Thursday 13 -- 4/19/07

Good morning everyone and welcome to another edition of the Thursday 13 -- Last week, sorry I missed that one but it could not be avoided...my Cable provider and I were at odds over a charge that appeared on my bill...so I questioned it...told them I wasnt going to pay it, so they turned off my internet (let me keep the cable but cancelled my internet!!) ANYWAY, after 3½ days it was finally resolved, but by then it was Friday afternoon....and I just figured to wait until this week to discuss the 13 things I REALLY hate about Time-Warner Cable:

1. Customer Service -- it is ATROCIOUS!!! They have so little in the way of customer service I still cannot believe they are an multi-million dollar company
2. THEY ARE A MONOPOLY!! Look up monopoly in the dictionary - it says SEE TIME-WARNER CABLE. Regardless of what they say, if my choices for cable are THEM and that is it, they are a monopoly!
3. Rates -- 2nd highest in the nation for basic service. Another reason I cannot stand this god-forsaken state (4th highest fuel cost ranks right up there with this one).
4. HBO -- In order to get HBO you have to upgrade to Digital Cable and get a box- two things I DO NOT want to do. WHY? Well, since I use one cable outlet for my TV and one cable outlet for my computer, I will get charged for two digital service connections --- even though I have no plans of moving my home theater, couches, and everything else, into the nittle nook in my dining room area where my computer is...its about $2 a month, but its still a crock! and I WILL NOT have a box - I HATE cable boxes!!
5. Incidental charges -- they cant explain why I was charged for them, but they INSIST I am responsible for paying them. I explain if you cant tell me what they are for, I am not paying them....hence the circle of life.
6. Lack of listening skills -- Last week, I had a CSR on the phone and when I wasnt getting the satifaction (or attention) I thought I deserved in reference to #5, I requested to speak to his supervisor. After about 4 minutes of really cheezy musak (wasnt even the good stuff!) he comes back on the line and states "My supervisor states that the incidental charges are your responsibility so they need to be paid in order to get your internet restored"....maybe I wasnt clear enough when I asked that I speak to his supervisor, NOT that he speak to his supervisor FOR me...now my blood pressure is about 400 over 350 and climbing by the syllable out of this guy's mouth! Now I should have prefaced this by saying that I work in the customer service arena...and no, it is not my practice to ask for a supervisor right away...HOWEVER, if I feel that I have not been given the attention or service I think I deserve, then you betcha! I will ask for one :)
7. Conglomerates -- I hate uber-super-conglomerate companies -- you are just a number -- nuff said there. See #1
8. Competition -- the only way to get high-speed internet without going through cable is to go through AT&T (which used to be SBC, which used to be Ameritech after it broke off from AT&T after de-regulation in 1986)....interesting -- the same company they made break up is back together again -- and OH, you cant get internet without getting a phone service. I have a cellphone - I dont need another phone...but since you are forcing me to get a phone to get internet, how much is it you ask?? Least expensive plan NOT including internet is $38.79 + tax and tip every month...no frills - just a dialtone. Add to that the internet makes it over $90 a month...what a rip! and it is still only 1/3 as fast as my cable.
9. A-la-carte -- it doesnt exist unless you get a cable box -- and then, if you have over a certain number of channels, they charge you more to just get the channels you want than if you just got the package with all the crap you will NEVER watch. I am sorry, but I dont need 6 shopping channels on just my basic service. NHL is on the Vs Network this year (not part of it) andNascar has a couple races on SPEED Channel (again, not part of my package)...
10. Oh! Network -- Now let's see - I get Lifetime, Lifetime Movies, Lifetime Women's Network, and the Oh! Channel....Oh! golly why wont you just give me the channels ***I*** want to see! Sorry but I dont need to see the same crap I try to avoid on regular TV that is rerun on Oh!
11. When I had Dish Network, I had my local channels, but for an additional $5 a month I could add a national market to my dish...I liked having Milwaukee or Dallas or a National CBS/NBC/ABC etc --- I got good national news that way....cant do that with cable.
12. Why is it if I am on ESPN and I am watching a show, and a commercial comes on, the commercial is 10x louder than the show? And if I change the channel, the next channel is either softer or louder than the prev channel? The sound sometimes, to me, has some serious issues.
13. I just dont like how smug they are -- like losing me is no big deal - well 1 person tells 10 people about this little episode, if on 20& of those people tell 10 more of their friends, in just a little while, my one experience just got passed to over 200 poeple. I bet they would notice a mass exodus of 200 people.

I hope all of you are doing well. I hope to have a comment's blog up sometime soon :) Until then, be safe and enjoy!

J-Dawg

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