"Consumer Reviews on Companies, Products and Services"

Charter Communications

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Category: Services

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United States

Charter Communications Reviews

Golem December 15, 2008
Bad service
In Mid November 2008 my disabled Mother lost the envelope with her Charter Cable/Phone/Internet Bill and Check/Payment. She believes that it fell out of her purse. Being someone that has NEVER paid a bill late in her life, she notified Charter at once that the Bill and Payment was lost and asked what she should do. Charter told her TO CANCEL The Check and that they would send her a copy of the BILL within One Week. After not receiving the Copy of the Bill she called Charter Again and they said that they would send out another Copy of the Bill. One Week passed and the only thing she received from Charter Cable was a notice that her Service, Phone, Cable, and Internet was going to be shut off. She Called Charter and asked what she should do now and they told her that they would take her checking account information and routing number and that she could pay them at that time to avoid this. She Did, and was given a confirmation number. Charter Also told her that they did receive the lost check that they told her to cancel. Apparently someone found the envelope and dropped it in the mailbox. Charter assured my Mother not to worry because it would all be taken care of at this point. The incident had been documented on Charter's records.

A few days later she got yet another notice that her Charter Cable was going to be turned off. My Mother called again and they said that the payment was cancelled and that she needed to pay again. So she did and they gave her yet Another Confirmation Number! (this transaction was done by a Supervisor).

On December 11th my Mother's phone service was turned off. My Mother called and was told by Charter that they were working on it and that her service was going to be turned on within 24 hours. 24 Hours passed and I finally called Charter Cable and they said that the service was turned off because of non-payment. I told them that the payment was done electronically TWO TIMES and that my Mother had the confirmation numbers. Apparently, after taking payment TWICE, Charter's Accounting department chose not to accept the electronic payments due to the cancelled check they tried to cash after They Instructed my Mother To Cancel it!

So, Charter was not only notified Before the payment was late and the service turned off, BUT Charter was the one that told my Mother to Cancel the lost check and took her payment electronically more than once and gave her Confirmation numbers!

How Sad that Charter Cable just doesn't have the capability of personal and caring customer service. I was told by Charter that they were, "Just Too Big of a Company to be able to help everyone on an individual basis". And that after paying my Mother's Charter Bill I would also have to pay a $60.00 Restoration Fee! Now after over a month of harassment and aggravation from Charter Cable, it is going to take almost two weeks to get her service back up and running, leaving my disabled Mother home alone without telephone service. How Unjust this Is to be taking advantage of a Disabled Senior Citizen only trying to do the right thing? Charter Cable had not only given my Mother the "Run Around" and took advantage of her emotionally and financially by Fining her for late fees and service restoration charges! As soon as her phone service is reactivated I will be certain to take her phone/internet and cable business to someone else!! And I urge everyone else to do the same. I'm so tired of seeing poor innocent Senior Citizens being taken advantage of by "Big Business" who's only concern is their bottom line over the fairness of Elderly Consumers.
Vanga December 11, 2008
Terrible company
Charter kept raising our rates. This will be the third time this year, so I have decided to cancel the subscription. But they would not let me because the bill was in my wife's name, not mine. Any other time I needed to make changes, have our cable box (junk) rebooted (for the ?? time) they were perfectly fine with my name not being on the bill. So my wife had to cancel the service - talk about being inconsistent.

As I said they kept raising our rates, while they where moving channnels (which we had before)to other tiers, claiming it was because of the analog to digital conversion. After searching the internet I found this to be nothing more than a LIE. It was just their way to get people to buy into other tiers, costing the customer more money for channels they previously had.

The T.V.'s we have are all LCD 1080p, & are all attached to a quad-shielded 75 ohm coax, that was installed when we built the house. Most of Charter's technicians were actually impressed with how strong our signal strength was, when connecting their ohm meters to our cable line. That being said, the picture for regular digital (the majority of channels they offer) was nothing short of horrible. Hi-Def was o.k. at best, but could have been better.

In short, I feel pretty dumb for messing around with such a horrible service, when changing took less time, than I wasted keeping Charter up and running. Anyone thinking of switching from Charter Communications, should not hesitate, because there are better alternatives.
Jeremy December 10, 2008
Bad business practices
Last month (November), I relocated my place of residence. I called Charter Communications to cancel my service. The only equipment I had belonging to Charter was a cable modem used for internet service. I informed the rep. of this, only to be told that all billing will stop when I go to the nearest office and turn in the modem. I was also told that this is the only way that I could stop my services, and that the nearest office was 45 minutes away. Needless to say, I did not make it to the office to disconnect my service.

