Problems with Time Warner

[MannyIsGod]

Does anyone here have big issues with Time Warner and their customer service?

I have yet to have their service for a week, and I've spent time on the phone with them everyday trying to get things setup correctly. The only day I haven't spoken with them since Monday was Thursday.

On day one, they brought out the wrong HD box and they failed to bring me the appropriate cables I had requested. They also did not setup the right channels.

On the second day, I made a morning trip out to the sales center and got them to setup the appropriate channels. I also changed out the boxes and got my HD box and HDMI cable. Later, the channels once again stopped working. 2 short calls to customer service and all was well.

Thursday went by without a hiccup.

Yesterday, by the afternoon all of my HD and sports channels no longer worked. Spent one hour on the phone with customer service trying to get them to give me the right channels again. They got the right channels working, but they can't figure out why they are going to charge me more than what I should be charged for the services. At this point I was VERY annoyed because I'm not asking for anything complicated. I just want the digital package with HD and I want to be charged the appropriate amount for it.

Today, come upstairs to watch the game, and I can't due to the box displaying a message that HDMI output is disabled due to copy protection. ON EVERY SINGLE CHANNEL. My TV has HDCP so there shoudln't be any issues here. On the phone with tech support they try everything they can but the guy tells me he has no other options and it may be this way permenantly. Uh, WTF? Yes, I can hookup the TV via analog component cables, but I want those slots open for other devices and I want to use HDMI with my cable service.

I really wish I could get dish here, but there are huge trees just to our south and I'm pretty sure they would block out any signals. I've had less than pleasent history with Grande and technical problems, but that was way back when they first started. I'm very close to eating the installation charges and calling Grande to come install service because being on the phone with Time Warner each and everyday is getting old very quickly.

[Clandestino]

wait for uverse

[MannyIsGod]

Well, yeah I'd like to have Uverse but I'd also like to be able to watch HD programing now. TW also doesn't carry the HD feeds of KABB and MY35 and Grande does. I believe Grande also has ESPN2 in HD, which TW does not. At this point, I feel I made the wrong decision in cable companies and I should have done better research.

[missmyzte]

I've had Time Warner for about a month and am have already talked with the office of the president. I've had mega problems ...
I went online and submitted an e-mail describing my problems, got a call back from a girl at the office of the president and she's been very helpful.
That's my best recommendation.

[MannyIsGod]

The tech's last suggestion was to unplug both the DVR box and TV for a few minutes then try again. That worked. Hopefully Sunday doesn't bring new issues.

Myzte, what kind of issues have you had?

[ashbeeigh]

:td on TW. We have problems all the time with movies on demand and our signal. We aren't all into the HD stuff, but all the Digital Cable channels go in and out periodically. Not to mention it takes a decade to get them out here to fix it.

Unplugging the box seems to work for a while, but we ended up getting new boxes after that stopped woting. If they give you a new one, make sure it is, in fact, a new one. We switched out two and one ended up being a used one someone else had problems with before.

Sorry to hear about all the problems. That's lame.

[missmyzte]

My channel line up was supposed to change on one day, then it didn't change so I called customer service. Was left on hold for an hour, transferred around and received some pretty rude comments from the supervisor. One person told me I couldn't get NBA League Pass, then one person said I could get it but had to wait until the season starts to call, then I was told I couldn't get it, then I was told I couldn't get it until my channel line-up changed ...
You get the idea. It's really ridiculous.

[MannyIsGod]

I take everything a CSR gives me with a grain of salt whenever I call any service center. They rarely know what they are doing. It took every last ounce of will power on the phone last night not to get verbally angry because listening to the CSR telling me things that I knew for a fact were incorrect was really starting to get me pissed off. Then having her supervisor step in and clarify things and explain where the errors were but say they were unable to fix them blew me away.

Hopefully I stop to have problems very soon because if it comes down to eating the install charges I'll just do it and move go Grande.

[angel_luv]

Unplugging the box seems to work for a while, but we ended up getting new boxes after that stopped woting. If they give you a new one, make sure it is, in fact, a new one. We switched out two and one ended up being a used one someone else had problems with before.



