Adam, a Rogers Wireless customer in Saint-Laurent, Quebec, got the customer service shock of his life when he called the telecommunications company after noticing a previously promised promotion on his wireless account was suddenly set to expire.

“Last year I was promised 100 long distance minutes for free, so long as I keep renewing my contract,” Adam told the Rogers forum on Broadband Reports. “The value was $5, balanced by a $5 credit. Last month an expiry date magically appeared next to the credit, so I called today to find out why.”

That was his first mistake, immediately apparent after the conversation with a Rogers manager quickly degenerated into petulant obstinance.

Some of the shocking things I was told include:

• “This wasn’t documented last year.”
• “According to the terms of service, Rogers is not required to honor what an agent says.”
• “Recordings are not valid in a court of law for this circumstance.”
• “We will not look at the terms of service to support our statements.”
• “We will not listen to your recording of the original call because it doesn’t have an interaction ID.”

A follow-up with Rogers’ Office of the President brought no relief, instead provoking more testy replies from the company’s customer service agents starting with an accusation the customer was lying about the ongoing credit he was promised. Adam helpfully offered to play the original recording of the phone call where the agent made the promise, but Rogers’ executive customer service was having none of it.

“I can’t listen to the call because I’m uncertain of the legality of it,” the Rogers representative replied.

A request to clarify the situation with Rogers’ legal department left Adam on hold for several minutes followed by a frank declaration when the representative returned to the line.

“We’re not going to honor the credit, regardless of what the agent offered you,” said the Rogers senior customer service representative.

Adam was a Rogers wireless customer for 11 years, and remains shocked the company would adopt a “take no prisoners” stance over a $5 monthly credit for calling minutes. But Rogers’ reputation has been questioned by many Canadians for years. One Broadband Reports reader offered:

“Rogers reputation is so bad that it is already 50 miles below the earth’s surface. I guess they want to make it 500.”

AT&T customers with questions about their latest bill may get personalized answers through an innovative new “SimpleView” video bill explanation service the company is unveiling to their U-verse customers.

Using SundaySky’s SmartVideo technology, AT&T can generate an on-demand, customized analysis of a customer’s latest bill in a professionally produced video presentation.

“SundaySky has a pretty basic technology that is doing amazing things for us in the cost side of our business and caring for customers,” said John Donovan, chief technology officer for AT&T. “When we get new customers and they look at bills, if they have any confusion, SundaySky gives them the ability to press a link. The link dynamically builds a custom video that walks through their own bill. The impact for our company is fewer calls into customer care, shorter calls of those that come in and enormous satisfaction of the customers.”

The video accounts for new services recently added and shows how many days a customer was billed for a service. It also explains miscellaneous charges and fees that may have been added, and even thanks customers for their last payment.

[flv width=”640″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/ATT SimpleView U-verse bill demo 6-5-12.flv[/flv]

Watch this demonstration of AT&T’s new SimpleView video bill explanation, now rolling out to U-verse customers.  (3 minutes)

Customers promised big savings from dropping their old Verizon plans found tricks, traps, and speed reductions.

Beware of telemarketers bearing gifts.

Frontier Communications has embarked on a sales push to convince customers adopted from Verizon Communications to “upgrade” their grandfathered Verizon broadband plans to new offerings from Frontier.

But Stop the Cap! has received more than a dozen complaints from customers who discovered their broadband speeds were slashed, sometimes significantly, after taking Frontier up on one of their offers.

“Whenever you call Frontier customer service, they always have an offer for you that they claim will save you money and I fell for it,” Tim Falston says.

Falston has been a Stop the Cap! reader since he learned Frontier Communications was buying out his Verizon landline in 2010.

“Frontier promised me nothing would change after they took over from Verizon, but of course a lot changed when I agreed to switch to a new bundled service package Frontier was offering for my phone and Internet service,” Falston writes.

Falston thought he was keeping his 8Mbps DSL service Verizon had been selling him for nearly five years, only now he would save at least $10 a month bundling some of Frontier’s other products into his package. A few days after signing up, he found his broadband speeds were lacking. It turned out Frontier reduced his speed to just under 3Mbps. A few days later, the company also mailed him a new DSL modem/router that he later learned came with a monthly fee that more than wiped out his “savings.”

“This was the worst decision I ever made, and Frontier never warned me the package I was signing up for cut my speeds more than half and stuck me with a modem I don’t want or need,” Falston said.

Unfortunately, when Falston called Frontier to switch back to his old plan, he was told it was no longer available and he had to choose from Frontier’s current services that came with higher prices and term contracts.

Surprise! Modem rental fee!

“It’s bait and switch and should be illegal,” Falston said. “I was told that everything about my service was to stay the same if I agreed to their bundle, and I think they figured most people have no idea about speeds and just accept what they are given, but I was never told about the modem or the rental fee that comes with it, and my old Verizon equipment worked just fine.”

