Spectrum cable service. I can use one word to describe Spectrum, sad. Since the Charter merger with Time Warner it appears both customer service and actually service is not important. They simply want you to continue giving them your money. Seems they do not realize I can easily cut the cord and move on. Before Time Warner was purchased by Charter at least there was some halfway decent customer service. We had speeds of up to 300Mbps for our internet services for new customers and I had the 200Mbps. Well now if you are a new customer or change your package you get up to 100Mbps for the same price. Yes, you get downgraded and you get to pay the same. So if you have the 200 or 300 you better not make a change to your service if you are sort of happy with it.
So let's get into my first experience having to speak with Spectrum customer service. First let me say a root canel would have been more pleasant. My wife and I sat down and went to watch the Travel Channel however suddenly it was not part of our subscription. No channel above 23 was now part of our subscription despite us having lived here over a year with the same exact service with no changes made within the past year, or March 30, 2016 to be exact. So I decide to call customer service expecting them to be somewhat friendly at the least but sadly that assumption was my first mistake. The customer service rep was rude and did not care to listen to my concerns. She simplt wanted to repeat the same thing over and over. That we had our extreme internet and just the starter package for cable. I explained that when we signed up we told Time Warner what stations we wanted when we moved in here early March 2016. Then late March, over a year ago, we upgraded to the Extreme Internet and Time Warner told us that we would keep our same channels. So basically I explained that is the service we have and have had for over a year. She would not allow me to speak as she would simply talk over me again and again. She explained we were just on the starter package for cable so we did not anything above channel 22 or 23. I start explaining how Time Warner told us we would receive this channels. That they said it was a special that had at the time since they were wanting more people to subscribe to the better internet. That we specifically remember asking if our channel line up would change because we specifially said we did not want it to. I told her Time Warner had explained that our channels would all stay the same. During me explaining my problem she would constantly talk and ignore what I was saying. I asked her not to speak over me but it continued. I then proceeded to explain how talking over the customer was rude and she needed to stop so I could talk. So what happened? I start talking again and explaining my problem but she starts talking over me again. I don't know about you but I feel this is very disrespectful plus how can you listen to the customer's issue without actually listening to it. Up to this point I was keeping it nice. Having been a supervisor at a call center in the past I knew this was not standard behavior from an agent so I once again asked her to stop talking while I was. Did it stop? Of course not. At point I was now a very upset customer that was far from happy with the way I was being treated. I told her to transfer me to a supervisor. She went right back into robot repeat mode so this time I had to get rude with her and simple told her I didn't want to hear another word from her to transfer me to a supervisor. I actually had to say this twice since she was talking over me again. The next time she tried to speak I just told her I didn't want to talk to her anymore, simply get me to a supervisor. So now I am thinking I will be treated better but that was my second mistake. The supposed supervisor was just as bad seemly sticking to a script and telling me there was nothing they could do. He also enjoyed speaking over me and when he would say my issue back to me it was obvious he had not been listening because he didn't correctly repeat my issue to me. Finally I told him I was just going to speak to someone at my local office. I get to the Spectrum sales and service center and spoke with Adam who actually did listen to my issue and researched it through the computer. Apparently a lot of customers were placed on the Start Pack with Time Warner and given the extra standard channels and simply allowed them to have them on the Start Pack. Charter, the new owners, however were not allowing this to happen and had performed audits and were cutting off channels to any customers in this situation even though those customers had been told it was part fo their service. I was told Charter was strict about things. Adam did however speak to someone else there and Adam told me that if they did said we were supposed to have these channels then they can pull the call and get most of them back. I told him that we would need all of the ones we previously had back since if it was said on the call that will be a legally binding contract. That was the service we bought and paid for so that is the service we receive. So he made notes for someone to pull the call and review it. He told me to call the call center and talk to a supervisor since they would listen to the call from over a year ago. Adam was friendly and helpful. He has been with them since before they were even Time Warner. He looked beaten down. I simply said "I bet you have seen a lot of changes over the years". He agreed and anything negative I said about the recent changes he didn't respond to and actually looked saddened. I was very nice to him. I feel bad for Adam. So I step out to call the call center and this is the point where things go completely south again. The first agent sounded half asleep and just kept repeating about how I was missing channels, blah blah, and repeating about how they were not included with that packaged. So for a second time, on this call, I asked for a supervisor and explained they were pulling a call and that I was told to specially ask for a supervisor. So finally I get the supervisor. So at this point I am thinking, great they can listen to the call and we can get this whole mess put behind us. Right? Wrong! The supervisor wanted to keep explaining about how I wasn't supposed to be getting A&E, History, or Travel Channel with my Starter Package. I asked him to read Adam's notes and after that he was very friend and said he would get me to someone that could help me. That he doesn't pull the calls or listen to them. So at this point I realized that this guy is not a supervisor and that I have been lied to again. He informs me that he will transfer me to customer solutions. So I am placed on hold and disconnected. At this point I am far from happy but I am not yelling and I am treating them ok since I know they are most likely simply doing things the way they are told to. So I call back. This next customer service again was just as bad at the first and proceeded to try and up-sell me to get my channels back. What? Why the heck would I pay more for something I was promised as a different lower price. No, I explain how I was disconnected and need to get to a supervisor. Then more stalling before finally being transferred. This 'supervisor' wasn't able to see Adam's notes in the system, that I had watched him type in and that the previous supposed supervisor finally saw before transferring me and cutting me off. So we start to go round and round and I simply asked for customer solutions and get cut off conveniently again. This next time I call the rep that I spoke with instantly transferred me to customer solutions once I explained they were helping me and we were disconnected. So at this time I am speaking to a lady in customer solutions and once again I let hope spring back in that I was about to get this resolved....and no, no. I am then told that they will have to pull the call, keep in mind this is Saturday, but that they will not listen to it and call me back until Tuesday. Really? After all I have just experience I am being put off again?
So here I sit Sunday and most of my channels still gone through Spectrum. Thankfully I found a better cord cutting solution. I am done with Spectrum and their TV service. I signed up for SlingTV last night so I get the channels that are important to me and the picture quality superior to that I was getting through Spectrum.
I am going to back up a bit to when I was speaking with Adam. I explained how my internet service, 200Mbps, has only been getting speeds of about 100 if I am lucky and at times far, far less. That this has only strangely started happening after the Charter takeover. Monday morning a technician will be coming out to see what is wrong with my internet. Having worked in the I.T field myself I am fulling expecting them to pass the buck and blame either the router or modem even though I have tested those and neither are the problem and nothing has changed setup wise with my network.
Sadly poor internet speeds are not uncommon throughout this nation of ours. If you look at other countries Japan, Romania, ect all have higher speeds on average than the United States. What makes me feel even worse is that here in Lexington KY before Time Warner bought out Insight Communications we had great cable and reliable internet. Insight had outstanding customer service, the best I have ever experience, but all of that went downhill somewhat with Time Warner and now Charter/Spectrum has completely flushed customer service and reliability down the toilet. The customer is no longer important, screw the customer. They simply want your money.
I am now a cord cutter as I am going to return my cable box this week no matter the results of the pulled call. Now I will explore other options for internet also seeing how Spectrum do not deserve my business with that either since I do not deserve to be treated as I have been.
Spectrum, just because you are a monopoly for your cable services doesn't mean the customer has to put up with it. There are other services like Netflix, Hulu, the actual network websites, and SlingTV. I cannot wait for the downfall of the cable industry. Still trying to bundle TV, Internet and phone. Really, phone. HA! You are a service that is desperate to stay relevant. You are a service that is starting to suffer and will eventually go extinct.