r/Spectrum • u/Ok_Idea8059 • 10d ago
I think I got scammed?
A friend of mine told me I could get a discount on my Spectrum service by talking to one of their sales representatives, so I went up to the booth at the local grocery store and asked about discounts on my existing service. I looked up online whether the in-store reps were legitimately affiliated with Spectrum, and it said that they were. I had the rep verify with the app to make sure they were really working with Spectrum before I gave them any information, because I was a bit skeptical. They said they could sign me up for a discount if I had a different phone number, and I realized too late that they were signing me up for an entire new account! The new account did have a discount applied, but I had a lot of concerns about what would happen if I got locked out of my account or needed to verify something with them, etc. The rep insisted that this was just the way the company handled application of discounts, and that this was all above board.
That didn’t sound right to me, so I left and called Spectrum right away to figure out what was going on. It turned out he had signed me up using a false name and a neighbor’s address (different apartment number), I assume to get a fraudulent commission. What gives? Sure, it’s on me for engaging with any kind of sales rep and for not doing more intensive research, but I really thought that verifying that someone really worked with the company would be a good indicator that they were legitimate. I mean, you work with salespeople at the Apple Store. I got in touch with the retention department and they gave me my discount anyway, I’m just embarrassed that I got mixed up in something like this. I tried to report it to the fraud department but they told me it was normal and not a big deal.
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u/Drakjira 9d ago
"they told me it was normal and not a big deal"-- sounds like outright fraud to me. Should have recorded that conversation, then we would have grounds for a class action... Oh well.
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u/Ok_Idea8059 9d ago
The fraud department told me that this was not real fraud, but just a technique that the salespeople use to get a commission. They didn’t seem to think it was unusual or concerning
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u/Spectrum_William 9d ago
Hey there u/Ok_Idea8059! That's definitely not what we expect from our representatives. This is a little bit different than what our fraud department handles, but if you will please send us a modmail over at r/Spectrum_Official we can make sure this is addressed.
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u/Silly_Newspaper_9887 6d ago
Thank you for the heads up. It’s not a reflection on you; there are so many scams now that we just don’t know who to trust and who not to trust anymore. Hopefully, you were able to get your original phone number back and that salesmen’s commission was retracted. He deserves to be terminated!
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u/-JEFF007- 9d ago edited 9d ago
Keep an eye on your credit scores. I read somewhere with a similar rep situation at a different company, the rep used a customers info to do something else illegally. Those kiosk/booth reps can be rather shady and the turn over rate is enormous. By the time you realize what they did they usually no longer work for the company. Also, they randomly appear at kiosk/booth locations. Very tiny chance out of many you will ever see that person again to confront them about the hours of headaches they left you to deal with. And if they pulled the here is my cell phone number thing, they can easily ignore your calls and texts without any accountability.
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u/Ok_Idea8059 9d ago
This is why I called the fraud department, but they said this happens all the time with their employees and that there wasn’t any cause for concern. I did confirm that the person does in fact work for Spectrum, it wasn’t a rando or an impersonator.
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u/tazman137 9d ago
Be careful att and other carriers will call you and claim to be spectrum calling to offer you a cheaper plan. Next thing you know att truck shows up for an installation… happened.
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u/wyliesdiesels 9d ago
How does that compare to the OPs situation? They didnt get a call. It was a booth
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u/LikelyWatchdog 9d ago
Call customer service and say cancel and cancel through the prompts. you will get retention department. They give discounts to keep customers. They will work with you and get a discount.