Frustrated With Cable TV Customer Service: How I Turned Their Refusal to Credit my Account Into a Yes

Ok, i'm a busy man. So, when I experienced a 30% loss of cable TV channels it would go to reason that I wouldn't call the cable company immediately. Three days later I spent nearly 1/2 hour on the phone resolving my account issues.

I reset my cable box and regained the lost channels while I continued to wait to speak to a customer service representative. I explained to the rep that I had an interruption in service for three days and that I just fixed the problem. However, I still requested at least a one day credit to my account. The call center rep stated that he could not credit my account since I waited so long to report the problem.

I then stated how I had been busy and that I was asking for at least a one day credit not three days. I told him how long I waited before I got to speak to a person and cited the wait as the reason I didn't jump at the opportunity to call in when I had better things to do. The rep stuck to his guns. Meanwhile, I stated that I was interested in writing a letter to the company CEO and asked whether a case # was assigned. If not, I asked how I could reference my phone call. He said there was no case #. I then asked for his ID#.

I was very frustrated when I got off the phone. In my line of work, I have ghost written correspondence for very senior people. I was about to start writing a letter that probably would have taken me 30 minutes or more to perfect.

I then took another path and spent 15 more minutes with the same company's customer service to get a second opinion.

When I got a new rep on the phone, I asked the customer service rep to read the notes attached to my account. I then explained what my issue was and that I would like a credit for at least one day. If that couldn't be done, I asked for the rep to provide me the appropriate information for submitting a complaint.

The representative then gave me a three day credit. Honestly, I think the rep would have given me a three day credit before I ever asked for her assistance in submitting a complaint.

The company I speak of above is Cox Communications.... So, when you're at your wits end with a customer service rep and things aren't going your way:

1.) Ask for a case # or customer service rep ID #
2.) Wrap up your conversation in a manner where you're reasonably confident the rep will write notes on the account... Don't hang up mid call.
3.) Call back and get a 2nd opinion with another representative.
4.) If that doesn't work, then ask the representative on how to submit a complaint.
5.) If that rep is ignorant and can't provide verifiable information, do the research and write a letter to the CEO of the company. Keep the letter to one page and stick to the facts... I suspect you will more often than not get a positive outcome. You see, the CEO's front office knows that if you take the time to write a well thought out letter, there's a reasonable chance that you have a legitimate complaint and you may end up as a lost customer if not handled properly.