F$%^ You, Time Warner Cable
- Thread starter zenter
- Start date
Ha, yeah it eventually stopped on its own. They said it was a software upgrade and I needed to reboot, even though rebooting did nothing. A few weeks later it just stopped.
So I just had to sign up for a whole new plan that requires new boxes and a new modem. It includes a bunch of crap I don't want like Showtime and Starz but because of their packages it would cost more to just keep what I have. I'll lose everything I have recorded and have to reprogram all of my series. Such a pain in the ass. And I have to do all of this by April 30 or I'll start getting charged like $230 for my current services. I'll never understand this company.
So I just had to sign up for a whole new plan that requires new boxes and a new modem. It includes a bunch of crap I don't want like Showtime and Starz but because of their packages it would cost more to just keep what I have. I'll lose everything I have recorded and have to reprogram all of my series. Such a pain in the ass. And I have to do all of this by April 30 or I'll start getting charged like $230 for my current services. I'll never understand this company.
All I get from TWC now is Internet. Cut the cord over a year ago and don't regret it for a minute. Watch all of our programming on a Roku (using Netflix and HBO GO) and listen to the Red Sox using the Gameday Audio portion of my MLB At Bat subscription. For $20/season, it is worth every penny. It stinks missing out on the Celtics, but I sleep a lot better knowing that I pay $91.99 for TV & Internet and $30/year for my phone (using MagicJack).
Did they say what it is you're getting as replacement boxes?glennhoffmania said:
Also, it's not just TWC that's doing this. My TV+Internet monthly bill from DirecTV+Centurylink went from $159 to $267 last week as my 2 year promotion expired. Comcast is coming today and my total for WAY faster Internet (20Mbps DSL to 105Mbps cable) and many more channels including premiums will be $109. So I'm actually beating the price of a cord cutter with the luxury of not cutting the cord. Cord cutters are an odd group to me. Spend $10 ten times is not less than spending $90 but lots of cord cutters don't seem to mind.
Oddly, the Comcast deal comes with an X1 DVR box that I don't have any need for (all TiVo for me) but that I have to take in order to get the deal. It's going to sit in a closet doing nothing for 2 years, just because the package says it has to. It also took a few phone calls and being placed on hold a couple of times to get someone to understand that I need a cable card for TiVo and have my own cable modem already.
jercra said:
No she didn't have details on the equipment. All I know is I'm going from two DVR boxes to the whole house DVR with a lot more capacity and the ability to record 6 shows at once instead of 2. That part is great but it means I can't pause/rewind live shows on the second tv. The modem is being upgraded to up to 200 mb. I got the Sports Pass thrown in for like $1.50 per month instead of $9 per month. And I went from HBO/Max to every movie channel they have.
My internet speed with turbo right now is fine so I don't give a shit about the new modem. The only movie channel I care about is HBO. And I used to buy the Sports Pass for the 4 months of football season so this is a slight improvement. So most of this is pretty useless to me except for the fact that my bill only went up a small amount instead of about a 20% jump to keep the stuff I currently have. If I had the option of getting DirecTV I'd switch in a heartbeat.
The premium channels? Absolutely not. I'd rather not have them. I asked her to take them off and the price went up.
The basic channels? Yeah I like having shit like TNT, TBS, USA, History Channel, NY1, etc.
This experience made me decide to start looking into cutting the cord though. I'm not very educated about the options and some things we can't go without, like my daughter loves the on demand kids shows and I really prefer EI to mlb.tv.
The basic channels? Yeah I like having shit like TNT, TBS, USA, History Channel, NY1, etc.
This experience made me decide to start looking into cutting the cord though. I'm not very educated about the options and some things we can't go without, like my daughter loves the on demand kids shows and I really prefer EI to mlb.tv.
When do you get the new gear? You may be getting more than just new gear. You may be getting a whole new guide and experience. I'd be curious to know when the change happens.glennhoffmania said:
Another thing about cord cutting that I don't understand is the willingness to give up on the DVR/Ad skipping. I don't think I could watch sports if I had to watch all of the commercials. It's possible with mlb.tv but it's drastically more difficult to skip just the commercials compared to a DVR. It's also always going to be less responsive going out to the network than direct on the box. To me it's just a much worse experience. Other OTT services like Amazon want you to pay for HD versions and new seasons, even with Prime. Netflix is commercial free but the content is all either their original stuff or old. Hulu is pay AND has commercials. Even Youtube makes you watch ads.
