Image Credit: Everett Collection
This week, I almost broke up with my cable company. We had a big fight over a move from Venice, Calif. to Santa Monica, Calif., a distance of all of three miles. The argument was over whether or not my new apartment was Unit B or Unit D. The cable company insisted it was D. I insisted it was B. I thought I might have won the debate when the company sent a workman to Unit B to install a cable TV box, Internet modem, and telephone, but then, just like a cable company, it changed its mind. A few days later, another workman came to the building to snip my wires. When I called to ask why, I was told it was because I was in Unit D, not B, even though I was in point of fact a resident of Unit B. There were screaming matches over the phone (with me doing all of the screaming; the cable company operator mostly listened) and at one point I even threatened divorce and marriage to a competing cable service.
Of course, most people have a love-hate relationship with their cable provider. I adore Time Warner Cable’s free HD (try watching Mad Men in high-def on DirecTV — you can’t), its snazzy looking Motorola DVR boxes, its amazing new iPad app that lets me watch MSNBC in bed. But I hate the way the company screws up my order every single time I move. The last time, they pulled a no-show at my installation appointment and then made me wait a whole week to reschedule. I was so mad, I very nearly took up reading books.
TWC (which is no longer affiliated with EW’s parent company, Time Warner) and I have already reconciled from this latest tiff — yet another workman arrived this morning to reinstate my service — but still. There are moments, while I’m flipping through the channels, when I can’t help but wonder if I’m stuck in an abusive relationship. Why does my cable company have to be such a jerk all the time? I’m curious, Pop Watchers — are any of you involved in unhealthy romances with your cable company? What sort of nightmares are you living through with your providers?
Cable companies are so full of themselves right now. They charge an arm and a leg for services that will soon be obsolete. They will the next version of the landline by the end of the decade.
I have Comcast in my area and I recently had to fight with them to get another promotional rate. They screwed up my bill back in January, but I was able to get credit from Comcast. Comcast charges for an HD box. Cable rates are becoming ridiculous, but most of us need cable to just to be able to get the basic local channels.
A Comcast worker made my mom cry a few months ago when they were installing one of the full service HD/DVR/HBO promotional packages. Everything was promised to her when she signed up and then the guy that came to install was incredibly rude and told her they didn’t have any such order, she was getting a basic box that’s it, tough luck. A supervisor stepped in and told him to give her what she was promised. Then the billed her an extra $200 for the “added installation.” Um no. I took over and we came to an understanding… Still what kind of monsters make old women cry for their own company’s mistakes. Shame on them.
Dump Cable. I’d rather use online services like the TVDevo website which offers streaming and recorded (on-demand) TV shows from around the world, not just locally. Better solution.
You watch MSNBC in bed??
I am currently on hold with TWC, trying to get answers about where a mysterious tech is right now. He came, busted my cable, left. I’ve investigated DirectTV.
We used to be with TimeWarner but we have switched to DirectTV because of the NFL network (hubby is a football nut). If you are thinking of switching to DirectTv just remember that if you need to call a technician to repair your DirectTV connection you are going to be charged for it. We had to call one after just 2 months because we weren’t getting any signal.
Comcast is just the absolute worst. I think divorce is inevitable.
Comcast sucks!! They disconnected my cable/phone/internet due to THEIR billing error, and I was without for 2-3 days. When I noticed none of my services were working I called and they said they’d have someone to me w/in the hr. Yeah right!! Try in a few days.
I argued with them on the phone for 20 minutes and all I got was a lousy $20 credit.
There’s a reason it is known as Crapcast.
I forgot to mention – I used to work at a restaurant and the Comcast guys would eat lunch and linger for 3 hours on a weekly basis. So when they give you a 6 hour window where the technician will be at your house, you know why.
When I moved, Comcast gave me a new account number. They still took my payments under the old account # for 4 months with no issue. Then they didn’t. They took 2 months worth of payments, refunded them, and then said i was overdue and threatened to disconnect me. Their billing sucks. To their credit, they did correct it, eliminated the late charge on my account, and gave me a credit. But their billing is the worst (online sucks too, they can’t register when you make a payment until the end of the month, regardless of when you pay it)
@etm; I have Comcast too. What I’ve found easier, I contact a Comcast Service Rep. on the Internet at 2 or 3 in the morning. They are able to take care of your bill and make changes thru your cable box. If I call the Comcast telephone number, the waiting time can be up to 30 minutes. I agree, Comcast sucks, but they are the only cable service offered in my apartment building. Fios is in my neighborhood, but I don’t think it’s offered in my apartment building.
Thanks for the tip Charles!
RSN is the pits!
I live up in Canada, so different providers, same story. We were getting phone and internet installed. The phone guy finally came a day late but when he was finished informed us that he wasn’t actually the internet technician and he would check into it. Then told us we needed to call the office for some reason. They told us that we couldn’t actually get the service that we had already been told would be installed. After that screaming match they called a couple days later and suddenly they could install it. After waiting a week for someone to show we called back and found that it had been cancelled once again, another screaming match. Finally we got a guy out there and he worked on it for awhile and disappeared without saying anything. I had to call in to their service department once again only to get the password for the wireless router to set it up myself!
