June 9, 1997 -- The following letter was emailed to me and the San Jose Mercury News editor, with a request to include it on my site.
I have never felt so strongly about a subject in recent years and am compelled to describe my encounter with TCI last Thursday.
The facts you are about to read are true and can be verified if needed.
On Thursday, June 5, we were visited by one of TCI's "finest" representatives in the early evening (5:30 pm). This gentleman (could have been a 49er linebacker) didn't bother to knock, or ring the door bell, but walked directly into our garage to talk to my wife who was on the phone. He continued to wait outside our garage, pacing back and forth. After my wife finished her phone call, she asked him for identification and some paperwork verifying what he claimed we owed the company. He shook something around his neck in an attempt to identify himself.
Terrified of who this gentlemen could be, my wife sent me to the garage to talk to this guy while she called TCI to verify that he worked for the company. He got in his car and left. The children ran into the house and hid in their rooms. At this moment, my TV went blank with fuzzy lines. I went to the garage and found nobody. I did see the gentleman across the street and asked him if he just disconnected my cable. He said he did because my wife was rude to him and spent too much time on the phone. She was making plans for my seven-year-old's birthday party the next evening!
By the way, the TCI rep/technican did not wait for my wife to call TCI for verification.
We called TCI that night and spoke to a customer service representative who said she would take up the matter with the supervisor and get back to us. TCI never did. We verified the amount owed was $22.48, not $49.00. We had not received a bill for several weeks nor did we ever get a phone call stating the account was five weeks late (if even that).
All day Friday we both called TCI to get re-connected and were given the speech that "the customer service supervisor will get back to us." They never did. What three representatives did tell us is that we would also have to pay a re-connect fee because we were late paying our bill. All along, we were both being told that we should have contacted the company since we hadn't received our bill, and asked them what the amount was so that we could pay it. Ludicrous!
Saturday morning comes and still no contact from the phantom supervisor. We received a call from a rep. asking us what we wanted of them. We wanted our cable re-connected! Got the same speech again about calling them when we don't get the bill. But this time, if we pay the $22.48 bill, they will re-connect us and waive the re-connection charge. We were told that they were trying to put the matter behind them and did not wish to discuss it with us. The rep. said that the serviceman said my wife was rude and did not wish to pay what he asked, so he disconnected the cable (which by the way, is not at all what really transpired). That's as far as TCI would go with the matter. Almost every TCI customer service rep. we spoke to was rude and unhelpful, to say the least.
I guess writing checks to perfect strangers with no ID is TCI's preferred way of doing business. Keep in mind that there were no bills sent, or phone calls placed with us over the $22.48 we owed. I went to the Santa Clara office to pay the bill and requested to personally speak to the rep. that I had talked to for so long on the phone. I didn't want to repeat the whole thing for the fifth time. She would not speak to me personally, but would talk to me on the courtesy phone in the office! This is customer service at its finest. TCI needs to wake up and listen to their customers. As soon as someone else comes along, I predict TCI will lose its customers.
Today is Monday, and I have paid my cable bill plus a month in advance and still have no TV! I have now been entered into their installation schedule and can anticipate re-connection by June 16, at the earliest! Mind you, I have two children who are used to having TV. Currently we have no TV, antennas are not allowed on the roof of our home since it's a new development.
I think Joe Public should know how TCI conducts business, by intimidation and harassment of fine, up-standing families. We have always paid our bills. Had TCI sent a bill, we would have been more than happy to pay it. I have never had anyone come to my home "collecting".
To sum this up, TCI states that they ask the TCI repair/Installation rep. to "make customer contact." My question to TCI is simple, is coming into a person's private home garage/property and scaring them and their three children part of their customer contact policy?
What I would like to know is if TCI plans on apologizing to me and my family for the rude and terrorist way they did business? In the 90s when people are taking children, killing people, etc., it's so important to show identification when coming to a person's home. I had every right to ask for ID and this TCI rep. should have complied instead of cutting our cable line.
I also hope you will print an article with the facts in the case. If we all banned together TCI cable will be "forced" to address their customers with due respect. Good up-standing citizen's do not deserve to be treated in the manner described above.
-The Hovanis Family
Hovanis@ix.netcom.com
Santa Clara, California
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