How the Call Center Killed My Cablevision Relationship
Sadly, the economy has forced me to drop something I have been extremely loyal to over the past eight years in this house: Cablevision, or more important, News12 Connecticut (Cablevision’s local news station).
Switching to AT&T’s U-Verse triple-play service this week was bittersweet (Hey, I now have the NFL Network and Cartoon Network West, so I can wake up to Aqua Teen Hunger Force). But the horrible call center experience I just had as I said good-bye to Cablevision took that edge off a bit.
Moral of the story: Your loyalty to a brand can switch in the blink of an eye when you get an extremely poor call center experience. And I hope my call was being monitored… and I probably need some anger management.
Here’s the deal. I’ve been able to deal with the fact Cablevision hadn’t sent me a paper bill since I tried to cancel my online billing back in 2002. They somehow have been able to send me “pay up, deadbeat” letters though, so we have been in the habit of pretty much paying our bill every other month.
One of those calls came in this morning, and I was going to hang up and drive to the always-crowded Cablevision office a few miles from my house, pay the bill and return the boxes. But I figured for convenience sake I’d pay by phone and then cancel.
Paying by phone was simple, thanks to the automation. Canceling was a different story. I waited on hold for 13 minutes only to have a call center employee named Andres introduce himself and ask why I’m canceling. And when he couldn’t find me in the system by phone number, and asked me for an account number, I told him I didn’t know it because I don;t get a paper bill, just the shut-off notices and the calls.
In which Andres replied (after finding my account), “Meester Teeeeeeeem…. You have only called this office TWICE, once in November of 2006 and once in November 2007!”
Mr. Tim? When did I lose my last name? And when did my trying to cancel my subscription to Cablevision turn into a debate? When did this faceless stranger names Andres become my best buddy? And did he know I could have a short fuse when treated with disrespect?
Let’s just say the call got uglier. I asked him to transfer me to a supervisor, in which he told me his office was already the highest level. And in which I told him I didn’t care. And then, after being on hold for a supervisor, he told me they were all busy!
I was done speaking to Andres, and I told him I just wanted to cancel my subscription return my boxes, and have someone else take serve me. He refused to transfer me to another operator. I talked loud. He interrupted me mid-sentence. I told him he wasn’t treating the customer with respect. And worse of all, he made me angry.
The lesson Cablevision should learn? They are not the only game in town in Connecticut. There’s satellite television, and AT&T’s U-Verse, which so far I’m very happy with. I’m getting more for my money, and the experience - both with the services they offer and with Frank, the guy who did the installation - have been tremendous.
So if they insist on rudeness in the call center and other poor customer service methods (like my lack of a paper bill), who is to say other people with the ability to receive U-Verse won’t drop their loyalty to the long-standing institution?
