Time Warner , lowest in customer satisfaction , I now know why (Long)

[Lakewood90712]

Getting tired of slow dsl from Verizon, So I signed up for Cable Internet and home phone. Mo cost is lower than Verizon, and Internet speed is faster.

Have an old cable drop from ? Adelphia I think when I last had cable. Contract installer shows up, his own truck, ladders, tools, climbing gear, ok so far. Installer says he needs to access the cable at the pole j-box, 75 feet away( poles in rear yards) Pole is at corners of 4 houses, my next door neighbor, supplied access.Can put my hand on the utility pole.

The installer says he needs permission from the other 3 property owners ( 2 of them on the next street over. ) no body else is home. Installer says I need to contact the other 3 homeowners and obtain written permission if not home ?. I reminded the installer that TW has an easement in the rear 10 feet of every yard, he gave me a blank look and said that is just the way it is.

I asked him if he placed door tags at the places he wants access to, he said his company does not do that. I asked him if any of those houses were TW customers " I don't know, my company does not have access to that info."

Called TW, asked to speak with a manager , as I do not unload grief on first line people. A supervisor said that is the policy , and all the managers are busy " And "I can guarantee you any TW manager will give you the same answer " Huh, I never knew a low level supervisor can speak for management.

I asked if the regular TW tech's use door tags when no body is home, he said they sure do. I asked why the contractor does not , he stated that the contractor is supposed to. I asked for a supervisor of the contracting company to call back. He stated he would look into that.

Still waiting days later.

Looks like I will be staying with slow internet. Fios is available, but really costly.

Sorry for the rant. wow, what a screwed up company.

 

[rodi]

I have time warner. I'm not a fan.
And I worked in the cable industry for decades (on the equipment side)... So you'd think I'd like our local cable company.... Nope... They suck.

 

[BBQ-Nut]

I have time warner. I'm not a fan.
And I worked in the cable industry for decades (on the equipment side)... So you'd think I'd like our local cable company.... Nope... They suck.

Don't they all suck, though?

There are many threads across many forums all decrying the poor customer satisfaction from Dish to Direct to Verizon to Crime...ah, Time Warner Cable, to Cox, to <insert name of provider here>.

 

[Walt34]

That's why I stay with DSL from Frontier. The few times there has been an issue they answer the phone in a reasonable time or you can leave your number and they really do call back. Once it was become some moron stole what they thought was copper wire but it turned out to be aluminum - that's sure not Frontier's fault.

We did have Comcast internet for a year or so but I got tired of dealing with the idiots and went back to dial-up until DSL became available. That's how bad it was.

 

[Lakewood90712]

Frontier has purchased all Verizon landline assets, including the FIOS system in my area. Still branded as verizon. I suspect Frontier will roll out rebranding in the next year or so.

 

[soupcxan]

Time Warner and Comcast service is terrible. Anything running over the cable system seems unreliable. Since we switched to AT&T, it hasn't been perfect, but it's been much better.

 

[Bamaman]

The cable television industry is very poor at maintaining and managing their customer base. They certainly don't act like they're endangered species', and they are.

When AT&T's home wired phone service deteriorated, millions and millions of people dropped their landlines. The same is going to happen to the cable companies--sooner than later. Customers are going back to the airwaves for local television and filling in with online television like Netflix.

Unfortunately, we're hooked on that ultra fast internet service they provide.

I've been on the phone to Comcast for the 3rd time in the last week. I'm only getting 1/3 of the channels I'm paying for. They finally agreed to send out a serviceman in 3 days. We were without internet/phone 3 days last week at another house.

What I find amusing is that Comcast has taken all the authority from the local face to face service reps. But they've given the Indians on their 800 phone numbers authority to make compromises of all kinds--when there are service problems. And I'm sorry that I cannot understand Indian English accents from 12,000 miles away via telephone.

 

[clifp]

In the good news dept. the Elon Musk has filed with the FCC to start testing his plan to put 4,000 satellites in very low earth to provide world wide internet service.

Now this is rather ambitious plan, but it is Elon Musk. As much as the prospect of having internet in the world excites me, the sure joy of watching the long suffering customer of Comcast and Time Warner race to switch is down right thrilling.

