One lesson that my Grandma taught me is that customer service can sometimes be worth more than the product you’re purchasing. I don’t consider myself ‘hard-to-please’ when it comes to service, but I do expect to be taken care of. If you are asking for my money, then I expect you to actually earn it. Maybe I’m being difficult, but this is my latest experience with Brighthouse Cable – I’d love to hear your impression/suggestions/feedback on the situation. I’ll start with the background story – like I always do.

 When Circuit City was going out of business, my hubby went out and bought us a beautiful shiny new 50” HD TV. Of course the new TV led to a new entertainment center (that’s a whole other post – stay tuned) and of course we wanted Brighthouse to come out and upgrade our cable box to the HD version. And they did – after a while.

 The first appointment was for a Saturday afternoon and the tech showed up completely unaware of what he was supposed to do. He said he never received instructions on what he was supposed to do for us and so of course, he didn’t have the necessary box on the truck. Rather than make a call to his dispatcher for clarification, he just rescheduled the visit. Oh – but he didn’t tell us when it was rescheduled for. We had to call Brighthouse later and figure that out on our own.

 The next tech showed up with the correct equipment and took all of 10 minutes to hook everything up for us. What we failed to realize, however, is that as a Tivo family (vs. DVR from the cable company) we couldn’t feed the HD lines through the Tivo any longer. So it was pointless to have an HD cable box and an HD TV if we couldn’t watch/record with our Tivo in HD. So I figured I’d jump in on the money-spending spree and splurge on a new HD Tivo.

 What we’ve learned is that the new HD Tivo boxes actually use cable cards now instead of wires (that’s how they get around being able to accept and record the HD signal without having multiple ports). So I sent an email off to Brighthouse requesting an appointment to have the cable cards installed. Two days later, I got an email response saying I could request an appointment by replying to the email or I could call their 800#. I’m definitely a product of my generation, so I sent off an email requesting an appointment for Saturday.

 On the drive home, I let my impatience get the best of me (surprise, surprise) and I called Brighthouse to see if I could get an earlier appointment. The man I spoke with suggested I just swing by the nearest shop to pick up the cards on my own. That way I could save the $40 install fee (don’t get me started) and be up and running before CSI came on. YAY! So I swung by the shop and was greeted with attitude and contempt and very curt, “no, you cannot pick up the cards. They have to be installed by a tech.”

 Of course they do.

 So again, I’m back to Saturday because this angel of a woman is telling me that there are no evening appointments. The next day, as I’m reading the initial email again I realize Brighthouse had lied to me. Again. There ARE evening appointments. So I call and schedule one for that night. Not bad turnaround!

 The tech showed up (early, even!) but proceeded to tell me that he’d never done this before and he’s hoping to have me up and running shortly. Awesome. He leaves an hour later and I still have no cable because for whatever reason, Brighthouse is unable to activate the card. He schedules an appointment for me for the next night and he’s on his way.

 Now it’s Friday night – 7:30 pm and the tech still isn’t here. He has half an hour to get here, but I had an odd feeling. So I call Brighthouse to make sure someone is on their way and “What? Appointment? Ma’am, we’re showing that job as completed and there is no appointment on the books for you.”

 I’ll say it again. Awesome. Are you keeping track? This is now 2 nights that I’ve had to be at the house for a minimum 2 hour window and still don’t have cable. Now I’m being told that I can have a Saturday appointment. Again – for a 2 hour window. I’m upset but fine. Saturday it is.

 The appointment was for 4pm thru 6pm and at 5:30 I make another phone call because why? You guessed it – no tech. “Ma’am, we’re not showing an appointment for you at this time, we’re showing one last night and the job was completed.” That’s funny – last night I was told that there wasn’t an appointment on the books and how can a job be marked as completed when it was never scheduled or done in the first place? Trying to keep me satisfied, however, the service rep tells me he’s going to schedule a “go-back” which means the tech has to immediately return to the job because there’s a problem. “If he’s not there by 8pm – and he will be, so don’t worry – but if he’s not, call us and we’ll issue a status alert which requires the tech to call you immediately and let you know where he is and how much longer it will be.” Now I’m livid but fine. What else am I going to do?

 Shop. That’s what. I left the hubby and the child for a couple hours and I walked around a strip mall. I bought some crap that I really don’t need but at least it’s all cute crap.

 I get home expecting to be able to burn some brain cells in front of the idiot box, but guess who never showed up? YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! Another call to Brighthouse yields me 10 minutes on hold before my call is actually answered and a gal telling me that the next possible appointment isn’t until next weekend. I ask to speak to the manager, demand credits on our bill and the best I get out of the manager is a bump in the appointment to next Tuesday.

 So, Brighthouse, if this is your idea of customer service then you should be ashamed of yourself. I hope the entire world gets to read about my experience with you and I hope Verizon’s Fios kicks you into the red. Did I mention they’re scheduled to come out here this week, too? Did I mention that the first company to give me my precious cable back wins? I forgot to mention that, huh? Ooops. See you Tuesday. Maybe.