Attack of The TVPeople!

Remember my epic struggle with “The Billing Department from Hell?” Now just two months later, I’m contending with another consumer nightmare. I’m dealing with another bureaucratic foe that’s even more insidiously powerful and contentious than those billing dips from hell could ever hope to be. Now I’m struggling with the TVPeople -- and losing both the battle and the war.

That’s why I’ve only posted one blog in a month’s time. All my writing time has gone into helping my BFF communicate with these Teletitans and their billing partner. All my energy has gone into (seemingly) futile attempts to straighten out this big customer service issue. And nothing I do -- we do -- seems to be working.

Now technically, this TV thing is my BFF’s problem. He’s the one who wanted to save us money by changing TV carriers.
He’s the one who wanted to put TV service, phone service, and Internet together on one bill to save us money. He’s really the one who’s getting screwed. But when you live with your soulmate and share a deep, abiding love and respect for your partner, you’re sympatico. You’re in this thing together.

So, of course I’ve been trying to help out. Now I’m getting screwed, too.

Not even Teddy Roosevelt in all his trustbusting glory could break up this handful of TV monopolies that have sprung up across this nation like locusts scourging the land. And Big Business has done such a good job of blaming consumers that everybody has started to believe it. Even consumers themselves have started to think they’re at fault for getting ripped off by the new Teletitans. Yeah, consumers have gotten too irresponsible, too careless, too stupid. No wonder TVPeople can take advantage of you. It’s all your fault!

Well, it’s not your fault, American consumers. Don’t blame yourself. Blame Congress.

Congress has enabled this telecommunication industry to bloat into monstrous, unrestrained proportions. They’ve helped companies like TVPeople become monopolies. With a wink-wink here and a nudge-nudge there, our lawmakers have allowed TVPeople to bypass laws already on the books -- laws that you and I and everyone else are supposed to follow. The Senate and the House have granted TVPeople all their greedy wishes -- and now we consumers are paying for it.

Look, no regulations! No interstate monitoring of service or communication! And best of all, no recourse for consumers who keep getting screwed!

So there are no restrictions for the monopolies and no help for the customers they keep ripping off. Sounds like a dream come true for Big Business. Wow. They can literally do whatever they want, and no one can stop them -- not even our government because the government deregulated the industry in the first place. Might as well have given Hannibal Lector a free lunch pass with unrestricted traveling privileges.

Think I’m exaggerating? Think again. Everything you believed about consumer protection law, contract law, and basic ethical decency is going to fly right out the window. Why? Because now I’m going to tell you what TVPeople did to us and what they keep doing to us. Keep in mind this is the condensed version. It only seems long because Big Business, with the aid of Congress, is making it all so deliberately complicated.

Because my BFF was concerned about ever-increasing TV rates, he switched TV providers at the beginning of this year. The switch from one carrier to the TVPeople provider was supposed to save us money on our TV cable bill. In fact, TVPeople told him he could save even more money by “bungling” (notice I’m saying bungling instead of bundling because I don’t want them to sue me -- and they would do it, too).

Several associates he talked to told him he could save by bungling TV, Internet, and phone service.

But wait, BFF repeatedly explained to them, I’m already locked into a 5-year rate plan with my Internet and phone service. If I bungle with my new TV service, will I still keep the old, locked-in rates for Internet and phone service?

Sure, no problem, he was repeatedly told and reassured.

Then after the switch was made in January and he got his first bill, the problems began.

The monthly billing rates that TVPeople had specifically promised him never materialized. His monthly bills turned out to be higher than they were supposed to be -- even with the bungling, even with advertised rates, even with reassurances from actual TVPeople associates.

Of course, he did contact TVPeople’s billing partner about the discrepancy. They kept giving him the run-around, though. Whenever he called, they kept transferring him to different associates in different states who tried to get him to “upgrade.” Once they realized he was only trying to straighten out his bill, they transferred him to Apology Central.

Then he’d get an associate who would “understand.” I’m so sorry, sir, you’ve never gotten the discounts you were supposed to get. You’ve been overbilled! You’ve been overcharged! You’ve been overpaying all this time!

These associates would promise to take care of the problem and credit it to his account...but they never would.

That’s what BFF has been doing these past 6 months: trying to get his bill down to the rates that the ads and associates and TVPeople and TVBilling initially promised. He’s also been trying to get back to his old, locked-in plan since they changed it without his knowledge and permission. Then too, there are other expensive changes he never wanted or asked for. Like that special channel line-up he never wanted or the barnacle-like HBO that won’t go away...but that he still had to pay for, whether he wanted it or not.

