It's no secret to those who know me that I've been having some issues with my cable service lately. pretty much everything came to a head this weekend. It's a long story, and I think it's best explained by the letter I ended up sending off to TWC's important types Saturday:

On August 8^th, I contacted Time Warner cables repair line due to issues I was having with my digital cable reception. My cable box was experiencing a wide range of problems, including power cycling, shutting itself off, and pixilation. After 45 minutes of fighting with the box, I contacted support and scheduled a repair visit. Due to my work schedule I required an appointment after 5PM. I was told that the only available timeslot for after 5PM was on august 17^th. Working in the technical repair field for a large company, I understand and accept that techs need to be booked in advance; I had no problem with a 2-week wait for repair.

As the 17^th neared, I made sure that not only myself, but also two other individuals would be available and on premises at my home. Most of the evening we spent hanging out watching for the cable repair truck. After the repair timeframe came and went I contacted TWC support again, and spoke to a representative who informed me that the repair was listed as being complete. I informed her that no one had shown up for the repair, and I had never even received a call from the technician. The individual said that she would check with her supervisor, and call me back within an hour with a solution. I never received a call.

At 10:30PM, an hour and a half after my initial call, I contacted customer service again, looking for answers. Again I was told that the technician had been to my house, but no one was home. I was placed on hold while the CS rep spoke with her supervisor. During this hold time, I was disconnected.

Not wanting to sit on hold for another hour waiting to get back to customer service (I had called back, that was the wait time) I decided to contact support again this morning.

At 9:40AM I spoke with another customer service representative, who when informed of my situation checked the records and told me that the reason my call was closed is because the repair technician was unable to contact anyone. I’m surprised that no one even bothered to drive by the house to see if someone was available. The entire evening there were multiple cars in the driveway, lights on, doors open and people milling around the yard, etc. A simple look would have determined someone was home. Barring that, a phone call would have confirmed that fact.

The representative was unable to find any available installation times earlier than august 28^th, almost a full 3 weeks after my initial problems. On top of that, it’s over a full week AFTER a technician that never showed up should have resolved my problem. A credit was made to my account to cover the time without service, but that does not explain the disparity of service I am receiving.

When I contacted TWC to upgrade my package to digital service, someone was here to install it literally the very next day, but when I contact someone for repairs to the exact same service, I’m told I have to wait 3 weeks, after spending hours on a phone trying to get some kind of help. On top of that, what assurance do I have that someone will show up on the 28^th? At this point I feel like I am being punished for a problem that isn’t mine. When I placed a repair call for the 17^th, between 6 and 8PM, I upheld my end of the deal. Someone (multiple someone’s) were at the house, waiting for a TWC repairman that never showed up, effectively wasting an evening of my time. To add insult to injury, the initial CSR I spoke with that evening who claimed they would “Call me back in the next hour with a solution” completely failed to follow through. All the CSR's I spoke with maintain that the tech visited my premisis, which is a blatant lie, and others aside from myself will swear to that. The real kicker, I suppose, is that at this point, nearly 50% of the time I have had digital service it has not been functioning, I have to wonder if this ratio is considered to be acceptable, as there seems to be no hurry to fix the problem. The only thing that could make this situation acceptable is to have my cable fixed yesterday, but as that is impossible, getting it repaired in the next few days, a written apology, and credit to my account that accurately reflects the amount of time and effort I have had to put into getting this resolved would be sufficient.

I look forward to your prompt response.


Sounds fun, huh. I'll let you know how things turn out.