what the?

June 2009 - We started our Charter service (because Comcast doesn't service Ashland City) with the tv/internet/phone bundle.  We got a new phone number with them.  We had Vonage before.  It was fine, but when we moved and started the service, we got a better deal with the bundle.

Several months later, (according to the Charter rep Loren spoke with tonight) they assigned OUR number to another customer.  A Penny Brown.  They started calling for her regarding her account.  We got a few other calls from other companies for Penny Brown as well, all collections calls.  We've never received a personal call for her.

We've been trying to get them to remove the number from her account for a while now.  They've always assured us that it was removed.  Nope, not so much.

So tonight when they called us (twice at 8 and 9 pm), Loren got on the phone with the supervisor and requested again that they remove that number from her account.  They told him it was impossible.  They also told him that they gave that number to her after they had already given it to us.  Then they suggested WE change OUR number.  Thing is, I looked up Penny Brown in the White Pages.  Her address was listed (she lives 11 miles from us) but not a phone number.  If you call the number, you're only ever going to reach US.  So how on earth do they expect to reach Penny by calling OUR number?

In a sense, it's harassment on their part because we keep getting calls that have nothing to do with us and they're calling at 9 at night.  I'm sorry but we have kids and that doesn't fly with me.  The call center was also not in the U.S. ...another fail on their part.  The closest local office is in Clarksville...we just don't have time to drive up there to figure it all out.  So what I may do is write Penny Brown an actual letter explaining our situation to see what we can get accomplished that way.  In the listing, there were 4 other people also at the address.  One with her last name, two with another last name, and another with a different last name.  It's entirely possible that Charter DIDN'T give them that number, but someone at her address set up a service with a random number (which happened to be ours) and they have let their account go delinquent and Charter doesn't have another contact number. 

The frustrating part is that they keep saying there's NOTHING they can do.  I find that extremely hard to believe.  They HAVE to have a home address listed, in which case they need to mail them a letter regarding whatever is they keep calling about.  They don't have to keep calling US knowing they're not going to get her.  Good grief!