Hey there blogoshpere, long time no write. This is the first blog I've ever written in, going all the way back to 2007, but over the years my posts have dwindled to barely a trickle. I call this blog Rants because it was originally intended as a way for me to, well, rant about things that made me angry or frustrated or both. Well, it's been almost three years since my last Rant, and so for me to return here...well...
Capitalism. It's at the very core of many of our economic problems and though many of us are not swayed into thinking so, the far reaches of capitalism into our lives and our pocketbooks is outrageously invasive and irritating and the way we are treated by those that wish to make money off of us is well, just plain wrong. Today's case in point: Altice's Optimum, the company that provides my Internet service. Their way of doing business, much like so many other of today's corporate entities, is simply outrageous!
Here's my Optimum story:
About two and a half months ago, I moved. As with my phone service and my electric service, I took the necessary steps to transition my Opt account into my new home. With my phone and my electricity, I had no problems of any sort. Optimum, not so much.
My move was on November 20th, right after the Thanksgiving holiday. I had made an appointment to have Optonline come to my home to set up my Internet and Wifi. I was hooked up one, two, three. A little into the month of January, I realized I hadn't gotten a bill for my new service, though I had received a final one for my previous account. I went online to check (I have always paid my Opt account online, with paperless statements.).
I'm sorry, you don't have access to this section.
Huh? I tried again. Same response. Well, I did this very early in the morning, so I couldn't call them at that moment, and then honestly I'd forgotten about it during the time I was at work (because of work!), but just a day or two later, I got a nice big notification at the top of my pc screen:
Are you the owner of this Optimum Online account? Your bill is past due. Please pay it now to avoid any disruption to your service.
It was around 9 p.m. I went back to their website and tried again to view and pay my bill. Same message as earlier. No bill. I clicked the link for support. Contact us. I clicked there and was given three options: call, chat or tweet. I figured it might be faster to chat than call. Click chat.
What can I help you with today?
I responded with my issue of not getting a bill nor having access to pay it.
As soon as I hit send, I got an immediate, standardized message to pay my bill conveniently on the website. I reworded my inquiry. Again, another standardized message...very close to the first one. I realized I was chatting with a bot who could not help me. Ah well, let's try calling.
Funny, and here's where you see the priorities of a big corporation such as Altice. There were indeed local phone numbers to call from the various areas where they provide service, such as Long Island, where I live, but those numbers were lower on the page, with no accompanying information. At the upper part of the page other numbers were given to contact sales representatives, with late-night hours posted.
I dialed.
I think by now we all know this routine of calling virtually any corporation for anything. Robotized scripts that make you go round and round forever until you're either lucky enough to have found the right button or you get disconnected altogether. Well, I experienced both on that first call, but when I did gleefully and finally find the right button I learned that they had closed at 8 p.m. If I wanted to upgrade my existing plan or order a pay per view movie, I could have called all the way till 11. Ugh!
I made it a point to sacrifice my lunch period at school the next day to finally get this thing resolved and was lucky enough to get through to a person in just 20 minutes (eye roll!). I tried explaining to the gentleman that I wasn't receiving bills either via snail mail or email, and the rep finally told me he could assist me. Finally!
Okay, so I'm going to need the number on the back of your router.
I'm at work. My router is in my house, 40 miles away.
Oh, well I can't do anything without that number. You're going to have to give us a call back from your home. Is there anything else I can help you with today?
Are you f*&(ing kidding me??!!??
Of course, I had class that evening and so I wouldn't be home before 8 p.m., so it would just have to wait. Okay, so my bad. I let a couple of more weeks go by without calling to fix it. (In the meantime, I had paid my December bill over the phone back in that earlier phone call...just to avoid a disruption of service, so I knew I had time.)
I was beginning to see those same messages on my pc again telling me that I am late, so I made it a point to give another call this evening. Guess what? I dialed the number at 8:04. Another round of ring around the numbers before I realized. Too late!
Altice, you simply suck! You invest your money into workers who will gain you sales until 11 p.m., but will not pay people to service your customers after 8. I gave you all the notifications when I moved! You switched my service! You never billed me, yet threaten to cut off my service! And you are not available when it is convenient for me to call and fix this problem that never should have happened in the first place!
I paid another overdue balance on that call this evening, but I've still got the same problem. I better remember to take care of this before 8 o'clock, and soon!
Rant over!
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