a Sonata (midsize), and then spend the next 30 minutes driving to my relatives house trying to decide whether I should be miffed that they tried to trick me into paying extra cause they didn't have any compacts or thankful they didn't just leave me stranded and I wound up with a better car.
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Revolution!!!... or some such nonsense. | |
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| | Homer JMmmm, Free Goo
join:2000-10-05
Springfield
1 edit | I had that problem at a local Hertz office. They kept pushing me to spend more on a bigger car. They eventually gave me the car I rented. It was a poor excuse for a rental. When I returned the car, they asked if I was happy with my rental. I said no and went into the long list of problems with the car. The lady looked at me and said "we rented you what you wanted, you could have upgraded to another car" I just said there was no problem, I would simply never be returning to rent from them.
By the way I rent cars 30-40 weeks a year. Oh well, their loss was a gain for Avis and Budget.
I almost forgot another incident. I had a room at a Marriott in Tulsa. I got there at 3 AM, they had no rooms. I pointed out that I had a reservation, so they better have a room, as it was guaranteed. I was a frequent guest and they were supposed to hold the room all night if necessary if it was guaranteed. They put me in a conference room with a roll out for the night. The manager was very apolgetic in the morning and put me in a suite for the weekend at their expense. It more than made up for the night in the conference room. That is the difference between good and bad service. | |
| | | | | said by en102:I've been there before... Pearson International - terminal 2, 2 years ago. ME: I'm here to pick up my rental, here's my reservation Rental Agent: We don't have any of those left, but I'll rent you $25/more a day car for only $15/more a day. ME: Why should I pay more ? Rental Agent: There are some other smaller vehicles, if you don't want to wait for another hour, or pay extra. Of course, I sent a message to the corporate of this car rental agency for bait and switch. Typically, I've seen this with Enterprise and not Avis... but there's always an exception. Enterprise sucks! Avis has always given me a free upgrade and unlimited miles.
I love how they all try to sell you their overpriced insurance when you have FULL coverage. "Well, it'll still cost you $500 if you have a wreck."
"Even if it's not my fault?"
"Yep."
What is with Enterprise and all those cheap Fords anyway? | |
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|  antdudeA Ninja AntPremium,VIP
join:2001-03-25
United State
kudos:4
 ·RoadRunner Cable
| said by meskinct:JERRY: I don't understand, I made a reservation, do you have my reservation? RENTAL CAR AGENT: Yes, we do, unfortunately we ran out of cars. JERRY: But the reservation keeps the car here. That's why you have the reservation. RENTAL CAR AGENT: I know why we have reservations. JERRY: I don't think you do. If you did, I'd have a car. See, you know how to take the reservation, you just don't know how to *hold* the reservation and that's really the most important part of the reservation, the holding. Anybody can just take them. Better, watch it: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJVtURhm62A (copy and paste the URL to see it since DSL/B Reports like to embed YouTube URL). | |
| |  Camelot OnePremium,MVM
join:2001-11-21
Greenwood, IN
kudos:1 | said by meskinct:JERRY: I don't understand, I made a reservation, do you have my reservation? RENTAL CAR AGENT: Yes, we do, unfortunately we ran out of cars. JERRY: But the reservation keeps the car here. That's why you have the reservation. RENTAL CAR AGENT: I know why we have reservations. JERRY: I don't think you do. If you did, I'd have a car. See, you know how to take the reservation, you just don't know how to *hold* the reservation and that's really the most important part of the reservation, the holding. Anybody can just take them. I just went through this with Enterprise....oddly enough in St. Louis. Made the reservation 6 weeks ago, showed up to find they didn't have any cars in that class. Now they were kind enough to offer to upsell me to the "premium luxury" class, which they had plenty of.
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Intel Quad Core QX6700 @3500Mhz/Asus P5N32-E SLI/4x 1024Mb Corsair/WD 74Gb Raptor/PNY 7800GTs SLI/Antec 550 True Control/Custom water cooler | |
| | | | I have always wanted to try the next part Jerry says:
Rental Car Agent: Do you want to buy the insurance?
Jerry: Yes because I am going to beat the hell out of the car  | |
| | Reviews:
 ·Verizon FiOS
1 edit | said by meskinct:JERRY: I don't understand, I made a reservation, do you have my reservation? RENTAL CAR AGENT: Yes, we do, unfortunately we ran out of cars. JERRY: But the reservation keeps the car here. That's why you have the reservation. RENTAL CAR AGENT: I know why we have reservations. JERRY: I don't think you do. If you did, I'd have a car. See, you know how to take the reservation, you just don't know how to *hold* the reservation and that's really the most important part of the reservation, the holding. Anybody can just take them. RENTAL CAR AGENT:Would you like the insurance Mr Seinfeld?
