A Transference Of Annoyance

I have cable and Internet services with a well-known company infamous for its garbage customer service. My previous encounters with their customer service have varied from fair to wanting, but up to this point they haven’t been truly awful. This time, though, I got the experience that’s emblematic of their reputation.

Without warning, my cable/DVR box goes on the fritz — the power button flashing on and off, just not working at all. I do my due diligence to try to fix it without success, and then I call the provider. I explain to them what’s going on, and proceed to spend twenty minutes going through every single action I’ve already taken, because the agent will not accept that I have already done them. The only thing she does that I haven’t done is send a restart signal, which predictably fails. At the end of this, she tells me she has to transfer me to a local center to get a service appointment. I’m a bit annoyed at this point, but there’s not much I can do without getting a service appointment, so I agree.

The call transfers, and another agent picks up and starts asking me for my basic details. I interrupt and say I was just transferred from another customer service agent. That’s when I learn there was no actual transfer; the first agent sent the call to someone else without giving them a single detail about me, or even telling them that I had been on the line with someone else! And [Agent #2] either doesn’t believe me or doesn’t care because she spends another 20 minutes going through the exact same tests I have already done with [Agent #1]. I’m at less than my best when it’s all done, as it’s late and I just want to get a tech out there to help me, but finally, the appointment is made.

Or so I think, because the scheduled window comes and goes without any sign of the tech. Cue another call up, where it’s taking everything I have not to yell at [Agent #3], who tells me that no appointment was ever made. I make a point of demanding a credit to my account at this point because I’m very fed up with how this has gone, but finally, the appointment is confirmed for the next day. The tech takes one look at the box and deems it toast, and sets me up with a new one.

The kicker? The new box dies in less than a week. When I call up, they don’t waste any time telling me to go to the local shop; apparently, someone has their head on straight and sees what I’ve been through and realizes I am not in the mood for BS. At least the second replacement box works fine.