February 06, 2006
Cablevision is Phone Spamming its Best Customers
A year ago, I gave Cablevision my cellphone number because I didn't have a landline and needed to be accessible when the cable installer came. At the time I told them explicitly not to use it for marketing purposes. Starting last November 4, 2005 I started getting tons of calls from (516) 393-0168 on my cellphone, sometimes up to 4Xs a day. Since I didn't know this number, I never picked up thanks to CallerID. Today I got 2 calls from the number, it was interrupting my daily life, so I finally picked the phone. Guess who it was?
Yup. Cablevision. It wasn't even a live sales rep either. It was a computer generated recording pitching an upgrade to Optimum Online boost, which doubles the speed of their internet access service. I listened in shock, realizing that all those calls in the past few months was this phone spam . The computer said if you press this number, we will automatically upgrade you. I hung up.
Two hours later I looked on my cellphone and saw the computer called TWO MORE TIMES AFTER I hung up the phone earlier today. Right now I've been waiting on hold for 20 minutes calling Cablevision to complain. Of course their brilliant customer service forces their best customers to waste our time to get off their marketing list. What kind of company computer phone spams their best customers OVER AND OVER again after you hang up on them once? I am livid and I want the world to know this is totally unacceptable. It it looks like this isn't the first time Cablevision has done these tactics either, but repeated computer phone spam is a new low even for them. [Discuss]
