skyjuice

They absolutely will not cancel my account, they just keep billing me. The promotion was for 6 months, its been like 8 and they keep demanding their 100.00 promotional check back. Did I miss something in the fine print?? I mean come one.


Here is email below-

Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for choosing Essential.com as the solution to your communications needs.

Your account was cencelled on 9/08, you were not billed for services this month. We have not yet received the refund of the $100 promotional check yet.

Please email us back if you are in need of further assistance.

Thank you,

Your Customer Care Representative

Essential.com
Your Energy and Communications Marketplace!
http://www.essential.com/help

I signed up in January or February, cause thats when PAex had the promo, i remember cause it dropped to like 50 after a while. Ya know what else is funny. There phone number does not work, you get put on permanent hold. No music, no ads, I mean HOLD-ya, silence-

I threatened BBB and Media, and what not-

waiting on response from them-

ill repost when i hear

skyjuice

__________________
skyjuice@rochester.rr.com

Jenny

That's odd. I've never been anything but pleased with their service...

sjshaw

You are not alone, my friend. The EXACT same thing happened to me.

First, they did not give me a $25 credit they promised. Then, they charged me a higher-than-advertised rate for long distance. They said that was stated in the ad. I say it was misleading at best, and I'm a lawyer, so I know about misleading.

Then, they kept billing me for months after I cancelled. For 53 cents! Repeated emails and phone calls are useless, because the person you speak to cannot help you. When you call back to complain that your problem is not solved, you have to start all over with another person, and the cycle repeats itself over and over and over....

They are, hands-down, the worst internet company I have EVER had the misfortune of dealing with. Should they go out of business, I will gleefully dance on their e-grave.

Can you tell I'm a little upset with these people?

Apex

Strange, the two people who emailed me about their problem got it solved in only a few days.

johnnymk

I took advantage of this offer awhile back. I just got my third bill. I hope that I get it resolved today. They are charging me TWICE for a dial tone charge. Maybe something happened on last months bill. Well anyway, even if they charge me for one dial tone charge, it will be approximately $15, add service line charge of $4.35 and Unlimited local usage at $6.85 comes to about $26.00, just for local service!! And that doesn't even include taxes!! This is what I paid for local and long distance before I switched. I hope I get it resolved this morning. If it wasn't for the $100 check I got, I would really be pi%%ed!As soon as the six months is over, I am cancelling.

craigg

I had nothing but trouble with Essential. They told me I would receive the $50 promotional check yet when they finally sent it, it was only for $25. I called and emailed them several times only to find their customer service to be ignorant and rude. In the end I gave up on them and I did fire off a complaint to the BBB. I doubt it will do any good but I WOLD NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS FIRM!!!
For cheap rates on long distance you might try this:
http://ld.net/fcmi

skyjuice

I dont think you guys understand what is going on here-
I am not bitching about not receving a promotional check-

THEY WONT STOP BILLING ME!!!!! What am i gonna do?? I cant be all white trash and ignore it, then i go into collection and my credit gets all messed up. I feel helpless, they will not return my phone calls or emails- Apex- do you have a contact person over there, this is outta hand- They KEEP BILLING ME like 12.53 a month, claming that they want their 100.00 check back. I am livid.

HELP!

johnnymk

I got the bill straightened out. The double dial tone charge was a mistake on their part. And they hadn't charged me a dial tone charge for the previous two months. So they made up the difference. So the monthly dial tone charge is $6.85. Considering everything, the total monthly charge for local service is within $1.00 of my previous provider. They were actually very helpful. So I withdraw my gripe about them.I just may keep them after the 6 months, I will wait and see

dag16

Same Problem.
I never even received any of their services after I signed up, so I was double billed for phone and electricty.
I cancelled, and I kept getting billed.
I moved and changed phone numbers, I keep getting billed for electricity and phone(even though the number is disconected- it still makes long distance calls?) at the old place.
Its been 8 months now, and they still keep billing me.
I work about 1 mile away from their corporate headquarters.
If I get another bill, I am driving down there and not leaving until I get it resolved. Nothing annoys me more than receiving that email about a bill.