 

[bUU]

Fios is available, but really costly.

We found FiOS worth the price. We regret it is not available here.

Don't they all suck, though?

Their level of customer service is pretty standard throughout the industry, with the ones that people complain about most actually among the best in terms of objectively measurable customer service provided, but they do differ in terms of the quality of the network they offer.

The cable television industry is very poor at maintaining and managing their customer base. They certainly don't act like they're endangered species', and they are.

Something people have been saying for years. The key is with regard to what the OP was actually talking about: Cable Internet (not television). They are the highest quality suppliers (in terms of the quality of the network itself) of what people want most these days. That seems to make them anything but endangered.

In the good news dept. the Elon Musk has filed with the FCC to start testing his plan to put 4,000 satellites in very low earth to provide world wide internet service.

It'll be interesting to see what new set of complaints we come up with when that service is offered. I'll bet you that there will be just as many complaints about that service as about Comcast and Time Warner, once (if) that service has as many subscribers. (Actually, I bet that'll end up costing more than what terrestrial service will cost by that time, so it'll appeal to the same segment of the marketplace that Apple products appeal to. Just a guess though.) The number of complaints seem to have to do much more so with how large the supplier is than their actual quality of service.

 

[Midpack]

We've been happy with Dish. Very few problems, amicably and quickly resolved when they happen.

This 2014 U.S. Residential Television, Internet &Telephone Service Provider Satisfaction Studies | J.D. Power suggests providers are not all the same. There are some regional differences but it appears Time Warner is indeed hugging the bottom in customer satisfaction.

We have Comcast hi-speed internet. In over 10 years, we've never had any issues other than rare, short-lived outages.

 

[easysurfer]

The only time I've dealt with Comcast is when they installed my new service (for internet only, not tv as I'm OTA with TV). The installer was friendly and professional. Though he did take a while to figure out how to open the locked accessed area to install the cable. As for internet service, Comcast has been much much better than the crappy ATT DSL service I was using.

I think the runaround that the OP experienced is one reason, along with the every rising rates, that folks look for OTA and streaming solutions.

 

[UnrealizedPotential]

I am not a Time Warner cable fan at all. I live without cable and I have survived for 5 years now. Is that for everyone? No. It works for me. Time Warner cable has decided to stake its future on societies love of sports. I like sports too, but not enough to pay Time Warner for the privilege to watch it.

 

[bUU]

I think OTA has its own set of balancing compromises, not to mention how much trouble more remote folks have with regard to reception, and streaming solutions have their own set of aggravation for many people (ISP issues, bandwidth caps, etc.), that the underlying issue beneath most cases of folks looking for OTA and streaming solutions is just rising rates. People complain about the frustrations but it is mostly a grass-is-always-greener situation.

 

[bhoferp]

After frustrations in dealing with Time Warner over the phone, a friend advised going to the closest store. There were about 8 people in front on me (and I was told this was a slow time), but my issues were all resolved quickly.

 

[Texas Proud]

Time Warner and Comcast service is terrible. Anything running over the cable system seems unreliable. Since we switched to AT&T, it hasn't been perfect, but it's been much better.

I had the opposite experience... AT&T kept dropping and was slow... noisy line... they cut it once and installed a new one... still bad... my DW cut it and they installed a new one... still bad... we would lose phone or internet service on a somewhat regular basis during storms...

Comcast came, said they could not use my cable in the house since it was so old... after passing on them putting another cable on the outside of the house I finally relented when AT&T had a bad two weeks with REALLY slow speeds.. (almost as slow as dial up).... they installed a new cable... speed over 50... AT&T was about 2... had one modem go bad, but they got me a new one in a couple of days... had a problem with the phone but they reset it with a call and all is well...

 

[DallasGuy]

I actually like my Time Warner internet service. It's been very reliable and rarely goes down except for a few times when the weather was stormy. My only other choice for high speed internet is Verizon Fios and they are extremely overpriced (close to double the Time Warner price) where I live. I'll stick with Time Warner as long as they keep allowing me to call in and renegotiate my monthly rate every 6 to 12 months.

 

[Lakewood90712]

Still no install, no call back from the installers supervisor, and just got more "Interesting" my credit card was double billed starting the day service was requested, although the install charge has not been billed.

