The first report, released jointly by Democrats and Republicans on the committee, found that Time Warner Cable and Charter cable companies have failed to provide refunds or notice to overcharged customers. In the first five months of 2016, TWC overbilled up to 11,000 customers in Ohio-and those overcharges totaled $108,000.
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In a statement, Charter said it is working to address the issue.
Charter Communications, according to the investigation, has similarly failed to refund or correct customer overcharges.
“Each month, Time Warner Cable performs an audit comparing its billing records with service records”, the report said.
In contrast to Time Warner and Charter, investigators found that Comcast and DirecTV provided full refunds to overcharged customers, and Dish TV’s ” billing system “is created to prevent these types of issues from occurring in the first instance”. The Senate report, as well as video of the hearing and transcripts of cable executive testimony, is available here.
By contrast, the report said, “Comcast and DirecTV provide automatic refunds or credits to overcharged customers, while Dish’s billing system is created to prevent these types of overcharges from occurring in the first place”.
He said it’s noteworthy that Time Warner Cable has undercharged customers more than it has overcharged them. “By contrast, Comcast and DirecTV provided full refunds to overcharged customers, and Dish’s sophisticated billing system is created to prevent these types of issues from occurring in the first instance”. But not all of them bother to go back and figure out when the overcharge started, calculate how much they owe the consumer, and give them a refund. Comcast told the subcommittee that it has a billing error rate of 0.3 percent. But what happens when they find out they’ve been overcharging someone for equipment they don’t actually have?
Senator Claire McCaskill is one of two lawmakers leading the charge against cable companies overcharging customers.
McCaskill said investigators determined that combined, Time Warner and Charter had overcharged more than 10,000 Missouri customers, with Charter alone acknowledging it overcharged 5,897 customers nearly $500,000 annually. It overbilled consumers nationwide by about $2 million a year for the past six years, the report found. “Nor will the company automatically provide a full refund dating to when the overcharge began. All consumers should be fully refunded their money, whether they were overcharged for three months or three years”.
“Although all the companies here today allow people to sign up for service or upgrade their service online, none of them provide customers an option to cancel service online without speaking with company representatives”, the senator said. “In addition, Charter has implemented systemic controls that it claims will prevent equipment overcharges in the future”.
The investigation was led through the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, according to a news release from Portman’s office. When her constituents complain, as they did about cable service, “I’m on it”, she said. “What matters in life is how you own up to your mistakes and make them right”. “We will continue to work to improve and show our customers, across the entire Charter footprint, that we are committed to providing the best possible experience”.
Mayo said customer service calls have declined since 2013.
Time Warner Cable is the largest cable television provider in Ohio.
“Nobody knows how to get the best price from you guys”, McCaskill said. “In its latest competition report, the FCC estimated that about 61% of US homes only have the choice of one cable company or the satellites if they want to watch television”, she says.
The cable company also said that since 2012, it has invested $7 billion in network improvements and added more than 7,000 jobs.
Not all senators were enthusiastic about grilling TV providers. Congress also uses bills that are hundreds or thousands of pages long, that are filled with confusing jargon, and that members vote on without reading, he said.
“We have listened to what you have said”, he told the subcommittee.
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A recent American Customer Satisfaction Index survey found pay television service ranked near the bottom of the 43 industries surveyed. Comcast was rated worst of all in its industry.
