A Rant

Charter and I have this game we play. About once a year, they raise the rate for my broadband connection to something ridiculous like $53.99/month. I then call them up, pretend I want to cancel, and they offer me a “special offer” that allows me to pay something more reasonable, like $29.99/month, “for a limited time” or in exchange for a 1-year contract.

Last time I did this, the process was relatively quick and painless. After some hemming and hawing, the customer service representative took my information over the phone and that was that. This year, however, Charter has figured out that there’s this thing called “the Internet.” So when I called up my friendly Charter customer service representative, she informed me that I would need to sign up for a special offer through the website. Great! I thought. I picked the package I wanted, entered my information, clicked “Order,” and up popped a small window labeled “Charter Live Chat.” (“One more step!” it said, rather optimistically)

Charter doesn’t appear to have jumped on the Web 2.0 bandwagon, as the chat window worked by means of a frame that refreshed every few seconds, creating an annoying flicker. It was also extremely slow–after I typed a message, it would take more than a minute for the lady at the other end to respond. And she didn’t appear to have any of the contact information I’d just entered. In fact, after about 10 minutes of sitting around waiting for her to get back to me, she informed me that she was unable to access my account, and I’d have to call to get the account changed.

I’m at a loss to explain what Charter is trying to accomplish with this whole Internet-based ordering process. It doesn’t seem like it would cut down on labor costs much. And it’s certainly not any faster or more convenient for the customer. Maybe they’re hoping that if they make the process as cumbersome as possible, I’ll give up and pay their inflated prices without a fuss?

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