JERRY: Yes, give me the insurance because I am going to beat the @%@$#@%@ out of this car.....
That was my favorite part..:)
EDIT: Damn, someone beat me too it....:) | |
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cacoPremium
join:2005-03-10
Whittier, AK | 1st 4 words says it all. "A former Charter technician"
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www.seabee.org | |
| | salahx
join:2001-12-03
Saint Louis, MO | Re: 1st 4 words says it all. Not necessarily does it say it all; you make the implicit assumption the tech left Charter under bad terms. | |
| | |  Lark3poPremium
join:2003-08-05
Madison, AL
·Knology
| Re: 1st 4 words says it all. said by salahx:Not necessarily does it say it all; you make the implicit assumption the tech left Charter under bad terms. Just as "you make the implicit assumption" the tech didn't leave under bad terms. | |
| | | cacoPremium
join:2005-03-10
Whittier, AK | Read the article.
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www.seabee.org | |
|
| | Have a good one, Charter Charter's demise will be soon - it will be righteous - and it will be swift. I have a bottle of champagne ready and waiting, and when the day does finally come, I'll be marching down to the Town and Country Commons watching those poor souls - who have been utterly helpless (and useless) in many regards - file out and head over to the nearest unemployment office. | |
| |  LinklistPremium
join:2002-03-03
Longport, NJ
kudos:5 | Re: Have a good one, Charter said by telarium:Charter's demise will be soon - it will be righteous - and it will be swift. I have a bottle of champagne ready and waiting, and when the day does finally come, I'll be marching down to the Town and Country Commons watching those poor souls - who have been utterly helpless (and useless) in many regards - file out and head over to the nearest unemployment office. No, most will still be working for whoever buys Charter. Field techs and cust svc employees almost all survive a takeover.
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--
Internet News
My BLOG
My Web Page | |
| | | | | Re: Have a good one, Charter Whoever buys Charter? They're 17B in debt. No one ever assumes that kind of debt -- that's why they call it liquidation. Assets survive liquidation, employees often don't.
Since you're so familiar with the St. Louis area, why don't you go on down and ask some former employees of TWA what they think of American Airlines.... | |
| | | | BVT
join:2004-10-25
Mount Juliet, TN | Re: Have a good one, Charter That was funny | |
| | | | LinklistPremium
join:2002-03-03
Longport, NJ
kudos:5 | said by telarium:Whoever buys Charter? They're 17B in debt. No one ever assumes that kind of debt -- that's why they call it liquidation. Assets survive liquidation, employees often don't. Tell that to all the Adelphia employees who now have jobs at Time Warner and Comcast.
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Internet News
My BLOG
My Web Page | |
| | | | | | | Re: Have a good one, Charter 17B = 17 Billion in debt. Plus without seeing a profit in a looooooong time, it would be a very hard sell to anyone. | |
| | | | | | | How about I tell that to the Charter employees who've been outsourced to Mexico, Philippines, and Canada. Or how, perhaps, the local Town and Country headquarters fired service reps - and converted those remaining reps to service Charter phone customers.
You seem to misunderstand. I haven't seen one company interested in a takeover - nor any real over-builders in sight. I'm saying Charter won't survive - and there won't be a cable company in town, save for AT&T's U-Verse (which, presently, might be considered an over-builder).
And even if TWA doesn't meet certain strict requirements to make a comparison - I think there's more in common than one might presume. There was a TWA customer service center located just outside of Lambert -- and they were given the boot, not to mention union mechanics, flight attendants, and pilots. The fact that the industry differs doesn't take away from the fact that takeovers don't guarantee job security - often the opposite, they cement job insecurity. More examples? Mcdonnell Douglas, Ralston Purina, Chrysler (after Daimler), and more...I've had many friends - with all of the above-mentioned companies, lose their jobs in the wake of take-overs.
This is an internal matter - how people - half a country away - seem to know what goes on in St. Louis baffles me. | |
| | | | | | | | Re: Have a good one, Charter said by telarium:And even if TWA doesn't meet certain strict requirements to make a comparison - I think there's more in common than one might presume. There was a TWA customer service center located just outside of Lambert -- and they were given the boot, not to mention union mechanics, flight attendants, and pilots. The fact that the industry differs doesn't take away from the fact that takeovers don't guarantee job security - often the opposite, they cement job insecurity. More examples? Mcdonnell Douglas, Ralston Purina, Chrysler (after Daimler), and more...I've had many friends - with all of the above-mentioned companies, lose their jobs in the wake of take-overs. This is an internal matter - how people - half a country away - seem to know what goes on in St. Louis baffles me. I think there is a difference. Well if TWA had plane service at an airport where AA was at then why do they need to keep those employees?? there not going to add more plane serice there? also if they already had a hub that had mechanics they don't need more mechanics at TWA's hub.
