Frontier Communications Suck

Sigh...

Here’s the deal...you would THINK that a company that deals in communications would be, uh, able to communicate.  Obviously not.

A few months ago we got slammed with a HUGE bill.  For some reason we were suddenly charged double or something for our cable/internet/phone package.

I called them up and they gave me this sort of “shrug” of the shoulders.  “Uh, we don’t know WHAT HAPPENED!!  We’ll check on that.  How about you re-new for your same package as a package rate may have fallen off and we’ll reset you and give you better/more channels and give you a credit.”

Now, understand, we pay about $150 a month for all three and it had bounced to $270.  So the following month it went “down” to $170 and then, to credit our account, we got a bill for $16.  And then back up to $170ish.  Okay.  We’re good to go - all is right in our technological world.

But then, for some reason, in this “reset” – they had changed us to “on-line bill pay only.”  So I panicked when I hadn’t seen the bill and went on-line and changed it back to “mail only.”  I paid it on-line and was done with it.

A month goes by and again, no bill in the mail.  I go back on-line and I see that we’re still “on-line bill pay only.”  I’m like:  WHAT THE HELL?!

Well, you see, there’s this LIIIIIIIITLE box that I was supposed to click and then click on the button that says “continue” – but this button looks like ALL THE OTHER buttons.  It’s not larger, a different color, or anything else to set it apart.  So it’s easy to miss.

                                You know, something like this....

Once again, I paid it on-line and then decided to set up an “automatic pay” so I can just not deal with this crap anymore.  They’re good at sending me an e-mail telling me my bill is ready and how much it is – so I’ve got that, at least.

This month was the first “auto-pay” and I’d already written it down in my check-book as having come out but it’s supposed to come out at the first of the month and I had yet to see an e-mail saying that the payment had been processed.

                                                Or this...

Once again I go online and see that everything is all set and good to go – why hasn’t the payment been made. OOOOOOOOH, yeah, there’s that little “continue” button that’s hiding in plain sight.  I hit the “continue” button and it says:  “Okay, you’re all set for auto bill pay.”

But...wait.  It’s the 4^th and it was supposed to come out the 1^st.  Is it suddenly going to retroactively remove the payment that should have come out 3 days prior or...am I just setting this up for NEXT month?

I call Frontier and ask them what is going to happen.  Once again I get a bit of a shrug:  “Just to be safe, go ahead and do an one-time payment, and that way it’s covered.  I don’t THINK you’re going to be paying twice.  But go ahead and take off the auto-pay and then, after your payment goes through, put the auto-pay back on.”  Okay, fine.  So I do the on-line payment and figure it’s done, taken care of, good to go.

                                         Or, even, THIS!!

Where’s my confirmation e-mail?  When I order something off of Amazon, or GOG, or ANYPLACE I usually get an e-mail within 10 minutes saying:  “Hey, thanks for the payment.  Know that your order is being processed...blah blah blah....”

No confirmation e-mail.  No nothing.

To circumvent this, I log onto my bank account online and see that no payments have been taken out either on the 1^st or on the 4^th or...

Once again I call Frontier up and talk to a customer service person.  It even SAYS ON THE WEBSITE that once payment has been processed I’ll get an e-mail.  That’s great, but where the hell is the payment?  The customer service rep says:  “It takes 48 hours for it to process.”  What?  Okay, fine, how about an e-mail then saying:  “Payment received, it will take 48 hours to process?”  “We don’t send out e-mails like that.”  EXCUSE ME?!  Well, he asks me if I got a confirmation number when I did the “on-line” payment.

I can’t remember if I got a confirmation number.  That usually is forwarded to me via e-mail – something Frontier obviously doesn’t care to use or know about.

                       This would have been perfect and clear...

Now I have to wait 48 hours (past the due date of my bill) to find out if, in fact, it went “through” or if I didn’t click a DIFFERENT “continue” box or whatever.  He notes that the “worst that can happen” is that I’ll be charged a $7 late fee for paying the bill late.  My credit rating, he swears, won’t be hurt – but he’ll make a note to waive the late fee because I’ve been trying to pay.

I know – why don’t you just enter the 21^st Century and make it clear and simple?  How about that?

Argh.