The Spectrum of negative experiences

I have been a Lexington cable television customer since the days when the provider was known as Telecable, and have continued using this service since that time.  During the years I have had this service, I would characterize service as uneven, pricing as endlessly escalating but overall have been more satisfied with this service than the few viable alternatives that have existed.

When Spectrum became the owner of the local system, I was concerned, because I had already read that its parent, Charter Communications, was well-known for poor service, particularly poor customer relations.  Not long after they assumed control, my service plan rate increased by nearly twenty dollars per month, and when I called to discuss this change with customer service I was cheerfully told that “oh, you must have been moved to a Spectrum rate plan.” And there was apparently nothing to be done.

Not surprisingly, Spectrum offers tremendous deals to prospective customers to entice them to sign on, and then raises fees after the promotional period ends.  I have repeatedly illustrated this fact to whomever I would speak with at Spectrum and its predecessors, as it makes little sense to continue raising rates for long-term customers and continue subsidizing low prices for new subscribers who may or may not remain customers.

To add insult to injury, when we bought our home over twenty years ago we knew that we had the neighborhood cable, telephone and electrical junction boxes in our back yard.  This means that anytime a house in immediate proximity to our home has a service issue or a new installation, a technician must access our property to get to the junction box.  And the cables associated with these installations often lay atop the surface of the yard for several weeks before a different contractor comes to bury them.

This is the most recent disagreeable issue that occurred in my long history with Lexington cable television.  Late last week a neighbor apparently had a service issue, and a Spectrum technician came to our door (I work from home so I happened to be here at the time) to let us know he would be in our backyard, a courtesy which I appreciate.  In summary, he apparently got the issue resolved by laying a new cable which went from the pedestal in our yard, through and around my next-door neighbor property and to the affected neighbor’s home.

On Monday I was outside and notice two men in a van pulling up near our house and I called out to them.  They confirmed that they were there to “finish the installation” and bury the cable.  I nodded and told them where access to our yard was and didn’t think much about it.  When they left, I had no service, as in burying the newly installed cable, they also apparently cut our cable that provides cable television and internet service to our home.

I called Spectrum to report the outage, told them what I suspected happened and was told that I could expect a call from “dispatch” in an hour.  Four hours later, I called back, reported all that I had discussed earlier, and was told, again, that I would receive a call in an hour.  Two and a half hours later I received a call from a different representative, who was laughing at the time of her call to our home.  She explained that they had been “so crazy busy” and that no one would be able to come to restore service until the following day at 11:00 AM.  Coincidentally, this was offered to me in my original call, but I pressed for more immediate service.  I replied that I had been waiting for most of the day to have service restored, that there was a time when a customer reported an outage that early in a given day and efforts were made to address those sudden issues, particularly when they were likely caused directly by a system employee.  The representative laughed again, said they had been “so crazy” that day and that I’d have to settle for 11:00 AM the next day.

It’s worth noting that our grandchildren were with us that day and the next, so we were pretty much counting on cable and internet to help entertain them during their visit.

In fairness, when the technician arrived the next morning I was not present, but my wife said that the technician confirmed that a) our line was cut, albeit accidentally, b) that he was pretty sure that technicians were probably available and c) he had our service restored in a short time.  And he was very apologetic about our experience.

I should also note that I posted several negative messages about Spectrum on Twitter that morning, and received a message from someone at @AskSpectrum suggesting I follow them and that he would direct message me thereafter.  All he did was confirm our existing appointment and espouse the company line.  After I pressed him he agreed to a one-day credit in our service charges, which I question whether I will ever see.

In closing I'll just mention that I sent roughly the same information to the Kentucky Public Service Commission and the office of the Mayor of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government a short time ago.  Approved or not, there's not reason for any company to treat its customers so disrespectfully.  We'll see if anything comes of this!