After my move, I called and spoke to another rep. who informed me that the service tech. would have PICKED UP the modem from my home on the scheduled day of disconnection. She then told me what day the services would stop, and gave me information regarding the credit which Charter owed me...which was 9.52 .

Several days passed, and I called back and spoke to ANOTHER representative. This time the guy told me that I could purchase the modem, which could be used with other providers, over the phone with no hassle. I obtained the necessary information from him to mail the modem back if I chose to do so.

Several days later, I received a notice in the mail from Charter threatening me with legal action if I did not turn in the modem. I then called in and spoke to another rep. who told that me I COULD NOT purchase the modem over the phone, and that I would have to wait for the bill to come through the mail. So I waited...nothing came except ANOTHER threatening letter.

I called back and spoke to yet another rep., who refused to do ANYTHING with my account. He said that I had set up a "pin" number, and that I had to recite this before continuing. I told him that I had NEVER been asked for a pin, nor did I ever set up one. I gave him a few choice words, and hung up. This was inappropriate, but I had reached my limit.

I calmed down, and called back. I pretended that I had not talked to anyone about my payment options, and told him that I wanted to pay for the modem. There was no problem. I told him that I had a Visa check card, and I proceeded to give him the number. Then he asked for my routing number. Routing Number? I was using a CHECK CARD. I was starting to get hot again, but kept my cool. He had no idea what I was talking about, so I just told him it was a credit card. Then he was able to process it, and (without too much confusion) processed my payment.

I don't know what the problem is...maybe a language barrier, or cultural differences...but it is ALL EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING.
Lawrence December 8, 2008
Awful service
Charter Communications is a franchise. They pay the areas they are in to do business there with your money, you are taxed on your bill . It is called a franchise fee. If people are so upset take action... Petition, get signatures, protest at city hall, do what you must, to get them removed and make room for a better and more reliable company.

This company is very deceitful. They put you in campaigns/promotions, and say we will e-mail you or send you a reminder when your 'special pricing' expires. I for one have never received any reminders, and when you do call, they say the pricing isn't available, or that in order to get a low price we need to bundle your services... WHAT? I don't want any other CRAPPY service . I already have internet service that goes out daily.

My advice to Charter: Keep your prices steady and your customer service reps in check, and maybe then you would have a good reputation. Oh, and your supervisors are ruder than the reps. And maybe get a service that is reliable, because I am sick of hearing... OH THERE'S AN OUTAGE IN YOUR AREA.

I also have to laugh, ask for an e-mail confirming your new price and how long it will last... They WILL NEVER EVER E-MAIL THIS TO ANYONE! Apparently when I asked a rep why, he said legalities. LMAO legalities cause they lie & add things to your acct. Ask to hear a previous recorded conversation, they don't exist for customers to hear. Yet they say you will be recorded. Oh the DECEIT GROWS.

I would suggest to Charter Communications: replace your LEADERSHIP teams and TRAINERS, because they are not doing a very good job at retaining your revenue or teaching your representatives how to be honest with a customer, not lie, because they just want their commissions. What are you 20 BILLION in debt? Someone needs to open their eyes there, and make some serious changes. And start regaining the clients trust.

I went to Dish today, so you will not be receiving my $175.00 a month now, sorry about that.
December 4, 2008
Poor Customer Servicr and transfer of svcs
On 11-22-08 through 11-23-08 I made numerous calls about unsatisfactory service because of an extremely late technician. The service call was for 12 pm -5pm on 11-22-08 and was a transfer of services. After serveral calls for late service and several promises of credits ($20 x3 and $70), the technician arrived at my home after 9 pm. He appeared inept and continually left tools outside and did not seem to be knowledgeable of wiring in the home. The new service address was previously served by Charter Communications through Oct 2008, but the technician said all lines were "dead" and needed re-wiring for service. I felt as if he were "milking" Charter for his time and me as a customer for unnecessary service and wiring. Furthermore, for a routine connection, he had allotted a 3 hour time period for my connection (I was told this by a CSR), seemingly suspicious. This techinican left my home at 12:40 am and I still had two cable boxes that were not active. He said he would check on them after church on Sunday. Sunday afternoon he returned and called the problems in to have the boxes activated.