Last time I called, they said they would give me the number of their suprevisors for me to call. Instead, they gave me a number for a company called essentials. Different company.
Essential is full of *******s.
I have a list of people I have talked to who "gauranteed" me that everything would be fixed. When I mention my phone call with that person, the CS rep I talk to says their is no one there by that name...

skyjuice

Update- I called and got a hold of them this MORNING! AN angry black woman answered and was by far the worst Customer repreeentative by far- I asked for a supervisor and she came back on the line and said, " I axed my supavisa, an she said said to take a note an she would get back witchu" I said that is unacceptable, I wanted the owner of the companies name and phone number. They said his name was Paul Lewis. Then she said Paul Roberts- Then she was all like " sir you is axxing me too nay queshins, Im going to releasify this call". So then I said ok, and she hung up. So then, I said to myself, I know how to handle this, sugar not vinegar!!! BE strong Skyjuice I said to myself!! I called up and was super polite and was really stroking this one girl to help me. She was like, telling me that my account was termed. I then asked if she knew why they were asking for 100.00 check back from, she was like well i will forward to billing dept for you. To make sure my efforts were followed through, I asked for her name and her bosses name and that i would be calling her boss and writing a letter stating what a fine employee "keesha" was and that i think that she should be receommended for a promotion. That was a bunch of crap, I hated these people, but it worked, the girl was all spelling her bosses name for me and giving me addresses to write too etc!! Let me tell you, tell some phone slap you are gonna write their boss about a fine job there doing and they will bow down to you- This doesnt look like its over, yet, but my point is, they messed with me so i will manipulate their employees as I see fit until my situation gets resolved. I have never been more heated with a company in my entire life.

skyjuice

grappa

Well done Skyjuice! That's the way to do it - when you come at people angry they put up their defenses. And with a lot of the Customer Disservice people in ANY company, that will get you nowhere quick. I swear these companies try to pay as little as possible and then wonder why their CS departments suck so badly.

Good luck with your Essential problems - I've never had a problem either, but I have had problems with two other LD companies (one of them Bell Atlantic, now Verizon) charging after the account was termed. So this problem isn't limited to Essential at all...


G

ILoveDogs

Ouch!!! You guys have had it bad with essential! I guess I'm in the minority due to my good experience with them. I received my $75 bonus check for signing up (or $50, I can't remember now) and have had no billing problems yet. The 5.9 cents/minute rate is pretty good too. Okay, I'm going to stop typing now, lest I jinx myself. Good luck to the rest of ya's.

skyjuice

update # 2 - They are saying that my service stopped on 9/08/00 and the 12.35 that they are billing me is for last months billing cycle, they did send an email and here it is-

Dear Mr.

Thank you for choosing Essential.com, Your Energy and Communications Marketplace!

You will receive billing statements for services we provided to you up to the date your service was canceled. No new charges have accrued on your account. Once we are in receipt of your final payment you will no longer receive bills from Essential.com.

If you are in need of further assistance please email us back.

Thank you,

Your Customer Care Representative

Essential.com
Your Energy and Communications Marketplace!
http://www.essential.com/help


ok, thats better than the one i got a day earlier- here that one is!!!!

Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for choosing Essential.com as the solution to your communications needs.

Your account was cencelled on 9/08, you were not billed for services this month. We have not yet received the refund of the $100 promotional check yet.

Please email us back if you are in need of further assistance.

Thank you,

Your Customer Care Representative

Essential.com
Your Energy and Communications Marketplace!
http://www.essential.com/help


Let this all be a lesson to you- Do not get involved with shady online merchants that have no phone number that works, and uneducated employees who want to "realisify" the call. OK - one good thing came of this whole thing, and that was the phrase, "releasify the call" . As mad as I was, on that phone this morning, the fact that the representative thought that "realisfy" was a word almost made me want to pay the 100 bucks just for such great comedic material.

Conclusively,

I really didnt get over on essential, cause i spent a total of 65.00 dollars for there 100.00 and one BIG headache, so was this promotion worth you ask? I think not. IMHO, stear clear of this company, and for laughs, if you must, get some freinds and call there 1-800 number (if you can get through!) and let the laughs begin, because the grammar that was used today folks, surely provided me with water cooler and bar-side conversation for years to come. I think that here is where I "realisfy" this thread-LOL

[Edited by skyjuice on 10-12-2000 at 05:54 PM]

DrkSphere

The only time I laughed harder than this on Got|Apex? is when I was reading a posting by Ipmiller on the main page about news... I seriously could picture this woman in my head from the nasty weave to the gap between her teeth. Hahahahahahahhahahhhahahahahahahaha.... releasify.

__________________
http://mg2.org/drksphr/
The dark.. inside.. me.....

skyjuice

too funny, I know- I will be talking about that "phrase" for years to come- I still cant beleive that word- "realesify"- dude Im pissing my pants)))))))))





LOL

50ftqueenie

Man, you guys are harsh. I agree that "releasify" is probably the funniest made-up word I've heard all week, but skyjuice, do you even see the irony in your comments about how "uneducated" that woman is, when every single one of your posts are riddled with bad grammar and spelling mistakes? Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! I found that pretty hilarious.

And DrkSpere, the "nasty weave and gap teeth" comment? Whatever, dude.

