What's up with Time Warner Cable?

[Jarhead]

Just came in the mail, the US mail, an announcement that they are changing just about all of their channel numbers, except 1 through 85 which do not change. They provided a chart, which requires a magnifying glass to read, but they gave a link that got me to this PDF file. That is for the Fayetteville/Southern Pines region, but I imagine other regions will see something similar. It's going to take place on June 2, 2010, and when the change is made, it will also change any settings that the user may have set including favorites and DVR recording selections. I'm worried. This may have a global effect just like the typo last week at the NYSE.

Actually, it is hard to criticize TWC for this, since their channel alignment has been terrible since forever. I found one criticism, though. Seeing this now, it shows up TWC for a fraud, because they have been doing a lot of bragging on the number of channels available with their service. Just take a look at the redundancies it exposes. For example, those channels that do not change, 1 through 85, will show all material in standard definition and include all of the over the air local stations. So does the new set of channels numbered 105 through 199. Same material, in standard definition. Then we have a whole flock of categories, sports, premium movies, news, entrainment, etc., all having 3 digit channel numbers. No HD to be found here. You have to look at those numbered over 1100. That's where the HD is on the chart. All HD appears to duplicated in SD, but not all SD stuff is duplicated. A bunch are not. What are they waiting for?

It would have been nice if TWC had generated two separate charts, one each for SD and HD. Mrs. Jarhead and I never watch things in SD any more, except certain very rare occasions. (All that money we spent on our two HD flat panels demands we use them as designed.) We have had trouble locating some of the HD channels, though. Now we can find them easily. We can just put all HD channels in which we are interested in our favorites list, and we won't need to hunt for them, any more.

[alteran]

All HD appears to duplicated in SD, but not all SD stuff is duplicated. A bunch are not. What are they waiting for?

It would have been nice if TWC had generated two separate charts, one each for SD and HD. Mrs. Jarhead and I never watch things in SD any more, except certain very rare occasions. (All that money we spent on our two HD flat panels demands we use them as designed.) We have had trouble locating some of the HD channels, though. Now we can find them easily. We can just put all HD channels in which we are interested in our favorites list, and we won't need to hunt for them, any more.

HD blows through bandwidth like you wouldn't believe. TW is facing a real bandwidth crush. The problem is coax-- you can only cram so much stuff in coax. It's already completely saturated, at this point any extra HD gains come from compressing what's left.

IIRC, satellite has more HD. Please verify that before making any changes, consult with your physician, etc.

[Jarhead]

HD blows through bandwidth like you wouldn't believe. TW is facing a real bandwidth crush. The problem is coax-- you can only cram so much stuff in coax. It's already completely saturated, at this point any extra HD gains come from compressing what's left.

IIRC, satellite has more HD. Please verify that before making any changes, consult with your physician, etc.

Yeah, I can see the bandwidth problems every day. HD not only eats up bandwidth, it sits on gazigabytes of disk space on the DVR. I'm sort of locked in with TWC. No satellite for me. We live in a pretty dense pine forest, and the southern sky is difficult to impossible to draw a bead on the satellite. I'm not removing any of the trees. It costs a bundle to remove just one of these 60 and 70 foot long leaf pine trees. I've got about fifty of then in my yard. (Think about that the next time you think about buying a house on a forested lot.) You ought to see the pine cones. Some are as big as footballs. I'm waiting for U-verse, but in the meantime I have to endure TWC. Bummer.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Yeah, I can see the bandwidth problems every day. HD not only eats up bandwidth, it sits on gazigabytes of disk space on the DVR. I'm sort of locked in with TWC. No satellite for me. We live in a pretty dense pine forest, and the southern sky is difficult to impossible to draw a bead on the satellite. I'm not removing any of the trees. It costs a bundle to remove just one of these 60 and 70 foot long leaf pine trees. I've got about fifty of then in my yard. (Think about that the next time you think about buying a house on a forested lot.) You ought to see the pine cones. Some are as big as footballs. I'm waiting for U-verse, but in the meantime I have to endure TWC. Bummer.

I have about 30 days left (out of a 60 day "trial" period) before I'm locked into TWC for 2 years. When my 1 year "special pricing" because I griped so much deal expired, I called and they came up with a new "special" for me, but this time lock me in for 2 years at about $20 more per month, but still less than the regular price. When I consider DirecTV, and I got a flier in the mail yesterday, by the time I hook up all 5 TV's, including the one in the guest room that hardly gets used, I just don't save enough (or anything) to make it worthwhile changing.

[allenmurray]

I've said this on these boards before, and I may be thbe only person in the universe to have this experience, but the customer service I have gotten from Time-Warner has always been fantastic - so good I haven't even looked at other options (even though them might save me some money).

