What's going on with Buckeye Cable

I had problems yesterday (they ended up being my fault, not their's) and I had to wait on hold for about 10 minutes before I could get a tech on the line.

Buckeye CableSystem switched to a new billing system on March 15th. Unfortunately, there are few problems that didn't show up in the testing.

I called in to pay my bill and they were very friendly. It took about 10 minutes. No problems.

Bob, are you referring to cable TV, telephone service, or both?

Agree on the horrible customer service with calls. I've tried to call at least ten times in last week or so and have been put on hold for 10 min. or more, at which point I just give up. Nobody should wait more than 10 min. to talk to a service rep. Horrendous.

Also tried their 'chat' function via website with my question; complete joke nobody home even though it says I was the 'first in queue'...

You ought to try AT&T. They put you on hold for 2 hours at a time.

Just made a tech support call today. The canned answering system said the wait would be unusually long... it was about 7 minutes, which for Buckeye is unusually long.

Once I connected with a live human the service was, as usual, top notch.

I used chat function a couple weeks ago and it was quick. Maybe there are new problems now?

I'm usually satisfied with their customer service, but thankfully don't need it often.

About a month ago I used the chat function and it worked great. About a week ago I paid my bill online, but it didn't register with buckeye's site. So I called them with the receipt number. They were great but also said that they changed computer systems or way of doing things and it's been a little hectic getting sorted out.

Well, let's see, called at 11:35 p.m., not exactly peak hours for call-volume, just gave up the ghost at 11:49.

Totally unacceptable for a local business that used to have excellent customer service.

"changed way of doing things, been a little hectic getting sorted out"...yeah, no kidding. Pathetic.

You've never worked as a customer service person I take it?

Before you assemble your pitch fork crew, let's assume for a minute that they are having problems beyond their control. What do you think they should do? Run a scroller at the the bottom of every screen telling customers that there is a problem? Maybe they don't even know that there is a problem yet. You hung up before you could tell them.

Yes, you should be able to contact them with your problems. yes, you have every right to be frustrated. But the time you spent on here could have been used to email them, write them, of even go to one of their local offices for help.

I've had dish, direct, at&t, and buckeye over the years. Everyone one of them has their ups and downs. The bottom line is until enough people get fed up with it and shut cable off all together, we're pretty much at their mercy.

Here's some A-B-C type of information for you.

The problem isn't with the 'customer service person'---the problem is the company the customer service person works for.

You really believe there's a chance they don't know there a problem yet? After at least a week (it's actually been more than ten days that I know of)? Well, maybe we've discovered the problem right there. We're not discussing --and I'm not complaining about--an issue that's 24 hours old.

Yes, hockeyfan, as a 'bundle' subscriber, I'd expect the local cable company to be better at conveying the issues and problems they're obviously having---as, you know, a communications company. Are there ads on local stations addressing the issues? Haven't seen any. Anything on the company website that might shed some light on the problem? Not that I've seen. How bout when a customer calls and gets put on hold there's a general time frame given as to the length of the wait? My doctor's office has something like, I'll bet Buckeye could swing that if they try really hard and get creative.

And, lastly hockey, thank you for your patience in putting up with my bitching...

"You ought to try AT&T. They put you on hold for 2 hours at a time."

I've never had to wait longer than a few minutes for AT&T. They are also very prompt in getting a service technician or repair out to the house when we needed it. They follow up with a phone call to make sure the service was to our liking.

Buckeye also seems to be having some software problems with the conversion to switched digital, which might add to the load on the call center. Had a tech out last week who alluded to some issues on their end, he all but suggested that his fix wasn't gonna help just yet....

McCaskey, you've listened to my complaining so I can put up with some of yours.
Yes, it is ridiculous in this day and age that a communications company can't "get it together" and perform to their standards.
I'm hoping that whatever your problem is, that they will take care of it when you finally do get through. At least when I lost a couple channels once, they credited me some on my bill for it. Not a real big deal, but at least it was something.

sooo.....if normally they pull from my bank account on the 18th....and they haven't yet....should I be contacting them?

The problem, Bulldog, is in trying to contact them. I tried again this a.m. with no luck; my patience threshold evaporated by the 15 min. mark, which is about 5 min. longer than I had been giving them. Also tried 'chat' forum, again nothing there.

My problem, hockey, is a question pertaining to their HD service in that I couldn't find on their website. It's frustrating for me because, as I and others have said on here, the service used to be excellent, and if they're experiencing computer-software issues that are currently affecting that service, they should make available information to that effect.

But, I'm done complaining; I'll post back if and when I ever get through.

"Are their offices really in Japan?"

Was this a joke or a rumor?

I just got through in less than 5 min. They said they are having some problems and are getting high volumes of calls.

The company is in the middle of a MAJOR software upgrade.
These things are always challenging and this one is no exception.

During this time, we regret that customer calls are not being answered as well as normal.

You can count on us returning to our usual prompt and courteous service soon. In the mean time, we thank you for for your business, and your patience. Thank you for choosing us as your video, voice, and data providers.

"Buckeye also seems to be having some software problems with the conversion to switched digital, which might add to the load on the call center. Had a tech out last week who alluded to some issues on their end, he all but suggested that his fix wasn't gonna help just yet...."

I can confirm this. Had a considerable amount of trouble with both of my tuning adapters and SDV. Took them to the DeVeaux office and swapped them for new. So far, so good.

I'll cut Buckeye some slack - being an IT dude by trade, I can appreciate what they're going through. I had a few long wait times recently as well but that is HIGHLY unusual for Buckeye. As I've said before - as for price - they definitely need some serious competition to bring down the rates. As for service, they're 2nd to none IMHO.