We have had Time Warner service for HD TV, digital phone and internet access for probably 15 years. We have repeatedly reported poor TV reception, dropped phone calls and intermittent internet outages for ALL those years! Each time, a TW field technician comes out (sometime between the hours of 8am and 8pm, which makes it just a bit difficult to schedule the day), looks at our situation and says, This is the longest run/length of cable I've ever seen, (running from our house to the nearest connection box, or whatever it's called.)
They all say this extreme length is likely the problem, and that we need an escalation in order to try and have a closer connection installed near our home. Then, the technicians dutifully change all the cable connections in the house, run computer diagnostics, and say, That ought to do it.By the time they're out of the driveway, we continue to have the same problems that we have had for YEARS.
Each technician promises they will escalate the problem to the deity to whom it is that escalations go... And then, as usual, nothing happens. No returned phone calls, no spontaneous contact from TW at all. Come on! My car dealer calls us to see if the OIL CHANGE was to our satisfaction, and how did the employees act, and was the coffee hot... And it cost us $40. We pay you $130 a month! So, we endure the HD/internet/phone/digital problems for another couple of months, until we reach the end of our rope, and start the same routine all over again!
The technicians are always very polite, and truly seem eager to solve our problem, appear to try everything within their power to solve the problem (s) and then leave our house with the same message, Well, that ought to take care of it. They then promise to escalate the long run of cable to our house, and we should hear from TW soon...
Then we begin all over again by calling TW at 512-485-5555 and go through the endless, mind-numbing menu options, to try and find a real person to whom we can report the SAME situation, for the 50th time. The people we finally get on the line are courteous, but rather verbally apathetic in really seeming to want to solve our problem. With rare exception, they sound like they're talking in their sleep. We're are told to: 1) reset the modem; 2) reset the cable box (which my 3 year old grand son can do now)... None of which EVER works, and... The predictable, We can have a technician there as soon as (which sounds like a real stretch to get someone out to us THAT SOON, usually at least a week in the future), between dawn and sunset during a full moon... And they will call 30 minutes before arrival. They DO usually call, but we still have to spend a day at home waiting for the arrival of a visiting technician!
And, when they DO call, they invariably call 512-244-2171, the phone number for which we have this great, digital, dropped-call service. I ALWAYS tell them to call me on my cell phone (512-970-3533) in case I'm out in the yard, away for five minutes, in the bathroom, out getting mail... I mean, this is a reasonable request, since I'm within 500 feet of my home for an entire day. But, almost without a doubt, they default to the 244-2171 number as I'm sure that's what appears on their work order. Sometimes I happen to be in the house to field the call... Since that's what I'm there for all day anyway, but sometimes I miss the call, and the whole day of waiting is wasted, and I have to reschedule another appointment! Is the lunacy and frustration of this GETTING THROUGH TO ANYONE!?
Believe me, I'm in the mood to go on and on, but I'd just be repeating myself, and I hope I've made my point. Just magnify the above by 50 times, and then tell me how YOU would feel!
I'd switch to AT&T, or another provider, in a minute, but I have my Road Runner email address printed on thousands of business cards, envelopes, stationery, pens and other marketing pieces. I threatened to change our service the last time I talked to one of the robots at 485-5555, and didn't even get a response! I had hoped for something, We'll try and do everything we can..., what can we do to solve the problem? I'd feel the same way if that happened to me, but instead, I heard nothing. Literally, nothing.in fact, I had to ask several times during my last conversation, Are you there? As I didn't even get the typical, Umhum, yes, I see what you mean, gee, tell me more..., SOMETHING to indicate a human being was on the other end of the line. You have all of this on tape somewhere... Do you ever listen to the tapes?
I am pessimistic about getting a response from this email, but I've heard good things about this web site... Even that people in the ivory tower listen to complaints, and realize, down in the Radar O'Reilly trenches, where this stuff really does or DOESN'T happen, that things are not as rosy the yes subordinates and computer print outs report them to be. Come on vice-presidents... Get on the phones and talk, don't just listen to tapes (if you even do that)... Open your ears to what your consumers are saying!
I am really ticked off, and the only reason I even consider keeping TW as our provider is that it's a real mess to change an email address!
Hey... This has GOT to be irony, or divine intervention, a joke... But AS I WRITE THIS, I'm kicked off the internet... Can't get on the web, receive/send email, use IM! (Check your logs for 9/23-24 around midnight.) So, I'll have to WAIT until I'm pretty sure I can send this message! I'm of course saving all of this to a text file so I can paste it into the next email, which I'm fairly certain will be necessary, and the next, and the next...
Is anyone out there really listening to this?
If so, call me? Use this number, NOT the digital number, because we'll probably be cut off with a dropped call! If I can't take the call, leave a message with YOUR name and private number (no menu options) and, believe me, I WILL call you back.
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