Complain about a product or service

RCN

Curtis of Lincoln, NE November 17, 2009

At least three weeks prior to the end of my high-speed internet-only contract, I called an RCN representative to inquire about returning my equipment. The representative told me that I could leave the equipment in my apartment, since the next tenants had already signed up for RCN service. Three weeks after the end of my contract (and three weeks after I had moved), I received a bill from RCN for 120.81 for un-returned equipment. Upon calling RCN, I was told that the representative was wrong in giving me this information. But, they would route a notification to the local branch to determine if the equipment had been picked up. This representative stated that I would be notified of the results. (I was never notified.)

I received a Final Demand letter two months after the end of my contract. When I called the Billing Department a second time, they had no record of the route that I had requested over a month prior. I also learned that my account had entered write-off and would soon be sent to an outside collection agency. I requested an extension since the Final Demand letter wasn't received until after the letter's final due date (due to a change in address). But, the request for an extension was denied. In short, the customer service representatives for RCN are often unable to provide reliable and accurate information.

Peggy of Yeadon, PA July 7, 2009

6/7/09 I stopped service with rcn because my contract had expired. 3 weeks prior to this i went to office to stop services and was given a number to call, i could never reach anyone because no one answers phone until after 5, my services were disconnected by them, 6/7/09 i was told not to pay bill untill i got final bill, 1st bill was due 6/17/ 09 @122, i did not know that my phone # would be lost so i called @7:30pm, just on a whim on 6 /8/09 and finally reached someone and asked if i could keep my phone#, after over 1hr on phone.

The gentleman agreed to switch my phone back on with no charges, the next day i had to call again no answer until after 5 and had to go through another confrontation with someone. I got a final bill for over 200 and yet another bill for 49.47 almost 300/ more total for bundle pack 70 and phone i barely use, slow internet. These charges are ridiculous! Unaffordable and a ripoff

Robert of Lexington , MA June 15, 2009

Approximately 18 months ago I agreed to a two year contract for cable, internet, and phone service through RCN. I have to pay a penalty of approximately 150 if I change any part of the agreement with RCN before the two year period is completed. With the recent upgrade to all digital, RCN decided to change their channel line up and pricing. This change resulted in me losing 8 channels that I used to receive as part of the contract. RCN is forcing me to pay an additional 9.00 per month to get these 8 channels back. According to RCN, I either have to continue to pay the same amount for less services, pay the additional 9.00 for the 8 channels, or pay the penalty for getting out of the contract. Hasn’t RCN now changed the agreement in the contract? Shouldn’t I be allowed to get out of the contract without paying a penalty or shouldn’t they include those 8 channels in my package until the contract expires in January?

Kenneth of Chicago, IL June 7, 2009

This organization arbitrailly eliminated our CineMax stations, without reducing our monthly fee. When I called about the loss of stations, they said CineMax decided their service was worth more, so we had to pay 8.95/ month for the service. It seems, if they are going to remove a service, we should see a reduction in monthly fee, rather than a request for more money if we want the servise. This is classic "bait and switch".

Victoria of Chicago, IL March 24, 2009

On December I requested a technician to come over and check my high speed internet because as usual it was not working properly. After that they charge me a 49.95 fee for not been there when the technician arrived. I call them numerous times trying to resolve that matter and they keep saying that this is a valid charge and they wont remove it, not to mention their nasty attitude. Last time I called they said that it is understood by most people that they will be a charge when a technician comes and they're not there. I said that nothing is understood if its not stated therefore illegitimate and not valid and they kept telling me the same story, that it is implied and understood, only that noone mentioned this when I called. I simply told them that I'm not paying for it whatsoever and I'm not even paying for the legitimate service charges because they cause me a lot of incovinience and waist my time trying to force me to pay for non valid charges.

Mary of Somerville, MA February 23, 2009

After much trouble recently with my RCN DVR equipment (4 calls into technical support in 8 days + 1 call to customer service), I called RCN Customer Service on the morning of 2/3/09 to terminate all services with them. I was informed that it would take 10 days (2/11/09) to complete the service request, during which time I would continue to be charged for services. When I complained, Customer Service told me there was nothing that they could do for me. I would have to speak with Billing. I was transferred to Billing for further inquiry.

