Issues with Charter cable

[Hammer]

Have any of you guys/gals had issues with your Charter cable? I keep on having audio issues (sounds like the speakers are made of tin cans and a string) and the problem can be fixed by having them send a reboot signal to my cable box (this has been done about 10 times this year already). They refuse to schedule appointments outside of their 8-5 schedule and I don't think I should have to take time off of work to have them fix something that gets paid for monthly...and at a steep price.

 

Any ideas on what to do? Or, do any of you have tips on how to deal with them?

[ccbrew]

Although I don't have the same issue as you do, I'll never pass up an opportunity to bash Charter Communications. I live in the UW campus area, and my internet connection has been spotty all year. I've heard nightmare stories about their call center as well.

 

I'm known to be a pretty patient guy. When in the Milwaukee area, I regularly wait in lines out the door at Mayfair to speak to someone from Time Warner without much stress. But Charter takes the cake in terms of awful service.

 

I've honestly had enough with their "Charter Bundle" ads on FSN broadcasts too. As if the monthly mailings weren't enough of a reminder, no, I don't want to pay whatever exorbitant price you're charging for it!

 

Sorry about the rant...just know that there are equally frustrated folks out there with you, and I hope you get your problem fixed!

[Roscoe Chill]

Any ideas on what to do?

 

Cancel your service and call up DirecTV.

[mothershipconnection]

I had charter when I lived in Eau Claire, and absolutely hated their crap service with constant blackouts, fuzzy picture, bad sound, internet that keeps cutting out, and their atrocious customer service. If they're your only choice, you really only have on rational option: switch to the dish.

[2hoophead]

I'm tellin' you that you'll look back one day and say to yourself, " I should have dumped Charter earlier. What took me so long?"

 

Cut the cable, my friend.

You won't regret it. I speak from experience.

[TooLiveBrew]

Charter is run by people that don't exactly 'have what it takes' to do a good job. The employees themselves (I've found) are relatively knowledgeable and personable - but their corporate constraints can make any of them come across like idiots.

 

Charter gets by on people being used to cable, and worried about the 'TERRIBLE SERVICE' from anything else. Trouble is, the only reason we think that is from smear ads run by...who else? Charter. I have had DirecTV since last August, and really can't complain. Once they responded to customer demand and started showing Brewer games, it's been at least as good as Charter.

 

However, there have been no funny antics regarding billing or service, etc. Charter sucks, and until consumers take action, they will continue to do so.

[craigharmann]

Just throwing my agreement in the fact that Charter sucks and Directv is better. Get the dish man!

[IslandsAC]

Ive had issues with Charter too. Overall it's been good, but it's definitely hit or miss when you call them. I can't STAND the constant ads and mailings and even phone calls about switching to charter digital phone service. I see absolutely no reason anyone should pay for a landline anymore. Charter's desperation is an ugly beast.

 

Here's the thing thats bugged me. Cable companies own the cable running through the cities that their service is in. For Time Warner or anyone else for that matter to come into a Charter city (or vice versa) and provide some decent American competition, they'd need to throw down the big bucks and lay down their own cable - not gonna happen. So effectively you've got big cable companies with monopolies over their respective regions and cities. Charter just has to be not-awful enough to make people go through the hassle (and conquer some of their possibly unfounded fears about) switching to another television medium like DirectTV, etc.

 

Lame.

[TracyThom]

The couple of times that I've had techs out, they did a great job. It's just a matter of scheduling the appointment that is a pain in the butt.

 

I too hate the constant "Sign up for Charter telephone" mailings. I get one in the mail every Wednesday. It's like clockwork. I haven't gotten the phone calls, but I have had a rep come to my door trying to get me to sign up for their phone service. I have Vonage, no need to switch to a different VoIP.

 

Their TV commercials are annoying too. Look, we are using average, everyday people in our commercials. SIGN UP!!

[samwise]

Charter, uhhhhh.

 

This weekend my service was out on Sunday for 4+ hours. Both internet and cable were out, so I called the hotline and I get the message "We are aware of outages in these areas". I was so angry, it happens maybe once every 2 weeks, and I get so sick of it.

