So I signed up for new phone service when I moved into my apartment in January. When I called, the SBC operator offered me “four free weeks” of the Post-Dispatch with my new service. I accepted, and she said if I didn’t want to continue the service I could call the number on the “statement” I would receive in the mail and cancel it with no charges.
I got the paper for a few weeks, starting about three weeks after getting my new phone service. It was nice, but I didn’t have time to read it and had no place to store the week’s worth of papers for Tuesday’s recycling. Then I got a statement in the mail saying I owed $23 and change for my subscription!
When the woman said “statement,” I assumed she meant I’d get a letter saying, “Your four free weeks expire on March 1 (or whatever date), and if you’d like to cancel them now call this number and you won’t be charged.” I called the billing office and explained what had happened, and the woman on the other end said, as though she’d said it a thousand times before, “The four free weeks are after you have paid for eight weeks, but we failed to communicate that to you, your subscription will be cancelled and you will not be charged.” I said okay, but I was a little incensed with this switcharoo.
Time passes, paper stops coming, but then I get a statement in the mail for $3.45. WTF? I call them up, and it’s a glitch in their computer, and they’ll clear it up. Then I get a postcard from the subscription department, asking me to return a comment form explaining why I cancelled my subscription and asking if they can help me at all. I explain the story (again) and send it back.
Then, today, another statement for $3.45. I call, again, and they say they’ll clear it up, again. Honestly, what the fuck is up with these people? You tried to scam me once, and now you’re trying to charge me for a paper I don’t subscribe to. You promised me four free weeks without telling me I’d have to pay first, then you claim you’ve cleared it up, then you try to wring me for $3.45 again. I’m worried now that you’re going to call a collection agency on my ass if your computer glitches don’t clear up. Fuck you, P-D, and fuck SBC for making this shitty offer.
Oh, and Post-Dispatch? Your website sucks, too. Do horribly nearsighted midgets determine your font size?
The way it actually works is the customer places the order, the order is processed through the channels and a work order is submitted to your local telco who need to do some physical re-wiring to get the signal on your line. The customer is given a due date, which is basically a no-later-than date, but it is not uncommon to have the service earlier than you are told you’d get it.