I'll cut to the chase, then rant. I ask - what can be done to raise awareness of the swindling and blatant high way robbery that ISPs do today? What can I or other people reading this do to help? I've filed BBB, FCC, and California utility commission complaints regarding my personal issue. I've ranted on twitter for the last week using all kinds of hash tags. I've napalmed TWC's 'support forums' alerting people of what I've experienced. I'm very close to reaching out to a local news company, but I'm skeptical if that will go anywhere. Maybe a letter to local government? The FTC? It's got to stop. Whether it's TWC, Comcast, Verizon, local companies. It's got to stop, but I don't know where to look myself.
The rant itself: I'm a TWC cable customer. Have been on my own for over a year now in CA. Previously my family had Verizon, and before that TWC back in NY for almost 10+ years or something. We had issues with some shady Verizon business, but TWC was way dirtier by comparison. Always trying to raise prices without notice, they were constantly throttling our internet speeds and never getting the promised wired speed, charging for Wifi. Really, charging for Wifi? Has the world gone to hell or what? The wifi thing pushed me so far, at the time I convinced my parents to leave TWC when they forced that onto our bill after a technician came and replaced a broken modem.
How does someone like TWC get away with upping bills without notice? Or, in my recent case, they offered me a service they could not provide in my area. And after I agreed, got it installed and realized they had screwed me, I've been waging war with them to get me back onto my original service at the original price. They were going to continue to charge me for a service I did not receive like I was dumb enough to not notice! If it were my mom, or my grandparents, they sure as hell wouldn't have noticed. But I'm not a complete idiot, do give me some credit.
So, even after calling out their nonsense (I had the new service installed for less than 8 hours before finally getting a hold of someone to cancel), they still haven't put me back to my original service. They're charging me $15/month more than what I originally paid. As if I wasn't going to notice, again.
I only went with TWC because I have no other option besides AT&T in my area in San Diego. AT&T has a data cap and offers less speed for more money. Trashy, but at this point, it seems like TWC is just not worth worrying about if they're trying to rob me. I've never had fraud committed against me, but this is feeling pretty close to that definition. I understand a mistake could be made, but after dealing with these consistent 'mistakes' from TWC, it has to be something greater I believe.
I can't imagine how many more people out there who have TWC who are getting charged extra for things they don't have or hiking without notice and don't know it. TWC sneaking things onto bills or offering services they're not actually providing, and they know some 65 year old who doesn't understand we've evolved past dial up isn't going to realize what's being charged that they don't actually have. I'm reading their forums (yes, you have to complain via a web forum in 2016 to get faster responses than over the phone), and this is actually seemingly quite common. I'm not the only moron getting swindled here. How is this acceptable business? I doubt TWC is the only one, I'm not unfamiliar with reddit, I've seen the Comcast smearing. But hell, it seems no ISP company is consumer safe.
It's not even like someone can sue I think. Even if I had the funds and balls to support an endevour like that, I'm pretty sure there are clauses in these agreements that prevent customers from taking legal action. There was a similar story on the top of /r/all the other day I think, similar discussion about that clause. Why am I, a consumer, afraid of a company offering a utility? Why is there no clear recourse?
EDIT: I realize I myself have become so reliant on stuff like auto-pay. But the danger of auto-pay is real. These companies can put anything they want on the bills, and it's up to you to catch that nonsense. Its like giving someone your wallet and closing your eyes. I've begun to remove autopay from a lot of things after this experience.
by omeganemesis28 http://ift.tt/291CD71
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