Incredibly Rude Customer Service

[Athenis]

I needed to contact customer service/tech support yesterday as my speed had been optimized incredibly low. This has happened several times in the past year and I start with the online chat help who then passes it on to a supervisor who calls a short time later. While having to do this once in a while to have it reset is a hassle, the person I deal with has always apologized, run the usual tests for line stability, then resets the ASSIA optimizer. 20 or 30 minutes usually and the problem is fixed and all is good until the next time the optimizer has a hiccup.

Yesterday was a very different experience. I did the online chat and it was passed on to the next person who then called as usual. I could not understand the name of the person I spoke to. The person I was speaking with started off right away making it sound like I was annoying him and every response I got was to the effect that he did not want to help.

I gave the explanation I've given a half dozen times since the optimization problem started, using the particular terms so that what I was explaining wasn't to be confused for another type of issue, and so that it could be helpful to him and fixing the issue without the usual long list of steps and questions. It isn't my job to be helpful to him, but I knew it would save a lot of time.

Ignoring everything I had said to him, he proceeded to say that while my speed was low at 1054 kbps, it was within the acceptable range and that my line couldn't get higher anyway. I explained the last four years it has been at 3360 and only recently were the optimization problems happening. This is when it went down hill because he basically accused me of lying, saying that the line wasn't able to reach that speed and that while slow speeds were inconvenient, it's within the guidelines of the package I pay $45 a month for (that new customers get at $29 with a high end of 15mb instead of 3 that I have on my bill).

At this point he began to repeat that it was within the range of speeds I had agreed to and that nothing was wrong with it. That put me in to a bit of repeating that it had happened many times in the last year and that the ASSIA optimizer just needed to be reset and we'd be done. He wouldn't acknowledge anything I was saying, even when I asked if the account information showed those previous dealings. He started to cut me off and talk over me, repeating again and again that it was within the range.

I have never had to raise my voice or yell at someone over the phone before, but in this incident, I had to just so that I could be heard over him because he was practically yelling at me repeating that same line about the speed. I finally got him to stop and I asked point blank, "You know what the issue is since it has happened before, you know how to fix it, and you're just not willing to?" He pretty shockingly said yes. So here is a customer service agent, telling a customer, that he has the ability to fix the problem, but won't, because he doesn't have to since the speed was within a specific range. Needless to say he went back to repeating himself again and I had to yell some more to get him to stop.

At this point the optimization could have been reset, done with, and we would have been off the phone instead of 15 minutes in and making me so upset by telling me that he won't fix it because he doesn't have to. I asked several more times to make it clear that he was indeed saying just that. Finally he put me on hold. About 10 minutes later, he came back on and told me to check the speed. Low and behold it was back to normal.

There were very few words after that from him, and what was said was in a very rude tone asking if I had any other problems. I wanted off the phone with the guy or I would have asked to speak to his supervisor right then. I was so upset and my friend who was over looked completely shocked because of how I had to yell at the man just to get him to listen to something I was saying to try and help him not be on the phone for forever.

His admitting that he could have fixed it, but wouldn't because it was "in the range" was ridiculous. Telling me I never had the speed I've had for years, was basically calling me a liar. Amazing how that's the speed that came up when he finally did what I had been saying the entire time that he was refusing to do.

Considering this has happened many times this past year, I'm now dreading the next time it happens. Even armed with margin and line attenuation numbers to prove that I should be receiving the highest speed I'm paying for (again, capped at 3mb when people paying way less get 15mb) and what certaintly must be an account history showing him what was done before, his attitude was completely unacceptable.

Acknowledging that he could fix it, then refusing to do so only on the basis that the speed I was getting was barely good enough. Even though it could be fixed. I just don't understand how he thought that was the way to handle the situation, then making it worse by talking so loudly over me that I was forced to yell. I've never yelled at someone on the phone, but it was the only option when he was blatantly trying to ignore what I had to say, which he ended up doing (to the desired effect) anyway.

While the options where I currently live aren't great, I'm looking for new service even if it costs more having to go with satellite because that was utterly ridiculous and I refuse to be treated like that by a company I've had service with at this house alone for almost 5 years, and many years prior at my previous residence.