RCN New York

THIS IS HOW YOU TREAT A FOUR YEAR CLIENT, STORY IN 3 ACTS BY RCN.
I started using RCN at my home in 2012. In period of four years, they increased the price of their package every single year! I understand that inflation is increasing every year, but not by a random amount of $ 10 that internet providers use to hike up their rates yearly.
Few months ago my internet died for no apparent reason for the third time in a year. I called the RCN service on Monday (the day the feed died) and to my astonishment found out that they can only send their technician on Friday. Since I work from home, this was a major problem for me, yet they did not offer any credit to their bill.
I finally grew tired of this Micky Mouse operations, so I decided to switch my provider. After informing RCN about my intention to leave them unless we can negotiate a better price for my package, they offered me a «faster» package for the same price. Guess what RCN, some people don’t care about speed past 50Mbps, it’s redundant. I said, I was not interested in it, yet it was showed down my throat. Lower price was «impossible» as per the rep I was talking to on the phone.
I finally took the plunge and connected to the other provider, calling to cancel RCN service promptly. Cancellation was completed before the end of the billing cycle as to not pay two months of internet. This is not to be the case.
After returning my equipment within few days (under a week from the cancellation, but technically after the billing cycle ended), I was informed by the rep that I sill have to pay for one more bill, as the cancellation takes effect only upon the return of the equipment?! How come? People sometimes need few days to return the equipment, and I fully understand that RCN reserves the right to charge a fee in case someone procrastinates in returning the equipment. But in this case, it felt as if they want to milk last $ 20 from me, with this stupid rule.
To add cherry on top, RCN called few days after I cancelled my service to magically reduce their price in half. Seriously?

Billing department is beyond incompetent. Totally useless. Brain dead. Scammers. They jacked up my monthly rate randomly after being a loyal customer for over a year. That’s where the problems started. Then they refused to take responsibility for a billing error ON THEIR PART that resulted in gross overcharges to my account. This was due to my needing to change my automated payment method – which I did well before the bill was due. Hours on the phone with RCN explaining and re-​explaining the situation. Low level customer service people refuse to transfer to a supervisor. Utterly ridiculous. Canceling my account with them.

thanks to RCN I have no phone service for at least 3 days.
They were asked to add an account. Instead they eliminated the account with a phone number that I have had for 20 years.
I had the service contractor hang out with me while I was on customer service. We were both on our phones, explaining to different customer «service» reps the problem. Before I called I advised him that I would probably work/​talk to them for 45 minutes and then they would «accidentally» disconnect me. And as predicted, after 45 minutes I was disconnected.
I’ve had problems with RCN in the past and have had this treatment before!
From the other reviews it looks like this is a common practice.

Extra stars for customer service. In response to my recent negative Unilocal review– customer service provided me with a FREE modem and free up grade (as the email promised). They even sent out a technician to come set it up on a Sunday, also free of charge. I am still waiting to see if there is a charge on my next bill but assuming there isn’t I will say that I am very impressed with their response and personal service to my dissatisfaction.

