Are you a stupid [cable] customer? (BEWARE: sarcasm)

[The_Blur]

Currently, I work in customer service. I am lucky to have a job in this economy, but the sad fact is that my job would not be essential if my company's client's customers were not complete idiots.

Allow me to explain. As an outsource* call center representative, my company seeks out clients who want to pay less for essential staff. I work for a nationwide cable-internet-phone service provider's campaign, meaning that I get paid less than their associates but I have to do a better job to keep my job. There are a lot of reasons why they don't want to do their own job, but I've concluded that sheer annoyance and a sense of hate for their own paying customers is the primary reason. Their* prices and regional policies are clear evidence of this.

These feelings may be justified. Their customers who actually call into customer service are overwhelmingly stupid. This is a level of stupid that I only believed existed in dealerships. In order to become this dumb, I'm under the impression that some of these customers' parents are responsible. These customers seem to eat asbestos chips with lead paint. This is the level of idiocy that regularly makes its way to my headset-wired computer.

Don't be ashamed if you turn out to be one of the many fools who keep the likes of me employed. If you didn't call, we would not have the jobs of explaining the obvious to you. That is what brings me the bill.

Read the poll and check everything that applies to you.

*outsource—a company hired another company (not necessarily overseas) to do their job because my company can do it for less; I do not work for the company that I say I do on the phone
**their—not my responsibility since I represent the company even though I do not work for them; I will not identify the company because you never know who is listening

[f_bartram]

I used to work as a rep at DirecTV we got the same thing

[Russo]

stupid is me having to pay $66 a month for JUST cable internet...

[Camaro_Corvette]

Poll?

EDIT: nevermind

[The_Blur]

Originally Posted by Camaro_Corvette

Poll?

EDIT: nevermind

It was hard to express some of these situations in less than 100 characters on the first try.

[Camaro_Corvette]

Originally Posted by The_Blur

It was hard to express some of these situations in less than 100 characters on the first try.

I figured that was the problem!

[5thGenCamaroChick]

I really wanted to check "I complain when my 6-month promotion ends in 6 months." We (my hubs and I) think it's crappy that loyal customers who have been paying their bills on time for years can't get deals like this, yet Joe Blow, whose 6 month Dish Network deal just expired can call up DirecTV and get another 6 month deal. There, I complained.

[The_Blur]

Originally Posted by 5thGenCamaroChick

I really wanted to check "I complain when my 6-month promotion ends in 6 months." We (my hubs and I) think it's crappy that loyal customers who have been paying their bills on time for years can't get deals like this, yet Joe Blow, whose 6 month Dish Network deal just expired can call up DirecTV and get another 6 month deal. There, I complained.

I agree. Loyal customers should get to the top of the list. If you have a very serious problem with your bill and threaten to leave, we will generally send you to our retention, service changes, disconnects, or saves department. This department is responsible for keeping customers. If you specifically request them, we have to do what you ask. A supervisor in billing cannot help you with promotions for most companies. Call the division that disconnects unhappy customers, and you might get a new promotion. I've seen people get 75% off their whole bill this way.

I will also point this out. Despite my complete lack of loyalty to my company, I am informed. Satellite companies do offer very good service when installed properly, but it is really hard to compete with the quality of a direct signal that goes into your cable box or TV. It is also worth noting that satellite companies have to pay for a satellite in space. As a result, they tend to hide their promotions even more questionably than sketchy cable companies. For example, they may offer a 3-month promotion but will require you to sign a 2-year contract. In the long haul, your bill will usually be cheaper with cable service. Add to that the cost of the channels. In order to do this, you need a channel guide from every company you are considering and the full price, not the promotional price, of each package. Usually, cable companies offer lots of HD for free and more channels that you'll actually watch. Have you noticed that cable companies never tell you how many channels they have? They usually have over 20 music channels, over 60 regular channels, over 30 premium channels, and over 100 digital channels. When you add those together, you'll find yourself enjoying more programming with cable. I don't even like my cable company, and I think the pricing sucks, but they're better than the space-based alternative.

Get the cheaper full price package, regardless of how much the promotion saves you. A lot of times, people will get Starz for a couple of months for free, but they will start getting charged full price, angrily calling customer service to demand why their bill increased. "You added Starz on promotion, and that promotion expired. That is why your bill increased." If you don't want it, then don't get it on promotion. If you do want it, learn the full price before you ever consider the promotional price.

Finally, I'll add that almost every cable-internet-phone bundle is a terrible deal. You'll only end up saving $10 per month, which adds up over time, but you may have a phone line that costs more than $10 that you will never lose. Stupid customers fall for this all the time. They want the service trifecta thinking that they will save money. It only saves you money if you actually need all 3 services. If you don't need something, don't pay for it.

[5thGenCamaroChick]

We had a cable/internet/phone bundle. When we bought our 50" HDTV we wanted to use Monster HDMI cables to get the best possible picture. The cable box had an HDMI port but it was "closed". I called the cable company and asked if they could open it and they wouldn't. They said they had bought a bulk of component cables and had to use them. I told them I didn't expect them to pay for my HDMI cable, but they still wouldn't do it. Soo, we switched to Dish Network and kept the phone/internet through the cable company. Eventually we decided having cell phones and a land line was redundant so we turned off the home phone. At that point our internet bill went through the roof. Our internet service alone was more expensive than internet/phone together. The cable company wouldn't lower it so we went with a different company. Point of the story: I don't see how these companies turn a profit doing business like that.

BTW, thanks for the tips.

[PQ]

I voted for them all because I don't know what the hell the cable company even does.

I just pay my bill and take the abuse.

[Xanthos]

Originally Posted by PQ

I voted for them all because I don't know what the hell the cable company even does.

I just pay my bill and take the abuse.

I don't have cable/satelite/anything for that matter. I voted based on my experience with other kinds of tech support.
- X

[2Tightwads]

I'm a Tightwad. I don't even watch or pay for cable... its mainly for the wife. We use over the air HDTV antennas to capture free TV. We watch alot of the same shows everyone else does and if its not on the antenna we just use the internet card to watch programming on Hulu.com. I recommend people go read a book or turn a wrench.

[Ject]

I tend to usually tell technical support what to do to fix the problem.. and 80% of the time it works lol.. My porblems usually consist around not getting the speeds I am paying for and guaranteed which really upsets me.

It's funny when I talk to tech support and they say i have viruses on my PC which is causing the slow speeds.... even moments after reformatting to Vista 64bit or windows 7 64bit..

PS. I work as an IT Desktop Support and Network Administrator.

[Angrybird 12]

First being put on hold for an hour before getting to speak to someone ticks most people off, that and having a technical problem or billing problem and they are in a bad mood to begin with....

I have found out that 90% of tech support people know nothing technical.. they read it of a check sheet and if that don't fix the problem they are lost...
I usually know what is wrong before they do and I will right off tell them what is wrong and they still insist at starting from the very first step.(stuff I have already tried).. 45 minutes later if I am lucky they will get to the part I told them about in the beginning..
9 times out of 10 it will fix the problem... (usually it is something on their end that need fixing, not on mine)