Thursday, February 3, 2022

Circling Hell with the Cellular Carrier

 I understand why the American public despises 2 entities - the Cable Company and their Cellular Phone service. My issue today is the later. Dealing with the Cellular carrier makes me feel as if I am falling into Dante's Inferno.

We changed mobile carriers 9 months ago for reasons I will not go into. Then I found myself descended into the First Circle of Hell (Limbo).  I continued to get billed for service I do not have and a device that was completely paid for.

The lines being very busy, there was often a wait or they had a call back service. The wait times averaged around 5 hours.  Initially I was told that there was still an active line even though all the numbers had been ported and devices returned. The issue was taken care of, so I was told - the line was cancelled, and a refund was being sent in a check. 

However my bubble of satisfaction was burst when, the following month, I received a bill that showed a credit being issued (in lieu of the promised check) and a monthly billing amount being taken from that credit. At this point I felt as if I were in the Sixth Circle of Hell - Heresy. The question then - was it worth the time and aggravation to call the carrier? Given the amount I was owed, I decided to try. (Ah, the optimist.)

Same song, second verse. I was promised that NOW the line was cancelled and a refund check was to be issued. Once again my happiness was dashed when I received a bill from the carrier, and the amount once again, taken out of my "credit". Was the idea that if they made it difficult enough to get a matter handled, disgruntled customers would stop trying and just accept their fate. Now, I was certainly in the Fourth Circle (Greed).

Not to be defeated, I cast myself into the Third Circle (Gluttony) and called once again. Once again I was put on hold, luckily for "only" and hour and a half this time. The unfortunate customer service rep who took my call had to listen to my wrath about what was going on with my account. He was most patient and asked a few pertinent questions. After being on the phone with him for a while, I was assured, once again, that the matter was handled. The account was closed and a refund was being issued by direct deposit.

Now, I just wait for the credit to be issued to my account. The question being  - will I be satisfied or once again find myself in the Divine Comedy.

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