 

In August when I move into a new house I am going elsewhere for my internet/cable needs.

[bigopey76]

I feel the UW campus pain. Over the past 4 years, I had to call them a dozen or so times with problems and was put through the useless "unplug everything and then plug it back in" routine, even when I told them up front that I tried that. I was also told on several occasions that sun spots were to blame or that I was getting On-Demand for free and the operator wasn't so I should be happy with the service even though it doesn't work. That being said, options are limited. Has anyone had experience with Direct-TV in the UW-Madison campus area (downtown) and apartments. I'm just not so sure the whole Southern exposure thing will work with all the high rises going up in the area.

[BillScottCanRake]

Any ideas on what to do? Or, do any of you have tips on how to deal with them?

 

My suggestion would be to find another provider. Any provider.

 

Then, call them up and let them know you are unhappy with their service and you are going to another provider. When they ask if there is anything they can do, tell them they should start by unplugging their modem for 60 seconds, and if that doesn't work you'll stop by their office sometime between 8-5 the next day to let them know what you don't like about them, but their may be a charge for doing so.

[madcrewfan]

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Although I don't have the same issue as you do, I'll never pass up an opportunity to bash Charter Communications.

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I love me a good Charter bashing thread. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/happy.gif I have had Charter for seven years now and absolutely hate them. When I lived in downtown Madison, I had numerous problems with them every year. Our service constantly went out, sometimes for half a day or more. One year when we moved, I called up to have the service transferred and set up a day and time to have it installed. One roommate took off work to wait for the guy. He never showed. I called and complained. Gave me the spiel about how the tech was there and no one answered, which is BS, because my roommate was there the whole time, even checked the doorbell and everything. Got my appointment rescheduled. Another roommate took off of work. Second time, same thing happens. The guy never showed up. I was livid by this point. I called up and complained to about three different people (being transferred around) before I finally got an answer. They told me to go down to Laundry 101 where Charter has a booth at the beginning of every school year and it would result in a much faster hookup time. A guy came that night and finally hooked up our cable, after weeks of getting the runaround from them.

 

I also cannot stand their constant mailings and tv commercials to try to get me to upgrade to their "bundle" or buy a more expensive cable package I don't need. I might watch about an hour of tv a day. I can't even catch a whole Brewers game most of the time. I've been tempted to cancel my cable altogether (since I don't use it very much), mostly to spite my roommate (which is an entirely different story). I can't wait to move out of the place I'm in and hopefully get something different.

[madcrewfan]

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Has anyone had experience with Direct-TV in the UW-Madison campus area (downtown) and apartments. I'm just not so sure the whole Southern exposure thing will work with all the high rises going up in the area.

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You will have to find a place that will let you have a satellite dish first. A lot of rental places downtown won't let you. Charter might have something to do with that too. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/mad.gif

[docduany]

Charter justs drives me all kind of nuts. Is it the poor internet connection, I have problem with the net working properly at least once a week. And have a major problem with it roughly three times a year where a tech has to come and fix something.

 

Is it the astronomical price? We pay roughly $120 for High Speed and cable. That's so stupid I'm ashmed to share that. And the best part? I can't even get my favorite channel the NFL network no matter how much I pay. And I have a bad feeling that Charter victims won't be getting the Big 10 network either.

 

If we had a land line we'd have switched to the dish and local high speed. But the crooks at ma bell won't give you high speed without a phone.

 

My wife ripped some poor guy at Charter about recieving the mailings. It was the second time she'd had to call them, but it seems like it's stopped for now. It is just so absured that I pay some corporation tons of money for this bad service. Things need to change.

[DSFastball55]

I'll be honest with you...although several years ago my sevice was spotty, I can't remember the last time my service was out. I agree their customer service people are pretty bad, however. You'll get different information from different people.

[Roscoe Chill]

But the crooks at ma bell won't give you high speed without a phone.

 

While this is true, and a land line nowadays isn't really needed, you can get one for $20 ($15.99 I think for me exactly per month)...if you still come out ahead, who cares if you have a land line?

