[NCLUG] Cable Horror

Quent quent at pobox.com
Fri Mar 2 17:15:30 MST 2001


All I can say is: Tivo ROCKS!

Fearing Tivo but having satellite TV is like having a car but pushing
it around manually because you're afraid you might get hooked on driving
it if you started the engine :-)

	Quent

On Thu, Mar 01, 2001 at 12:21:30PM -0700, Michael Dwyer wrote:
> ----- 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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