Cable customer says Spectrum went back on deal

ALBEMARLE, N.C. — Jeff James subscribed to the Spectrum cable company for years. When his promotion was about to end, he called Spectrum to see if the company would offer him a new deal and they did.

"It's a win-win. Yeah. I'm tickled to death," he said.

After accepting the new deal, he lost channels and got stuck with a bigger bill, about $60 more each month.

"Very frustrating when you're told something and then that's not what it turns out to be," he said.

He spent more than a month fighting the deal and then he emailed Action 9.

Spectrum acknowledged it had offered James the promotion, but then realized he didn't qualify for it because it was only for new customers, not existing ones.

Once Action 9 got involved, the company agreed to give him the deal anyway.

"I got an email from Action 9, maybe 2:30 in the afternoon, saying that y'all had sent an initial email to Spectrum and, by 5 that afternoon, Spectrum was calling me," James told Action 9.

"I got a bad taste in my mouth about Spectrum, but right now everything's OK and we'll see how things go," he said.

If a TV company offers you a deal over the phone, ask the representative to put the deal in writing. The Better Business Bureau goes even further; it suggests you record the call and even ask the representative to repeat the promotion.  You can tell him or her you're recording the call but, in North Carolina, you are not legally required to do so.

Cox Media Group