I informed Billing that I had reviewed the Customer Terms & Conditions (under the 'Policies & Disclaimers in Boston' section of their website. In fact, it expressly states 'Customer may terminate any or all services at any time by notifying RCN of its desire to do so.' The gentlemen I spoke with in Billing informed me that he understood what I was saying, but that he couldn’t do anything about it other than add notes to my file & I could call back after I returned the equipment to argue that I had returned the equipment and was, therefore, unable to use the service. Unfortunately, this meant another call back to RCN that wouldn't even guarantee me a refund of any monies for services/equipment prior to 2/11/09. Additionally, given the RCN center hours in MA (none open beyond the hours of 9-5 on weekdays), I was unable to return my equipment until Saturday (2/7/09).

I received my final bill on 2/14/09 (79.42), at which point I noted that the equipment return date of 2/7/09 was not properly reflected on the bill. All charges, including equipment charges, ran through 2/10/09. I called RCN on the morning of 2/17/09 to first clear up the question of the equipment return date, then to once again try to address the issue of being charged for services through 2/10/09. RCN appropriately credited me for the equipment return date of 2/7/09, but would not credit me for the equipment as of the date of cancellation of service (bill reduced to 76.66).

I was informed that normal cancellation procedures would be that a customer must return equipment within one week of cancellation of services with no additional charges for the equipment. However, I was told that since RCN was unable to terminate my service without 10 days notice that could not be credited for the equipment back to the date of my phoned in cancellation order (2/3/09). Customer Service also informed me that there was nothing that they could do regarding the service cancellation (e.g. crediting services charges subsequent to 2/3/09).

I explained to the Customer Service representative that I was fine paying the additional days, if they could just show me where I was informed about the cancellation notice requirement. I was thoroughly willing to take the blame on this if I had missed the notification somewhere. After waiting on hold for 15 minutes, I was informed that this was not in writing anywhere. This didn’t seem very reasonable to me, particularly given that I felt I had done the appropriate due diligence by going to the RCN website where I found a section of the Customer Terms & Conditions speaking exactly to Termination of Service (see below). Nowhere on this web page does it state that these terms & conditions may not be up to date and that a customer should call into Customer Service for the most up to date information.

The Customer Service representative stated that they understood what I was saying, but that the 10-day notice is company policy and I would have been notified of this when I called in to terminate service. If I hadn’t performed any due diligence regarding service termination, I would consider that to be my fault for not knowing about the cancellation notice requirement and I would be obligated to pay for the additional days. However, as I did my research and RCN has misinformation posted to their website, I believe the onus is on RCN.

Immediately following, my 2/17/09 conversation with RCN customer service, I calculated the additional credits I felt I was due from RCN: (1) credit for the service period 2/4/09-2/10/09 and (2) credit for the equipment period 2/4/09-2/6/09. The amount totaled 14.92 for a final total due to RCN of 61.74. (I am happy to provide additional details on my calculation, if requested.) I remitted this amount to RCN on 2/18/09. RCN reflects receipt of the payment on 2/18/09 and confirmed by phone on 2/23/09 that the outstanding balance associated with my account is 14.92.

Mary of Easton, PA February 23, 2009

Mary of Easton PA (02/23/09)
After 6 weeks of trying to receive a collect call from my son, I finally gave up...RCN claims not to have any blocks in their system, but apparently they forgot to tell my house phone. Each call took over 45 minutes on hold, and each rep. promised the issue was resolved. When I complained to their customer service, they gave me 1-month free HBO, which can only be watched on 1 TV unless you rent multiple cable boxes (which is, of course, extra, plus the service call to install. As if.) This is just one of a series of issues I have been trying to resolve over the past year.