I had RCN for the past 3 years, and I’m a happy customer! My building only had TWC and RCN. I was really disappointed to find out that there was no Fios in my building, because I had been with Verizon for 3 years before that. I had my issues with FIos too. Back to how I got RCN, I called both RCN and TWC. TWC just sucked. Super rude and terrible deals ($ 120 for tv and internet and no DVR!). I called RCN, and initially, they didn’t see that great either, so I told them that I wasn’t interested in anything they were offering. They called me back 2 days later and sweetened the deal, dropped the price and offered one month of free service and free installation. I paid $ 95 (including taxes) for the first year for 50 mbps internet (we checked it and it’s usually around 43, but still good), two tivos, router, and a lot of channels and no contract. Second year, it went up to $ 115, but I called them again to see if we can get that price lowered, they lowered the price by $ 6 and threw in 6 months of free Starz and TMC. You can add and remove channel packages any time you want. Right now, I pay around $ 135 including taxes (but I have a bunch of packages added during football season).
My parents came to stay in NYC for 6 months beginning of this year, and the building had both Fios and RCN. I jumped on Fios, because I had this idea stuck in my head that they’re still the best. Well, let me tell you, they’re not. I think their service has really deteriorated. The rep was really rude. It was really hard to set up an appointment. They needed all of my mom’s personal information. They weren’t able to offer anything else besides what was listed on their website. My mom had placed a fraud alert on her SSN as advised by her bank as they detected fraudulent activity. They said that I needed to answer 5 questions about her before they could process the order, but that department was closed and I had to call back between 9 and 5 pm. I did and after being put on hold for 30 minutes, I answered all the questions correctly, but then their system went down, so again, they couldn’t process the order. At that time, I had been on the phone with them for a combined of 3 hours, so I had enough. I called RCN and again got another sweet deal with one month free, blazing fast internet (100 mbps), free router, a bunch of channels, including Starz and TMC, two TiVos, free installation, and no contract. I think she paid around $ 110 including tax a month. There were a couple of hiccups, because the installation didn’t go too smoothly (the guy was there for 3 hours, but couldn’t get it done), and the cable guy had to come back another time and apparently decided not to show up, but RCN was good at rescheduling the appointment and made the guy come back outside of his usual work schedule. He came between 6 – 8 pm to accommodate my mom’s schedule. My mom loved how many channels she got and said it was great. At the end of the six months, we just returned the equipment and that was that. I also got a $ 50 credit on my bill for referring my mom.
I’m moving again at the end of this month, and my new building has both Fios and RCN. I shopped around on the verizon website, but to get everything I wanted, I was looking to pay around $ 120 before tax, that’s accounting for the $ 400 gift card they were throwing in for a 2 year contract. Verizon is now charging to use their router (which was free before) for $ 10 a month or buy it from them for $ 150 and $ 12 per cable box and $ 18 extra a month for multi-​room DVR. You get less perks if you do no contract. I didn’t call to see if they can do better, because they never could in the past. I called RCN and just got a deal for $ 89.99/month for 50 mbps, two TiVos, 300 channels, free Starz and TMC for a year and 2 months free. No contract of course. The price will go up after a year, but in the past, I just called RCN and complained and they usually throw in something free and lower the bill by $ 5 somehow.
I’m not giving RCN 5 stars, because I do understand what reviewers are saying about them not being upfront and straightforward. You just have to be nice to your rep and they will reciprocate and just nicely call them out on their BS when they try to upsell you, because they will. Which salesperson doesn’t? Do your homework and understand what deals they are offering and demand for that package. Also, pit them against other service providers, and somehow these specials will start popping up. I also like how the reps give you their direct number to call them at. The reps always give me their cell phone number, and they always pick up my phone calls if I’m having issues. I don’t have to go through a call center and get routed to some stranger and have to re-​explain everything again. I find RCN to be responsive and they always quickly resolve any tech issues I have. I’m a fan, but just know how to deal with them, and you will get great service!

Been RCN customer for over a year, my bill increased $ 10/​month. The first time I signed up, they guarantee no changes or increase for 3 years. So I called customer service, they said they always increase older customers, the lowest price they have are only for new customers.
I asked them about 3 years price guarantee, and they just said no such thing as guarantee, it’s just they way it is that every year $ 10 increase on the bill.

Many companies waste nature’s resources by sending unsollicited snail-​mail — but none do it to the extent that RCN does it: I get a letter just about every week. When I recently had to choose a new cable company, I forewent RCN for that reason.

