I have now fallen victim to VOOM billing issues.

Whiteice

SatelliteGuys Family
Original poster
Jun 9, 2004
38
0
4 days ago I received a bill in the mail from July 16th (I received this statement on August 14th however.) Today I receieve another invoice from VOOM saying im past due for $253.

On July 26th I called to cancel my VOOM service and at that point I was asked to hold for a supervisor. The supervisor then came on the line and said she would like to give me 2 free months on VOOM (Though I have to pay the $9.50) rental fee, no big deal so I go for it.

So I call VOOM today and they tell me that the day they offered me a credit, they accidentally flagged it for a debit. Then the rep proceeds to tell me that the credit is out of his power and that he cannot do it himself, so he will have to "Escalate" it. He said it will take 72 hours for the escalation. I asked if I would get a call back and he said that I should just call them.

On top of that, I have my service set to be deinstalled September 1st (cancelled it permenetley beginning of August.) I called a couple weeks ago for this and that is when I was told they were coming out. The person on the phone then told me my service will be cancelled as of the date I called to cancel (Think it was August 4th but not exactly sure atm) but I would still have service until the installer comes to de-install. This didnt sound right, so I asked the guy again to make sure, and he said that my service will be cancelled of the date I called in to cancel but again will have the service until the deinstallation happens.

So when I was on the phone with the rep after the billing issue, I asked him to check to make sure it is cancelled on his end from a few weeks ago when I called. He said it was but that VOOM charges us a month in advance and that I will be charged for this time in between the cancel request date and the date of deinstallation, and then AT THAT POINT they will go back and credit me from when I cancelled. IS THIS A JOKE? He just told me that im still going to be charged even though I cancelled the service and will credit me later. Does this sound right to anyone else? I am having a hard time believing this is how it is done. Something just doesnt smell right here.

Can anyone elaborate on this at all for me and explain how that works if I cancelled my service but they will still charge me and then credit me back?

Whiteice
 
The only thing I can tell you is call your CC company and tell them you want to dispute any charges coming from voom. My Biggest complaint isn't with PQ or Programing its with Billing and the way they do not take care of it.
 
I called VOOM to cancel my service effective at that moment (last Friday 8/13).
That CSR did not tell me that I would still be charged until my equipment is actually picked up. The earliest date I could have my STBs returned was 1 week later (this Friday). I had to call back a second and directly ask the CSR if I had been immediately deactivated to find out this pertinent information. In the meantime , my next billing cycle started on 8/17. So what happenend on 8/17?... Of course VOOM is charging my account another month of programming. They will then take up to 2 months to issue me a "partial credit"???
I'll be contesting this charge with my CC company just as soon as it hits my bank.
 
I called my credit card company and they suggested that I cancel the card and have my credit card company resend me a new card with a new account so I wouldnt have to deal with the hassle of disputing a charge, then doing the paperwork, then waiting the month or 2 it takes for the process for each dispute.

Whiteice
 
I have a very good CC company and I was going to do that and they said it would not make a difference if I canceled the one I have and get a new . The charge would still go through and I would have to dispute it , they said this is why they have the dispute set in place because anyone could go out and buy something and then cancel their card and would not have to pay for something he or she bought . This is just what I was told so you might want to check again to make sure you will never hear from them again.
 
Yeah I thought the same thing. I have had that happen where you change your card and charges that arent supposed to charge anymore still charge to the old account, and end up on the new one. So he double checked on it and said that the charges from the old account will not go through to the new one at all. So we are just nipping this in the butt before I can let VOOM put me in the position to have to dispute it all.
 
I had to go through about 3 CC company employees but they finally let me close the account (no new charges coming in...period).
I should have just told them I lost my card. Anyway I am now getting a new card.
Take that VOOM!
 
txcruiser said:
I had to go through about 3 CC company employees but they finally let me close the account (no new charges coming in...period).
I should have just told them I lost my card. Anyway I am now getting a new card.
Take that VOOM!

Yeah the guy said they are just gonna clasify it as a lost/stolen credit card and will reopen it for me with a new account number. I had again double checked and explained that in the past I had issues with my credit card where I closed the account and opened a new one and the charges still came through. He checked for me after putting me on hold and said it was confirmed that the charges will not come in on the new card and that I will have to call any company that charged to the old card and provide the new one since those charges will not go through now.