Good luck to those of you that were burned by essentials.com; I hope you get that crap resolved.

dag16

Hey, no need to be making fun of SkyJuice,
He's from Rochester.
I lived in Upstate New York for five years.
People there are a little racist and not too intelligent.
It's not his fault he has bad grammar and spelling mistakes.
He's probably a lot better than most of the people in the town.

DrkSphere

I have the priveledge to make fun of customer service reps because I used to work with them, and they are by far the biggest lot of retards I've ever seen before in my life. It's as if they were hired directly off of the unemployment line. Their payroll statements used to be riddled with people who would simply abandon their job because they didn't feel like working there anymore, or people who were fired for beating the sh-t out of a co-worker, I mean, come on.

Also, I'm from Queens, NY, now in San Diego. I think for the sake of skyjuice being ripped off, he's allowed to ridicule the lady that pissed him off the most. You think I'm racist? Step up. =)

dag16

I wonder why anyone would go into CS, seems like such a bizzare thing to want to do. It's like being a doctor without any training.
"Uhh, yah, you have a problem, but I can't do anyting about it. Let me give you to another doctor who also doesn't know anything"

Speaking of all this, does anyone have digital cable from ATT? Their CS has absolutely NO idea what's going on.
They give you a free month credit because you have been on hold for an hour and they can't fix your problem, and next time you called, the credit has vanished form your account.

kingink

The difficult CSR's at essential.com are the worst. I signed up almost two months ago today. They haven't sent a check or been of any use as far as finding out how to get something done. I could give a sh*t about the $25 bucks. I wanted the 5.9 cents/min. I haven't been able to switch service and am now still using that sprint crap. I would recommend that no one use essential.com for anything.
I spoke witht a csr named tania and when I asked to speak with a supervisor she said she couldn't do that. I asked if she was a supervisor. Tania stated she wasn't. I asked for the person who she reported to and she said I couldn't talk to them and that I had to talk with her. I was given the option of cancelling my service. No help whatsoever. I called back and got someone else on the line and neither of them has a supervisor. Imagine that.

__________________
No sig for me. NO Sir!

skyjuice

ok- everyone lets calm down- now we know that in every post, somene gets offended an upset and thinks that I am being racist errrr.... whatever that comment was. If i want to mimmick the sounds phinetically of what a customer service person told me, then I have a right to do that. It was in no way racist and DAG16, that was so completely over the top to say I was racist. Phinetically, making fun of someone's speech and diction is not racist, I find it sickening that this person has that job. Thanks for providing us with that well put musical interlude and the gross generalization about Upstate NY people. (was funny actually).

And finally, 50ftqueenie, here is where i get to reset your take on my spelling and grammar- readers, notice the indent for new paragraph) This is a BBS, not an essay contest. Ive strolled with the backpack for 4 years to know enough not to turn a paper in half ass. As far as posts. go, I type and do a quick read so people can read the content and the verbage. Whether i dotted and I or crossed a t is not to high on my priority list when posting. In fact, If you would like, I can send you my Senior Thesis I did as an undergrad and you can red pen that mofo all you want. As long as were grading, dag16, you get D for terrible post, and 50ft queenie, you get an F. For Faling to realize that this is not an Essay contest. Now watchout while realsisfy both yall".

Hey DrkSphere- can we continue with our ever funny banter that started the laugh fest? Or do you think that we will get rudely interrupted again by the Grammar and Spelling Commission again? out

50ftqueenie

Irony: incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs. Example: 50ftqueenie noted the irony of skyjuice's comments regarding the "uneducated" customer service rep in light of his own horrible mangling of the English language.

I'd love to read your senior thesis! Post a link to it in the off topic forum and I'll be over there to throw down with you after work...

freenet

man i had to search all of anandtech and fatwallet before remembring this RELEASIFY thread was over here!! I had to tell it to a friend it was so funny and I couldnt remember the word...

shes a CSR for Bank of America and she is Asian and has lots of Asians whose command of the english language is spotty to say the least working with her. She told me once incident where (if you know what a Filipino accent sounds like , use it now) the CSR said to an irate customer," I am sorry, sir, i cannot take the harrassing and will have to determine this call " (instead of saying terminate) well doesnt sound funny in print but it was hilarious at the time....

thanks for the laugh and good luck with the Essential problem!

welfareloser

i would suggest that ya'll releasify yer cumplaints at planetfeedback.com - easy way to distribute a gripe. you can cc all your buddies (so that it looks like your telling the world about their crappy service, which they DON'T want to happen,) and i believe you can also cc the BBB and other relevant authori-TAHs. Probably not much hope when dealing with a behemoth of stupidity like essential, but easy enough and worth a shot. i've always gotten a great response.