I have been an RCN customer for 22 days now… Yes, 22 days, it seems like 22 years because the days stretch on. minutes turn to hours, hours to days, and days to years. I am extremely frustrated with the lack of service and poor customer service.
Aggravation all started the 1^st day I had RCN hooked up — the guy was very cold, he did a sloppy job to the point he left a wire hanging low on my ceiling and chipped a huge chunk of paint and plaster off that needed to be spackled when he left (don’t know why I bothered being nice and tipped him). He was quite short with me and seemed annoyed by my questions. The 1^st time I called RCN I was confused about my 1^st bill. I had received 2 bills (don’t know why) and they stated I owed $ 172.45 but had different due dates. I called RCN to see when was my actual due date (because I wanted to avoid any late charges). I talked to Kendall, Badge # 3 058 501 at 4pm on 10÷2÷15. She completely misinformed me about my bill to the point where I had to hang up and talk to another person. She said I owed $ 173.28. I asked her how and why was it a dollar more, she couldn’t answer. I then posed the question if I had paid only $ 172 would I be hit with a late fee. She answered yes and that I could have just called up again later to have that tacked on fee taken off. I was not pleased with her response whatsoever so I disconnected and called again to talk to someone more well-​informed. The next rep gave me the right information and emailed me about my correct bill amount.
About 2.5 weeks into my account, I noticed my internet was not working properly. I was constantly having issues with it connecting. Talked to Karen at 10am on 10÷3÷15, she was going to try something where it would disconnect us and then call me back. she never called back.
Talked to Nelson on 10÷3÷15, at 10:20am. He was more helpful, but seemed to get annoyed with me after a while (I could hear it in his voice).
Talked to Lee at 1:30pm on 10÷3÷15. Ensured I had a $ 1 credit on my bill.
Talked to Kamar at 6pm on 10÷4÷15. Gave me $ 4.50 credit for bad internet.
Talked to Debra at 9pm on 10÷4÷15. Very unhelpful and unsympathetic sounding.
Talked to Charles at 10pm on 10÷4÷15. Would try to give some credit. Suggested it’s a faulty modem since signal jumps a lot.
Talked to Ray at 9:40pm on 10÷5÷15. Said he could try to issue a little credit. By this point I’d already requested a tech to come out to my apartment and see what was the problem because all the unplugging/​plugging in, rebooting, sending signals, etc. was not resolving my problem.
Received 2 annoying calls. 1 on 10÷8÷15 at 7:26pm (# 6 463 847 400) asking if I was home and wanted to cancel my appt to try to reboot from home again. I said no, I stated I’d tried that before several times and wanted someone to still come out. Then received another call while I was at work on 10÷9÷15 at 2:36pm (# 9 176 849 497) asking if I was home to let tech in now, told the man «No, I’m at work, that’s why I asked for after a 6−8pm appt today.» These calls were frustrating and aggravating, to say the least.
Had my appointment for tech guy to come out from 6−8pm on 10÷9÷15. After guy confirmed with me in the afternoon for appointment (at 2:36pm), I sit at home waiting. It’s almost 8pm, no one has arrived. Get a call from (# 7 183 059 042) at 7:47pm saying guy is running late, he’ll be at my home at 8:30pm, I say ‘Ok’ (I’ll cancel my dinner plans with my friend visiting out of town from Melbourne, Australia… no worries). Then 8:30pm passes, get a call at 8:39pm from (# 8 007 464 726) saying guy is going to come at 9pm. By 11:10pm I’m tired and can’t keep my eyes open, so I call RCN. Donna says my appointment was listed as «no access.» I asked her if he was still coming out, to which she replied no. I asked if he could come first thing in the morning because I have a doctor’s appointment at 11am and I had already cancelled (and rescheduled) my plans from tonight. At 7:50am on 10÷10÷15, I get a call from someone saying they can’t squeeze me in today because they ‘overbooked.’ She then said I can have a 12−2pm appointment on 10÷11÷15. I told her No, I stated I had errands and appointments and can Only do a morning appointment (I was already irate that my appointment for Friday was cancelled with no warning or notice and now I was expecting someone to come today and they’re telling me I have to wait yet another day). She said best she could do was 9am-​1pm for 10÷11÷15. I begrudgingly acquiesced. I hang up, take a few deep breaths, then call RCN to complain. I talked to Margaret at 9:15am on 10÷10÷15. She told me I can have $ 20 credit because of missed appointment. I told her I don’t really care about the credit at this point. I didn’t yell, I didn’t curse, but I expressed my honest opinion that I felt I was being treated very disrespectfully and that I haven’t even been a customer for 1 month and I’m already considering cancelling with them.

I’m still with RCN but will quit before year’s end. They are polite, helpful, etc. BUT they have too sparse a selection of channels that automatically come with TW. Discrimminationg (my word choice) viewers should have more choices, they don’t listen. BiBi RCN!

