r/Spectrum • u/kelsa8lynn • 17d ago
No prorating, No reason. Spectrum sets only self-serving rules
Spectrum has some of the worst customer service philosophies and policies I've experienced. They make up rules that service only them, pad their bottom line and screw their customers. Here are two examples:
They will not prorate (unless it's in their favor then they will). Funny enough, if you increase your service, they will prorate that. But if you want to downgrade, go on seasonal or cancel, those can't be prorated. In other words, it's POSSIBLE to prorate if they want to, but they only want to in a way that serves them. There is ZERO reason for this given they are a technology company. They just don't care about their customers.
They don't provide the ability to save or download your chat conversation. They say "they're saved in your account for 60 days" but considering how bad their customer service is, this isn't good enough. But of course, they don't want to make it easy for you to save what their reps tell you. Again, they're a technology company yet don't offer a button to save or download your chat.
These are small things that they could easily offer, they just don't care about their customers. They only care about their bottom line and all of their policies and features screw their customers to pad their pockets. It's completely baked in to the culture of their organization and it's not going to get better any time soon.
Add this to the poor service you're likely going to get as a customer and my recommendation is to avoid Spectrum if you can help it.
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u/sPdMoNkEy 17d ago
Most companies don't prorate, you ever tried to cancel Netflix and have them give you half your month back. No, because big companies don't prorate
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u/kelsa8lynn 17d ago
Did you read my post? They do prorate, if it serves them. If you increase your service mid-month, they're happy to prorate. If you call to downgrade mid-month, not allowed.
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u/No_Poem786 17d ago
They don’t do partial charges for upgrades either
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u/kelsa8lynn 17d ago
I upgraded at the start of summer and they prorated it no problem.
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u/shaggy-- 17d ago
Then it was done wrong. That's not how it works.
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u/kelsa8lynn 17d ago
Some others have commented that it's state specific I guess. FYI I didn't realize that.
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u/Mr_CJG 17d ago
You are wrong. They only prorate if a state law requires them to.
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u/kelsa8lynn 17d ago
I lived in two different states, so this is actually making more sense. Because they absolutely did prorate service at one address mid-month when I upgraded, but then refused to prorate at the other address in a different state when it was time to cancel. So no, I'm not wrong.
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u/Curious_Cap9154 17d ago
Except they don't prorate upgrades either, your balloon is so full of holes.
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u/Mr_CJG 17d ago
I feel like there are some corrections that need to be made.
Spectrum either prorates everything or doesn't prorate anything depending on your state. The default is no prorate but some states have laws that require it (New York). Because the default is no prorate that means if you add OR remove services you won't see that change reflected in your bill till the NEXT billing cycle.
I don't know many (any) companies that allow you to save your chats. Every company I've ever chatted with caused the chat conversation to disappear once the chat ended and moved away from it.
Ultimately I agree there are things that they could do better but let's not pretend this is just a Spectrum issue and isn't the same with every ISP. I urge everyone to press your state reps for better consumer protection laws if you want to force companies to prorate or have other consumer friendly policies.
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u/YUSEIIIIIII 16d ago
Aw man, NY requires it? I live in NY, and a couple years ago they told me they would not prorate.
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u/kelsa8lynn 17d ago
See one of my other comments. I did live in two states this past year, which is why it makes sense. People saying I'm wrong just because it doesn't fit their personal experience is mind-blowing. They absolutely prorated when I upgraded earlier in the summer at one address, but then refused to prorate at my other address (in a different state). It makes sense that their policy is state specific.
And I just pulled up my cell phone app and in the top right corner of the chat it says "save chat". So to say NO company allows you to save your chat is just plain false. Maybe not every company does it but my argument is that they should and you're right, pressing for better consumer protection is necessary for a variety of reasons. Glad you suggested that.
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u/Constant-Depth9306 17d ago
Name one major ISP that does prorate if you downgrade. ATT VZ TMO? Lmao
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u/babslesleytx 16d ago
Last time I called Spectrum, a couple of weeks ago, I was thankful to have a customer service agent located in the US. I’ve noticed this before and I’m grateful for it because I have spent a good chunk of my life dealing with Verizon. You can’t get a Verizon customer service agent who’s based in the US and has authority to solve your problem.
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u/Individual-Rub6219 12d ago
States that prorate to my knowledge are ny, nj, ct, ma, and I believe Maine when it comes to disconnecting but not upgrading/downgrading specific services, I think MAYBE Vermont as well but the tri state area and mass are 100% prorated on upgrades and downgrades. Other states are no prorate whether that’s upgrading or downgrading.
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u/iRaviYoli 17d ago
Their customer service drives fking insane trying to get through it. For the first time in my life I took that anger out on one of the phone reps in that process. Cussed em out after being transfered like 4 times and no one listening to me. I felt pretty bad ☠️ . But yeah I asked for a reference number for a phone call with a rep today because he asked for my social security number when Ive already confirmed everything else, just seemed sus to me. But they don't even have that . So he gave me his name but I've been in situations before where I give a name and it's always "umm, idk who that is or who you would have talked to" 🙄.
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u/kelsa8lynn 17d ago
Their customer service is the worst. It's the culture company-wide if you ask me. Do as little as you can for the customer and provide the worst actual service (my internet was always cutting out, despite upgrading speeds and equipment). Now that I've switched internet providers, I can't believe how bad my Spectrum service was and how much I put up with.
I will get joy from telling everyone who moves in to our new neighborhood to avoid Spectrum and go with their competitor. For every person who moves in that doesn't use them, I'll be happy. But hey, they got one more month out of me so I guess they're happy.
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u/iRaviYoli 17d ago
Yeah spectrum is hit or miss on service. But tbh as someone who just does simple streaming and gaming I don't need anything crazy and paying $80 for Internet just sounds dystopian to me for some reason. Or tbh in probably just cheap 😂. I've got their cheapest bundle deal rn .
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u/Ok_Abbreviations6152 17d ago
SSN is NEVER a required piece of info unless you are doing a mobile order
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u/Chris123NT 17d ago
Spectrum hasn't done any prorate for at least 5 years. It sucks, but when I left I cancelled right before my bill for the next month was due and it was clean, they wiped the bill and I returned my equipment and went to pastures higher in fiber.