Ordering Pay-per-View events and On Demand movies is so easy to do over the remote control that anyone can do it. It’s a great convenience. But, it’s not uncommon to receive calls from customers to report that they’ve been billed for pay-per-view or on demand movies they didn’t order. In reality, billing errors like this are very rare. Before equipment leaves the warehouse to be installed in a customer’s home, it’s been refreshed so there’s no possibility that orders from a previous customer somehow remained in the receiver’s memory only to land on the next customer’s bill. And, all receivers have unique serial numbers that are tied specifically to one customer’s account so this link ensures the right customer is getting billed. It’s a very sophisticated accounting and billing process which is why there’s practically no room for error.
So, it’ not surprising, after much thoughtful discussion with a ccr, a customer comes to the realization that even though he or she did not order the movies or event, someone in the household did. The good news is that there’s lots of things you can do avoid the surprise of purchases on your bill that you did not approve such as parental controls, special pins, or changing your ordering limits. If you’d like to learn more, just call us at 1-866-496-9669 to consult with one of our representatives who can explain all the options available to you. With multiple options, you’ll be able to pick one that leaves you with the level of ordering convenience you want while keeping others from ordering without your approval.
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An elderly lady called WOW! and was extremely upset because of the mystery charges on her bill. Based on what I saw on the bill, it appears that this particular house hold “loves” to order Video on Demand. As I was explaining the charges, she said “Kathy, I have no idea about Video on Demand. What are you talking about?” She told me she only watches only local channels (ABC, CBS NBC, Let’s Make a Deal” and “The Price is Right.”)
I explained to her that VOD offers free content including children’s programs, music, sports, health and news. VOD also offers pay-per-view content and in her case, the movies that were ordered were at a charge of $2.99 each or more. The charges more than doubled her monthly rate. No wonder she was in shock and denial! She asked me to explain how VOD works so I walked her through these steps:
- Turn the receiver to Channel 1. (Evansville Customers, Channel 100.)
- The main menu will pop up and using the arrow down button on the remote control, review the various categories, including a FREE Movie category. Any selection other than the FREE Movie category will have a charge associated.
- Arrow down to a specific category of interest, in this case, New Releases and press SELECT on the remote control to select the category.
I explained that, at this point in the process, the charges appear and electing a movie from this category will result in charges to her account. She then stated “Kathy, I have never been on those screens before and I did not order these movies” It was at this moment that I heard a muffled sound of someone talking in the background. She asked me to hold on a minute. After a minute or so, she came back to the call and apologized for calling me. To her surprise, her husband, watching her go through the VOD process interrupted the call and confessed that he had ordered movies. He said he had stopped after a few days because he couldn’t remember how to get back to that VOD screen! She “grounded” him right then and there and assigned him to dish duty for an entire month.
She asked if I could help her to prevent this from happening again. We proceeded to talk about “Parental Controls.” I also offered her the option of placing a “zero” credit limit on her account. A “zero” credit works sort of like a credit card with no credit balance. When an order comes through for a pay movie, the system checks the account for an available credit balance. If there is not a credit balance on the account, the order can not be placed. She liked that idea best so that’s what I did to help her keep her monthly bill from creeping up and her husband from getting in any more trouble. By the end of the conversation, we were all laughing heartily. Customers like this can just make your day!
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