I have lived in Orlando for many years and moved around the city several times. For many years, Bright House was the only provider of cable and internet service so I have had my fair share of dealing with unreliable service and bad customer service. The last time I used their product was before we moved into our current home about 4 years ago. When I moved, I could not wait to get rid of their service and go with someone else.
When we moved, I went with AT&T Uverse which was absolutely wonderful until about 2 months ago when the signal starting dropping and the modem would reboot 4 – 5 times a day. Their internet was also extremely slow at around 10 mbps, while I was paying for 20 mbps. I was out of contract for AT&T so I thought I’d give Bright House another try since surely their customer service had improved with all the competition from companies such as AT&T, Uverse and Xfinity.
I was wrong.
My installation was scheduled for 06/26 between 10a – 12p. Of course, I took the day off from work and cancelled all activities that day so I would be home for the installation. At about 11:55a someone called to tell me that the techs were running late, but would be there by 12:15. Around 12:20p, another person called and said they would be there by 12:35p. By 2p, no one had shown up and no follow up calls. I tried to cancel the install via the internet, but of course you can’t do that so I placed a called to the customer service and also tweeted about my bad customer service. Someone answered my tweet, with a ‘I’m very sorry for your inconvenience’. On the call, they apologized, but cancelled the install.
A few minutes after cancelling the install, I received a phone call from Ron with Central Florida Cable. He said a supervisor was on the way and that he had looked at my bill and he was going to comp me for 30 days of service. I called him back and told him I had cancelled the install because of Brighhouse doesn’t care about my time, I don’t want them providing my service. He again stated that he was willing to comp me for 30 days of service so I said okay. In hindsight, I should have said no. Here’s the voicemail that he left:
The installers arrived and began installing the system. It took them about 4 hours, but announced around 6:3op that they were done. When I went to test the internet, it was running at around 10 mbps (I had ordered 150 mbps). The tech had no idea how to fix it so I told him to pack up everything he just installed. The supervisor was already in his truck ready to leave, but he came back inside and was able to boost the internet speed. With everything done, they left.
Unfortunately, everything was not done. I go out to the garage to shut the door and the attic door is still open with wires hanging out everywhere. When they dropped a line on the porch, they did not even put a faceplate on so there’s just a long cable dropping out of the ceiling. Junk such as pieces of cables and connectors left everywhere. in the house, attic and yard. The credenza with the TVs were not even pushing back into place.
Now, here is the best part. A few days after they leave, I receive a bill. I don’t bother to open the bill until after the 4th of July vacation because they had said I was getting 30 days free so I knew I didn’t owe anything. When I open the bill, image my surprise to find that I have an amount due on 07/01!. Of course, I call BH customer service and the woman tells me there is a $30 credit on my account and that is all. The $30 credit was from them upselling me on the faster internet plan and comping the different for two months. She said there is nothing she can do. Next, I go to Twitter. Below is the response I received from Bright House Cares basically saying the person who promised me the 30 days for free was a contractor and had no authority to do so.
What?? You have someone representing your company who offers the customer 30 days free and they don’t have the authority to do so? In other words, this guy told me whatever I wanted to hear in order to have the installation done.
My next step is to send the voicemail to Bright House customer service wasting even more time. My billable rate is between $50 – $75 dollars so BH owes me around $200 because I’ve spent at least 4 hours on this issue with no resolution yet.
