Today I figured out that I have had cable/internet service in my home for approximately 25 years. Operating a business out of my home I have usually paid for one level up on internet service and for basic cable; my monthly bill has averaged out at approximately $125 per month. Using these figures it is fair to say that I have paid to different cable/internet providers well over $25,000. For these funds I have received inconsistent service, lousy customer service and faulty equipment.
If you have a problem with your service you will spend probably an hour or more on the phone, part of that time being on hold waiting for a human being just to answer your call. Then more than likely the person who answers your call will not be located in the United States and English will be a second language to them. Since English is usually not their first language you will probably be asking them to repeat themselves. When it is determined that they can not fix the problem they will need to schedule an appointment for a local technician to come out and determine what the problem is, your lucky if you get an appointment within the next three days.
Again having problems with my internet, I made that fateful call, waited on hold, went through all the different steps; refresh, turn off, wait, turn on, unplug, push the button, check that, run the speed test and then run the timeout test. Speed Test showed great service, the time out test was a different story.
After scheduling the appointment for the technician to come and take a look at the wiring and equipment the phone support person ask if the other services were working properly. I then check the cable boxes and found them hot to the touch. I tried to explain what I found to the telephone support person and got so frustrated that he could not understand “hot to the touch” that I unplugged two of the boxes and am closely monitoring the third box.
I will be waiting on Mother’s Day for the technician to show up, hopefully he will be able to determine what the problem is with the internet and will be able to change out the cable boxes. I also hope that it will not take all day.
WHILE I AM WAITING FOR THE TIME WARNER TECH PLEASE GO AND CHECK YOUR CABLE BOXES.