[Jode403]

My latest Charter story:

 

I called a month ago to cancel our service since we were moving out of our apartment. When the account was set up last summer, my roommate put the account in her name. I called about two weeks after that to have my name added to the account so I could also pay the bills. The Charter employee added my name to the account and everything was set up, according to her. I've been paying the monthly bill for the last 10 months.

 

When I called to cancel and get a refund for the unused portion of the last monthly payment, the employee told me that I was not showing up on the account number. I told him I'd gotten numerous Charter mailings besides the monthly bill in my name that would seem to indicate otherwise. I also mentioned that I had been paying the bill for 10 months. He again told me I was not on the account and that I couldn't close the account. I asked him why they'd cash my checks then. His exact response: "Oh yeah, we'll take money from anybody." Then he went into a rambling speech about privacy issues. I hung up and let my roommate deal with it.

 

Last year, they lost my refund check in the mail when I closed the account. I was initially told that it would take 3-5 weeks to get the refund check. I called after 7 weeks and let them know that I hadn't received the check. The employee agreed that the check didn't look as if it had been cashed and said she'd have to initiate a check audit. She told me to wait two weeks and call back if I still didn't get it. I didn't, and called back. This time the employee said they found the check in the refund processing center. I asked if they sent either that check or a new one out to me. She said no, but that she would iniatiate the mailing of the check for me. I finally got it after another two weeks. It took me about 11 weeks to get my ~$40 refund. I too hate Charter.

[ccbrew]

The bf.net historians are going to have to check this, but this could be some sort of record in terms of not only everybody agreeing on one side of an issue, but the agreement being so strong and in unison. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

I'm moving out of my apartment along with the rest of the student population at UW in August. When would be a good time for me to call in to cancel my cable?

[bigopey76]

If I'm not mistaken, they don't allow you to switch your account over to a new address until like a month before the move. You'd think with the tremendous device known as the computer you would be able to do this earlier, but they apparently cannot keep cohesive thoughts together for more than a month.

 

If your just stopping your service you may be able to do it at any time.

[BillScottCanRake]

I'll be honest with you...although several years ago my sevice was spotty, I can't remember the last time my service was out. I agree their customer service people are pretty bad, however. You'll get different information from different people.

 

Every company that provides a service will have outages/problems from time-to-time. The measure of the company is how they deal with those issues, and Charter is the worst company I have ever dealt with.

[TooLiveBrew]

Quote:

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It is just so absured that I pay some corporation tons of money for this bad service.

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God Bless America, land that I love...

[PKBadger]

Why is there so much frustration about the mailings and TV ads?

 

Believe me, I hate Charter as much as the rest of you, but it's literally the same advertising as you would get from any other company.

 

I get the mailings.....and they go directly into the trash, along with the 6 other pieces of junk mail I receive on a daily basis.

 

And if they weren't running TV ads, you would just be seeing an ad for a casino or laundry detergent anyway......does anyone actually enjoy commercials? Just tune them out like everyone else.

 

I guess if you were an environmentalist and worried about our landfills, the mailings would bother you, but otherwise it seems like a pretty ridiculous thing to get upset about.

[packfan79]

I gotta love the hate for Charter, I did internet support there for a number of years and jumped ship before they outsourced all support to Manilla. As previous posters have stated they are run by people who don't have a clue and most of the staff at the time I was there was very knowledgable but there wasn't much you could do with the little means that we had. My service since I have quit has gotten worse and worse but after about and I'm not kidding 15 trouble calls the hd service seems to be working ok. Rumor has it Time Warner might be buying out my area as Charter is a sinking ship...

[Voodoo Muppet]

I too am sick of Charter, and am looking into going to another provider. So I have a couple of questioins for anybody who is using a dish right now....

 

Are Direct TV or Dish Network now broadcasting FSN Wisconsin all the time? Do they still miss some Brewer games, showing Twins games instead?

 

Is FSN on the normal channel packages? Or do you need to but the sports bundles?

 

As for my Charter story, they used to call my house quite frequently to push me to go to them for phone and internet too. Finally about 6 months ago I said "You have no chance of ever getting my phone or internet service. You are barely hanging on to my cable TV service. The next time you call me, I'll cancel that."

 

And they haven't called back since.