01/14/2002 Archived Entry: "Bye bye, SWBell..."

After Customer Service Debacle #2, I have initiated the cancellation of my Southwestern Bell DSL account. The gents at Time Warner were more than happy to set me up an appointment for Roadrunner installation. This should all happen next month. For a run-through of Customer Service Debacle #2, see the [more] text.

It went something like this.

Me: Hi. Um, there's a sixty dollar service charge on my December bill.

SWB: Yes, sir. I show you made a service call in November.

Me: Yeah, I made a service call. The technician showed up, hooked up a line analyzer, told me my line was fine, told me my modem was broken, told me it was my responsiblity to get it repaired, and left. He was here for about ten minutes.

SWB: Sir, we charge any time a technician is sent out, and if the fault is with our equipment or service, we then refund that charge.

Me: No one made that clear to me when the tech was dispatched. I could've diagnosed a faulty modem by myself without any technician.

SWB: Sir, the charge is part of our policy. I'm sorry if you're upset, but there's no way it will be refunded.

Me: All righty. Please transfer me to customer service. I will be cancelling my account immediately.

SWB: But...do you want to speak to a supervisor?

Me: You just said there's no way it will be refunded. So, transfer me to customer service so I can cancel.

SWB: Um...hang on. I'll get my supervisor.

[wait wait wait wait]

SWB2: This is Devon. I'm the supervisor for this shift. Was there something I could help you with?

Me: Unless you can refund me a sixty dollar service charge, no.

SWB2: Ah. I looked at your info while you were on hold. Actually, that charge is from the company we contract our service calls to. See, they bill us, and we pass the bill on. So, um, even if we wanted to, there's no way we could refund it. I could give you the number to their customer service department, if you'd like.

Me: [sigh]

It's not my problem to call a contractor to reverse a charge. I didn't deal with the contractor. All I saw was that my Speedstream 5260 died and I called SWBell, where it came from. They sent a guy out who told me that it was broken and that it was my problem. SWBell's CS number confirmed that. So, I called Speedstream and arranged an RMA. Speedstream was quite helpful and efficient, and I received a replacement modem. Shortly after that, a bill arrived from SWBell for sixty dollars.

So, SWBell charges me sixty dollars to tell me something that I could have found out on my own.

I will never, ever call a technician to my house again.

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