The bolded is confusing to me. Why would getting extra things that lowers your bill be a negative? A lot of new cars come with 6 months of free Sirius/XM. I've never heard of anyone saying that they wish they could get the car without the free trial. This is just a free trial to try to get you hooked on Showtime, Starz, etc. just like you are on HBO. There's just something about cable I guess.glennhoffmania said:
jercra said:
I agree. Groupon exists as a business model because it tries to offer people a cheap, introductory price to get people in the door. Those cable deals are the exact same thing. If you want to quit TWC, do it. But to complain that your bill is going up precisely because your trial is over seems pretty sad.
jercra said:
It's not a huge deal, but I think we watch enough tv as is it. So I'd rather not be tempted and I don't see the need for 40 movie channels or whatever. But my main reason is that I assumed that with less service I'd pay less, so I asked her to run the numbers without the premiums and then maybe I'd save $20 a month or something. When she said it wouldn't save me anything then keeping them was a no brainer. I guess what I meant to say earlier was I'd rather have less service for lower fees if that was an option. Basic cable plus EI and Red Zone would be enough for me.
jercra said:
They're coming next week. I'll let you know how different it is after I get a chance to check everything out. I'm really curious to see how much we'll notice the faster modem.
The GOOD NEWS:
According to many reports/leaks Comcast will announce it's walking away from the merger deal with Time Warner as early as tomorrow. After discussions with the Feds yesterday it seems clear to them that the merger will be deemed too anti-competitive and there is no simple package of tradeoffs and divestments that will change their position to oppose the merger.
The BAD NEWS:
If you currently are stuck with Comcast or Time Warner... you're still stuck with them.
and if/when a Republican is back in the White House, you can be reasonably sure there will be another attempt.
Edit. Now confirmed, Comcast throws in the towel.....
According to many reports/leaks Comcast will announce it's walking away from the merger deal with Time Warner as early as tomorrow. After discussions with the Feds yesterday it seems clear to them that the merger will be deemed too anti-competitive and there is no simple package of tradeoffs and divestments that will change their position to oppose the merger.
The BAD NEWS:
If you currently are stuck with Comcast or Time Warner... you're still stuck with them.
and if/when a Republican is back in the White House, you can be reasonably sure there will be another attempt.
Edit. Now confirmed, Comcast throws in the towel.....
The owner/CEO's politics are largely irrelevant to the fact that Republican administrations are generally either less likely to assert regulatory control over the free market or less willing to prevent abuses of monopoly power (depending on which side of the fence you're standing on) than Democratic ones.threecy said:
(To take one of the more prominent cases, Bill Gates is a heavier Democratic donor than Republican, but the Clinton administrations was more vigorous pursuing antitrust cases against Microsoft than the incoming Bush administration.)
and now we have a new hot rumor....apparently Time Warner is looking like Bambi's mom: everyone sees them as dead meat. If 1+2 is too monopolistic... let's try 2+3...as Charter will take a run at a merger...sigh
jercra said:
Got the new stuff yesterday. The tech didn't bring a new modem and claimed that our modem is fine, even though the work order said to install a new modem. I honestly don't see any difference in speed and my speed tests confirmed that.
For the tv, the guide and interface are identical. Of course, I've had some glitches already and had to spend time on the phone last night trying to get them fixed. On one tv, the banner with the info showed up in the middle of the screen instead of at the bottom. The rep said the tech should've checked it out before he left. I agreed. Rebooting fixed it. On the other tv, channels 1-31 were missing this morning. By missing I don't mean they wouldn't come in. I mean if you hit 1 nothing would happen. If you hit channel down it went from 32 to 9999. I rebooted and they came back.
So all in all I'd say it was a relatively painless transition but I'm not seeing any additional benefit yet.
TWC has sold to Charter Communications. I suppose it could theoretically get worse but I'm hoping it will be better.
As if there was ever a doubt: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/06/time-warner-actually-statistically-the-worst.html
My whole house DVR wasn't working. I could only watch shit on the main box. So they sent a tech out to swap out the other box. While he was here he said that my modem should be upgraded because it's too old. This is after the previous guy less than 2 months ago said I had the most up to date modem. Fine, he swaps it out. Now my wifi password won't work and I've been on the phone with them for 40 minutes trying to resolve it.
Worst company ever in the history of companies.
Worst company ever in the history of companies.
