Fuck you, Mediacom. Fuck you and everyone associated with you.

Today I cancelled my account, finally. I'm moving to DSL with Embarq, dropping cable, getting an HD antenna, and getting Netflix.

There have been a lot of little issues over the last year I've been with them; which I'll not go through. The worst of it was nearly a year ago. They shut off my Internet because they claimed I was spamming emails (I was not; I don't even know how. It's possible I had some kind of virus /shrug). I called and called, and couldn't get a straight answer as to when I would get internet back. For example, one customer service rep said a form would arrive in the mail in two weeks. That form never arrived and while I waited I didn't have internet access. It turned out later that I didn't ever need that form. This type of bullshit went on for 6 weeks-- the kicker is, for those 6 weeks they continued to bill me for Internet access. When I finally got Internet back, I called and tried to get a credit for those 6 weeks-- but they said since it was my fault I didn't have Internet, I still had to pay. This is, of course, fucking retarded. It doesn't matter why the service was shut down, fault or not, YOU CAN'T CONTINUE TO CHARGE SOMEONE FOR SOMETHING THEY ARE NOT GETTING. Didn't matter though... no matter how many times I called or who I talked to, they refused. Judging from the various responses and the instant hostility once they accessed my account, I imagine they flagged it.

After a few weeks of this, I gave up and paid, because at the time it was the only high speed internet available. The $75 I paid was simply easier to do than try to pursue this in small claims court, file complaints, etc. They wore me down, I said "fuck it," and I paid. Apparently I enjoy getting ass reamed by cable companies.

Fast forward to today, and even cancelling was fucking retarded. The first rep said I would have to schedule an appointment with a guy (and take off work to do it, mind you, since they won't come after 5 pm or on weekends. Did I mention that when I wanted to add new service a few months back, weekends are available? Fuckers), be charged $30, and wait 2 weeks for it to be cancelled. When I asked for an address of a local area where I could drop off their equipment (and thus not need the appointment) they put me on hold then hung up on me. When I pointed out there would be a credit on my account and could I pay that $30 from that credit-- they refused citing "policy."

But here's the part that annoys me. After they hung up on me, I called back. I get a different person, say I want to cancel my service... and it's completely different. This time they are sending me a postage paid box to put the equipment in. They are not charging me $30. And they will have the service turned off in one week instead of two. I didn't yell for any of this-- this is what I was offered when I first said I would like to cancel on the second phone call.

So in short... the "policies" are bullshit. Fuck you, MediaCom... I'll never come back.

I called one day to turn on my cable back in Colorado and they quoted me a price - for whatever reason I said no..... the next day I called back and they quoted me a price 5 dollars a month cheaper.

Right now, I have the best internet - free. I don't know how, but the internet gods have smiled upon our home for the last year. I happened to have a cable modem in my computer junk - the day we moved in, we noticed the cable TV was on - I decided almost as a joke to try my cable modem.. I'll be damned if it didn't work!

We have now had free highspeed internet (10megs per second) and cable tv (70 channels) for over a year now - we keep expecting it to be turned off any day now.

I had a similar experience with Charter cable waaaaaaaaaay back in the day when they were promoting it heavy down around Dallas/Ft. Worth. I worked at CompUSA at the time and it was expected of us to promote their shit since they were partners in the whole thing.

The service was horrible, and I can recall times where I would not have connection, sometimes for weeks at a time and despite repeated calls, no credit would be awarded to me for lost service because I was recieving a discounted rate for the fact I worked at CompUSA.

Being young and stupid I let this continue on and on for many months, untill come time I just became fed up with the apartment troubles where I was living. Pipes had busted while I was away at a funeral and the dudes working the office tried to pin it on us even tho it was piping from another unit. I do remember getting a similar runaround when I told them I was moving and wished to transfer my service. They kept telling me that they could not do that because the billing address had to be the same as my residential address so I eventually got tired of arguing with them and said fuck it cancel me. This of course lead to the whole "Well someone will have to come to the residence and pick up the modem." As I had no desire to stay in a shitty sewer smelling flooded apartment for two weeks, especially when the shit smell isn't even from my shit. I told them to call me when they wanted their modem back and told anybody that asked about the service the truth. I sat the modem outside the door our last trip out with a sign on it saying "Hello. I am a cable modem". I don't know, or care what happened after that.