The most recent debacle was when I called to request a promotion for 75 advertised in our local newspaper (Triple Play - DigitalVision - 60 extra channels for 6 months free). No one knew anything about the ad and they claimed they aren't always told of local 'specials'. Very comforting....not even a supervisor's supervisor (I think they just pass you around to every rep in the room and hope you eventually give up after being on hold forever) could find the ad, and their bottom line was that they couldn't offer it because they didn't know about it. How's that for corporate inefficiency?

The only reason I don't change is because of my email address, but I am getting close to my break point. Oh, and I love how they repeat everything back to you, which is apparently some training mechanism they employ for the Indians, maybe to help them learn better English. There is NO customer service at RCN; they just use the 'hold' button to keep complaints at bay.

Well, if you added up the total time I have spent on hold for the past 6 months, it would be in excess of 100 hours. At my current rate of 40 an hour, they have cost me 4,000.00

Rich of Chicago, IL January 6, 2009

ON July 19, 2008 I signed up for the 10Mb Internet service from RCN. Shortly after, I noticed that I was not getting the connection speed I signed up for.

I contacted technical support, and after going through ALL of their support channels a technician was dispatched and found an issue with RCN's wiring. Another team was dispatched to correct the wiring. The issue was still not resolved. After again going through ALL the technical support channels, this time a 'special' technician was supposed to be dispatched to my home on 12/27/08.

The technician never showed up for the scheduled appointment. I had to spend hours on the phone trying to get someone to tell me why the technician never showed. And, my issue with the Internet service is STILL not resolved. I have contacted RCN's Executive Customer Service in Herndon, VA at 703-434-8200 ext. 3.

This issue was supposed to have been handed off to the director of the local market in Chicago, however I have gotten nothing but the run-around and further abysmal customer service. I believe that this is fraud. I am not getting a service that I pay a premium for. It is ongoing and still unresolved.

Amit of Drexel Hill, PA December 19, 2008

The Drexelbrook Apartments Community management has a contract with RCN as the sole provider of cable services to the community residents (1223 individual apartments). RCN uses this monopoly to strongarm (I can't find a more suitable term) community subscribers to pay exorbitant fees for their cable services. This is what transpired - I had RCN installed on 12/15/2008 with an understanding from a "suave" and "chummy" sales guy and his manager (who never bothers to respond to my calls since I cannot add anymore to his target) that since mine was an annual contract, installation would be free and I would get the first 3 months of the HBO package free of charge. When I receive my first bill I see that my charges are 231.84!

Apart from charging 124.80 as "installation" fees I'm also being charged for my "free" HBO package. Since I don't have a choice of service providers (speak about the freedom of choice!!) I'm being bulldozed into paying this. I've always lived by the tenet -"Silence of the good is worse than the evil of the bad". It is my trust that people out there who have a choice will read this and protest in the interest of free will and fair practice.

Michelle of Waltham, MA September 2, 2008

I called because I wanted to add Internet to my living room and cable to my play room at the apartment that I live in. So I called RCN to schedule an appointment for them to come in and do this for me. When I called for some reason they couldn't have the same person who was going to do my Internet due my cable. Which at that time I told the lady that when they 1st install it the same person did both. I end it up booking 2 different days. I took Wed off and the technician was supposed to be there between bam and pm.

Around 2:15pm I called and they told me that they needed to reschedule "since no one was home", I got mad and explain to the customer service rep that I was at home and that I needed him to come back and I was at my window w/ the door open and no one came to the house. He page him and the technician came around 2:30p. I am very upset because on Friday 29 they were supposed to come to the house between 2 and 5pm. And my mom and I were out side and with the kids and no one came and I called to see what was going on because it was already 5:30pm and they told me the same thing as before " oh they went to your house and no one was there".

I told the customer service rep that I was out side with the kids and no one came and she told me oh well all I can do is reschedule this appointment for next week and I told her that I was the customer and that I wanted to speak w/ a supervisor she told me that they will be calling with in 48 hours and no one did. Because of the long weekend I called today and I explain everything to the man I spoke with and he was very rude and I told him that I was out side and he told me " well mam all I can do is schedule it for you isn't strange that they were unable to reach you". I was really mad

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