Also as I'm waiting for my appointment this morning I got three auto calls within 20 minutes asking if I still wanted him to come, and if I didn't go through the prompts they'd assume I was all set and it would be canceled. So I called them to tell them I need him to come and to please stop calling to ask me. She replied, that's how the system works, I know it's annoying but there's nothing I can do.
glennhoffmania said:
I'm pretty sure cable signal actually does, just not in the way you are joking about.
glennhoffmania said:
That sounds like an overtaxed work force that is looking for ways to lighten the load and allow their techs to focus on the bigger problems that are out there. That sucks. Both for you as a customer, and for the techs who are probably being run into the ground trying to keep up.
I feel your pain. I went through the same crap a few months ago. They did everything possible to not come. They even canceled once without telling me and were genuinely surprised when I had to re-book them. Terrible terrible company.glennhoffmania said:
Snodgrass'Muff said:
That would be a reasonable explanation except that I made the appointment the day before and the tech was available all day. I had my pick of time slots. So at least in this case he certainly wasn't overworked. I think it's simply that it's a horrendous company that can't get their own systems to work. The robocall generator doesn't realize that it just called five minutes earlier.
Not for nothing, but having an open choice of time slots doesn't mean "your tech" was available all day. Its not like theyre looking at one guys specific schedule when they book your appointment, they just book em and then route accordingly.glennhoffmania said:
Plus, most cable companies use contractor companies to supplement their work force and have no problem dropping jobs on them with no regard for how packed their day is, then penalizing them for either being late, or having to rush and not being perfect. Cable guy is an incredibly thankless job. I feel bad for techs in general (I used to be one), even though I dislike most of the companies.
Good points. I made assumptions that obviously weren't fair. I thought, for example, that a guy would be covering a certain neighborhood to be more efficient and since I could pick any slot I wanted that meant there weren't many appointments in my area.
But the most important thing is that TWC really sucks and if my building ever allows DTV I'm switching on day one.
But the most important thing is that TWC really sucks and if my building ever allows DTV I'm switching on day one.
glennhoffmania said:
Yeah, TWC is the worst cable company I've ever had to deal with. Optimum is run by a bunch of saints in comparison.
This thread (and others on the internet) have convinced me to never move anywhere, or even consider anywhere until I know what cable companies are available to me. Between TWC and the Comcast stories I get from my mother, it's COX or FiOS for me.
Brand new modem isn't working. When I was plugged in last night I was getting speeds of under 1mb. On wifi the signal is "poor" if you walk more than 20 feet away from the thing. I'm sure another service call is in my future.
we just got time warner business class for the office. $449/month plus a $200 installation. 300 down, a whole 20 up. really pathetic up. but that's all we could get in our building, so...
installation happens. we test the speed. get 20 down, 20 up. something obviously isn't right. call time warner. they schedule a tech. tech doesn't show during time slot. we call to ask what happened. they tell us there were emergency outages in the area. so we spent half a day waiting in our not yet opened office, when they couldn't as much as tell us the tech was never going to show. fast forward, we leave. tech shows up. we get a call from time warner telling us that everything's fixed and that the initial installation was wired incorrectly (however that happens?).
fast forward our first day in the office. it's still fucked. 20 down, and it's cutting out for our employees. obviously a problem. time warner doesn't know what the issue is, says it's a building issue and we'd just have to deal with it. instead, we order this from amazon: http://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Nighthawk-AC1900-Gigabit-Router/dp/B00F0DD0I6
the router shows up two days later. we're now getting 320 down.
installation happens. we test the speed. get 20 down, 20 up. something obviously isn't right. call time warner. they schedule a tech. tech doesn't show during time slot. we call to ask what happened. they tell us there were emergency outages in the area. so we spent half a day waiting in our not yet opened office, when they couldn't as much as tell us the tech was never going to show. fast forward, we leave. tech shows up. we get a call from time warner telling us that everything's fixed and that the initial installation was wired incorrectly (however that happens?).
fast forward our first day in the office. it's still fucked. 20 down, and it's cutting out for our employees. obviously a problem. time warner doesn't know what the issue is, says it's a building issue and we'd just have to deal with it. instead, we order this from amazon: http://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Nighthawk-AC1900-Gigabit-Router/dp/B00F0DD0I6
the router shows up two days later. we're now getting 320 down.
Yeah the best part about their 300 down plan is that whenever you ask about it they say it's "up to 300" but you can't always expect 300. So when I tested at about 50 they said that was reasonable. When I asked why, if I'm only going to get 50, I should be paying extra for a 300 plan or a 200 plan over the 100 plan I got no comprehensible answer.
Using Time Warner's own router is a mistake. Time Warner offered me 300 down and I'm getting, consistently, 300 down with a Linksys router.