Another Canadian here. First we were with Rogers, now we are with Bell, and I hate them both with the blinding fury of a thousand suns. Interestly enough, one of my best friends gave up on TV completely a year ago and now depends entirely on what he can down load FOR FREE. Dude still watches all the same shows and news coverage I do. Discuss.
Wow who was that with? I have Telus and am mostly satisfied. There have been a few glitches but on the whole I’m happy. I was with ShawDirect before but switched because SD’s PVR sucks. And is expensive.
I am a NYC Cablevision customer (with no other option of than DTV) and first it was the Foodtv, HGTV then ABC and finally FOX channel blackout.. Cable is expensive as hell and the customer is such BS.
Amen to that! And have you noticed that Game Show Network is now only available on the “Sports Package” – I don’t recall getting a memo on that little change.
Charter keeps taking away channels too. But in our area they are the only provider because they signed an agreement with the city council. Ripoff.
In NYC can’t you get Verizon FIOS?
I hate, hate, hate Time Warner, but in my area and my apartment building it’s the only option. Yes, most HD channels are free. But I pay for an additional HD tier, and there are STILL HD channels listed in the onscreen guide that I don’t get.
I have that same problem. Stuck with Time Warner. I keep praying that my building gets Fios very soon.
@Biff Bronson; I agree. I have Comcast and I hate them. Fios is offered in my neighborhood, but it’s not offered in my building. I don’t know if they have to have a contract with the property management to be able to install Fios in my building. I only have cable service with Comcast. I kept my Verizon landline service for my telephone. I’ve been with Verizon for over 35 years. During the storm storm in the DC area last January, the Comcast service including the phone lines and Internet service was out for several days. By my having Verizon landline service, I was able to have telephone service. I just didn’t have cable. Cable is too expensive.
I use satellite.
Is there any truth to the cable ads that satellite goes out during storms? We have wondered if that was true. It would be great to cancel cable and get satellite instead.
My parents have satellite and it goes out in some storms.
I had satellite once and yes it did go out during storms, but I loved how many channels I got and the service so much that I didn’t actually mind. When a storm hit I’d just pop in a DVD or read a book.
It does, but compare losing the signal during rain every once in a while to the crappy service provided by cable companies.
I mean, I’m not even in the same country as you (I’m in Mexico) but it’s pretty clear from this article that bad service from cable companies is an international pandemic, heh.
We are in the Bay Area and have not ever had the Dish Network go out during a storm. Comcast is an evil company that screwed up our internet service and billing so badly that nothing on earth would make me ever go back to them.
Due to my television experience I can tell you that Direct Tv lasts longer than Dish Network. Do they both go out? Yeah. But there’s still no chance I’m going back to cable.
I have DirecTV and live in Florida, where, naturally, we get some pretty bad storms. It only went out a few times, however. Just get them to install your dish with the most secure mount they have so it doesn’t waver during high winds, and it should be fine. You will probably experience some lost signal in bad weather, though. However, I’ll never go back to cable. DirecTV is way better (plus I got to watch Friday Night Lights before everyone else did). It is true that AMC is not in HD, for some weird reason, although we have tons of other HD channels.
I have DirecTV and it does go out during storms, but only really bad storms. I would say that last year it only went out 4 or 5 times and each time it was only for 30 minutes or less. All and all DirecTV seems a lot better then cable to me.
I’ve had DirecTV since 2007 (after a bad Comcast experience) and it has never gone out due to a storm. We’re in a drought, so maybe it just hasn’t rained enough?
I’ve had DirecTV for about 2 years now, and I can only recall maybe three times when it went out during storms. And these storms were pretty bad storms. Pros outweigh the cons, in my opinion. I used to have Comcast, and I’m much happier with DirecTV, even if it does go out every once in a long while.
Dish Network does go out during heavy rainstorms. The cost is the primary reason I switched. Lower monthly bill than the cable company and more channels and more HD channels – still lower than cable.
Totally not true! I keep wondering why DirecTV keeps letting cable have ads that make people think they have to go on the roof to adjust the dish!!! It’s absurd. I’ve had DirecTV for 12 years and that never happens. Once the dish is placed it stays there. Once or twice a year I lose picture for a few minutes if a really severe storm is in exactly the right place to block the satellite feed, but friends & family who have cable lose their cable more often for longer periods of time & for no apparent reason, so I’m ok with an occasional few minutes of down time. I’m still investigating free options cause they are both (cable/DirecTV) getting too expensive for me.
I have DirecTV and live in Houston and it is fairly routine for it to go out during storms. Usually it lasts for 10 min or less but then the darn thing has to reboot and that takes another ten minutes. It is not the biggest issue I have with the DirecTV though. My biggest problem is that in order to get any movie channel you basically have to buy a huge package that includes them all. We really only want the regular HBO and Showtime, but have about 10 of each as well as multiple Starz, Encore and all the rest. $165 a month. Crazy.
