Why do public utilities treat customers like slaves?

[cboy4]

Anyone have trouble with/complaints about DISH Network?

I spend close to a hundred bucks a month for satellite TV with those A-holes.

I just called because I'm having technical problems with my remote.

You would have thought I was calling to ask them to come over and paint my fricken house by the rude behavior of the tech.

And switched from Comcast cable because THEY were a bunch of superior-acting assholes!!!

I'm sick and tired of paying all of these monopolies mass quantities of my hard earned salary in exchange for grief.

And don't even get me started on my cell phone company.

Bastards.




:rant:

[Warpy]

1. My Direct TV dish was flat on its back on my roof

like a dead cockroach for five weeks because it took that long to get a service call. The service guy said the dish had been improperly installed in the beginning, no charge. No credit on my bill, either.

Assholes.

[johnnie]

2. They suck

All of 'em.

I had SBC "accidentally" turn off my service. No one knew which department made the mistake and it took them days to find out. Then, I had to sign back up and wait for the "setup". It took about a week. :wtf:


And they acted like *I* was the idiot.

[acmavm]

3. I had a hell of an argument with Metropolitan Utilities District

here the other day (our local gas company). They are over-billing me. And they say it's because the computer is estimating my bill. Because they can't get a reading. Because I'm at work when they come. (Stupid bastards, if I don't work there won't be a way for them to rip me off.)

We are going around and around. I had them make a guy come out late Monday afternoon. But this shit has to be done for TWELVE straight months. The (so they tell me) the computers can start making estimates off actual meter readings.

People who work for utilities companies should have to work on Saturdays.

[MindPilot]

6. Similar problem with San Diego Gas & Electric

For several months they complained that my dogs were a problem for the meter reader. So I kept them in on the scheduled reading day which is how i found out the reader may or may not come on the scheduled day. I guess there is a different guy now because there's been no problem for a few months.

If you don't like dogs, then perhaps meter reading is not the job for you. And who was the dumb mother fucking idiot moron who decide the best place for the meters was the BACK FUCKING YARD??!!:argh:

One would think in this time of digital technology and satellite communications that the device counting the electrons entering your house wouldn't have to be read by a guy who has to wander into your back yard with a clipboard.:banghead:

[OneBlueSky]

4. my #1 complaint with utilities and other companies is appointment setting . . .

or, rather, the lack thereof . . . "we'll be there between 8:00 am and noon" says one . . . "we'll be there between 1:00 and 5:00 pm" says another . . . I even had one recently tell me that they'd be here for a delivery "between 1:00 and 8:00 pm" . . . like I want to sit around four hours or more for THEIR convenience? . . .

HELLO! . . . I'M the customer here! . . . how about a little respect, you assholes! . . .

[BlooInBloo]

5. Ddish network and Comcast are public utilities?

[MindPilot]

8. I think we are just complaining about big corporations in general n/t

[BlooInBloo]

9. Ah. Gotcha.

[Big Blue Marble]

17. You are so right.

I have noticed a significant increase in apathy and arrogance in what is laughingly called customer service over the
last several years. The republican rule has led them to believe they are above regulation from government and concern for their customers. After all what ya gonna do about it?

[cboy4]

14. Well they're not per se I guess, but when you have a complaint about

the cable company or the phone company or the water company or the power company, etc. -- at least where I live, you contact the California Public Utilities Commission.

[Maddy McCall]

7. I've had nothing but excellent service from DirecTV.

I highly recommend DirecTV. Customer service is great. Contacts with them are always friendly. Any time I've had to have service at home, they always send pleasant people.

[cboy4]

15. I'd rather not sign up with DirectTV because I'm pretty sure

Rupert Murdoch owns/controls a good chunk of the company. Blah

[Bitwit1234]

10. Comcast is terrible.

We have now moved from Maryland but the people at Comcast talk to you like you are an idiot. I called to tell them that we had no cable. The person at the other end told me that I would have to wait til at least three more people called because they couldn't send anybody out till they had a lot of complaints. Then after about six hours I called back. At that point they tried to tell me that there was probably something wrong with my TV, and not cable because no body else had called. What was really frustrating was the fact that when I originally called no record was made and I had to ask for a supervisor because I could not understand a word of what the person I was talking to said, they had such an Indian accent. Finally I convinced someone that since the water company was laying new pipes and right next to our apartment they had dug up the ground and probably cut a wire. Well after two days and everyone from my apartment down calling they sent someone and sure enough the cable was cut.

