Yesterday either online or in her email or through a piece of mail (the method doesn’t matter) my wife came across a promotional deal from Time Warner Cable for new subscribers.
Internet, Cable, Phone including HD and DVR and some premium channels for $90 a month for 12 months.
We have Time Warner Cable. We have Internet and Cable only (no hardline) with HD and DVR but no premium channels. When she told me the price of the promotion I immediately recognized that we were paying significantly MORE for LESS service.
So I looked at our monthly cable bill. We’re paying close to $160 a month.
WTF! Roared through my mind like I was standing under a jet engine…
We’re not talking about chump change, that’s $70 a month or $840 a year. That’s three Home and Auto Insurance packages. That’s 800 clicks on Google Adsense ads… That’s flat out a significant amount of coconut.
But Price is not the FAIL…
So this morning my wife calls Time Warner Cable to find what the deal is. She had two questions for customer service representative that picked up the phone:
- Why are we paying so much for less service when they can obviously offer the same services we have (which we are fine with) at a lower price?
- What can we do to take advantage of the lower price point?
Full disclosure: The phone was on Speaker and she was doing the talking so I’m not going to direct quote everything that was said as I don’t have it all exact in my mind.
After about ten minutes of back and forth with my wife explaining the situation and the reasons she is upset about paying so much for services she can clearly see are available at a cheaper rate she gets the response that I’m sure the Time Warner Rep thought she wanted to hear: We’ll give you your same service for $120…
That infuriated my wife (Which is one of many reasons I love her). Her response was straight Gangster, as I’m sure most people would have been content and just hung up.
“Why didn’t you inform me you were over charging me $30 a month for my service?”
I think this caught the guy off guard because his response was:
“Ma’am this is a business. You must not understand how business is done…”
BOOM… There it is. An honest response to a customer question.
This is big business telling small customer we don’t give a shit about you. You’re just an account number that we have to deal with today so piss off and stop asking us questions that we don’t want to answer.
In his mind he had reduced our monthly charge and we should be grateful that the big cable company would make such an accommodation for us.
My wife is half Irish and half Italian so I’m not going to direct quote the conversation further but let’s just say that she explained in not so many terms that we work for a small business and would never knowingly allow our customers to so grossly overpay for service.
We Got What We Wanted, Why Not Shut Up and Be Happy?
True we got a reduction in the price of our cable service. I am happy about that. In that regard Time Warner Cable did the right thing. Be we had to complain and be annoying to get it. I don’t like complaining about things, it’s not in my nature.
But it was the attitude of their representative and my realization as to what customer service means that made me write this article. We had to call and complain and be aggressive to get the discount that took the guy a click-of-a-button to apply.
My wife, the customer, had to take time out her day, stress yourself out and be pushy in order to receive a benefit from Time Warner that they really didn’t seem to have any problem giving.
However… They were perfectly willing to OVERCHARGE us for as long as we stayed ignorant or remained lazy.
To me that is Customer Service FAIL…
A simple mass email to every customer that was overpaying explaining that a quick phone call can save you $30 a month MAKES ME A CUSTOMER FOR LIFE!
I get that email and I know Time Warner has my back. I get that email and all the Satellite service mailers I get go right in the garage. I’m not asking my friends about their Satellite experience. I’m not writing this blog post.
That email hits my inbox and I’m writing about how Big Business can look out for little guy and Satellite sucks.
The Rub
I’m all for Capitalism. I know that businesses has to make money. But there is a way of doing business that has been lost in the Large Corporate world. Some might call it a loss of humanity, others will call it greed, I just think it’s a lack of vision.
The Internet has given power back to the consumer. Companies that don’t see that, companies that think they roll over the consumer without regard will continue to have Blog posts like this one written about them.
In what is a complete generalization, but one I find to be mostly true… Small Business still looks out for the consumer. Small business still understands that the customer experience is most important.
Small business understands that happy customers equal profits and not the other way around.