I have had the same trouble ( luckily not lately) with my internet connection box.
Last time the tech had to try three of the modems in his truck ( ones that he was carrying around to install into peoples' homes) before he found one that worked.

Hey Manny, maybe Manu can give you a tip on how to best utilize your time warner equipment. :lol

That was so lame. :oops Sorry... I really am that bored. :lol

[timvp]

I've had all the carriers except for U-Verse (which is supposedly having a bunch of problems) and the sad thing is that TW has the best customer service. You have a problem with Dish or DirecTV and the CS is beyond horrible. Grande is decent but still lacks in a lot of areas.

TW's service can suck but if you bother them until everything is working properly, they are that best at handling small issues the come up over time.

[Kori Ellis]

TW's customer service sucks. Twice (in the past) they had appointments to come out here and fix stuff and they just didn't come. Never called or anything.

DirecTV you have to wait a long time on hold, etc. But when you finally get hold of them, I've found them to be more helpful and reliable than TW. But it's not something I can really compare as we've had to call TW a lot more than we've had to call DirecTV.

[01Snake]

Hey Manny....are you having issues when changing to a channel and the screen is just black? Some stations work and some don't? Both my boxes have been doing this lately and its getting on my damn nerves.

[timvp]

TW's customer service sucks. Twice (in the past) they had appointments to come out here and fix stuff and they just didn't come. Never called or anything.

DirecTV you have to wait a long time on hold, etc. But when you finally get hold of them, I've found them to be more helpful and reliable than TW. But it's not something I can really compare as we've had to call TW a lot more than we've had to call DirecTV.

True but when Directv finally does come over they look at it and they say that there's nothing they can do to help. At least TW is good about solving problems when they get to your house.

But yeah this is like comparing would your rather drown or suffocate.

[MannyIsGod]

Hey Manny....are you having issues when changing to a channel and the screen is just black? Some stations work and some don't? Both my boxes have been doing this lately and its getting on my damn nerves.No, the issues I have had before today were simply because they kept screwing up my subscription settings. It would say call blah blah blah for this channel on many of my stations that I was supposed to have.

Then today the screen had a message that said COPY PROTECTION: HDMI OUTPUT DISABLED.

[01Snake]

No, the issues I have had before today were simply because they kept screwing up my subscription settings. It would say call blah blah blah for this channel on many of my stations that I was supposed to have.

Then today the screen had a message that said COPY PROTECTION: HDMI OUTPUT DISABLED.

I see. Looks like Time Warner has gone to crap on us all!

[bendmz]

Hey Manny,
Sorry to hear bout all you difficulties with TW... IT IS PAR FOR THE COURSE !!!
I think the shortest time I've spent on the phone with them is bout 45 minutes. I have removed all the boxes I had and still have problems with their signals... the only reason I have TW is for the RR connection.
Hell amn just be patient..... :pctoss

[Mijo]

I have a newer home and when TW did the initial install, the technician had to bury the cable. Well all he did was pull up the freshly lad sod and place the cable under it. My Golden Retriever found it and chewed it up real good. I was without cable, phone, or interenet for the weekend. The service guy gives me a 4 hour window as to when he shows up. When he gets there he reconnects it but has to schedule a another technician to come back in a few days to bury it. So I just dig a trench myself and bury it. The technician never shows up on the day they promised anyway. A few days later my dog finds the cable on the other side of the yard and proceeds to chew it up as well. I'm pissed but just as I finish throwing my fit the doorbell rings. It's the TW technician, 2 weeks late but nonetheless I send him to the back yard to repair the chewed line and have him bury the entire cable this time. I even provided him with a shovel.

[MannyIsGod]

I have a newer home and when TW did the initial install, the technician had to bury the cable. Well all he did was pull up the freshly lad sod and place the cable under it. My Golden Retriever found it and chewed it up real good. I was without cable, phone, or interenet for the weekend. The service guy gives me a 4 hour window as to when he shows up. When he gets there he reconnects it but has to schedule a another technician to come back in a few days to bury it. So I just dig a trench myself and bury it. The technician never shows up on the day they promised anyway. A few days later my dog finds the cable on the other side of the yard and proceeds to chew it up as well. I'm pissed but just as I finish throwing my fit the doorbell rings. It's the TW technician, 2 weeks late but nonetheless I send him to the back yard to repair the chewed line and have him bury the entire cable this time. I even provided him with a shovel.lol

Has anyone bitched and gotten compensation?

