The Night That WASN'T!

So, I was so excited about opening night in the NHL, as I am a huge hockey fan.  I was even more excited when I received a letter and an email from Time Warner Cable (TWC) informing me that from October 1st through October 19, they would be providing a free preview of NHL Center Ice.

The Sept 30th Email I Received 

This is normally an upgrade option, but for those days it would be made available.  In the past couple of days I even saw commercials from TWC advertising the preview.  However, when the first game started tonight, I turned it to the channel for NHL Center Ice, and that is where it all went wrong.

It wouldn't work.  It said I had to call and sign up for the service.  I quickly Googled to see if there were other people complaining about the error I was having, and that is where I found out that Center Ice free pass was being offered by Dish, Direct TV, Comcast, and TWC.  So I called my brother who has Comcast, and sure enough, it was working for him.  So I called TWC and talked to a tech support person from the Philippines.  He had no idea what the NHL was, and we were getting nowhere.  He then put me on hold for 15 minutes, after which the phone disconnected.  So I called back and talked to a customer service rep from the US, and she said she had heard nothing about any free preview.  After 45 mins with her, she then came back to me and told me that if they were offering a free pass, it should be working, but if it isn't, then they must not be offering a free pass.  When I protested, she transferred me back to tech support.  AHHHHHHHHHG!!!!!!!!

The tech support lady came on the line and to my surprise she was from the US as well.  She apologized for the run around and then told me she would look into it.  Another 20 min hold.  After the hold, she said that neither she, nor anyone she was working with had heard anything about a free preview for NHL Center Ice.  He then put me on hold again to call a supervisor.  This went on for a little less than 15 minutes, to which she came back and told me her supervisor was unaware of any free preview, but that I should fax the flyer into her and she would look it up.  After a small disgruntled protest, she told me there was nothing more that could be done.  I then got the idea to try the "click to chat" feature on their website.  To my amazement, it just went down hill from there.

On click to chat, I assumed that I was talking with some tech person here in the US.  It became rapidly clear that she was not from the USA.  Of course she tried to send me to the NHL Network, which is not the same as NHL Center Ice.  I had to explain it 4 or 5 times, each time with her having to tell me to please hold while she checked on that.  Eventually she told me they were not offering a free preview.  I replied by sending her the link to the TWC website that included the ad.  She then apologized and then like a good robot told me she was sorry for the delay and to "please be patient, we will have it up and running soon".  When I asked her what soon meant, she told me she did not know.  I then asked her if i could have access to an email of a manager so I could make a formal complaint.  I was then surprised when we were joined on the chat by someone who claimed to be the shift manager.  The problem was, her English was even worse the the lady I was currently working with, and she seemed even more clueless.

We went back around in a circle, her sending me to NHL network, me sending the ad, her apologizing etc.  She then said I had to sign up for the service to get the free preview, but the sign up would cost $30.  She then told me that a technician would have to come to my house to fix my cable box to receive "the NHL".  I knew this to be wrong, but it took too much time to count to get her finally on what I consider a relative similar page.  She finally admitted that someone didnt need to come to my house in order for me to get a free preview, and that she would "open a ticket" for me so that my problem could be fixed as soon as possible.

By this time two of the three games were over, and the remaining game was 2/3rds through.  When I looked at the clock I realized I had spent almost 6 hours working with Time Warner.  I have spent majority of my professional life so far working in, managing, or monitoring customer service.  Before I left to start my MPA at ASU I had Comcast.  I thought their customer service was horrible.  After dealing with Time Warner, Comcast deserves a JD Power award.  There has to be an easier way.  I just cannot comprehend how a company can be as bad as they are.  Needless to say, it is now the principle of the the thing, and I will be using my first bit of free time to call in tomorrow to talk to American based representatives, and try to get this figured out.  Plus, my favorite team plays tomorrow, and I dont want to miss it.