If you use a Time Warner wi-fi router, by default don't they enable their wi-fi hotspot access for people in the area? I'm not sure about the tech side of it, but I wonder if the TW equipment they provide automatically downshifts itself to wireless G or even B due to others in the area with those protocols only trying to connect to it (intentionally connect or simply pinging it automatically), thereby limiting its max output due to the lowest common denominator effect.
Using TW own routers is generally to be avoided, also remember, if you have been cajoled/maneuvered/ reluctantly talked into one of their bundles that includes VOIP telephone, you need their modem for that, which they will provide free of charge, while you use your own better device for data and wireless.
SNL's Colin Jost, also not a fan.
LINK: http://www.mediaite.com/online/snls-colin-jost-goes-on-epic-twitter-rant-against-time-warner-cable/
LINK: http://www.mediaite.com/online/snls-colin-jost-goes-on-epic-twitter-rant-against-time-warner-cable/
TW have become expert at understanding how much leverage they have depending upon your location. In places where you have real non-sat based options for cable and Internet, they can and will compete on price, especially if you makes lots of noise to the Retention Dept. In places like where I live (rural SW NH) where there are no such options....not so much.
Having received a TW letter telling me that my 'current promotional' rates were ending next month....As far as i knew the last decent promotional rate ended 3-4 years ago and I've watched my bill go from $107 to $172 with basically the same services (except Internet speeds have bumped up a bit). So just for giggles I called and got to a sympathetic rep who admitted only Retention had the best deals, but 'let's see what I can do for you' and proceeded to vary codes and options for 20 mins, at the end of which he proposed actually adding a dvr, another premium service I had no interest in (Starz) and, of course the obligatory VOIP telephone service...all for... $42 MORE than what I'm already paying. I opined that he really didn't seem to grasp why I had called and perhaps it was time I spoke to Retention.
Retention gets me a very bored lady script reader who long ago stopped actually reading the words but chants the script in a high speed phonetic rendition and any interruption by the person at the other end is met with the same exasperation you'd expect if you interrupted Celine mid act at Caesars. After determining where I'm located and asking a bunch of weirdly tangential questions, she fiddles on computer for 10 mins then offers me my current package for..... $9 less.
Having received a TW letter telling me that my 'current promotional' rates were ending next month....As far as i knew the last decent promotional rate ended 3-4 years ago and I've watched my bill go from $107 to $172 with basically the same services (except Internet speeds have bumped up a bit). So just for giggles I called and got to a sympathetic rep who admitted only Retention had the best deals, but 'let's see what I can do for you' and proceeded to vary codes and options for 20 mins, at the end of which he proposed actually adding a dvr, another premium service I had no interest in (Starz) and, of course the obligatory VOIP telephone service...all for... $42 MORE than what I'm already paying. I opined that he really didn't seem to grasp why I had called and perhaps it was time I spoke to Retention.
Retention gets me a very bored lady script reader who long ago stopped actually reading the words but chants the script in a high speed phonetic rendition and any interruption by the person at the other end is met with the same exasperation you'd expect if you interrupted Celine mid act at Caesars. After determining where I'm located and asking a bunch of weirdly tangential questions, she fiddles on computer for 10 mins then offers me my current package for..... $9 less.
Last night as I began watching the game via MLBtv the buffering began immediately...again. I called TW tech and requested they check the signal strength and change the channel if necessary. She changed the channel which resolved the issue. I requested she educate me on how to change the channel myself, I now have access to "Residential Gateway Configuration Wireless Page" which allows me to change the channel on my router at anytime. She couldn't have been more helpful.
Perhaps all the negative comments about TW's customer service has gotten through to someone or, i just got lucky...I tend to think it's the latter.
Perhaps all the negative comments about TW's customer service has gotten through to someone or, i just got lucky...I tend to think it's the latter.
I've never seen a cable/ADSL/FIOS service that didn't give the user access to their wireless router admin. You need it to set up port access for gaming, tunneling for inbound connection (so that you can access your home computers remotely), configure security settings, setwifi passwords and options, etc.ifmanis5 said:
From a hard-wired (ethernet cable) machine, go to: http://192.168.0.1
Your username/password should be in the card that the tech gave you at install time. Sometimes the default password's on a sticker on the bottom of your router. http://www.timewarnercable.com/en/support/faqs/faqs-internet/homewifi/how-do-i-change-my-wifi-settings1.html has common defaults.
Oh, so this was a link to your personal router? Sure, I know about those. I was thinking you were talking about a secret backdoor Time Warner page.
You do indeed need a Roku but the Roku will be given to you for free. It's also not a restricted device in any way. It's basically the TWCTV app for people without a STB.