I may go over to the local TW office. I have had to deal with TW for my mothers house for years. Frequent equipment problems with TV boxes, and short outages.The outages are puzzling , because we have no severe weather to speak of.

I will say the actual TW techs in company vans are first rate, and the local office counter people are pretty good.

It's the use of faceless, minimum wage call center drones and poorly paid/trained/motivated contract installers I have issues with.

 

[Lakewood90712]

My marriage to Time Warner Cable has been annulled. The company just can't accomplish re-connecting a cable at the utility pole. I can even see the pole end of the cable clearly dangling in the air.

TW agreed to refund all charges.

Kind of strange, they said it will be by mailed check, and the charges were CC. Every merchant on the planet I know of specifically refunds CC charges via CC credit, to avoid the merchant fee ( like 3%?) when a sale is canceled. I wonder why TW doesn't do this. Maybe to log every penny received as "Sales" for financial accounting ? I can't figure out these guys, & prob. never will.

 

[easysurfer]

Since your marriage to TWC has been annulled, who did you decide on to get your internet and TV dollar?

AT&T is in the news recently with a $100 M fine for purposely slowing down the unlimited data plans.

 

[Lakewood90712]

Since your marriage to TWC has been annulled, who did you decide on to get your internet and TV dollar?

AT&T is in the news recently with a $100 M fine for purposely slowing down the unlimited data plans.

Staying with Verizon DSL at a speed of about 1. Verizon Dropped ' Enhanced" DSL when FIOS came out. The middle of the street divides the city between Verizon and A,T, & T, so no u-verse on my side.

I get the feeling if I had signed up for an expensive package with a bunch of subscription channels, somehow TW would dump the contract installer , and send a company tech to get the line active.

Haven't had subscription TV in ages. With long commutes and eldercare across town too, I was usually gone from the house 14-15 hours a day when working. Youtube is just the right price, and I go to a neighbor's house to watch Hockey games.

This might change if health ever deteriorates and end up housebound some day. I would actually prefer to drop dead instead of severe chronic illness.

 

[Lakewood90712]

Another twist , Verizon sends be a postcard, 50 speed FIOS internet for $30 ? mo. on a 2 year contract. Well below the $53 mo. I was quoted on the phone. Might go for it.

That's 50% more $ than dsl, but 50 times faster.

Don't see how I would need anything faster than 3 on download speed for surfing the net and youtube.

.

 

[Cassius King]

Just dumped TWC after over 15 years of subscribing. The cost of it was ridiculous. I can't complain over the quality of the cable, phone, internet, etc. However, they are very smug in charging/gouging you for it.
I happily dropped them two months ago and went with Cincinnati Bell Fioptics. I have the same service/channels for less than half the price I was paying TWC. I hope TWC goes under. They're horrible at customer service.

 

[Lakewood90712]

Seeing the " Bait n switch " thread reminded me to check the status of the credit card dispute I filed on Time Warner in July. Discover credited my statement, so far Time Warner has not respond to Discover, so I believe the credit will stand.

Using credit card for payment sure seems to add a nice firewall with a merchant/ service provider who goes into " Stupid / Arrogant / Not-A-Clue Mode ".

 

[mickeyd]

I have been stuck with TWC for about 25 years but my last CS call resulted in me receiving a $30/month reduction for the same service. I like them a little more now. I still do not understand their pricing system. Probably never will.

 

[DallasGuy]

I actually like my Time Warner internet service. It's been very reliable and rarely goes down except for a few times when the weather was stormy. My only other choice for high speed internet is Verizon Fios and they are extremely overpriced (close to double the Time Warner price) where I live. I'll stick with Time Warner as long as they keep allowing me to call in and renegotiate my monthly rate every 6 to 12 months.

I still like Time Warner. They usually lower my rate when I call into their customer service after a rate increase. They recently upgraded my internet speed from 15/1 gbps to 50/5 gbps for no extra charge. Can't beat that. The call to customer service to switch out to a faster modem took about 10-15 minutes with no problems. Last time they raised my monthly rate, I was able to call them and get it lowered to $29.99 per month...about half of what Verizon FIOS wants for their cheapest internet only service in my area of Dallas.