[Zunni]

TW's CS has actually gotten MUCH better than it used to be. I have digital cable, phone, and internet, and have had few problems. I've only been stiffed once on a service call in almost 7 years at my current domicile. Sorry you're having issues with them, Manny.

[missmyzte]

lol

Has anyone bitched and gotten compensation?
Actually, yes. I'm getting a $50 discount on my bill for 3 months. :)

[TheSanityAnnex]

Manny,

Go to Home Depot, buy a chainsaw, and cut those fucking trees down.

[Clandestino]

well, uverse is only availabe in a few areas right now.. supposedly less than 3,000 homes so far. i have had problems, but they say that is why it is only $15 a month for the first 3 months. it is still in its testing phase. i have a lot of hd channels... the cool thing is when techs have come out it has been in two hour windows and they have always been in that timeframe.

[CharlieMac]

I had to show the technician how to install the wireless modem.

That should have said a lot there.

[PM5K]

I've had a lot of experience with their techs, and their customer service and for the most part it's pretty good.

You can certainly get some type of compensation for your trouble, I have in the past many times. If you have to call them again ask to speak to the supervisor, explain how many times you've had to call and for what reasons, tell him that you specifically signed up for TW because of their customer service and that it's been subpar and ask him what he can do about it.

[leemajors]

every time i have had trouble with TW in austin (which hasn't been much and was mostly low bandwidth channel related stuff) they have credited my account for each day i was down. when i moved into my current house we had some issues, but i made them run a new cable line from the pole to my house, then rewire part of the stuff in my attic to remove a signal booster that was giving me bandwidth problems with my digital cable. since then i haven't had a single problem and that was 2 years ago.

[MannyIsGod]

I was reading on the AVS forums that the problem is probably with the HD DVR that TW users. Its the SA 8300, but that just means I'll have the same problems with Grande because I believe they use the same box. It has problems "syncing" the HDCP with the HDMI output and so it ends up throwing on the copy protection and killing the output at times.

If worse comes to worse i'll just go back to component output, but I'd rather use the HDMI and leave my component inputs for something else.

[SequSpur]

directtv has a better picture and is cheaper.

[leemajors]

directtv has a better picture and is cheaper.

not when you have roadrunner and HDTV, they discount. directtv dsl is a joke.

[slayermin]

My On-Demand didn't work so I called customer service and they were able to fix my problem within a few minutes over the phone. They also helped me troubleshoot and correct my email settings. Currently, everything works so I'm happy with their service.

Overall, I would say the transition from Comcast to TW went pretty smooth for me.

[johngateswhiteley]

Does anyone here have big issues with Time Warner and their customer service?

I have yet to have their service for a week, and I've spent time on the phone with them everyday trying to get things setup correctly. The only day I haven't spoken with them since Monday was Thursday.

On day one, they brought out the wrong HD box and they failed to bring me the appropriate cables I had requested. They also did not setup the right channels.

On the second day, I made a morning trip out to the sales center and got them to setup the appropriate channels. I also changed out the boxes and got my HD box and HDMI cable. Later, the channels once again stopped working. 2 short calls to customer service and all was well.

Thursday went by without a hiccup.

Yesterday, by the afternoon all of my HD and sports channels no longer worked. Spent one hour on the phone with customer service trying to get them to give me the right channels again. They got the right channels working, but they can't figure out why they are going to charge me more than what I should be charged for the services. At this point I was VERY annoyed because I'm not asking for anything complicated. I just want the digital package with HD and I want to be charged the appropriate amount for it.

Today, come upstairs to watch the game, and I can't due to the box displaying a message that HDMI output is disabled due to copy protection. ON EVERY SINGLE CHANNEL. My TV has HDCP so there shoudln't be any issues here. On the phone with tech support they try everything they can but the guy tells me he has no other options and it may be this way permenantly. Uh, WTF? Yes, I can hookup the TV via analog component cables, but I want those slots open for other devices and I want to use HDMI with my cable service.

