The Good, The Bad and The Very Ugly
Written: Mar 27 '01 (Updated Mar 11 '02)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
| Connection Reliability: |
 |
|
| Quality of Tech Support: |
 |
|
|
Pros: One-stop shop
Cons: Dysfunctional customer service
The Bottom Line: An economical and reliable telecommunications service backed by dysfunctional customer service, at least at the local level.
|
|
|
| bbarner's Full Review: RCN Cable |
This review is about RCN - 21st Century, RCN's subsidiary company in Illinois that serves Chicago. I have been a 21st Century customer for about one year, and generally have received economical, reliable telephone, cable Internet and cable TV service (THE GOOD). However, in trying to transfer service to my new house, I encountered very poor responsiveness and misinformation from the customer service representatives (THE BAD). To make it worse, my attempts to solve the problems locally were met with responses to the effect "We can't do anything to fix this--that's the way the system is set up", or "I am authorized to handle this situation, but there is nothing I can do to help you" (THE VERY UGLY).
THE GOOD
********
RCN - 21st Century offers a very economical package of phone, cable tv and internet service. I run a home-based businesses that uses 1 phone line and cable Internet, plus I subscribe to basic cable and purchase local and long distance telephone through RCN. My bill averages about $100 per month--pretty competitive and very easy to deal with one provider.
RCN - 21st Century base rates on local phone service are 15% less that Ameritech (local provider), and the company offers a 25% additional discount on local phone with my purchase of the other 3 services (long distance, cable tv and Internet).
Long distance runs about 9 cents / minute--not great--but it is predictable, easy to understand the bill, and beats playing the switch game every few months as ATT, Sprint and MCI jockey for your business.
Cable Internet service runs $42/month. This is cheaper and much faster than a second phone line and a dial-up ISP service. RCN - 21st century provides the cable modem with the subscription. I outfitted my PC with the network card for about $80.
My service has been very reliable since installation about 12 months ago. Sometimes the Internet service slows down, but that is a function of the heavy growth in my area, so I cut RCN some slack in that area.
THE BAD
*******
My wife and bought a house and got ready to move. Upon advice of a RCN salesperson, I called RCN -21st Century a month before the move to schedule the transfer of service. They said they would call back with the date. They never did. I called two weeks later to confirm the schedule, and was disappointed to learn that the earliest opening to was several days after the move, meaning no service for several days. I requested an earlier date. They said they would call back. They never did.
I called a few days before the move to check the status and pay my bill over the phone. They had no problem putting my bill onto my Visa, but did not have any news on the re-schedule date. I was stuck with it.
THE VERY UGLY
********
I talked with the customer service representative about the situation, and in explaining my dilemma of the home business and no phone service, she realized that my scheduled transfer did not include my cable TV and cable Internet service! I had assumed that since the service was bundled, my transfer would be bundled. No, they forgot to tell me this when I originally requested the transfer.
I then requested a transfer of my cable-related services to the new address. I was told that they could not open the request because the system would not allow multiple open requests from the same customer--ie, the phone transfer had to be completed and the ticket closed before I could request the transfer of my cable tv and Internet! I was beginning to wonder if I was in the Soviet Union in 1981.
I asked to speak with a manager. The representative replied that she was trained and authorized to handle the situation. The conversation went something like this:
ME: So what can we do to fix this? I can't wait 2 weeks for Internet and cable service with my home business.
RCN: I understand, but we can't do anything. The system won't allow it.
ME: Is there any way to accelerate the work order, modify it, or open a new one? This is a real problem.
RCN: No, the system won't allow it. I'm sorry. The may be able to get out there sooner, but you need to call back and check the schedule.
ME: Can't you put it in the system? Isn't there a waiting list for things like this? I can't call back every day for a new place in line.
RCN: No. The system won't do that. They can call you over the weekend if they can come out before Monday.
ME: How will they do that if I have no phone service?
RCN: Uh, right.
ME: Well, if I'm stuck, I'm stuck. I think RCN should offer some compensation for my trouble. I suggest free service for one month--about $100.
RCN: OK, I will put a note in the system.
ME: Does that mean it's a done deal?
RCN: No. I'll put it down and we will get back to you.
ME: I thought you were authorized to do something. Can you help me?
RCN: That's the way our system works.
And so on. I have some sympathy because I have worked in systems consultant and know how complex customer information systems can be. However, you should never make your own problems become your customers' problems. RCN - 21st Century's system is clearly broken, and must be upgraded. Their culture also appears to be broken.
********
EPILOGUE--IMPORTANT
I wrote this review in late March 2001. After one year of trying to "train" RCN to improve their customer service (and giving them time to adjust to their new system), I finally gave up on them in March 2002, switching to Ameritech for phone and DirecTV.
My problems with RCN centered around billing--they never were what I expected. The package of Internet, cable tv and local phone was supposed to run about $140 per month, but my bills were always over $200 (long distance charges were minimal). When I inquired, I never got a straight answer--"yes, it includes taxes. no, taxes are more, you have a different package, your bill is wrong--we will fix it", and so on.
It got to the point where I would spend 2 hours a month auditing the bill and then dealing with their billing reps trying to fix it. The dam broke when they shut down my cable tv service because they could not properly account for credit card payments made over the phone. "No mas" I screamed to my wife, and we called direcTV and Ameritech. Turns out we will save about $12 per month on local phone ($45 for Ameritech unlimited vs. $57 RCN) and tv ($32 for DirecTV vs. $59).
In sum, my relationship with RCN started with great promise and has ended with great disappointment.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 100
Version Number or Year: 21st Century telephone, cable and Internet
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
bbarner
|
|
Member: Bela Barner
Location: Chicago, IL
Reviews written: 14
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
Let me out! I love to explore the great outdoors.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.