@Laurie: You can buy the premium channels ala carte… so if you only want 1 or 2, it is probably cheaper. I’m thinking about adding HBO this way.
We dropped Concast ages ago because of poor service (which did include days without cable for no reason), poor customer service, constant billing problems, and just general dissatisfaction in the service we got for the price we had to pay. We’ve had Direct TV for years now and have only had a handful of occasions when the signal has dropped out for storms, and that was before our most recent dish upgrade. I can only think of one time since then that our signal has dropped for more than a second or two.
Time Warner cable is the WORST by far. The cable is out at least 1 once a week and then you may speak with someone in BumF@#K. Explain to me how can a person who is not in the State of California definitively tell you what the Hell is going on? They CAN’T! You can NEVER get a straight answer from TWC if you try, provided that you can get someone to answer the phone…you do know they busy the lines when they’ve screwed up for the millionth time. Anyone that has TWC…run don’t walk to another provider…TWC is just HORRIBLE from the top all the way to the bottom.
After the third day without cable and three calls with techs telling me there was no problem in my area or on my modem, so I would have to wait a week for a repairman, I just so happened to see a truck on my street and I chased him down and he fixed my cable right then! I’m like you, I hate TWC!
new super
I got rid of cable about a year ago and never looked back. You can find everything you want to watch online, most of it for free. Cable is the past. Let’s look to the future!
I haven’t had a TV for a year and I watch what I want on Hulu, or Youtube or Facebook (that’s how I’m watching the current season of American Idol… those guys are tough on copyright stuff and refuse to replay on Fox or Hulu or anywhere. But I’ve been getting by pretty well from the Net.
Does the Facebook page replay the entire episode?
Yes!!! They have all the episodes from this season. They started out on YouTube and it’s in HD with the commercials cut out… but they know how p!ssy they are at Fox and 19 Entertainment so from the beginning they said “If this gets pulled, join our Facebook group. It’s called American Idol Mega Group. Just join and go to all their videos and watch away… they are in sections but you just click “previous” and it takes you to the next section. And they load them pretty darn quick… usually before the next morning. They have saved me this year. I really had wanted to see the new judges and I’m really enjoying this season.
I have DirecTV and I absolutely love it. The customer service is excellent. I’ve never had good customer service from a cable provider, but DirecTV really is fantastic in that regard.
As far as HD goes, the only channel I regularly watch that isn’t available in HD is AMC. So that’s a bit frustrating. But all in all, I’m very happy with DirecTV. The pros far outweigh the cons, at least for me. Plus, I got to watch Friday Night Lights sooner than other people, and I get to watch Damages.
I’m with you. Occasionally, our boxes will need to be reset. We used to call when we were having issues (and they were great on the phone) but we’ve learned to reset before calling – almost always does the trick.
But it is $100/month. That sucks.
We’re stuck with something called Ygnition, which basically re-sells dish network. It’s AWFUL! Especially when it comes to getting our hometown sports teams. We’ve actually contemplated moving to a different apt complex just so we wouldn’t have to go through them.
Cablevision is a horror show. My bro in PA has Comcast, he hates it. Previously I had TWC, hated that too. It’s a can’t win!
Get DirecTV. It’s awesome. Install was easy and cheap with all the promotions they always have. Programming is great. Only bummer is AMC is not in HD, but that’s a small price to pay for not having to deal with cable anymore.
Along with the others, Charter is a nightmare!! About once a month they take another channel off the basic cable tier and move it to the higher priced tier. So far they have taken away TVLand, IFC, Sundance, TVGuide channel, Fox movie channel, and OWN. But the basic price stays the same even though there is fewer channels.
CHARTER SUCKS!!
We have Charter and they are the worst!! They disconnected the service when they “lost” a payment. When I showed them the cancelled check, they “found” the payment suddenly. And why does it cost over $100 a month? They cut, cut, cut channels but never give anything back! As soon as the Fios thing is in our area, I will be changing over.
Careful with Fios. All cable companies are evil but I had a terrible experience with them. They did not give me what I originally agreed to and when I called them out, they would not give me my free HBO but did reduce the rate. Was happy for over a year and then said, Comcast offered me an even better deal (which turned out to be true – shocking) and I said, even with the cancellation fee, I’d like to leave Fios, unless they could match Comcast’s offer. They couldn’t and when I tried to have Comcast port my home number (triple-play on both – yes, I know you don’t need a home number anymore), Fios messed it up and canceled the entire phone account without my authority. I was put in touch with a tech, who called my stupid. I complained. I was told I was not being charged a cancellation fee due to my abuse by them. When they canceled my phone prematurely, they split the account into two account numbers (don’t expect me to explain all of this – I still don’t get it). I was only given access to my original account number and then received a letter, after I was on Comcast, that I owed Verizon over $200 on an account I never saw and they were threatening to send it to a collection agency. I know have a complaint in with them and so far, no resolution of that money I was never meant to owe. Beware.