It was always personally amusing to me back then to watch all the guys take people over to the Charter display and try to sell them on the product to get a fat piece of commission only to discover the fucking thing was down. Or when they would have in store employee training and bring food as I would gobble up all their sandwiches and listen to them bullshit about how they are growing and it becomes more reliable every day.

Funny how much experience can differ with the same company.... I have had Charter cable and internet for 9 years now and it has been trouble free. I have been lucky I guess... never had billing issues, service has been lightning fast, prices have been competitive for the services I use. (I recheck whenever I see deals)

I think every company sucks for someone.

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I'm just waiting for Comcast to catch on to my P2P abuse so they can throttle me like they have started doing around the country.

All you silly windows users.

Linux users have a one line command to run to stop comcast's little trick.

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

All fun and games until the cable company notices and tries to charge you for the past year, which most certainly could happen.

I hate all telecommunications companies equally, especially after having worked in the industry. Most of the time the front line of call takers HAVE NO FUCKING CLUE. If it becomes obvious they don't, get higher up the chain till you find someone competent. Good luck with that.

I did the same thing Draagun did. They can only start charging you from the time they detect it.

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we are moving in the next 3 months, so i will be a sad panda if they find out before then - no way am I getting it turned on to get it turned off the next month.

That sounds easy, but it wasn't. When I was trying to get my credit for the service I never got, once I could tell I was not going to get anywhere with someone and asked for a manager, I got them, and they took the same stance. "I can't do anything for you-- pay up or face a collection agency." When I asked for a manager above that, I was told that there was no one there and that they could call me back. Of course, no one ever called. I did that three different times that I can remember.

Get Verizon FiOS. Fiber net service ROCKS! I have had it for over two years and had just one problem - the power in my house went out one night while I was out of town and reset the GFCI outlet the Battery Backup is plugged into so the old battery was drained beyond recovery (it was old). The V-Tech came out the next day and replaced the whole system and didn't charge me a dime.

My speed is always where it should be. Other than the one day I have not had any outages that were the fault of Verizon in over two years. No billing snafus. All I get is an occasional call from them wanting me to add Fios TV. I ask them "do you have Sunday Ticket?" they say "Nope, sorry to bother you." My phone lines are on the fiber and have nad no issues (crystal clear calls).

I haven't had to make a payment or get service from Comcast or SBC in almost three years and it is wonderful.

Sadly, they won't have Sunday Ticket until 2010 at the earliest when DirecTV's exclusive contract expires. I doubt they will have it even then, since I can't imagine that DirecTV will let that go without extending it. I would get the Sunday Ticket in a heartbeat if I could, but I don't want to switch to DirecTV to do it.

Fribur, you're responsible for the security (antivirus etc) on your pc. If you picked up a virus, it isn't the ISP's fault. They'll quarantine your connection until you get it cleaned up (they have an obligation to protect their network and others on the web), but basically all ISPs will not stop billing while you are cleaning up your system. Check out their AUP.

You have a regular monthly subscription that you pay for. If you want to stop being billed, you can cancel your service (in which case your infected pc becomes another ISP's problem, and you go through this all over again).

Having worked for an ISP in the past (not any longer) I understand why they need to do this. It sucks, I know.

An analogy I might make is with using a car. If your starter goes out and you aren't able to drive it for a month, you don't get credit on your license and registration fees. It would be nice if the world worked that way, but it doesn't. It's not the DMV's fault that your starter failed, and they would be swamped if everyone that had downtime needed credits issued. Hell, they're swamped anyways.

If that really is ok-- then it shouldn't be. I could understand what you are saying if it really took almost 8 weeks to "clean up my system" but it didn't. All that needed to be done to have it turned back on is they need to press a button. However, it took the nearly 8 weeks not because that time was needed to fix it, but because they gave me the runaround every time I called about how to get them to press that button.

