Well this probably isn't going to go well

[Exterous]

I'm on hold with a large chain's customer service phone number trying to get a refund for an overcharge. My receipt from them says I was to be charged $427. My credit card says the actual charge was $443. The CS rep asked me "So you're calling in to get the $7 difference refunded?" Er...I am calling to get a refund but the difference is $16. "No the difference is $7"

While I expected the possibility of a debate during this call I wasn't expecting it at the basic math level...

 

[brianmanahan]

boom

(4 + 4 + 3) - (4 + 2 * 7) = -7

quick maths

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

There is a service fee for calling CS.

$443
$427
$16
$9 Service Fee for calling CS
$7 refund

 

[nakedfrog]

Make sure to tell them you'll burn the entire building down.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Gotta love dealing with customer service lol. I miss the old days when customer service was local people, and they understood your situation better. Now days anything that is off script they basically can't help you.

 

[snoopy7548]

Maybe the rep previously worked at Verizon?

 

[allisolm]

I guess it all went so badly that the OP has been completely unable to return to his thread and update us.

 

[Muse]

Sometimes it's best to terminate in a way you are comfortable with and call back. Odds are high in most cases you get someone else. The difference is often night and day.

 

[Red Squirrel]

OP is probably still on hold.

 

[Exterous]

I guess it all went so badly that the OP has been completely unable to return to his thread and update us.

The rest of the call did not in fact go well. Apparently its a franchise location so they can do what they want and have no responsibilities to answer the chain CS reps let alone have any corporate expectations of any refunding of over charges. So after being escalated to a supervisor who seemed completely disinterested in my issue I'll almost certainly have to do a charge back in 7 days

 

[VirtualLarry]

When Greedflation couldn't get any worse... enter, "TheftFlation"

 

[Exterous]

The dispute process was very unsatisfying. Apparently for this amount they just refund the difference with no investigation. I'm guessing that is likely in part because I haven't disputed a charge in years so its a low risk\efficiency consideration but I suspect this company does it because they can get away with it so this won't do anything to discourage the practice. I can see how others would like a process that was this simple and easy though

 

[Fenixgoon]

The dispute process was very unsatisfying. Apparently for this amount they just refund the difference with no investigation. I'm guessing that is likely in part because I haven't disputed a charge in years so its a low risk\efficiency consideration but I suspect this company does it because they can get away with it so this won't do anything to discourage the practice. I can see how others would like a process that was this simple and easy though

I challenged a rental car company on a $250 cleaning fee.
Now, I did leave the car a little dirty, so if they knocked it down to $50 or $75, I'd still be a little salty but I could live with that.

Nope, they waived the whole fee without putting up a fight. Which made me wonder how many people don't bother, and how much profit they make off that shit.

 

[nakedfrog]

The dispute process was very unsatisfying. Apparently for this amount they just refund the difference with no investigation. I'm guessing that is likely in part because I haven't disputed a charge in years so its a low risk\efficiency consideration but I suspect this company does it because they can get away with it so this won't do anything to discourage the practice. I can see how others would like a process that was this simple and easy though

Yeah, refunding the $16 is probably cheaper than investigating. Sounds like your only recourse is to name and shame this large chain.

 

[MtnMan]

I cancelled my alarm monitoring service with ADT, as I was going with a different and much more reasonable company, after ADT again jacked their price up.

I lost count of how many times I had to repeat "cancel my service" over a 25-minute call, but it was probably in excess of 50 times.

They kept telling me they would "adjust" my rate to keep my business, yet their 'adjustment' was less than the amount they had just raised the monthly fee. Had them on speaker, and every time they responded with some bullshit, I calmly said "cancel my service"

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

I did that with Dish 7 or 8 years ago. They kept spouting retention blahblahblahs

I just started repeating 'turn it off' over and over without pause, sort of like a protest chant. Finally got an 'OK, we'll turn it off.'

 

[nakedfrog]

I went through the same thing with Dish Network back in 2015, I kept repeating the phrase "I'm not interested in paying for a TV service anymore" for 20-30 minutes.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Been thinking of cancelling ADT too (well Telus now since they bought them out) The alarm will randomly glitch on me and cause a false alarm when I leave the house. It will usually do it if the alarm was in "stay" mode and I leave the house. I disarm it, then arm it again in "away" mode but it's like it never registered that I disarmed it. It doesn't always do it but it's been several times now this past few months. I miss the old system, it was a bit more analog and it just worked. This one is basically a glorified tablet running a real time OS and it lags sometimes.

I may go a DIY route at some point and put in my own system then I'll find a 3rd party monitoring service that monitors DIY systems.

 

[WelshBloke]

I cancelled my alarm monitoring service with ADT, as I was going with a different and much more reasonable company, after ADT again jacked their price up.

I lost count of how many times I had to repeat "cancel my service" over a 25-minute call, but it was probably in excess of 50 times.

They kept telling me they would "adjust" my rate to keep my business, yet their 'adjustment' was less than the amount they had just raised the monthly fee. Had them on speaker, and every time they responded with some bullshit, I calmly said "cancel my service"

LOL. I've never had that problem over here. If I phone to cancel something they usually ask if I've got a cheaper offer and then see if they can match it and if they cant they just cancel no problems. I wonder if theres a different law involved, if someone refused to cancel something (and i wasnt in a contract) i'd just stop paying, send them a letter and stop using the service! Theres no way I'd stay one the line after telling them to cancel twice.

 

[MtnMan]

LOL. I've never had that problem over here. If I phone to cancel something they usually ask if I've got a cheaper offer and then see if they can match it and if they cant they just cancel no problems. I wonder if theres a different law involved, if someone refused to cancel something (and i wasnt in a contract) i'd just stop paying, send them a letter and stop using the service! Theres no way I'd stay one the line after telling them to cancel twice.

Another advantage of not living in this shithole country. AT&T, every cable TV company, Dish Network, Verizon, T-Mobile, etc., etc., are well known for making it virtually impossible to cancel service. With ADT, I could do virtually everything regarding my account, except cancel service.

To not force the issue and make them agree to cancel only comes back to bite you in that ass as they keep billing, then late notices, late payment fees, and finally turn over to a shady collection agency.

 

[MtnMan]

Been thinking of cancelling ADT too (well Telus now since they bought them out) The alarm will randomly glitch on me and cause a false alarm when I leave the house. It will usually do it if the alarm was in "stay" mode and I leave the house. I disarm it, then arm it again in "away" mode but it's like it never registered that I disarmed it. It doesn't always do it but it's been several times now this past few months. I miss the old system, it was a bit more analog and it just worked. This one is basically a glorified tablet running a real time OS and it lags sometimes.

I may go a DIY route at some point and put in my own system then I'll find a 3rd party monitoring service that monitors DIY systems.

That is exactly what I did, except I already had a system. I went with Alarm Grid for a fraction of the monitoring cost. I found the company when searching for a replacement door sensor. They strictly support people that want to do DIY systems. I will likely upgrade some aspects of mine by purchasing components through them. I was unsure on a few things, and they quickly answered questions regarding exactly what I would need in order to accomplish.

Spent about 20 minutes on the phone with a very helpful tech that stepped me through reprogramming my system, a 20-year-old ADT system, to their service, including testing, the system. Then went on their site and provided insurance co. info, and they sent an Alarm Monitoring Certificate to them for my discount.

My monthly monitoring fee is 25% of what I had been paying, before ADT jacked the price up effective this month. Had it a couple of months now, and I have to figure out where I have anything less than the ADT service.

This will save me about $500 a year...