When Time Warner and Acceller ripped me off

Don't mess with a woman who takes notes

I knew getting an apartment in NYC had its pitfalls.  Needless to say, I got ripped off by companies that you would expect to do good business... but wait, they are monopolies, why should they bother.  I should have expected to get ripped of.

It went like this.  I called ConEdison to set up my electricity.  That went well. Before I ended the call, I was asked if I wanted their help in setting up my TV and Internet. I said sure.  They said, OK we are transferring you over to someone who will verify that your Electric was set up properly, and then they will help you with your TV and Internet.  I thought this meant I would be sent to another department within Con-Ed, but that was not the case.  They transferred me to a company called Acceller (AKA Home Connections), and no one ever once mentioned that I was now dealing with a company that gets paid to "help me" set up my utilities.

I asked the operator (name I was given is Cody Bland) what my options were.  He Strongly sold me on Time Warner.  I made it clear that I needed the smallest TV package as watching TV was not the reason we were getting an apartment in NY.  I was told, and I quote, " Basic service at Time Warner is $44.99 for 126 channels".  I said fine and move forward, and even paid a $50 deposit even though my credit is stellar.  I then asked about Verizon Fios, my
other option and was quickly told, "Their service starts at $79 and $81.97 with tax and it won't be nearly as many channels, so I would not want that.  Time Warner was a better deal.  Oh, by the way, there said there was a 30-day full money back guarantee if I was unhappy for any reason.  In total, I paid out $135.00.

Fast forward to move in day and the service person arrives on time (this is the only thing they did right). As he is setting up my TV, he asks why I got such a basic plan. I pulled out my handy-dandy notes and said, this should be enough, he shrugged and told me that we could call the company to upgrade, and left.  After a couple of days, we realized that we pretty much had NO channels. I called the company and was told that to get the 126 channels I was promised would cost well over $100.00... more than Verizon Fios.  They then tried to talk me into upgrading my service.

I also called back ConEdison and was informed THEN that they had transferred me to another company unbeknownst to me, and I needed to call them.  They promised me that they had made a horrible mistake and "Cody" would NEVER EVER do that on purpose.  Vladimir, the manager promised they would help me set this right, and to call them back when I had my other service set up.

I hung up and called Verizon and set up my service and when it was installed, I called Time Warner back to cancel. That was an experience... it was very much like many others have described. I had to get pretty mad to complete the phone transaction and get the information I needed to return the cable boxes.

Remember that 30-day full money back guarantee?  Ha-ha-ha!  Nope.  I had Time Warner for all of 10 days and they sent me back a check for $50.73.  Is that my deposit?  Is that my installation? What is it?  It certainly isn't what I paid out.

And what does Acceller have to say about that?   Nothing, I called and spoke to Vladimir again, and they promised to follow up and email me back.  Nothing.  I got nothing.

I believe they are a scam company set up to make money "helping" people, but steering them toward the service that pays them the most, and leaving the customer out in the cold.

Anyway, thanks for listening.  Next to the whole applying for an apartment part which was a lot like childbirth, this was the most annoying part...  According to my calculations, someone owes me $85.00.  I will be tweeting and linking this blog post like crazy.  Maybe I will get some satisfaction, maybe I won't, but I also won't roll over and play dead.

UPDATE:  After sending the link of this blog post to Acceller (also called Bridgvine) I got a call promising the rest of my money back.   The power of the pen, huh?