Now as for cable its not like comcast and charter have 2 systems in one area so why wouldnt they keep the tech's??? As far as call centers thats a different story thwy prob. close some call centers to keep costs low and have the poor workers get overloaded with more calls and longer hold times | |
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| | | cacoPremium
join:2005-03-10
Whittier, AK | said by telarium:Whoever buys Charter? They're 17B in debt. No one ever assumes that kind of debt -- that's why they call it liquidation. Assets survive liquidation, employees often don't. Since you're so familiar with the St. Louis area, why don't you go on down and ask some former employees of TWA what they think of American Airlines.... Different industry. No comparison. Many differences, union workforce and no pricing power to name a few.
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www.seabee.org | |
|
 KrKHeavy Artillery For The Little GuyPremium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK | Been there.... Am there, doing that..... Ah. Joy. I recognize the disease/symptoms/cause all too clearly. Basically, it's all about the MONEY.
Here's what it really boils down too:
"We (Insert name of Company here) want all the money we can get from people/customers. However, we don't want to SPEND any money providing them with services or goods, or, if we have to, spend the bare minimum possible to take the maximum possible. We give lip service to customer service, and blame our employees when irate customers complain....
What it really boils down to is we don't want to spend the money to hire the employees we need to provide decent customer service. We'll pay one guy and flog him to get the work of 3 people out of him. IF he doesn't achieve his overwork-load, we'll blame him when you the customer calls because we're never ever going to admit that we are drastically understaffed and that MANAGEMENT is to blame."
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"Regulatory capitalism is when companies invest in lawyers, lobbyists, and politicians, instead of plant, people, and customer service." - former FCC Chairman William Kennard (A real FCC Chairman, unlike the current Corporate Spokesperson in the job!) | |
|  Chris 313Come get somePremium
join:2004-07-18
Houma, LA | Predictions I predict that Charter will go into Bankruptcy, and be divided among three companies, if they'll take them.
Comcast
Time Warner Cable
Cox Cable
It'll be interesting to see how this really ends. | |
| | | | Re: Predictions Any time I actually connect with the Mauldin, SC office (5 miles away) instead of some foreigner (thousands of miles away) I refer to the girls (CSR) as victims of Charter. | |
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| | One of the major problems is that they use and army of unidentifyable contractors to do this work. | |
| | | Charter Tech I'm a field tech for Charter. This is a problem that is caused by a few things- outsourced call centers who are a good phone call or three away from us techs, sales reps who tell the customer one thing (sure, the tech will install your phone, tivo and blender and he'll be there at 8:00) and then set up something entirely different (1-5pm for hsi install), and a small army of contractors who frequently simply don't show for jobs that are unpleasant- making them even more unpleasant when I get them because now the customer is irate. Don't blame the csr, don't blame the tech, we know it's ridiculous and we tell our bosses but nobody in management cares. And we see the customers leaving. Personaly, I'm sorry to hear these complaints. Best of luck to all of you. | |
| |  paulhaskewUnoffical Dominos Spokesman
join:2002-01-10
Vancouver, WA | Re: Charter Tech I worked (yes past tense) for Charter for 2.5 years and we were told to lie to customers on a multitude of occasions. As you stated management does care, they just care about call metrics, being the #1 call center in the nation, and making sure we hit our numbers for answering calls within X amount of time so fines don't happen...
I feel sorry for the customers of Charter as management within that company all the way to Paul A. don't seem to care about them. It's all about the money in the end, just do enough to make sure it keeps flowing, but nothing else... UGH!
Hence why I quit! Can't work for a company that operates on lies, facsimiles and false pretenses... Good luck to all the other Charter employees, hopefully a consumer will understand the HELL you have to go through working there as a front line employee... Your the most important, but also the most underpaid and shown the least gratitude for making it through the muck...
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Anything I say can and will be used against me in a court of law.
Somewhere over the rainbow lies the valley with gigabit fiber.
Dude, I got a Dell UltraSharp 2005FPW. | |
| | |  Vodka2
join:2005-12-20
Sacramento, CA | Re: Charter Tech (I put this in the forums, but it's not appearing here, so I'm cross posting.)
Since we have a problem delineating between former anonymous outsourced representatives and former previously-named direct employees of Charter...
I've stated my first and last name here before, as a former direct employee of Charter.
I can tell you that the practices described in the first 2 linked posts are accurate -- namely, that you would pump calls without experience and attempt to upsell, or risk being disciplined or terminated by management.
