EPTI play online poker for a living, and so my internet service is very important. I pay for the "best" service, which probably is just a ripoff but whatever, it really is that important.
Anyways, for the 3rd time recently, the internet randomly has gone down and stayed down for a long time. Or, if not down, just unusable. And, like the other times, it costed me an absolute ton of money. 9 sng tournaments down the drain.
So, in my frustration I decided I would actually bother to email Charter what I think. I wrote the following email:
+ Show Spoiler +
So, once again, Charter has screwed me out of a large sum of money thanks to their horrible business practices. Prices are high enough without having the internet slow down to a standstill at any given time for any given amount of time. As a professional ONLINE poker player, it costs me a lot of money every time this happens. Considerably more than the entirety of my overpriced internet bill.
Then, while that happens, I sometimes am frustrated enough to actually bother calling Charter's shitty ass tech support - knowing full well that I already have a greater understanding of my internet connection than they do. Knowing full well they will tell me to reset my modem and will never let out a peep that the problem is that charter takes too many customers and doesn't put enough money into their actual hardware - because Charter is a monopoly and really doesn't give half a shit about their customers.
So, after being told that it can't possibly be any sort of fault on Charter's end, I decide to do a tracerroute to google. I have attached an image of the results of the tracerroute. Please explain how this shows anything other than technical problems on Charter's end. Seriously, does this business have any intergrity whatsoever?
So, I challenge Charter. Do the right thing and reimburse me for my losses. Today alone I have lost $160 due to my internet being unusable - immediately after joining $160 worth of online poker tournaments. This is just from today.
And, if Charter doesn't have the intergrity to cover these losses, at bare minimum I should be reimbursed for my lack of internet for most of the day. Charter's prices are jacked way up due to your clear monopoly. It's obviously true, there is no broadband competition in most areas where Charter operates.
But, of course, it is incredibly unlikely there will be any sort of reimbursement from Charter. So, I ask for one last thing. If I am not to be reimbursed then at least forward this email higher up. Forward it to the people who actually have a say in how this business operates, because right now it is pathetic.
So, I try to email this to charter. The only problem is... I can't find an email address to send it to. Anywhere. Any sort of email address, from support to comments or suggestions or billing help - there seems to be nothing. I looked all over their website.
Finally, I tried just going to live chat support and asking if they had an email address I could contact there.
The following ridiculous conversation ensues:
+ Show Spoiler +
TTD Clark : Thank you for contacting Charter Communications. My name is Clark. So that I can pull up the account and assist you, may I please have the complete service address with the zip code and the phone number that is associated with the account?
Travis Black: well I don't think we really need to go through all of that. I am just looking for an email address to contact charter at
Travis Black: any sort of email address, whether its support or suggestions or whatever
Travis Black: i can't seem to find it anywhere on charter's website
TTD Clark : OK. Please hold for a moment.
TTD Clark : Please follow this link: http://www.charter.com/customers/ContactUs.aspx. You can click on the fifth option under " Have a question or want to get in touch with us?".
TTD Clark : Would that be all for today?
Travis Black: I already have that website up
Travis Black: when i click there nothing happens
Travis Black: I am using firefox if that is a problem
TTD Clark : Please try again later. The system may be experiencing latency. You can try to log in to the Internet Explorer and access www.charter.com.
TTD Clark : Is there anything else I can help you with today?
TTD Clark : Please let me know if you are still connected to the chat session at this time.
Travis Black: I understand at least somewhat how the internet works and "the system may be experiencing latency" doesn't make any sense when you are telling me to click an image that doesn't even contain a link to anything
Travis Black: So there isn't even an email address to contact charter at?
TTD Clark : I apologize for the inconvenience, all emails directed to us are entered by clicking on the #5 prompt ( Email Us).
Travis Black: ok well then could you open up the page and click it for me and tell me what email address it brings up?
TTD Clark : Please try again later to check if the prompt works.
TTD Clark : I am sorry, but that tool on this end is has a limited support. That option is restricted. Personnel are not allowed to use that option.
TTD Clark : Do you need anything else?
Travis Black: Naw that's it have a good day Clark
amazing... just utterly amazing. seriously, is this a business or a 6 year old child?
