I wish to make a complaint regarding Spectrum. On December 23, 2023, I visited the Spectrum company store at 261 Third Avenue in Manhattan, which has since closed. I can certainly understand why. I was excited by the offer they advertised on television, offering Wi-Fi, Internet, a Xumo box, and one mobile line, all for $50.00 a month. Problem number one is that the free Xumo box is useless unless you buy an additional TV package for $34.99 plus tax, fees, and other charges per month. Their free mobile line does not come with a phone, so I scrambled to get a phone to hook up. Neither of the two phones that were working on my existing service with another company was acceptable to Spectrum. They wanted me to buy a phone from them, which I tried to do. The employee at the store got a brand new one out of the back and was having major trouble trying to set it up. I finally asked him to please ship it to me after I had sat there for an hour or more.
A week later, after not receiving the phone, I went back to the store again. The store manager informed me that they were out of stock. When asked what happened to the one your employee had in his hand and was supposed to ship, I got an "I don't know, he probably sold it to someone else." If I still wanted that phone, there was only one left at another store on the other side of town, and I would have to go and get it before they sold it. So here I go, adventuring across town. Amazingly it only took them about 5 minutes to get it working, porting my number and all. They did, however, charge me $70.10 for the sales tax on the new phone. Now, if you're still wondering why the store on Third Avenue closed, stand by.
The first time I walked into that store, I informed the salesperson that I had two landlines at home that I needed to port over to Spectrum. He said that he did not know how to do it and that he had never done it before. He said that he would call his manager, who said it was easy and he would show him how. The manager then went on to explain to me not to notify Verizon (the service I already had) to disconnect my service until it was ported over, or Verizon would disconnect it right away. So, I asked him how I would know when it was ported to Spectrum. He said to give it 3 to 4 days, and when I picked up the phone and had no dial tone, I would know that it had been ported. Please remember that this was December 23, 2023. Now on the 28th of December 2023, I'm told once again that there are a few more days. Okay, we are now up to the 30th of December 2023. I once again returned to the Spectrum store to get the free mobile phone. Please see above. When asking again about the landlines, lo and behold, I was told it would be hooked up by January 12, guaranteed. So, on January 13th, I had enough and figured out that they were not capable of living up to their promises and returned all the equipment unused, including their new mobile phone, still in the box. I was then informed by the manager, who apparently was not managing very well, that there was a $50.00 restocking fee. So that meant I was being charged $50.00 for their lack of competence and inability to connect or start the service that they promised.
So now, on February 15, 2024, they have credited my account 10 cents for part of the sales tax. Since I did not keep or even use the phone, the only reason it was returned was because they could not set up their own service. Since their incompetence is no fault of mine, I feel the rest of my $ 70.00 tax should be returned, and the $50.00 restocking fee should be dropped. read more