In the year that I have had RCN internet and cable, I have had perfect service. I’ve consistently had higher download speeds than paid for (often 120+ Mbps while I’ve had the 110 Mbps plan), and I’ve never had to call RCN as everything worked great — no problems with equipment, service or billing. I used to have TWC and had to call roughly once a month to fix something, so RCN has been a breath of fresh air (and my bill for essentially the same service was $ 30 less per month). I had to close my account today as I am moving, and the representative was friendly, helpful, and fast. Highly recommend for NYC.

I give their management 1 Star (0 Stars are not an option), yet their services always worked for me.
I was part of a committee that brought RCN into our 384 unit co-​op. We negotiated a decent bulk deal, yet rcn execs were nowhere to be found when there was an issue.
We ended up bringing FIOS into the building, giving us 3 cable/​broadband choices. I went with FIOS and trekked to RCN to return their TIVO and cable modem. Fine & dandy!
One year later I get a call from a collection agency informing me that I owe over $ 400 for their unreturned equipment. What? This company is off the chart inept and wacko. They come up with this crap after a year?
Still battling it out. Whatever you do, stay away from RCN.

I like RCN, but I am disappointed when I just added internet phone for $ 10 a month, I was excited that it was so cheap, but when I got the bill, there’s an additional $ 15 in taxes… so beware — phone service is not as cheap as it looks. It’s actually 2.5 times more expensive, once taxes are added.
So, $ 10 = $ 25.
Not cool. I wish they’d have told me that from the get go, I wouldn’t have gotten the service. Id have just stuck to cell phone.

Came back from vacation and my TiVo cablecard didn’t display all stations. One call and it was corrected. RCN followed up by dispatching a technician on a Sunday. 5 * service

Great price for the internet, however not as reliable as time warner. When Then price increased after a year, I switched back to TWC

The worst service ever
They bill u and send to collection agency
After three years they report it to the
Credit bureau with negative info
And ur credit score goes under water

Your rate won’t increase for one year! (oh, except for random «fees» and «surcharges» we may add and increase randomly, like «Broadcast TV Surcharge», the «Sports Programming Surcharge» and the «Entertainment Networks Surcharge»).
Don’t be fooled, RCN is just as bad as the rest of them. Then again, what choice do you have?

Unbelievably, I just received ANOTHER call from RCN for one of their previous customers who used to live in my building. RCN, I am not your personal assistant! If you want to speak to your current or former customers, then call them directly!!! Don’t harass their neighbors. If this doesn’t stop, I will contact the Better Business Bureau. And if that doesn’t work, I will take legal action. I am tired of being harassed.

I don’t understand the negative reviews. I’ve been with RCN since July of 2012 or so. They’ve been fantastic that entire time, for most part. Early on, it would take 10 – 20 minutes to connect to a human when I called customer support. No more. I was told they hired more CSRs so that people wouldn’t have to wait as long. As such, I’m almost always talking with an actual person within a minute or 2 now. Every time I call.
They’re also pretty gracious with «freebies.» They doubled my internet speed for free for a year when I inquired how much the upgrade would cost. They also do random premium channel promotions. I think we’re getting Showtime & The Movie Channel for $ 0.01/month for a year. They don’t have to give us that little bit extra, but they do (mostly).
I’m leaving RCN within 2 weeks, though. As of now they are not planning on carrying the SEC Network. Time Warner, as much as I hate them, will carry it. So to Time Warner I go. At least with Time Warner I can have access to the WatchESPN apps, which RCN doesn’t support.
I can’t speak for the whole city, but if you’re in the Upper East Side you should have good luck with RCN. I have.

The worst cable company you will ever deal with. The people on the phone will lie to you, mock you, and insult your intelligence at every turn. You will have to call in 10 times to resolve the exact same issue. Even when the mistake is there, they never admit it, and they overcharge you for their mistakes and all you’re left with is their arrogance and bitchy attitude. This is what we pay for. To be insulted for their mistakes.

We got RCN for our work TV so we could watch the World Cup while we are hard at work (or hardly working!), and they’ve been nothing but prompt and professional. I reached out to an account manager for package deals (we chose $ 80 for one year), and I immediately got an email with info from the guy I spoke with. We scheduled for the set-​up 3 days later, and the guy who came to install came on time and was done in 45 minutes. Couldn’t have been better.