[Olympic Fan]

Allen,

I share your experience with TWC -- I've had nothing but positive experiences.

[theAlaskanBear]

I've said this on these boards before, and I may be thbe only person in the universe to have this experience, but the customer service I have gotten from Time-Warner has always been fantastic - so good I haven't even looked at other options (even though them might save me some money).

Charlotte Time-Warner users here...have had completely opposite experiences.

We have a defective box, one that often freezes a channel and then force reboots itself which is a 10-15 minute wait, if it doesnt freeze in the rebooting process. The most annoying thing though is I can be watching something, then I will flip the channels during the commercials or to check the score...and then when I flip back the screen blacks out and then punts you to a blue "This channel is not currently available" that lasts anywhere from 30 seconds to over an hour or all day. Some channels are affected more than others...some will be not available most of the time with rare windows of viewing power.

Each time we get them to look at our box they say they fixed it, but it still doesnt work properly. Maybe because the problem is intermittent they cant find it.

Plus, its super expensive, we are paying almost $100 for cable and DVR, no HD and no internet or phone service. We are looking for a different provider, but we cant install any satellites because we are in an apartment.

Anyone have recommendations?

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Charlotte Time-Warner users here...have had completely opposite experiences.

We have a defective box, one that often freezes a channel and then force reboots itself which is a 10-15 minute wait, if it doesnt freeze in the rebooting process. The most annoying thing though is I can be watching something, then I will flip the channels during the commercials or to check the score...and then when I flip back the screen blacks out and then punts you to a blue "This channel is not currently available" that lasts anywhere from 30 seconds to over an hour or all day. Some channels are affected more than others...some will be not available most of the time with rare windows of viewing power.

Each time we get them to look at our box they say they fixed it, but it still doesnt work properly. Maybe because the problem is intermittent they cant find it.

Plus, its super expensive, we are paying almost $100 for cable and DVR, no HD and no internet or phone service. We are looking for a different provider, but we cant install any satellites because we are in an apartment.

Anyone have recommendations?

Have them bring you a new box. Or, find out where their store is and take your box there and exchange it. Either way, it's free and should solve your freeze problem. They do have some new boxes available (from Cisco and Samsung), but I don't know that they do other/better/different things than the Atlanta Scientific box you probably have now. The hard drive is the same size, dammit. They also have several models of the AS box in service. Just know that anything you have stored on your current box will obviously not be on the new box, and you'll have to re-enter your series to be saved. There is no charge for you to get a new DVR box.

[allenmurray]

We have a defective box, one that often freezes a channel and then force reboots itself which is a 10-15 minute wait, if it doesnt freeze in the rebooting process. The most annoying thing though is I can be watching something, then I will flip the channels during the commercials or to check the score...and then when I flip back the screen blacks out and then punts you to a blue "This channel is not currently available" that lasts anywhere from 30 seconds to over an hour or all day. Some channels are affected more than others...some will be not available most of the time with rare windows of viewing power.

Plus, its super expensive, we are paying almost $100 for cable and DVR, no HD and no internet or phone service. We are looking for a different provider, but we cant install any satellites because we are in an apartment.

Anyone have recommendations?

I had that problem once. Rather than calling I unplugged the box myself and took it to the service center. With no questions at all they simply gave me a new (brand new) box. I plugged it in and was ready to go. I brought in my American Scientific box and the person at the service center said, "these are crap". She replaced wit with a Samsung.

I agree it is expensive, but with my phone/internet/cable bundle it isn't a whole lot more than the best deal I could put together doing those things separately.

[theAlaskanBear]

I had that problem once. Rather than calling I unplugged the box myself and took it to the service center. With no questions at all they simply gave me a new (brand new) box. I plugged it in and was ready to go. I brought in my American Scientific box and the person at the service center said, "these are crap". She replaced wit with a Samsung.

I agree it is expensive, but with my phone/internet/cable bundle it isn't a whole lot more than the best deal I could put together doing those things separately.

We dont want to bundle, because we get internet service included in our rent, and as college students with cell phones, having a land line is useless to us. I will check about getting a new box, we do have a scientific atlanta!

[alteran]

Plus, its super expensive, we are paying almost $100 for cable and DVR, no HD and no internet or phone service. We are looking for a different provider, but we cant install any satellites because we are in an apartment.

Anyone have recommendations?!

I don't have cable, and am a certified TV addict.

I use an antenna. If you're near the towers (say, 10-15 miles or so-- you can check the distance from your abode to the towers here) you might be able to use an over-the-air antenna, supplemented with a computer (for Hulu, ESPN 360, etc.) hooked to your TV. I can get the vast majority of available entertainment that way. The big hole is sports programming. For some people that is non-negotiable. For me, since I can get everything else functionally for free, I can't justify $80-$100 a month just for access to sports programming.