I have a ton of it. I held on to my notes and observations in case I was ever called upon to testify, since I knew I was pretty vocal at the time, and it might come up again later on. So, if you want some direct quotes, first hand information, history, evidence, etc, feel free to PM me. I'll be glad to share.
**EDIT**: Two for one deal -- come for the lack of customer focus, stay for the lack of quality infrastructure. | |
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|  xdeadhead220, 221, Whatever It Takes.Premium
join:2000-11-08
Mechanicsburg, PA
1 edit | this could so be a verizon online (VOL) based thread as well. seriously.
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I am not herbert. | |
|
CSU
join:2002-10-21
Lagrange, GA | Nothing New About This.... I've been complaining for years about such bad service. Now that Charter has outsourced customer service it has gotten even worse. The outsourcing didn't cause the problem, but just intensified the already horrible service being offered by Charter. All the inner workings of Charter I don't care about as long as my service works or when I call to schedule a technician, have him/her actually show up. | |
| | Reviews:
·Bright House
| Re: Nothing New About This.... said by CSU:Now that Charter has outsourced customer service it has gotten even worse. Umm, since how long ago?? I worked for Convergys in 2000 and back then Charter had an account, so some of the reps in the building took Charter calls. Both Cable TV and Internet...
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SIPPhone/Gizmo # 17476200648 / PIMPNET Chatline / Ran by Asterisk & Slackware 10.1. | |
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| | Absolutely True I worked as a lead in the HSI department for about a year. I heard more BS excuses being said by the reps on the phone than I could count. I dont blame them. Its how we were trained. We couldnt find out why the techs werent there other than a stupid 2 digit code that was meaningless. The dispatch system is a complete and total dysfunctional mess. And, no, I didnt leave under bad terms, I left because it was hell working for them. Charter is dying. The new CEO guy is beating the company into the dirt with a sledgehammer. Kinda different from when he started and he was going to be the "savior" of charter. Guess firing employees and alienating customers is good business practice..... | |
| ric b
join:2006-03-23
Saint Louis, MO | What a surprise! This isn't news to me. Though I personally don't have Charter, my Mom and Step-Dad do, and they went through this very thing a few months ago. Unfortunately, Charter is the ONLY option in St. Louis. What happened to de-regulation? (YEAH RIGHT!) All they wanted was for their basic analog cable to be restored and for weeks they complained that they had NO picture via cable. Charter continually said, "yes you have it, you are doing something wrong". Our tech signed off on the job that he had done it... uh huh. What a bunch of cocksmokin' bastards they are. Thie way of "satisfying" customer complaints is to take a few dollars off the bill for THEIR errors. They KNOW they have the customer over a barrel.
Oh, and basic analog cable is $15 more than digital cable. That makes little to no sense at all. I'm sure cable lovers will reply that Digital is easier to send these days, but they're sending analog and digital signals over the SAME cable that the original cable company that was here 25 years ago, installed. it's not costing them any more to send these signals in analog, when without a digital box, you are going to get the analog channels, anyway. 
This is why I stick with DTV. At least I know if I'm not getting a picture, it IS my fault. (or a bad storm with heavy clouds) | |
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1 edit | Former Charter Employee I was a CSR at Irwindale, CA for 8 months. Was told to make up any excuses I could to tell the customers, and get them off the phone as quick as I could. I got written up when I tried to help a customer to resolve her connection issue cuz she called several times and the HSI never picked up her call when I transfered her. One time I was stuck in traffic on the 210W due to a BIG accident involving some passenger cars and a trailer truck. I called the supervisor to let him know, he acknowledged and told me not to worry. Next morning in my message box I got a write-up for that. And the retention team was always giving me a hard-time when I transfered calls to them.
Now, Adelphia wasn't any better. So when TimeWarner took over I was excited. But guess what? They're just the same blood-sucking vampires. A lady sales called and offered a special package with Bronze+Basic+HBO+VOD+Sports+digi box for $62, $10 less than when it was still Adelphia. Ordered it, she sent a signal, I powered off/on the box as instructed, waited for 10min, no HBO. She sent another signal, waited another 10min, no HBO. She then told me that she scheduled a tech to come out here to replace the box for me and gave me a conf#, date&time. Well, no one showed. So I called the Service Center, got transfered 4 times, was told that I just need to unplug the power cord, wait 10min, plug it back in and it'll be fine cuz they were working on the nodes. The rep, quickly hung up after I said "Oh ok..". Right, no HBO. Called again, got a recording says "Busy, blah blah..". Called again next day, a rude lady said she'll transfer my call to the Field Operations(wtf you're not CTU!)and guess what? I was on hold for 30min when the call auto-disconnected me. I was thrilled, spent the rest of that night at the firing range.
Seriously...these Cable Companies/ISP's MUST be on a tight leash. | |
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