I really wish I could get dish here, but there are huge trees just to our south and I'm pretty sure they would block out any signals. I've had less than pleasent history with Grande and technical problems, but that was way back when they first started. I'm very close to eating the installation charges and calling Grande to come install service because being on the phone with Time Warner each and everyday is getting old very quickly.

i feel your pain, but grande sucks too. its funny cause all the way in Montana Bresnan Communications is pretty good. their internet is light years faster than time warner and they have HD as well. though they don't have as many HD channels yet...but i get free DVR which is nice and free starz and encore movie channels.

[SpursWoman]

I always hear shit about TWC, but have been dealing with them for years and years and years and never had any problems, and if I did they were resolved fairly quickly.

The wait on the phone for customer service can be pretty long, but at least unlike when we had Directv, we know exactly who we're supposed to call. :spin

Hope your issues get resolved. :)

[ToughActinTinactin]

I take everything a CSR gives me with a grain of salt whenever I call any service center. They rarely know what they are doing.

I work as a CSR and I take most of what customers spew with a grain of salt since they THINK they know everything and rarely know what they are talking about and give the incorrrect answers to questions which just makes things harder for me.
Most are nice but then you get idiots who don't know shit but want things fixed quick.

[Clandestino]

i have never worked csr, but can't imagine getting someone like manny on the line! hahaah..

[DirkAB]

TW is the only cable company where I live, so they have kind of a monopoly, the only competition is satellite. I have had a number of problems with TW, and they aren't the most helpful people to work with. You would think that after the number of problems that I've had they would offer me free movies or something to make up for the hassle. TW fucking sucks major ass and is way overpriced.

Congress needs to step in and regulate cable companies a little better because I think that they are getting away with highway robbery. The only way you can get certain services is by paying for other services that you either don't want or don't need, it's bullshit.

[MannyIsGod]

I work as a CSR and I take most of what customers spew with a grain of salt since they THINK they know everything and rarely know what they are talking about and give the incorrrect answers to questions which just makes things harder for me.
Most are nice but then you get idiots who don't know shit but want things fixed quick.I would bet every dime I have that I could call almost any call center in existance, ask 5 different CSRs the same question and get at least 3 different answers. I couldn't care less what a CSR thinks of me as a customer as long as they fix my damn problem.

[Spam]

I love Time Warner!
Sincerely,
Manu

[TheSuckUp]

I'm with Manu. I love Time Warner and have never had any problems when contacting their friendly and courteous customer service department. Each and every time they have corrected the problem while on the phone or sent someone out to address and correct the problems. I have nothing but praise for their service department and attention to providing world class service which is second to none. I applaud their CSR's for having to put up with the likes of Manny know-it-alls on a daily basis and well, I just can't say enough about Time Warner and I would highly recommend their services to anyone.

[ToughActinTinactin]

I would bet every dime I have that I could call almost any call center in existance, ask 5 different CSRs the same question and get at least 3 different answers. I couldn't care less what a CSR thinks of me as a customer as long as they fix my damn problem.

I hear you but in my field there is almost always more than one way to fix an issue to get the same results. Oh, and believe me, I could care less what you think of me either since I've learned not to take things personally since I have no way of knowing if you are a true idiot or not.

[Ballcox]

^ Have had TW for about 4 years now at my house, use them for phone, internet and cable/tv. 4 years in and I really can' complain about anything. Their customer service has been great, they've gotten out to my house quick when there is a problem, and the help over the phone has been good as well. I can't really complain about any of the service I've received from them. In regards to Manny, I do have a friend that has had similar problems with the HDMI, the copyright message that you talked about-he gets the same one at times, but only when he's trying to record something on the DVR, not when he's trying to just watch a channel.

[travis2]

If you call Grande to come out and install...are you going to let them park in your driveway? :D

[JoeChalupa]

Everytime I've had to call customer service at TW I've had no problems at all. Fixed it one call or they came that day or the next and fixed the problems.
Now granted I'm not into all that HD stuff right now but we've got digital phone, internet and digital cables and have had no problems and the CSR's have always been great and friendly.