I think the car analogy is a bad one, because the car would actually need that time to get it figured out, unlike my internet service. I also wouldn't wouldn't use that analogy because the license and registration fees aren't providing a *service*. A much much better analogy would be any of our other services coming into your home. If I don't pay my electric bill and they shut it off, they can't continue to charge me for electricity when they aren't providing it. The same is true for my phone and my gas. The same should be true for my cable and my internet. It's bullshit that I paid almost $80 for something I never received.

As far as my "infected PC" being "their problem," that is also bullshit. As soon as they told me about it I reformatted my drive (I was going to do it soon anyway, it was overdue). It was gone the same day. It took another 8 weeks before I could get them to turn the service back on. Again, this would be somewhat analogous to me paying my overdue electric bill, and the electric company refusing to turn back on my electricity but still charging me for it for two months.

If you defended your position regarding the cable bill like you do when you defend your position on your opinions on these boards, you would probably have better luck.

shoot-- sorry for the double post, but here's one more point that irritates me about the cable company. If really the only reason that they (the cable company) doesn't offer the credit is because "they would be swamped" as you imply, then that's their own suck ass management of their company, not my problem. You can't steal from me because you can't operate a billing system. THEY cut off my service; their computer program should be able to then do the simple task of also stopping the billing at the same time. If the software isn't cabable of such a simple thing, then the software sucks.

One thing I learned when I worked for a consumer ISP...

"Never take the customer's word on matters of fact"

You could have also disputed their billing you when they had shut your service off. I'm sure the threat of calling a lawyer, even for small claims, would have had them pony up your $80.

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

Fair enough, we'll use one of the analogies you mentioned.

If you pay for cell phone service, but your cell phone gets lost for 2 weeks, you still continue paying for that service. They don't issue you credits due to your misfortune.

HOWEVER, it should never take them 8 weeks to respond to a service-impacting issue. You have a valid gripe there.

When we would shut down a customer for abuse, we would have them back online after a guarantee it was resolved (first strike we took their word for it, second strike we needed in writing what they did to resolve the problem, third strike we faxed them our AUP and had them sign a letter saying they understand if they keep repeating this they can lose their service permanently, fourth strike we terminated them as a customer).

Like Vanamar said, people will say anything to get their service turned back on. And they do. While 99.999% of people have NO idea their system is spreading viruses/spam and aren't *intentionally* doing anything to cause grief for others, they usually aren't using antivirus and a firewall and are not installing critical updates for Windows. Those are the big 3. These people usually find out the hard way after their pc becomes a zombie of what to do, and in most cases they take care of business from that point.

Honestly there are a lot of incompetent techs out there, and a lot of overworked departments. It sounds like you dealt with one or the other, possibly both. :/

I totally understand the consequence of having your service shut off. That makes complete sense. Hell, Mediacom could have completely cancelled my account permanently if they wished-- it would have been draconian and I wouldn't have liked it, but I wouldn't have complained nearly so much; they can quit offering me their service for any reason they wish, excepting anti-discrimination laws.

But-- and this is a big but; I can see no way they should be able to continue to charge me for the service they cut off. That's stealing. There's still a fundamental difference between a "lost cell phone" and a "cell phone with cut off service," too-- you understand that, right? My problem with my company is analagous to the latter, not the former.

If it were me, I would go to the office in person. If that didn't yield results, I would BBB it, Then head over to rip off report and share.

Somebody needs to hold these companies accountable for shitty business practices.

I'm not going to go off on too much of a tangent here, because I don't feel like typing that much - but we are burdened so much in our every day lives by "late fees, service charges, hook up fees, disconnect fees, co pays, excessive fees fees, deductibles, rebates, interest rates, ATM FEES, REOCCURRING SUBSCRIPTION FEES, bla bla bla bla bla -

It is a wonder we don't all go fucking crazy. Seriously, EVERYBODY has their goddamn hands in your pocket to get every single dime out of you they can - it is absolutely infuriating.