I made complaints and was said to have credits, which are surprisingly not appearing on my billing along with my complaint documentation. Additionaly. I have taken a survey and responded that my service was unsatisfactory. In my years with your company, I have NEVER been so disappointed and dismayed by the lack of professionalism and service. When calling the customer service line about his extreme tardiness, I was told that the only way I would know that he was not coming that night was if he didn't show up. VERY unprofessional! I would like a Manager to timely follow up concerning this matter.
December 4, 2008
charter will not let us have GSN
CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS TOOK GSN AWAY FROM US THEY WILL GIVE GSN BACK TO US UNLESS WE GET A DIGITAL BOX THEY NEED TO GIVE GSN BACK TO US WITHOUT A CABLE BOX AND WITHOUT A DIGITAL BOX...WE GET ALL OUR CHANNELS WITHOUT A CABLE BOX AND WITHOUT A DIGITAL BOX WE NEED GSN BACK CHARTER IS TREATING US LIKE DIRT
December 4, 2008
Scam
I pay for charter communications "high speed" (ha ha) internet. I'm supposed to be getting 10 megs but all I get is about 2-4 (if that much).

It's not the 70 percent that is guaranteed, and instead of being eager to help fix the problem, they are only eager to somehow find a way to blame it on the consumer. One person said my problem was linked to spyware, however the problem persisted before, and after a fresh install of windows xp. All along this, my upload rate was consistent, which showed things on my end were fine. All customer service wants to do is talk you into switching package deals, promising lower rates, only to have your next bill arrive fifty dollars higher (they call it a pro rate, but neglected to inform me of this).

Anytime they send out a technician, it's usually someone fresh out of jail who just comes out to look at your cable wires, nothing more. One character acted like he was casing my place, for a future break in.

Charter Communications...thanks for nothing, you take my money and don't give me what I pay for. It's because you know you're the only provider in my area. You guys suck.
December 2, 2008
Terrible experience
I moved to Chicopee MA in April of 2007. I signed up for Charter Cable and immediately began to have problems. The billing amount was slightly different than what they told me but it was a small enough amount where it wasn't worth the time to report it. I let it slide. I paid my bill online via a method that did not require a username or password.

For months, my bill was paid without error. During a system upgrade, the option to pay without establishing a username and a password was removed. I attempted to establish a username and password but due to system difficulties, I could not. I began paying my phone utilizing their automated system. This is where the real trouble began.

Prior to a summer cruise, I paid my bill. A short time after arriving back, I received a late notice. I knew that I had paid in full, so I pulled my credit card statement up and phoned Charter. On my statement I was able to read back the account number that had been paid. I read that to the Charter agent who determined that somehow my phone lines were switched with someone who lived on the same street.

I was told the matter would be resolved without any further information needed from me. Later in the evening, I received a phone call from a supervisor demanding that I send my credit card statement via fax showing that I had paid the bill. I have previously worked in the Fraud Division of a Financial Institution and felt that fax was not a secure method to send any personal information through. I refused.

After some arguing, I agreed to take a trip to the local Charter Office and show my credit card statement to an individual woman. I did and the matter was resolved until the following month where the same thing happened once again. Again, I took the trip to my local Charter Office. I then phoned the 1 800 number and asked to be established online.

After speaking with three different individuals I was told they were unable to establish me online but did not know why. I had the account number and passcode correct but their online banking would not register me. I was frustrated but attempted not to take my anger out on the agents and instead let it go to the following month where once again, my funds were attributed to another account. During this time-frame, I had spoken to supervisors and managers in vain.

I had made every logical attempt to resolve this matter kindly. Still, because they kept attributing payments improperly, I was receiving late notices and threats to discontinue service in the mail. I pay my bills on time. I dislike threats and little yellow warnings. It just didn't stop. After dealing with the same situation yet again, I demanded being established online. The agent I spoke with had the audacity to state that I needed to go through Charter for my internet to establish a username and password to pay my cable bill online.

I knew from previous phone conversations that this was untrue so I asked to speak with his supervisor and was hung up on. I still didn't want to go haywire so I let it go until my bill was due yet again. I phoned in and asked them to take my payment over the phone with a live-agent. They would but for a $15.00 fee. I understand that $15.00 isn't much, but the principle really bothered me.

I couldn't rationalize paying them to take my money. It seemed unethical. I declined their offer and went online. Finally, a chat representative was able to establish a username and password for me. I was happy and relieved. Immediately following, my digital cable began freezing more than usual. I became dissatisfied with the quality and frankly I was still rather upset about the whole payment fiasco. I decided to cancel.

