Time Warner Cable vs. Direct TV, AT&T

[kcal09]

I’m tired of the pricing policies of Time Warner. They have promised a discounted rate for 12 months and suddenly the rate went up after 2 months by over $50. When I called they told me that my discounted plan is not available anymore but that they have a “new” plan now that they are willing to give me for a discount.
Has anybody else experienced the same thing?
I’m ready to look at other providers and recently saw and ad from Direct TV and ATT. Does anybody have experience with them? Do all providers suck?

[spdrun]

When dealing with those clowns, record all conversations, and play them back to the rep (or their manager) if you have a problem.

It’s a shame that SD doesn’t have alternative ISPs like Monkeybrains in SF.

[zk]

Time Warner has, by far, the worst customer service of any company I have ever dealt with. I would switch, but I like cable, and they’re the only ones in my area. I tried Uverse for a while, and I didn’t like it much. At+t’s customer service sucks, too. I was going to try Direct TV, but I looked at some reviews on line, and apparently their customer service rivals that of Time Warner. It’d be too much hassle and time to switch, and I’d still have lousy customer service.

A lot of people go with netflix/hulu/vudu etc. It must work for them; it doesn’t work for me. But you might check it out, depending on your needs.

If you want cable or uverse or satellite, and you want good (or just not really bad) customer service, I think you’re out of luck.

[spdrun]

You’d be wrong. That dubious honor goes to Comcast (aka Comcrap), which of course is in talks to acquire Time Warner Cable.

BTW – I thought we were mainly talking about ISPs. I’ve never had a cable account in my life. What little TV I watch is either over-the-air HD (actually rebroadcast via my building’s cable right now, but free) or streaming via Netflix, or in some cases, downloaded via BitTorrent.

[joec]

The cable/internet companies sorta have a monopoly so you can’t really switch. My previous Internet provider retention sales rep told me that point blank and “dared” I switch saying that no other Internet company was in my area…

Little did he know there was another so I canceled and sign up for another promo 12 months. I expect that I would have to switch again after the 12 months is up. The good thing is I had service before so it’s just changing what cable I plug into my modem.

We don’t have cable tv other than Netflix so don’t tend to care what DirectTV or sports is out there so that might not work for you.

Also, after seeing other people with DirectTV and cable, I don’t know how anyone can sit through commercials anymore. They pop up so much!

One thing to also watch out for is AT&T has Internet download limits so that can be very bad if you download a lot of movies (or watch a lot of p*rn), games from Steam, etc…

Overall, the US Internet infrastructure is crap due to lobbyist, monopolies, special interest, big business, etc…Even in major metro areas which would be profitable for new players, it’s not done in the US. Go to anywhere in Asia an their Internet is like 100x faster…for MUCH less cost. (Yes, I hate the US more and more each day)…I’d probably leave, but wife can’t see living anywhere else.

[kcal09]

Thank you very much for your detailed comments. It looks like we are screwed no matter which company we choose.

[Coronita]

This might help… Just went through this…

http://piggington.com/do_you_renegotiate_your_cablecellinternet_bills_all_time

I think recently, I’ve been pretty happy with uverse customer service. They seem to be on top of things, especially in San Diego.

And, unfortunately, you have to switch every year if you want the best rates in town..Or at least threaten to switch.

[UCGal]

I was so pissed off I was going to get rid of ALL video services and just keep the internet.

They offered me lame deals when I called to cancel… finally they switched me to the final person. (An hour after I called them and they tried to sell me expensive services.) The final person “suddenly” came up with a non-promo deal – standard internet and non-HD basic cable. Total is $35/month.

I get the network HD stuff with an antenna. I still have access to (standard def versions of) HGTV, CNN, etc.

For $100/month savings, I can watch househunters international in standard def.

I hate time warner. But I hate them less now that I’m paying them less.

[livinincali]

[quote=spdrun]When dealing with those clowns, record all conversations, and play them back to the rep (or their manager) if you have a problem.

It’s a shame that SD doesn’t have alternative ISPs like Monkeybrains in SF.[/quote]

In CA it’s jail-able offense for recording a telephone conversation without consent. If your going to do that make sure you say your going to do it and get consent.

[spdrun]

An audible beep tone is legally sufficient, I believe. You hear it when talking to some banks or stockbrokers. Advantage of this approach is that it covers your butt, but hopefully the customer service droid won’t be hip to what it means.

1500hz every 15 sec.

Interesting other question: does a “this call may be recorded…” message at their end imply consent to recording of the call by you as well as them?

[Doofrat]

There are actually several cable television providers in your area: Hulu, NetFlix, iTunes, Amazon, HBO streaming, Rabbit Ear Antennas, Etc. All you need is an Internet connection of which most areas have several offerings.

You get HD, you get on demand for everything, no having to pay extra for HD service, DVR, or extra cable boxes.

If you like watching spectator sports, you won’t get that, and some content is delayed or not available, so it’s not for everyone, but with more people cutting cable, I think it’s inevitable that everything goes to streaming. IMHO complaining about Cable is like complaining about milk delivery or land line phone service, it’s an old technology that’s past it’s prime.

[livinincali]

[quote=doofrat]
If you like watching spectator sports, you won’t get that, and some content is delayed or not available, so it’s not for everyone, but with more people cutting cable, I think it’s inevitable that everything goes to streaming. IMHO complaining about Cable is like complaining about milk delivery or land line phone service, it’s an old technology that’s past it’s prime.[/quote]

The problem is somebody has to build out the infrastructure to support everybody streaming. That costs a lot of money. If you cut the cord you might get a little bit ahead right now, but in the future your internet bill is going to be the same $150/mo it costs to have a bundle now. It actual costs more money to deliver everyone their own separate stream then it does to send everybody the same stream at the same time. Cord cutting only works better right now because not that many people are doing it and those that don’t are subsidizing those that do. I.e. they pay the same price for internet but use much less bandwidth.

[poorgradstudent]

[quote=spdrun]An audible beep tone is legally sufficient, I believe. You hear it when talking to some banks or stockbrokers. Advantage of this approach is that it covers your butt, but hopefully the customer service droid won’t be hip to what it means.

1500hz every 15 sec.

Interesting other question: does a “this call may be recorded…” message at their end imply consent to recording of the call by you as well as them?[/quote]

If they are recording, I believe you can too.

[spdrun]

Disagree about milk delivery, as well as land-line service. Grocery delivery is actually becoming MORE popular than it was a few years ago, what with online services. Unlike a cell phone, a land-line phone is actually comfortable to talk on and doesn’t sound like a drunken Scandinavian at the bottom of a well.

[FlyerInHi]

livinincali, the US is one now one of the markets where consumers pay the highest price for internet service. I think that Canada is the most expensive.

Same goes for cell phone service.

Providers charge more because they can. I don’t think your infrastructure argument flies when compared to other countries.

spd, my cell phone sounds great, if not better than a landline. Just wear a headset because the handset is not that good. I don’t miss the landline one bit. Kinda related to the millennials/young people topic, it’s very frustrating to call old people who don’t have communications apps. You have to pay expensive long distance if making overseas calls. Thankfully, I can call back to the US for free using an app.

[Author]

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