I have been a loyal Time Warner Cable of Southern California customer since 2005.

I called Time Warner Cable on August 16, 2010 and made an appointment, for August 22, to get a cable card installed on my TiVo. Time Warner proceeded to dick me around for 5 weeks, before I finally received cable on Sunday, September 19, 2010.

Timeline of Events

August 22, 2010

• First TWC visit; scheduled particularly for the weekend since I work during the week
• Incorrect work order placed; technician brought a non-HD DVR to replace my HD-DVR; did not have any Cable Cards on them and had to reschedule
• Had to reschedule to during the week (which means I had to take time off from work on a Tuesday afternoon from 2-5pm)
• Called Customer Service to complain about what occurred
• Turns out the rescheduled appointment they had made was for the same workorder. If I hadn’t called to complain about what happed that day, then on the follow up appointment, they would have brought another non-HD DVR, and no Cable Card.
• The work order was changed to install a Cable Card for a TiVo on August

August 24, 2010

• Time Warner technician arrives in the afternoon with a cable card and attempts to install card into TiVo
• It doesn’t work; a screen saying “Acquiring Channels” shows but after trying multiple times, the channels are never received
• Technician calls tech support and tells me there has been an issue since Saturday, August 21 – that there is something wrong with the “system” and that no TiVos have been able to receive channels, etc.
• Technician says that we will follow up with me and let me know when “the system” is up and working
• Technician and I are in contact throughout the week, and we schedule for a 3rd visit on August 27; he says “system” is up and running and I should be able to receive cable.

August 27, 2010  

• Time Warner technician still has no idea what is going on and cannot explain why I am not able to receive cable; he calls tech support (again), but they also do not have a clear answer for what is happening – they say “they system” is not working
• He does not try (nor did he bring) additional cable cards to test out on my TiVo
• He says that he will be in contact with me and make another follow up appointment, when  “they system” is working again; in the meantime, I should keep testing the TIVo/Cable Card

August 30, 2010

• Time Warner Customer Support calls me to confirm that I have an appointment scheduled for August 30th, 10am-7pm; Customer Support agent could not explain what the appointment was for
• After I stated that I made no such appointment, Customer Service agent then asked if I wanted to cancel the appointment, and I had to re-explain that I was at work, had never made an appointment, and proceeded to tell him to “cancel” the appointment that should not have existed in the first place

September 9, 2010

• Follow up visit #4 with Time Warner technician
• The Cable Card starts to work only slightly more than before – “acquiring info” screen finally goes away
• My TiVo only receives basic cable channels (ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox); does not receive any cable channels (i.e., the channels that I pay for)
• When switched to a cable channel, a black screen displays with some technical information about the cable card (and I think it says that one should call Time Warner it activate cable card, but I don’t remember for sure)
• Time Warner technician cannot fully explain what is happening with the screen, or why I am only receiving basic cable
• He notes that sometimes it takes a few hours to receive the channels and channel information, and that I should receive cable within the next day or two
• After a few days, I am still not receiving cable; I call technician and leave a message letting him know that I am not receiving cable

September 14, 2010

• Have not received follow up call/appointment from Time Warner Technician, so I call customer service
• I explain the problem, and tell the Customer Service agent what it says on the black screen that displays some technical information
• He tells me is familiar with the recent problems that Time Warner cable customers with TiVos have been having, and he tells me that what I need is a cable card tuner, to attach to my cable card
• He says I can either set up an appointment and have a technician come to my house with the cable card tuner, or I can go to a Time Warner office/center and pick one up
• I tell him I don’t want to have to wait for an appointment, and that it is more convenient for me to go to a local Time Warner office, so I plan on going to Eagle Rock/Highland Park location (4312 Eagle Rock Blvd. LA, CA 90041)
• I confirm with him that it should not be a problem for me to pick up the equipment myself, and that if I tell them what I am there for (a cable card tuner) they will have one and give it to me; he states that he has made notes on my account if anyone at the office needs a reference

September 15, 2010

• I arrive at the Time Warner office and tell the window agent that I need a cable card tuner; she seems confused and says that not only does she not have any in the office, but that those are only provided to certain customers in particular service areas, and I do not live in one of those areas
• I explain to her the conversation I had the night prior, on the phone with customer service, and she says that that customer service agent was incorrect and that I need to schedule an appointment for a technician to visit my house
• We schedule an appointment for the weekend, as that is the next open time available

September 19, 2010

• Time Warner technician arrives and I show him my screen and explain what has been going on
• He calls tech support and has them activate the card (I don’t know if others have tried to do this or not, but I would assume they had)
• I finally receive cable

Expected Compensation

Note: I actually have no idea what proper compensation for my situation would be. In addition to the technical issue of not having cable for a month, it was an extremely frustrating experience to have to deal with this situation, and the company and people of Time Warner, who clearly have no idea how to do their jobs. On a few occasions, I had to take time off of work to deal with this situation. In addition, I dealt with a myriad of people representing Time Warner, and each person told me something different. I was never able to get a clear or direct answer that I felt was actually true (i.e., more than the “system” is not working), regarding what the problem was and why it took a month, and multiple appointments and phone calls, before I was able to receive cable.

• I should be reimbursed for August and September, the months that I had to deal with Time Warner, and their ineptitude, and went without cable service
• Premium Tier channels, HBO and Showtime, for a year
• Discounted bill for a year

Recommendations for Time Warner Cable

Note: Not sure that these need to be included anywhere, but I was frustrated I just wanted to write them out

1. Train your technicians how to work with TiVo. Just because I choose to use a non Time Warner piece of equipment, it does not mean that your company (or technicians for that matter) doesn’t have to know how your service (providing me cable) should interact with the equipment.
2. Communicate to your technicians. If a technician is going on a call that is TiVo related, make sure they know beforehand, so they can be prepared (have at least 2 cable cars on their person) and are aware of any issues that may affect the work order (such as a system that is down, or TiVo related installation and activation problems).
3. Take notes. Make sure that proper and clear notes are taken on accounts, so that I do not have to re-explain my problem to every customer service agent or technician that I interact with.
4. Follow up with customers. Make sure that someone in customer service is aware of open, unresolved issues (especially long, ongoing issues). If there is an open issue, a Time Warner representative should make sure that the customer is being helped and taken care of - the customer should not have to follow up with customer service and the technician when it is a long, ongoing issue.
5. Take responsablity and ownership of your problems. If an issue goes unresolved for a long time (a month in my case), the issue should be escalated. A customer should not have to wait 5 weeks for cable, when that is the service that your company provides, and there is no clear or discernable explanation as to why cable is not being received