In October of this year, I brought my cable box to the local Charter location. I paid my bill in full. I received a receipt which I still have showing that my balance was zero. Sure enough, I received a late notice. I phoned Charter and informed them that I had proof I was paid in full. I faxed a copy down to their 1 800 number. They stated the case was open.

Due to the dishonest approach of the company, I filed a complaint with the BBB. I dislike this approach but found it necessary. Sure enough, they have emailed the BBB stating that they conducted their own investigation and concluded I still owe them over a hundred dollars.

This is ludicrous. I owe them nothing. I have documentation from them upon returning my cable box that I owe them nothing. I've provided this to them. It's as though they are hoping they can aggravate me enough where I will just pay them off. I've let them slide on so much. They've added programming without my go ahead. They've overcharged me. They've made promises of free items and never delivered.

I've never endured so many issues with one company. I don't believe it is a conspiracy but I also don't believe this is an isolated coincidence. I believe the company is acting in a purposefully deceitful manner to ensure that they make the most money possible from each customer. I feel cheated. It isn't the money. Part of me says, pay them to get them off of my back...but the other part of me is just DONE. I've done everything right by this company and I've received nothing but headaches in return.

It seems that there are enough decent people out there who have endured the same sort of behavior I have. If you are interested in a Class Action Lawsuit, I believe we have a case. I have all of my documentation and can back up everything I've said here.
October 31, 2008
Poor service
I have an internet account with Charter Communications using their cable access. I pay a premium of over $60/mo for high speed (10 GB/sec).I depend on my internet access to work from home. Over the last couple months, there have been several times I lose internet access. When I call Charter to see what the problem is, I first get this automated system that has you do multiple computer tasks that never work. This lasts up to half an hour. Then I always get put on hold and have to listen to recordings of their special offers and bundled packages for 20 minutes waiting to speak to a live person. Once I have someone live, they always claim they have an unusually high volume of callers (excuse for being way understaffed). Then the tech looks for reports of outages (there never are reports of any)while you wait several more minutes. Then the get back on the phone and have me do labor intensive work including disconnecting my router and connecting my computer directly to the cable modem. After half an hour of these experiments, they either set up a service call aften several days in the future, or they tell me to contact my PC manufacturer telling me the problem is my PC. Soon afterwards, I see all my neighbors outside complaining they have no tv cable service from Charter. When I call them back, they still refuse to believe it isn't my problem because they have no report of outages in my area. They then again try to sell me more services. I always respond if the one I have doesn't work, why would I want to get more? The frustrating thing is that in my experience, the problem always seems to be them and they do not have adequate ways of diagnosing that and never accept responsibility to take care of it in a timely manner. I find their customer service to be terrible.
October 30, 2008
Poor Internet Service
Charter is on the ropes (so it would seem - check their financials and stock CHTR) and they have only themselves to blame. Such a simple equation: provide a quality product, support it properly. People will FLOCK to such businesses.

In our case we have cable TV (HD service included) and internet. Neither has been satisfactory for years. Finally, after TWO years of calling and complaining out the HD picture breaking up, a technician installed a signal booster that solved it. Yea. Only two years of suffering. Thanks Charter - why couldn't that have been the solution after the first call? Oh, but thanks for charging us full rate for services not rendered.

Now, we struggle with Internet. Mysteriously - as if there is a severe bandwidth issue locally - the internet service starts dropping packets every evening from roughly 7 pm to 102 in the morning (I am rarely up to know when service gets decent again). I have a log of each instance. I use the simple Ping -t method to watch the packets. Amazing what you can learn. I can live with up to 2-3% dropped packets. At 6-7% I lose the company VPN I have to use to get in the corporate office (I work from home - so this is no small problem). at 20-30% the internet appears down. Web browsers try to work, but usually time out. And if the page does render it is unacceptably slow. Any higher it might as well be completely down. Nothing connects. And of course there are times where it is completely down. I have logged 154 hours of down time since about mid June 2008. And these are only times I have captured. I am not on 24/7 so there could be other issues.

Charter's response? Reboot the modem. Not only is this asinine to tell me (can you imagine having to reboot the service every day??), it doesn't work at any rate. It ain't my network fellas - there is some bandwidth/network/router issue on your end and you need to find it.

My advice to Charter: Fire your entire marketing staff (think of the paper and airwaves you will save) and use the money to FIX YOUR SERVICE and SUPPORT GROUP. YOUR COMPANY IS BROKEN. You have only to read the many online horror stories to know you have severe process issues. It is probably too late for you, sadly. As for me, I continue to look for alternatives. Hello DirectTV/DISH/HUGHES/BLUEWAVE satellite services...

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