Frontier won’t even sell Falston 8Mbps service, even though he had it for half a decade.

“They want to sell me 3Mbps and tell me that is all my line will support,” Falston complains. “That was after I finally convinced them to talk to me — the account is in the wife’s name and Frontier blocked me because of ‘security reasons’ until they spoke with her.”

Stop the Cap! recommended Falston schedule a service call and speak to a local technician about the problem. Experience shows employees on the ground far away from the customer service department can often cut through Frontier’s red tape. That worked for Falston who quickly got his old Verizon plan back after the technician made a few phone calls from Falston’s home.

“The tech shook his head and said he deals with these problems all day long and has managed to get customers back on old plans Frontier’s customer service says are long gone,” Falston said. “He told me specifically ‘do not change any plans you signed up for with Verizon — all of the offers from Frontier come at higher prices and fewer features.'”

So if Frontier has an offer you cannot refuse, refuse it anyway, at least if your old phone company was Verizon Communications. You are probably better off with what you have today.

At first, DISH Network couldn’t care less about Cincinnati-area resident Jeff Demoss’ problems.  The devastating March 2 tornadoes that ripped through Peach Grove and California, Ky., just across the Ohio border, took away Demoss’ home and all of its possessions. All that remained was a post with an electric meter and his DISH Network satellite dish.

Demoss called the satellite TV company to cancel his service. There wasn’t much point continuing to pay for satellite television when your television has blown into the next town over. At first, DISH Network representatives seemed sympathetic, promising the problem would be taken care of immediately.

That was, until DISH found out Demoss’ satellite receiver was also missing and could not be returned.

“We kept getting letters in the mail saying ‘You are going to have to return the receiver, or we will have to charge you $300 for it,'” Demoss told WCPO-TV’s consumer reporter.

And DISH did exactly that, removing $300 from the family checking account.

DISH Network has earned a mediocre C+ rating from the Better Business Bureau, and has racked up more than 13,000 complaints in the past three years, some about lost equipment fees.

Companies can charge early contract termination and lost equipment fees for customers who cancel service before their service contract ends or who do not return equipment. When tragedies like storms, fires, and floods strike, many satellite and cable companies try to bill customers accordingly, at least until they end up shamed on the evening news.

DISH quickly offered to refund the Demoss family their $300 once the Cincinnati television station got involved, and the satellite company apologized for the inconvenience.

Virtually all cable, telephone, and satellite companies will eventually relent on cancellation fees and damaged/lost equipment fees if customers tell the intransigent customer service representative or supervisor their next call will be to local media to share the story, so it pays to stand your ground.

However, as Stop the Cap! has repeatedly recommended in the past, your best protection is a renter or homeowner insurance policy, which typically covers these types of losses. Renters often assume their landlord maintains insurance on their behalf, but in fact they do not. Insurance purchased by the building owner only covers structural losses, never your personal property. Renters insurance is inexpensive and highly recommended.

[flv width=”360″ height=”290″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WCPO Cincinnati Tornado victim struggles with DISH Network 5-16-12.mp4[/flv]

WCPO-TV in Cincinnati reports on how a Kentucky man who lost his home and possessions was forced to deal with DISH Network, who withdrew $300 from the family checking account for equipment lost in a March tornado.  (3 minutes)

Mayweather

Stop the Cap! reader Nick in Grand Rapids dropped us a line to share yet another Comcast customer service bungle.

Last Saturday, several Comcast customers who paid an incredible $60 to watch the pay-per-view Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s fight against Miguel Cotto were themselves knocked out when their screens went dark with six rounds yet to be fought.

Mayweather is a Grand Rapids native.

Outraged, customers called Comcast late Saturday night looking for an explanation and a refund (after they called friends to find out who won).

Comcast couldn’t be bothered.

‘Call back Monday,’ came the response from Comcast customer service reports Shaun DeWolf.

Monday came and went and Comcast still had not refunded his money.  He called WOOD-TV 8 looking for some justice.

“It’s done and over with now,” DeWolf told 24 Hour News 8. “But at least [give me a] refund and a reason why it went out.”

The newsroom called Comcast.

A Comcast spokesperson told WOOD-TV the cable system had no major outages Saturday.  DeWolf assumed that might be the response and took snapshots of the TV screen showing Comcast’s general pay-per-view information… and no fight.

Other viewers reported similar problems.

Comcast said it is looking into the matter, but there has been no definitive decision about whether DeWolf will get his $60 back. That is ultimately all he cares about, DeWolf told the station.

If this happened to you, Comcast recommends calling customer service at 1-800-COMCAST or go online to file a complaint.

[flv width=”360″ height=”290″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WOOD Grand Rapids Comcast users Mayweather fight cut out 5-7-12.mp4[/flv]

WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids intervened to help get a Comcast customer a refund for an expensive pay per view event he never got to watch.  (2 minutes)