In the process of moving, I've had to turn off utilities from the apartment and turn them on at the new house. For the most part, it's been pain free. However, with our internet/cable service, I had to set it up as a transfer because I can't afford to have a gap in service (unless it's over a weekend). I called Charter to schedule my transfer to occur this past Tuesday, and thought everything was set to go. I was wrong.
I had called to schedule the transfer last Saturday. I spoke with a very nice service representative who got me setup in going in 15 minutes. He even pointed out that my current package was about to expire, and recommended I update to the HD package for a $10 difference (which I did). He got the transfer all setup for the last day in our apartment, Tuesday, so that we would only be out of an internet connection for a couple of hours (I work remotely, so an internet connection is vital).
Around noon on Monday, to my surprise, my internet connection dropped. I thought there might have been an issue with the modem or the router, so I went through all of the standard troubleshooting steps (reset, unplug, etc). No dice.
After 10 minutes of playing around with the equipment on my side, I decided to give Charter a call. I got connected to a rep in about 15 minutes to someone whose first language was definitely not English. This began one of the most infuriating customer service phone calls I've ever been a part of.
I explained to the rep that my connection had dropped, and that I wasn't scheduled to have my service shut off until the next day. I explained the situation, said that a transfer was supposed to occur, and wondered if I could have my service reconnected for the day. He did some stuff on his end, then had me step through all the troubleshooting steps again hoping to resolve my issue. Once again, no dice.
After he looked through his available information, he told me that I was actually scheduled to have the internet shut off on Monday and re-activated on Tuesday. I, once again, explained that it was not supposed to happen Monday, and should have been Tuesday (the purpose of the call). At this, he again explained that the connection was to be shut off Monday, was completed successfully, and wasn't supposed to be turned on until Tuesday.
This went on for three or four times. For some reason, he didn't understand what I was asking. I tried explaining in multiple ways, and eventually gave up saying "thank you, that's all." I already wasted my lunch hour trying to get the internet turned back on, and I was in need of getting a connection fast (thankfully, I just went over to my mom's and used her WiFi).
The problems didn't end there.
Tuesday rolls around, I'm back at my mom's using her internet connection, and I left Joy at the new house to wait for the cable guy. I had everything setup, ready to be plugged in and activated: I had the modem by the coax cable with the router next to it, the TV next to the cable box and its corresponding coax cable (the box was going to be switched for an HD receiver, so I didn't hook any of it up), and I told Joy to call me after he leaves so I could go home and work (instead of sitting at a weird table at my mom's).
Joy called: apparently, the service guy wasn't going to give us our HD box. He said that he didn't see it on the work order, and we were supposed to keep our old box. She insisted that we were supposed to be getting the HD receiver, and he finally went and checked the work order. Guess who was right?
We finally got the HD box, the internet and cable is all setup, and the problems are finally over. Regardless, they still caused quite an inconvenience, and I may have to see if they'll waive the $20 transfer fee for all the hassle they caused us (which I think is more than fair).
[update]The situation has been taken care of. Check out this post for more information.[/update]