As a Time Warner Cable customer, I've experienced rather annoying issues with the Scientific Atlanta 8300HDC digital video recorder (DVR). I've been forced to replace it on several occasions. Other times, it would simply stop working, requiring me to unplug it from the wall to reboot.
It had become such a problem that I finally decided I'd had enough last week and that I'd ditch Time Warner Cable's HD DVR for a TiVo HD. For $239.99 at Best Buy (the company was offering it on sale--the TiVo HD usually retails for $299.99), it was a great deal. I also paid $129 to get one full year of TiVo service.
My new toy.
(Credit: TiVo)With the TiVo HD in hand last Monday, I was ready to enjoy my new toy. I contacted Time Warner Cable to get all the details I needed to get set up.
Training anyone?
When I called Time Warner Cable last Monday, I was extremely displeased by the company's customer service. No one quite understood what I was talking about when I told them that I wanted to switch from my HD DVR to the TiVo HD. I asked them what the set-up process was. I wanted to know if I lost any channels.
After waiting for about five minutes for the customer-service representative to find information on the TiVo ("Sorry, we don't get many of these requests," she told me), she finally read to me, verbatim, what it said on her sheet.
According to the technician, I would need to have a multichannel CableCARD installed to get my programming. Unfortunately, I would lose several channels even with the CableCARD. I was told by the agent that I would need a Switched Digital Video adapter in addition to the CableCARD to retrieve those channels. An SDV adapter is basically a black set-top box that connects to the TiVo HD, allowing you to watch switched digital video channels. It's a fancy term for saying that Time Warner Cable is trying to save bandwidth.
Somewhat satisfied by the information, I told the agent that I wanted to schedule an appointment for a Time Warner Cable technician to come to my house and install both the CableCARD (you're not allowed to install it yourself) and the SDV adapter. No luck. The agent told me that I would first need to go to the Time Warner Cable Web site and fill out an online form. Upon doing so, I was put in line to receive an SDV adapter.
... Read moreI remember a time in business when we were told that the customer is always right. Sure, they may not have the greatest grip on the reality of the situation and they may misunderstand things every now and then, but when it's all said and done, they're supposed to be happy.
But in today's world of lawsuits and overzealous attorneys, it's quite apparent that ISPs couldn't care less about customer happiness and would rather perform acts that are suspect, to say the least.
Case in point: The FCC said on Wednesday that Comcast illegally interfered with file-sharing activities on its service and by slowing down BitTorrent traffic, failed to act within the auspices of the law and its agreement with customers.
"Our network management practices were reasonable, wholly consistent with industry practices and . . . we did not block access to Web sites or online applications, including peer-to-peer services," Sena Fitzmaurice, a spokeswoman for Comcast told the Washington Post.
But were the company's practices reasonable? That's debatable. But one thing is abundantly clear: ISPs have lost all value in customer relationships and over the past few years, have shown their severe distaste for consumers.
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It's time for Jerry Yang to step aside. I know Jerry probably doesn't want to hear that and it's difficult for the Yahoo faithful to come to that realization, but there isn't any other option available to him.
In the past 24 hours alone, we've discovered that Microsoft and Carl Icahn have been chatting it up on numerous occasions; both Ballmer and Icahn want Yang gone; and Icahn is a firm believer that the only way to fix Yahoo is to sell it Microsoft. All the while, we haven't heard anything from Jerry Yang and company and the employees are left wondering what's happening to their employer.
Of course, the answer is quite simple: it's being torn apart by a greedy and jealous CEO who looks like he has no regard for his shareholders, while another force, Carl Icahn, is showing his own greed and trying desperately to get out from under this albatross with some sort of financial gain.
But in the end, the writing on the wall is suddenly so clear: Yahoo needs to go to Microsoft as soon as possible and Jerry Yang and the rest of his cronies on the board need to be ousted just as quickly. And whether he wants to believe it or not, it better happen before the August 1 board meeting.
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In a move that shows how deplorable cable and phone companies truly are, Time Warner Cable will soon start testing metered Internet access in an attempt to curb use of its services.
According to CNET News.com's Jonathan Skillings, "In a test of metered Internet access that's set to begin Thursday, subscribers who go over their limit for uploading and downloading material will be charged $1 per gigabyte."
"The tiered pricing will work this way, for the Internet portion of subscription packages that also include phone or video use: At the low end, users will pay $29.95 per month for service at a speed of 768 kilobits per second, with a 5GB monthly cap. At the high end, users will pay $54.90 per month for service at 15 megabits per second, with a 40GB cap," he continued.
"We think it's the fairest way to finance the needed investment in the infrastructure," Kevin Leddy, Time Warner Cable's executive vice president of advanced technology, said in Monday's AP story.
Is this really what we've come to? A system that penalizes you for using the one tool that will carry almost every industry going forward?
Time Warner Cable and the rest of these cable and phone companies should be ashamed of themselves.
... Read moreTime Warner Cable, a company that has historically been the object of much debate, recently saw a leaked memo hit the wire that claimed the company would be instituting a tiered approach at offering broadband.
To be rolled out in Beaumont, Texas, the trial plan calls for new customers to choose plans based on their expected amount of monthly usage and be charged accordingly.
And while some pundits have spewed their typical invective without gathering any information whatsoever, I had the opportunity to chat with Alex Dudley, a Time Warner representative, to get the details on what's going on and what Time Warner customers can expect going forward.
... Read more
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