Whiteice
 
Seems like you have a 1/5 chance of Doom ripping off your credit card. What a new company and such a bad rep already.

I wonder what they are smoking at Doom? I think you have to be retarded to work there. I used to here good stories about Doom but not anymore. But this time next year Doom will be up to 45,000 customers and burned thru 450 million. Then only months away from Chapter 11.

To save this company they need to fire all the messed up management who are driving it into the ground.
 
Make sure that you report all these miss charges to the BBB,that way they can keep an eye on VOOM in case they(different states) what to start a civil action lawsuit against them
 
Voom could clear up a lot of these snafus if they would just charge at end of billing cycle. You know, for services actually provided, rather than charging you up front and go through all these hassles whenever people change or cancel service. But no, they like to get your money sooner rather than later.
 
barth2k said:
Voom could clear up a lot of these snafus if they would just charge at end of billing cycle. You know, for services actually provided, rather than charging you up front and go through all these hassles whenever people change or cancel service. But no, they like to get your money sooner rather than later.
I just switched back to Dish Network and they charged me for the first two months (they told me up front that they would). Now, for the next two months, I won't have to pay a bill. I don't mind getting charged in advance as long as it is correct and I know I won't get screwed like I did with Voom. It's awesome, I paid for two months of service and I paid a tiny bit more that one month of Voom service. :D
 
Yeah that's great man you paid less....





.... you got less.

Enjoy your tiny HD package and horrendous SD quality, lineups!
 
"Enjoy your tiny HD package and horrendous SD quality, lineups!"

Yeah, Chet, you are now missing The 3 Stooges Meet Hercules on Cinema 4.

Followed by The 3 Stooges In Space.

Mind you, these are with Curly Joe, eh, not so good.
 
My cable company charges me for a month in advance. They've been doing that for years. What's the big deal? They do however, issue credits much faster than V*. They actually show up on the next bill.

Now that I'm in bed with V*, I am concerned about cancelling, but yeah, I'll do it the same way - notify the card as stolen to my CC company, then call Voom and cancel - if and when that happens.
 
red ufo said:
I wonder what they are smoking at Doom? I think you have to be retarded to work there. I used to here good stories about Doom but not anymore. But this time next year Doom will be up to 45,000 customers and burned thru 450 million. Then only months away from Chapter 11.

Two points:

(1) The Company name is VOOM not "Doom".

(2) How do you know what are the financial statement of this company? This is all an exaggerated assessment of the financial situation. Stay away from speculation.

Finally, there are some customers experiencing billing problems but not everyone is. I would recommend to anyone that just don't wait for the "escalation department" to resolve the issue. Send Wilt an email as well.
 
Sean Mota said:

Finally, there are some customers experiencing billing problems but not everyone is. I would recommend to anyone that just don't wait for the "escalation department" to resolve the issue. Send Wilt an email as well.


If a guy named Wilt (as good as he may be), has to solve all the problems of a company (technical, billing, etc...) then I think you should all be very concerned.
 
txcruiser said:
If a guy named Wilt (as good as he may be), has to solve all the problems of a company (technical, billing, etc...) then I think you should all be very concerned.

txcruiser,

Do you know what you are talking about? First, these billing issues are not happening to everyone but a few. Wilt Hildenbrand happens to be a direct link to VOOM VP's and technical support beyond anything anywhere. He has graciously dedicated his time and effort in this forum and Yahoo group to help with technical and non-technical issues. His help is beyond anything I have seen from any DBS or Cable company. Don't come here bashing Wilt as he has personally said that anything out of the ordinary he can point the customer to the right direction.

We are here to help people not to constantly "whine" about it. If it takes a simple email to get in touch with Wilt and have the problems resolved, let it be. Does this indicate anything at all? Wilt has been doing this from day one.
 
I am not having any issues with my billing, I am extremely happy with "VOOM", and every CSR i have talked to has been extremely helpful and polite. And atleast i got my laugh for the day from the comment about voom filing for chapter 11! LOL i guess that the gentleman hasn't done his research on how big VOOM's provider CABLEVISION is.... Don't think money is a issue with the DOLAN's... Come on when they just purchased 4 new satellites shortly ago, shoot they put down 7 million just to be aloud to bid.... LOL, chump change to the dolan's..... LONG LIVE VOOM!
 
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