That’s what most critics of us complaining consumers don’t seem to grasp. TVPeople bills you unfairly. They’re in error. But you have to pay up or really bad things will happen to you and your credit rating.

At first, BFF faithfully paid whatever he was billed. After much pointless dialogue with TVPeople and TVBilling, he contacted the big state “help” agency -- and so far, hasn’t gotten much help. You see, TVPeople never effectively answered any inquiries that we and the “helpers” sent out. So far, we’ve only received one response from TVBilling. And that response was riddled with inaccuracies and fuzzy math and all the self-righteousness that a TV monopoly could cough up. They don’t like to directly respond to consumers because they’re always right, their customers are always wrong.  And there’s no way for anyone to get through to them, either.

After months of ever-increasing bills and the old run-around, BFF tried another approach. Instead of over-paying again, he sent the billing department a formal letter of dispute. The next month, he got an even higher bill and a delinquent notice.

So this June he sent copies of last month’s letter with this month’s letter, along with highlighted enclosures that specifically explained our billing and customer service problems. This time, he sent letters to their billing department and remittance center. This time, he sent both mailings via certified mail, with return receipts. So this time, he knew they’d received his detailed letters of dispute and enclosures. Their response? To send a threatening DISCONNECT notice.

BFF’s response? To pay by credit card, then dispute the amount with the credit card company. Remember, he’s not refusing to pay. He just wants to pay the right amount that he actually owes.

As long as he’s never going to get accurate credit or reimbursement for his overpaying, he just wants to make sure the amount on his bill is accurate.

But because of the way Congress has gifted TVPeople and TVBilling with such favorable laws and deregulations, these well-meaning efforts are futile. TVPeople and their billing partner still have the legal right to disconnect all our services. They have the power. Goodbye, TV, Internet, and phone service. That’s why I’m trying to get this article out before July 1st. We really don’t know if or when there will be any service cut-off...TVPeople and TVBilling won’t tell us. They won’t even tell us the truth...and they don’t legally have to, either.

That’s not what really gets me, though. It’s not so much that TVPeople and TVBilling keep lying. It’s that they’re so smug about their deliberate deceptions. They lie and lie to consumers and consumer advocates alike. They lie so much they are actually starting to believe their own lies.

They really like to play headgames, too. Examples?

1. TVPeople kept giving him the channels he never wanted and wouldn’t stop doing it. After many frustrating calls, BFF finally reached someone who helped end the expensive channel line-up he never wanted. This guy even gave him a $100 plus credit and apology. Then he told him that even though he didn’t owe TVPeople the amount on his current bill and even though he’d just been issued $100 plus credit, he’d still have to pay the amount on the bill. Why? “If you send in $63 (what he actually owed) they won’t know what to do, and they’ll get all upset.”

So TVPeople and TVBilling expected him to pay a bill they knew was inaccurate. And when he didn’t, they sent him a delinquent notice.

2. On Tuesday, May 7th, a message from TVPeople was left on our answering machine. This time, more apologies were given, with an offer to opt-out without paying fees and surcharges -- because he’d already been overcharged and had overpaid so much.

But when BFF phoned the number he’d been given, all he got was a snarly employee who told him the only way he could opt-out was to pay them $400. So much for consistent “customer service.”

So, you might be thinking, “Why not just bail out?”

With all the hidden increases and contradicting customer service snafus, why not just cancel your contract? You might have to pay some fees and surcharges. But it would be worth it to get rid of these predatory Teletitans and their billing scams, right?

Right! It’s like you totally read my mind. But in order to cancel, you need to go over you contract with a fine-tooth comb to make sure you do everything right. Otherwise, you’ll be slapped with all kinds of hidden charges and unexpected fees. But in order to carefully check your contract, there has to be some kind of contract to check. But there is no contract.

There never was one. What BFF signed at the time of the installation in January was supposed to have been placed by the tech in the special TIPS&TRICKS folder -- but we got tricked. The tech led us to believe it’d be there. It wasn’t. What BFF really signed was a lease agreement that acknowledged that the TV equipment had been installed.

Now they’re claiming the lease agreement IS the contract. But now no one at TVPeople or TVBilling wants to give us a copy of it. So there is no real contract. BFF never signed a contract. But if TVPeople and TVBilling say a contract exists, then a contract exists because their reality is more powerful than the actual truth.

Don’t ask yourself if you should switch to TVPeople or bungle with TVBilling . Ask instead how much all those ancient reruns of “Leave it To Beaver” and “Sea Hunt” are really worth to you.

And what price are you willing to pay just to catch glimpses of Turtle Man stalking the wild ‘possum?

The answer, as always, lies within yourself. (But turn off your damned TV.)