I try to run as clean and smooth as possible by not getting caught up in the bullshit - no contracts, no credit cards, no payments on anything. I wouldn't even have a bank account if i didn't need to cut and deposit checks off it for my customers. But even me, who by most of your accounts would be considered to be living in the dark ages - I get mired in the same bullshit everybody else does. Soon, I will be paying another deposit - one that somebody will be making interest off of for years while handing me back a depreciated check that will cost me money to have cashed if I don't have a bank account.

/comfort, Draguun. I agree with you, and I am sorry that company is no better than most others in this country (and beyond ... the plague has unfortunately spread).

I just love capitalism run amuck! God Bless America. Seriously though .. is anyone surprised? Is there anyone here who has not experienced crap like this in some area of your life, probably recently? Is there anyone here who thinks it really IS ok to be rude to loyal customers, all the while you are still out there touting your wonderful service and giving bonuses to bring in new customers? Is there anyone out there who doesn't understand the frustration of finding out that customer 'service' is a thing of the past, usually at a time when your life is already overcomplicated and you are feeling very harrassed and hassled and broke?

But, hey, things are proceeding right on schedule, and we are now to the point where few have any respect for anyone else and few have the time, energy or money to fight the corporate giants so they (those same corporations) 'win' over and over again with their 'we are the holders of the golden fleece' tactics. And out in the 'real world', more and more are forced to grub harder for their bucks to pay the giants who control their lives, and more and more their ethics slip so that they now think nothing of padding their own bills, not giving as good value for money, or dismissing their own client's complaints, etc.

Yeah, I know this thread was about a specific company and a specific incident, but, it isn't. Sadly. The really scary thing is how short a time (relatively speaking) it has taken for our society to get to this point. George Orwell understood 'human nature' all too well, as did Aldous Huxley and many others. I still maintain 'the decline' all started about the time that teachers allowed their students to begin calling them 'Susie' or 'Pammy' instead of Miss Smith or Mrs. Sheridan ... but that is another of my favorite rants and can be discussed some other time .

Again, Draguun, I am sorry you have had to get your blood pressure up over these idiots, and the companies they work for and the so-called 'policies' they have (which change on a dime notoriously). I can commiserate with you, believe me. My credit record still shows a small account of $78 unpaid because of a 'telecom' company (a very well known one, which had major scandals and high muckymucks who went to jail, which changed names several times to protect the guilty, and I think splintered up or died a painful death in the end). That record has probably negatively affected me to some extent over the years but I refuse to pay for what I didn't ask for, didn't get and can prove I didn't get. I think the original issue was about 7 years ago now but it still surfaces every so often - I still occasionally get phone calls from some collector looking for me (luckily for me though, I don't exist any more - to them!). For a measly $78 .. for services never rendered ... 7 years later .. I am still being chased! During the time I actually had an account with that company I think my monthly bills averaged $400+ and all were paid on time and without any hassle. The bill in question was for a period I didn't even have service with that company and was in any case, double billing for a bill I had already paid for (despite it being a 'trumped up' amount billed through a 3rd party) through yet another company.

And my current cable company (Charter) refuses to stop charging me for 'modem rental' - a modem their tech told me to throw away years ago, which they have documented as being kaput on their tech records, which was already fully paid for 3 times over when it went belly up and which was replaced years ago with a modem I bought from a store on their recomendation. That same company has incredibly horrid service when it comes to 'installation' (it takes months to get anything new installed) and 'billing' (the modem issue and they aren't too good at 'automation') but the service, once installed and once (if) you get the billing straightened out, is equally incredibly good and stable. We pay them something like $250.00 a month ... but they still can't/won't take off the $2.50 (plus taxes) charge a month for a modem I don't have and which they admit that I don't have any more. LOL Yep, God Bless Corporate America!

Me and the Husband use Qwest DSL service and its fantastic... Never a problem even when moving, but when it rarely goes down it goes down city wide sometimes.. Crazy!

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Cox Cable destroys every other cable / satellite / dsl service in North America.

k

We ended up getting rid of our Cox cable and going to Embarq. For some reason we had connection issues quite often with them. Now we've got a slower connection, but at least it hasn't gone out on us yet.