I was so outraged I called the County Executive's Office and complained. I told them they talked to me like I was stupid. I wanted to know why the county would give a contract to this type of people. Within fifteen minutes one of the managers in the cable office called and apologized. She gave me her cell phone number, asked me to please call her if I had any other problems and not to bother the County Executive. Yeah. That's the only reason I got any service. In the mail I got a letter telling me that I was given a twenty dollar credit for the "inconvenience" of losing service. It the stupid aholes had listened I wouldn't have had an inconvenience. I bet the rest of the people in my complex who lost service did not get the twenty dollar credit.

[cboy4]

16. I know. I hate Comcast which was one of the primary reasons I

went with satellite TV.

[seriousstan]

11. Roadrunner is excellent, even at 3:00AM on the weekend.

[cboy4]

21. That's good to know. But my ISP is fine. My complaint is with

customer service through DISH Network satellite TV.

[lizerdbits]

12. Comcast

A few years ago I suddenly get a much larger cable bill. I notice I'm getting all the movie channels now. I call to say I did not order movie channels and change my bill. They say their records indicate I signed up for 3 months of free movie channels and never canceled so they started charging me. The last time I contacted them was a year before that when I moved! The dipshit on the phone gets snippy "YES you DID order these movie channels!" (Ever seen the nail buffing phone answerer on Mad TV?) Even though I was at work when on the phone and was so angry and how she was treating me I said "Fuck you, I'll call back and talk to someone else." And that's just what I did and got it removed from my bill after an almost as bad conversation. I don't know if they had one number off on a house or account number but I've never had movie channels because I don't watch enough for it to be worth it. I would never even consider trying it for free because trying to cancel before the free period ended would probably be just as awful. That's the only problem I've had though, I usually just call and switch service when I move (3 times in 10 years).

[Neecy]

13. wow

A hundred bucks a month for Dish Network? How many receivers are you running? I thought they were cheaper than my DirecTv service but jeez, maybe not. You might just need to swap out for a new remote - the ones I have that come with the receivers are total crap and have about a two-year lifespan.

Btw, I've found the customer service for DirecTv to be just as inflexible, unhelpful and put out by my call as you just experienced with Dish.

[cboy4]

18. Crazy ha!? Well, I run two receivers and of course I have the

most expensive programming package because I want all of the movie channels....especially HBO. (Bill Maher, etc.)

Yea, I'm going to need to purchase a new remote from Radio Shack or a another store.

Can you believe DISH wanted to sell me a new one for about $100?!?! :wtf:

I think I was more upset about the asshole demeanor of the employee, than the price of the remote he unsuccessfully tried to sell me.

Oh, as for DirecTV...like I told someone else up thread, Rupert Murdoch has his fingerprints all over that company....unless he's sold his interest.

And I want nothing to do with that asshole. :)

[theboss]

19. That ain't a public utility

But, in general, I hate every cable/satellite/internet company.

[cboy4]

22. Whatever. LOL,,,,,They suck regardless! n/t

[AllegroRondo]

20. Cable company tried to charge me for two accounts

one for a house that did not exist. They had one for our house address, and one for and address off by two numbers but same name. If you try to find the second address, the street dead ends - theres no such place.

I even had the customer service lady tell me "well, we sent someone to that address and he installed cable. You'll have to pay for the intsall charges." Oh, really? He managed to install cable in a farmers field?
THEN she tried to tell me that I'd have to pay for someone to go to the nonexistant house to turn off the cable there before they could clear the bill.

[cboy4]

23. Wow! That's surprising they tried to do that!!

:sarcasm:

[BuelahWitch]

24. A note about customer service agents

Companies like Comcast and Time Warner find it cheaper to toss the customer service jobs to smaller companies, some in the US, some in other countries. Anyone can get a job as a customer service agent as long as they pass a background check and piss test. They are given very little training, just learn the computer screens and get out there and answer the calls. Most of them have no clue about good customer service, because good manners and handling angry callers are not so easily taught.

I've worked in several call centers and have heard how rude some of these reps are. Of course, the customers can be rude too (and the customer is NOT always right, sorry).

It's all about bottom line. Customer service reps are paid shit nowadays, and the businesses that hire them are only concerned about getting them out on the floor. They listen in on calls for "quality", but when it comes down to it, the quality department is a joke too. You can get all kinds of kudos from customers, but if you don't say their dumb ass slogan you get written up.

Maybe this wasn't helpful, I just wanted to give people some insight on what it's like on the inside.

[cboy4]

25. Well, I was exceptionally nice. I understand it's a tough job

dealing with asshole customers.

However, it's not right that I spend about 100 bucks a month for a service and basically get treated like shit over a question about my remote control.

It wasn't like I was calling to chew her out. I was very calm and very understanding.

[BuelahWitch]

26. No, I understand that there can be some very rude reps

I was more or less saying that businesses don't care about their customer service these days. If they did they'd actually provide decent *service* so that customers wouldn't have to call and complain. :hi: