Huge problem with Spectrum customer service.

Submitted by RealMainer t3_z2si8a in Maine

So anyone who has ever tried to get customer service at an actual spectrum store location knows that it’s an incredible pain in the ass and usually you are going to be waiting at least an hour for assistance.

Recently I learned you can make an appointment on your phone to avoid the line, which is nice if you know about this, but here is the problem… if you are waiting in line with 15 people ahead of you you can simply make an appointment on your phone and immediately skip ahead of everyone else in line. Because of this, if you don’t know you can make an appointment (and judging from the line few people do) and you are 15th in line, you are actually more like 25th in line, because people who do know are constantly skipping ahead on their phone.

This results is 100’s of elderly people dying while waiting in line at spectrum every year.

Ok that last part I made up but that’s seriously what it feels like looking at the line of elderly people waiting for help at spectrum because they keep getting skipped by people who are more tech savvy with their phone.

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wessex464 t1_ixhw7p6 wrote

"we thank you for choosing Spectrum".

No, I didn't have a choice, you have a monopoly and you only need just enough customer service to not get into trouble with regulatory bodies.

They know you can't go anywhere else, why should they care?

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[deleted] t1_ixi5v83 wrote

[deleted]

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wessex464 t1_ixi613h wrote

They are at the end of my road but won't come down it!!! Whose dick do I have to suck to get fiber out here ?!?!

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RealMainer OP t1_ixi750w wrote

Just give them another billion dollar grant from the federal government and they'll happily install fiber!

Just kidding, the telecom industry was already given 10's of billions to install fiber infrastructure and they took the money and instead of using it for fiber, the money just magically disappeared and hardly any fiber was installed. And there were zero consequences so they'll happily do it again.

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metalandmeeples t1_ixltn4s wrote

Fidium has been laying a ton of fiber in Maine. We just had fiber go live here in Durham last month which I didn't think would ever happen.

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metalandmeeples t1_ixlth3j wrote

Do you have underground utilities and/or live on a private road? If so, best of luck.

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wessex464 t1_ixltiek wrote

Underground utilities :/

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metalandmeeples t1_ixm0ai4 wrote

Yeah, that will be tough unless they already have their own conduits and/or pedestals to use. GoNetSpeed covers almost all of North Windham except for where my parents live, so they are stuck with Spectrum too. Fidium has been covering more ground and they should eventually roll out to areas with underground utilities if the roads are public.

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spandexcatsuit t1_ixj9ko3 wrote

Ahem. Fidium, consolidated.

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wessex464 t1_ixj9r8v wrote

Many of us don't have an alternative to spectrum yet. It's good to see fiber rolling out, but for many of us we get to sit and watch.

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IStealWaffles t1_ixseblu wrote

I have Consolidated and holy fuck it's terrible.

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spandexcatsuit t1_ixsjd0n wrote

In what way? I switched to them in two locations and it’s fine, but the small business install process was a complete shit show, with billing “errors” and reinstalls that wasted my time, and the home setup used the wrong Wi-Fi boosters that somehow constantly reset my tv apps which was annoying until I got the boosters replaced. Even with that hassle, I am delighted to be paying half of what I was paying and getting my internet needs met without giving Spectrum another cent, hopefully ever again in my life.

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IStealWaffles t1_ixt04vu wrote

Consolidated in eastern Washington county is almost unusable in many areas. The fastest speed we can get is 7 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up. Network reliability is also horrible, with frequent outages.

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spandexcatsuit t1_ixt0unt wrote

That’s too bad. What’s your alternative then, starlink?

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IStealWaffles t1_ixt116c wrote

Starlink or 4G LTE (we don't have 5G here). There's also traditional satellite Internet, but ew

A fiber company (Pioneer Broadband) is deploying a fiber network here, but that's still a work in progress.

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iceflame1211 t1_ixibini wrote

After switching to Fidium, I went to a Spectrum store to drop off my old equipment (already cancelled service via phone). Upon entering, you're greeted by a kiosk to put in your phone number to get in line (if you don't have a phone, you're SOL). I did some shopping (this was the mall location), got a text an hour later that my turn was coming up soon. I headed back to the store, but it took another HOUR until it was actually my turn. There was a monitor showing the current line of the enxt 15-20 people to be called, but there were some people coming in who would be bumped to the front. I had no idea why. Seemingly, it's because they called first to make an appointment. There were only two poor souls working and probably 20+ angry customers sitting in the store waiting for service, just commenting to each other about how ridiculous the situation is. When I was finally called, it took possibly two minutes tops for the lady to take the equipment off my account. In retrospect, I should've mailed the equipment back.

Thank you OP, I just wish I knew this sooner! I hope your wisdom helps someone who still uses Spectrum.

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DidDunMegasploded t1_ixiq8mi wrote

How coincidental is this shit...my mother was just talking about the time she went to Spectrum and saw a slew of elderly people there just waiting and waiting and waiting to be helped while she fought tooth and nail to get an appointment.

I went at night to return my modem and it took me under a minute because no one was there. Bless the night shoppers.

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MaineEvent t1_ixjyojp wrote

I made a reservation days ahead of time and still waited 30+ minutes due to short staff and apparently complex problems they were dealing with from the customers they were helping. Spectrum is the worstttt

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Weekly_Inside_5720 t1_ixkdiz9 wrote

I use spectrum for internet only. Went to Hulu live haven’t looked back.

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Soccermom233 t1_ixm0hh3 wrote

I tried cancelling my service once and they just pitched TV for an hour.

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Tarankhoes t1_ixm0ukt wrote

I went to spectrum in person once and they just got me exactly what I needed the second I walked in the door and ever since then I have always thought that they had weirdly good customer service for a business with a monopoly that knows it can treat me like shit and I can’t do shit about it. I now see this was a fluke. Sigh.

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RealMainer OP t1_ixmj4h5 wrote

If you go at like 7pm on a Tuesday you might get lucky. Most people experience internet issues first thing in the morning though so it's super crowded as soon as they open at 10AM.

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SadExtension524 t1_ixu8e2j wrote

Go to the storefront by Kohls in Westbrook, no problems there!

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Leading_Degree_5502 t1_ixiunj9 wrote

Yeah and? It's called thinning out the (techno dinosaur) heard

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