This is why small business needs to harness the Internet. To tell their story, speak to their customers, let people know that there is another way of doing business. READ THE ARTICLE BELOW:
“How Small Business Can Leverage Social Media to Fight Back Against Their Big Business Competitors”
Then Act!
And if you want some GREAT reading on the customer experience read my Review Guy Kawasaki’s Enchantment.
Thank you.
written by: Ryan Hanley
Download my Free eBook Today => 10 Social Tools to Business Blogging Success
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Nice one! We went through this exact thing. TWC is horrible and the first chance we get as a result of the experience I am dropping them. All I need is FIOS, Netflix, Hulu and the Internet and I will have more options than I could ever get on TWC and pay a ton less. Great example of customer service failure in the world we live in today.
Craig,
Thanks for checking in… Since I’ve written this article I can’t tell you how many people have told me the same thing… TWC is sucking them dry and with a few newer options they can save Thousands over the course of the year.
It’s really crazy that there can be such a disconnect between customers and provider.
I recently switched to using a ROKU device, the internet, a Netflix Streaming account and Hulu Plus after getting slammed by DirecTV. They are all the same…lure you in with a nice intro price then jack it up after the promo year is up. I don’t watch sports or the news so my solution is now costing me $16/month (not including the internet which I am in the promo year for $30/mo). It was not an easy decision but one that I am happy with.
Amy,
Wow that’s a great solution. I’ve been getting a lot of response from fed up people who have switched to completely Internet related solutions.
Good for you!
Ryan H.
Ryan, I would gladly pay your wife one month’s savings if she were to make a call to Time Warner for me.
haha… I’ll run that by her! Thanks.
TWC service is horrible. Gather 5 random people in a room that have the service and I guarantee you will have 5 different prices being paid. Their approach is completely reactive instead of proactive. “We’ll only deal with unhappy customers as they approach us.” This is a crappy way to service people because most unhappy customers don’t complain, they quietly take their business elsewhere.
Props to your wife, Ryan!
Jolene,
It’s funny since I wrote this article I’ve heard so many bad stories about Time Warner. I’m looking forward to the day we don’t have to rely on these people any longer. They just don’t get it.
TWC service is horrible. Gather 5 random people in a room that have the service and I guarantee you will have 5 different prices being paid. Their approach is completely reactive instead of proactive. “We’ll only deal with unhappy customers as they approach us.” This is a crappy way to service people because most unhappy customers don’t complain, they quietly take their business elsewhere.
Props to your wife, Ryan!
Ryan, You are so right. On the other side, one phone call can make a customer for life (or at least a long time). Years ago, when there were still significant charges for roaming calls on cell phones, I had a personal crisis, that took me to several different places in the country. I also needed to stay in touch with people back home. Shortly after my return home, Verizon Wireless called me to inquire as to the unusual use of my phone. After explaining, the representative offered to pre-date a different plan that would save me over $ 100.00, Since this plan was more than my original, she offered to return me to my original plan the next month as I would no longer needed to be traveling. I have become a loyal Verizon Wireless customer and have shared this story, often.
There it is Gayle. That’s the deal. That is the point of the Article. Your story is what makes one company beloved and another loathed.
I’m happy that you had such a great experience with company that understands the Customer Experience.
Time Warner is a dying dog. Television entertainment is going to be completely web based in a few more years (according to my crystal ball), and as far as high speed internet, 4G is about to change the dependence on TW HSC … lastly the phone, really, who still pays for a land line?
a great comment bro. You’ve made a great point.
2Ryan: Awesome blog post Ryan. I have Time Warner and I know what it’s like. ;( they are completely uncooperative. I have wasted 2 hrs of my life on calling to their call center in India.
Also, I have recommended your post to my colleagues. These words should be embossed in gold:
“A simple mass email to every customer that was overpaying explaining that a quick phone call can save you $30 a month MAKES ME A CUSTOMER FOR LIFE!” and “The Internet has given power back to the consumer. Companies that don’t
see that, companies that think they roll over the consumer without
regard will continue to have Blog posts like this one written about
them.”