You will have to "bring your own DVR," however, if you consider a DVR a necessity.

[allenmurray]

I don't have cable, and am a certified TV addict.

I use an antenna. If you're near the towers (say, 10-15 miles or so-- you can check the distance from your abode to the towers here) you might be able to use an over-the-air antenna, supplemented with a computer (for Hulu, ESPN 360, etc.) hooked to your TV. I can get the vast majority of available entertainment that way. The big hole is sports programming. For some people that is non-negotiable. For me, since I can get everything else functionally for free, I can't justify $80-$100 a month just for access to sports programming.

You will have to "bring your own DVR," however, if you consider a DVR a necessity.

Funny - I watch very little TV, but I won't do without cable. About the only thing I watch with regularity is live sports. Without cable that just doesn't work out too well (not to mention having an 11 year old and a 16 year old, and a wife who does like to watch TV).

[CLT Devil]

I spent a lot of brain matter memorizing those channels...as little sense as they did make, at least I had them figured out. Now I have to start all over. I, too, am locked into a 2 year deal but got a deal deal on the pricing. TWC service have been great recently, and unlike other providers (ATT) they stand by their equipment and will come out and fix it for free. The channel chagnce took me by surprise, but other than that no complaints. And I agree, it's easier to just go in and exchange boxes, as they will try to do everything they can to bandaid the one you have.

[2535Miles]

Charlotte Time-Warner users here...have had completely opposite experiences.

We have a defective box, one that often freezes a channel and then force reboots itself which is a 10-15 minute wait, if it doesnt freeze in the rebooting process. The most annoying thing though is I can be watching something, then I will flip the channels during the commercials or to check the score...and then when I flip back the screen blacks out and then punts you to a blue "This channel is not currently available" that lasts anywhere from 30 seconds to over an hour or all day. Some channels are affected more than others...some will be not available most of the time with rare windows of viewing power.

Each time we get them to look at our box they say they fixed it, but it still doesnt work properly. Maybe because the problem is intermittent they cant find it.

Plus, its super expensive, we are paying almost $100 for cable and DVR, no HD and no internet or phone service. We are looking for a different provider, but we cant install any satellites because we are in an apartment.

Anyone have recommendations?

Former Charlotte TWC customer. I switched to AT&T U-Verse about a month ago and I could not be happier with the service and product for the price. I'm paying the same cost for high-speed, unlimited long distance, and HD with DVR but I'm getting more channels and faster uploads/downloads. AT&T has a decent tool for displaying the channel lineups by package so you can compare.

About my experiences
I work from home, so having internet and reliable phone service is a must for me. Strangely enough, TWC's basic service was faster and more reliable than upgrading to the next higher speed. My bills went up, but upload speed dropped in half and download speeds only improved marginally, video conferencing quit working entirely. Time Warner refused to address the issue and stated that I had not ordered the upgrade even though I added two new services (phone and cable) to the existing service as part of bundled deal.

My phone line failed two or three times a week without warning. I would discover the line was dead only when I'd pick up the phone to make a call and hear nothing. TWC denied the problem was on their end and could do nothing to improve the service.

AT&T in contrast has been amazing, especially their support. My router died and then I had some problems with an emergency that forced me to reschedule the service appointment for later in the afternoon. Somebody made a mistake and forgot to update the service appointment, when I called at 4:15 and explained nobody had called or shown up yet, they immediately moved me to a priority queue and two techs showed up within 45 minutes, stayed past normal working hours and made sure the new router worked, updated the firmware, and double-checked the phone, cable and outside lines.

So I'm paying the same money, but getting a much better product and service, not to mention $350 in Visa Cash Cards which help to pay the $150 Termination Fee for TWC. See if they're in your area.

[2535Miles]

See Moonpie's thread about uverse.

[Jarhead]

Former Charlotte TWC customer. I switched to AT&T U-Verse about a month ago and I could not be happier with the service and product for the price. I'm paying the same cost for high-speed, unlimited long distance, and HD with DVR but I'm getting more channels and faster uploads/downloads. AT&T has a decent tool for displaying the channel lineups by package so you can compare.

About my experiences
I work from home, so having internet and reliable phone service is a must for me. Strangely enough, TWC's basic service was faster and more reliable than upgrading to the next higher speed. My bills went up, but upload speed dropped in half and download speeds only improved marginally, video conferencing quit working entirely. Time Warner refused to address the issue and stated that I had not ordered the upgrade even though I added two new services (phone and cable) to the existing service as part of bundled deal.

My phone line failed two or three times a week without warning. I would discover the line was dead only when I'd pick up the phone to make a call and hear nothing. TWC denied the problem was on their end and could do nothing to improve the service.

