[NCLUG] Cable Horror

Michael Dwyer mdwyer at sixthdimension.com
Thu Mar 1 12:21:30 MST 2001


----- Original Message -----
From: "Luke Light" <llight at oneimage.com>
> > (Well, there was that time when I had my Cable TV disconnected.... grrr.
> > The cable guy disconnected my modem, then they told me the couldn't
> > reconnect it because 'I wasn't their customer.' I'll share that story
will
> > you all some other time.)
>
> I must say I'd love to hear this story : )

"Lemme 'splain.  No.  Too long.  Lemme sum up."

o Digital cable TV rates go up, I hate the set top box's slow redraw and
annoying ads. I hate that I can't hide the channels I don't subscribe to or
want to view.  I can't killfile the Home Shopping Channel!
o I go shopping.
o DirecTV is cheaper, and I can BLOCK the channels I hate!  I can buy a
receiver with a faster processor!  I have CHOICES again!  I was too cheap to
buy the Tivo version and infinitely increase my choices... mostly because
I'm afraid it would destroy me if there was always something good on TV...
o The receiver box is only $50, and the professional installer (Davcom) does
an INCREDIBLE job - free! (Part of the package)  Monthly service is still
cheaper, even after I add the $6 local channels package and the Starz
channels.
o TV Bliss!
o I bundle up the digital cable box, and take it to the AT&T office.
o "Here. I want to cancel my service. BUT I want to keep my cable modem."
  "Oh, don't worry.  They wouldn't disconnect you."
  "You're sure, now?"
  "Oh, no.  That would never happen."
As I walk out the door, I *know* something bad is going to happen.  I can't
help remembering this story:
http://www.geocities.com/flutocracy/cablemodem.htm
http://slashdot.org/articles/99/04/26/1229227.shtml
o 48 hours of bliss
o Cable modem is dead.
o I call TCI "I'm sorry, sir. We can't help you.  You aren't a customer."
  "But YOU wrongly disconnected it, YOU can fix it!"
o I call @Home.  They are happy to come out and fix it.  But it will take 7
days before someone can be out.
o I call TCI again.
"So, you can disconnect it in 48 hours, but you are unwilling to fix your
mistake?"
"You need an @Home technician to reconnect your service."
"It didn't take an @Home tech to disconnect my service!  Your techs are
perfectly capable of fixing this."  They aren't budging.  I'm not their
customer, and they don't make mistakes, apparently.
o I fume for 7 days.  Nearly go crazy from lack of bandwidth. (Its sad, I
know...)
o While fuming, I write letters and make phone calls.  Public Utilities
Commission, Better Business Bureau, AT&T, @Home.
o PUC Doesn't deal with broadband service. Sorry.  I ask that they remember
events like this when AT&T comes back wanting to provide home telephone
service, like they tell you in their commercials.
o BBB is interested. I think they love stuff like this.
o AT&T doesn't want to talk to me. I'm not their customer.
o @Home is really nice to me, but they can't really send the installer any
sooner than 7 days.

> >--- "AT&T @Home Customer Care" <customer.care at tci.com> wrote:
> > > To solve your problem we will need to send some one out to fix the
> > > problem with the line. but I can not book some one to come out using
> > > email. So please call 1-888-262-6300 and we can book some one to come
> > >
> > Someone is already booked to check on the line... They are due
> > Wednesday. Can you move that up any?  Or how about a whole lotta
> > refunds for the time spent offline?  Could you maybe tie the person
> > responsible to a tree so I can hit them a couple of times?  I mean,
> > really...  make this worth the aggravation caused me.  Its really
> > tough to suggest cable modems to my users when I have had such a
> > dismal experience with them.
>
> I sincerely apologize for the unpleasant experience you had recently
> with our AT&T @Home service and I thank you for writing to us.  We need
> to hear about any unsatisfactory situations in order to correct them
> and to enhance our level of customer service.
>
> I have forwarded your comments to the appropriate members of our
> development and management teams for further review and action.  We
> sincerely appreciate that you took time from your busy schedule to help
> us keep our commitment to quality customer care. You are a valued
> customer and we appreciate your business.
>
> We apologize for any problems this may have caused you,

o Installer shows up, reconnects the cable, I'm back on line. I had to take
the morning off work to wait for him. He glanced at our setup, went straight
to the box and plugged it in.  I don't think it even took five minutes, and
he never actually had to see the inside of my house.  I'm still thinking,
"Why the hell couldn't an AT&T tech been out in 48 hours to do this?!"
o Yay! I gorge on a weeks worth of on-line comic strips, and pull down a
copy of NetBSD for SPARC.  Ahhhhhh. Baaaaandwidth.
o Happy for a couple days.
o Letter arrives from AT&T via BBB.  AT&T thinks I don't have a complaint,
since not only am I not their customer now, I wasn't their customer when the
problem happened.

Okay, break for a story.  When you live in a house with a bunch of people,
it is often a good idea to have a trustee of sorts who manages all the
bills.  This person was Matt.  Matt moved out of the house, and tried to get
the bills transfered to me.  He was successful in everything EXCEPT the
cable bills.  AT&T wouldn't transfer the account.  (I had a couple problems
with Qwest, but they /were/ able to finally resolve it.)

o I send letter back. "I wasn't going to mention it, but since you brought
it up, that's another complaint I have.  Why can't you transfer billing?!
Anyway, Matt is the person on the account, but the complaint is from me."
o Still haven't heard back from them.

I'm very happy with the DirecTV service.  I could do without the sales calls
("Wanna upgrade to Total Choice Supreme with Cheese and get 41 new
channels?")  I'm still ambivalent with @Home. Their AUP sucks, the bandwidth
cap sucks, but its the only choice I have right now, and they have been
'nice' to me.  Its not that bad of a choice, really.
But I would strongly recommend that you leave AT&T for your cable TV.  The
DSS solution is so much better in so many ways -- price, selection, service.
The only channels I can't get are UPN and WB.  I haven't missed them yet.
(Not a huge Buffy fan. I think I can get that from WGN anyway.)




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