I THOUGHT I had an existing computer technical support account with this company for which I paid $199.00 that expires on July 14. When I called my existing account for Tech Buddy.com I was told NOT to call that number anymore, but to call 877-526-4466 from now on. I thought that new telephone number was MY company, Tech Buddy.
Today is June 24. On June 19 I called 877-526-4466 thinking I was calling Tech Buddy, because my computer had a crash dump error. The technician performed all sorts of fixes, and was satisfied that my computer was fixed. In addition, he sold me a new two year technical support policy for $279.00.
The following morning when I woke up, my speakers were present, but not my handset. I need my handset AND my speakers, because I use magic jack as a telephone. Prior to the technician working on my computer the previous day, I had both speakers and handset in good working condition.
I went to the control panel and added the handset back in, but something strange had happened. The sound from my Yahoo news videos no longer was channeled through the speaker... it was channeled through the handset.
I called technical support. They worked on the problem for hours. At the end of the day they were unable to fix the problem. That night I had a working set of speakers... with sound... but no handset. The following morning I added the handset back in so that I could use my phone. The same thing happened. The sound from my news videos once again began to channel through the handset.
I called technical support again... this was now my THIRD day on the phone with them and I got a technician who wanted to test the sound system by playing objectionable Utube videos... repeatedly. When I complained of this later to customer relations and asked for a refund, they told me their representative could have had NO way to know that the videos were objectionable... even though the title of the video was a swear word, and even though he played the same video twice. I don't think the use of the word mother-effer during what is supposed to be a professional level technical support phone call is right. In this country, it is illegal to use that kind of language over the telephone. I know someone who was jailed for it.
I said to the representative, "Please... I don't want to watch this." Then he allowed me to choose a video that was more suitable.
In the end, that representative could not fix the problem and transferred me to someone else, who also could not fix the problem. I was on the phone for three hours that morning, and I had to make suggestions to the second representative... such as... could we try a restore? And he actually used my suggestion. It is scary when technical support is at such a loss they will use suggestions from their customers.
After three hours on the phone, and being disconnected, I called back in and spoke to a woman there, and said that I wanted a refund. I was fed up. I wanted a company who actually KNEW how to fix my computer's problems. The woman said that customer relations would call me back on Monday.
Within minutes of getting off the phone with her, I had what appeared to be a mini-stroke. The whole right side of my face sagged down and I had to go to the emergency room. I was admitted to the hospital.
They said it was not a stroke. It was a complex visual migraine which affected the muscles of my face, brought on by stress and pain. Three days on the phone with this unbelievable company certainly caused me a great deal of stress, but not as much as my attempt to get a refund.
Customer relations did NOT call me back on Monday as promised. When I called on Tuesday morning I was told they were not available and that I would have to call back in three hours. When I called back in four hours I was not immediately allowed to speak to customer relations. I first had to tell my entire story to a representative, who then put me on hold for a long time, while he inaccurately relayed my story to customer relations, and only then would he transfer me.
The expletive deleted with whom I spoke is paid NOT to provide refunds under ANY circumstances. I explained to him about my hospitalization, and that I could not be subjected to any more stress for any reason, therefore I could have no further dealings with his company because I could not spend days and days on the phone while they struggled incompetently with my computer issues. And, as I mentioned earlier, the representative who played the Utube videos with the swear words was held completely innocent by the company, as they maintained that he had no possible way to know the videos were objectionable, even though the title of one of the videos was a swear word, and even though he played that one twice and it contained the word mother-effer.
Oh no, said he, he would not provide me with a refund... he was going to go and get another computer technician and put me on the phone with him and they were going to fix my computer...(just like they did for three days last week)
I was so upset at that point I began to cry. I asked where he was located. I told him I would write a letter to his government and let them know of his business practices.
Then I told him I would call my credit card company to dispute these charges.
I did that. Then I had an inspiration. If the company would only bill my service calls on my OLD unexpired account instead of billing them on the new $279.00 account, it would be the simplest matter ever to cancel the $279.00 account. So I called them back and asked to speak to their billing department.
The man on the phone told me they don't HAVE a billing department. He said all they are is a group of technical support people. However, he did endeavor to help me. He searched, and was able to tell me that I HAD NO ACCOUNT WITH HIS COMPANY FOR $199.00 THAT EXPIRED JULY 14th. He said that account was WITH ANOTHER COMPANY, and they would not honor it.
I was horrified. I went back to my phone book and called the phone number for Tech Buddy again. I wanted to tell them some guy was giving out a bad phone number and hi-jacking their customers. When I got Tech Buddy on the phone, I found out that Answers By Technical Support PC is legitimately taking over Tech Buddy's company... but they will not honor an existing Tech Buddy account.
That means I get to pay for TWO... count 'em... TWO... technical support plans simultaneously thanks to the unscrupulous representative who sold me that plan at Answers by Technical Support... who KNEW that I was a Tech Buddy customer, as I asked him for my order number and said I didn't know it, and he KNEW I had an old plan that was about to expire on July 14th because he TOLD ME SO, and yet he conveyed NO INFORMATION to me, that his company was taking over Tech Buddy, and yet he had all of Tech Buddy's information on his computer. He did not tell me that I should be calling Tech Buddy for my technical support until July 14th. He just wanted to make his sale.
What a great company, huh?
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