AT&T in contrast has been amazing, especially their support. My router died and then I had some problems with an emergency that forced me to reschedule the service appointment for later in the afternoon. Somebody made a mistake and forgot to update the service appointment, when I called at 4:15 and explained nobody had called or shown up yet, they immediately moved me to a priority queue and two techs showed up within 45 minutes, stayed past normal working hours and made sure the new router worked, updated the firmware, and double-checked the phone, cable and outside lines.

So I'm paying the same money, but getting a much better product and service, not to mention $350 in Visa Cash Cards which help to pay the $150 Termination Fee for TWC. See if they're in your area.

As I stated earlier in this thread, I'm waiting for U-verse, but in the meantime I have to endure TWC. To find out if U-verse is available in your area click here and they will tell you. If they cannot find your address then their service is not available. There apparently is no way to see if there is a timetable for service in your area.

[Jarhead]

Latest problem with TWC -- an over night change -- on the Guide, all favorites were sorted in numerical order and listed before all other channels. That's the only use for favorites, and now when we go to Guide we see all of the other garbage channels we have no interest in seeing mixed in with our favorites. I am real worried about June 2.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Latest problem with TWC -- an over night change -- on the Guide, all favorites were sorted in numerical order and listed before all other channels. That's the only use for favorites, and now when we go to Guide we see all of the other garbage channels we have no interest in seeing mixed in with our favorites. I am real worried about June 2.

Got the new channel guide in the mail yesterday. I noticed that ESPNU (and HD) and ESPNNEWS (and HD) were shown in pink rather than black, indicating they were part of a premium package. I called the 800 # to ask if I would still get those channels as I do now and the girl said she didn't have the guide on her screen so she didn't know if we would continue to get them as part of the standard digital package. The June 8 change date is within my 60 days, so I may yet change to satellite TV, and I told her so. She didn't care.

[dukeblue1206]

Got the new channel guide in the mail yesterday. I noticed that ESPNU (and HD) and ESPNNEWS (and HD) were shown in pink rather than black, indicating they were part of a premium package. I called the 800 # to ask if I would still get those channels as I do now and the girl said she didn't have the guide on her screen so she didn't know if we would continue to get them as part of the standard digital package. The June 8 change date is within my 60 days, so I may yet change to satellite TV, and I told her so. She didn't care.

Yeah most of the people you talk to at customer service could careless if you tell them you are planning to switch. Used to be a time you could call and tell them something like that and they would work out a new deal with you. Now it is very rare that happens. I did just such a thing a few days ago, with no results, and just had DirecTv installed yesterday. Now I did already get the new channel lineup with TWC before I switched and I still had ESPNU and ESPNNEWS, both in HD, after the change, but I do not remember what package I had but do not think it was any kind of premium package. See how long it takes for me to become unsatisfied with Directv. Not that it really matters cause I am locked in for 2 years, but at a better price at least then what TWC was offering.

[devil84]

Got the new channel guide in the mail yesterday. I noticed that ESPNU (and HD) and ESPNNEWS (and HD) were shown in pink rather than black, indicating they were part of a premium package. I called the 800 # to ask if I would still get those channels as I do now and the girl said she didn't have the guide on her screen so she didn't know if we would continue to get them as part of the standard digital package. The June 8 change date is within my 60 days, so I may yet change to satellite TV, and I told her so. She didn't care.

The pink lines are part of the Digital Tier. If you already have it, there shouldn't be a change. IIRC, we got it when we bought the HDTV.

Not a fan of the new software, which went in yesterday. Like Jarhead, I've lost the grouping of my favorite channels in the Guide. Haven't figured out what else we lost in this "upgrade." I'm still perturbed that two upgrades ago we lost the ability to see a list of a category (movies, sports, etc) sorted by start time starting with what is on now. Made it really, really easy to see what movies just started or will start in the next hour or so (before we run out to Redbox or Blockbuster). Other than the menu being blurrier (looks awesome on the HDTV *bleh*) and the loss of favorites grouped together, I'm not sure what this "upgrade" has given us (or taken away).

As far as customer service, TWC has been pretty good. If I call and complain about the rates every, oh, 18 months, they lower them for me. The last call saved me $30/month, and the person would NOT lock me in for 2 years (she sounded like she HATED that plan and just wouldn't offer it!). We're on our third or fourth Scientific American DVR box, this new one is a newer version and is about 6 months old. I concur...these are crap. The newer one is much better than the others, but that's not saying much. As soon as we watch what we've got recorded, I'll unplug it and take it in for a new one. We've returned lots of cable boxes and modems, and they always take them cheerfully (or at least without grunting and eye rolling) and give you a new one, usually with plenty of commiseration and editorializing on how bad the old ones were and promising the new ones to be better.