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Dumping Time Warner Cable

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DemonDEKEn

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Opinions and experiences with AT&T U-verse, DirecTV, and Dish Network are appreciated. I'm in Winston-Salem, if that makes any difference.
Thanks.
 
I've had both Dish and DirecTV both in Winston, and I would rate them equally. IMHO, find which one has the better deal and go with it. In two years when your contract is up, reevaluate and change if the grass is greener.
 
If you can stomach TWC's cable and internet quality, I'd also call and threaten to cancel TWC to see what they offer you.

TWC is a pretty lousy television provider but with the deals they currently provide me (free HBO, free sports tier, free HD DVR boxes, ultra internet for the standard internet price), I just put up with it. I should say that I got these over multiple years and calls. They try to remove some of the perks occasionally without notice so I have to call in once a year to make sure they don't get rid of the perks.
 
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Thanks for the input. I had heard that TWC is all-too-happy to deal, due to all the people dropping them.
 
TWC and Comcast are both so bad it's unbelievable. Haven't had a single good experience ever with either.
 
TWC's customer service is the WORST. Their product is fine when it works, but it goes down way too often and when you call it's a 45 minute hold. I dumped them a few years ago and have LOVED directv. You should get free NFL Sunday Ticket too if you call now!
 
I kept reading about people negotiating with TWC, but I never had any luck. Called them twice to give them a chance to keep my business, but got very little. Switched to DirecTV and then called TWC to see about returning their equipment - THEN they wanted to negotiate. "Too late, too late." While saying that did give me some satisfaction, I was/am still perplexed at their previous unwillingness to negotiate. Must have had a "sucker" sign on my account.

Love having DirecTV - more 1080i channels, better equipment. When I needed a TWC repair, it look them WEEKS to get it completely done and multiple follow up calls. Just walk away from TWC like they're a crazy ex-girlfriend.
 
Yeah it's annoying to have to call TWC every year to get better pricing, but it works consistently for me. Early on I'd have agents that would try to buy me with like 3 months free HBO, but you just had to hold out and say that wasn't enough. Of course, I may be flagged in their system as a persistent dude so they don't hassle me too much anymore. (been calling for lower rates for at least 8 years)
 
awaken said:
I kept reading about people negotiating with TWC, but I never had any luck. Called them twice to give them a chance to keep my business, but got very little. Switched to DirecTV and then called TWC to see about returning their equipment - THEN they wanted to negotiate. "Too late, too late." While saying that did give me some satisfaction, I was/am still perplexed at their previous unwillingness to negotiate. Must have had a "sucker" sign on my account.

Love having DirecTV - more 1080i channels, better equipment. When I needed a TWC repair, it look them WEEKS to get it completely done and multiple follow up calls. Just walk away from TWC like they're a crazy ex-girlfriend.
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that's the key - dump them first and they usually will negotiate. tell them you're canceling and you have to get through 5 layers of people before you actually leave; the last one has the ability to negotiate. I have done this the last 2 years with Directv in an effort to get free NFL package and they usually give me enough account credits to pay for it.
 
They are all the worst. I have UVerse. They suck just as bad as the rest of them when it comes to equipment, customer service, raising your bill etc. I would look at the program line-ups you want, the internet you want and go from there in trying to get the best deal. I want the Pac-12 network, Direct TV doesn't have it. So I go with UVerse because they were the first to have the Pac-12 network and RedZone.
 
IslandDeac said:
If you can stomach TWC's cable and internet quality, I'd also call and threaten to cancel TWC to see what they offer you.

TWC is a pretty lousy television provider but with the deals they currently provide me (free HBO, free sports tier, free HD DVR boxes, ultra internet for the standard internet price), I just put up with it. I should say that I got these over multiple years and calls. They try to remove some of the perks occasionally without notice so I have to call in once a year to make sure they don't get rid of the perks.
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This exactly.
 
This gets absolutely shit-balls insane... so hold on.

I signed up for TWC last month when we moved to W-S.

They missed ~7 appointments for the install with no real apology or explanation. The level of frustration here just cannot be described. Phone calls/tweets/emails went absolutely nowhere. I was "compensated" by not having to pay for the service while we didn't have it. Very generous, TWC.

A huge cord was left lying across our street for almost three weeks. TWC kept having people call and explain to me what a 'business day' is (their "records" were constantly changed to reflect the (not true) date the cord was laid, so it appeared they were still in a 7-10 day window). The new neighbors love us.

So, anyway... Our service was finally "started" near the end of July. It has gone out pretty regularly (at least 1X per day), and the router pretty much has to be reset whenever we turn a device on.

I sent a tweet last night to @TWC_Help around 9 p.m. saying that our service was out again, and asking how I should feel about receiving a bill for the full amount for our first month of "service".

At around 11:30 p.m., I get a call from a restricted #. I was asleep, but it woke my wife up...

11:45 p.m., I get another call from a restricted #. This one I answer.

The guy on the other end of the line says he's a technician with Time Warner, named Dwight. The first thing he says to me is "Are we going to get this shit fixed?". He asks me what issues we're having and I tell him that we're sleeping and we'll have to deal with it in the morning.

He proceeds to call me a "lazy motherfucker" and an "asshole".

He asks to speak to my wife. I tell him that she can hear him.

He then asks "how well I fucked (her)* to put her to sleep".

Time Warner denies any involvement.

The Supervisor at the Hanes Mall location (who I met with in person today), agreed that it sounded like a pissed off contractor but he said they had no control or responsibility over that...

I guess I should talk to the police? What the absolute hell....

ETA: the guy on the phone last night, directly told me to delete anything negative I've posted about TWC from the interwebz.

* SIC: "that bitch"
 
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RTQ prank callin tryna get over that breakup...mighta gone a bit too far though
 
The only problems I've had with Comcast where when I moved into my current house and and it wasn't hooked up to the cable line (it had been abandoned for like 10 years before we bought it). It was a nightmare, but not having your house connected to a cable line seems to be a bit of a unique problem. Other than that I have been very happy with my service.

When I first moved to DC I had Starpower, and it was atrocious. One time, after waiting for a number of hours for the tech to come, I called customer service and was told "look nigga, he'll be there when he gets there."
 
DirecTV = NFL Sunday Ticket. No brainer.
 
Holy shit VT. Any chance you can get a recording of that call? That's super messed up.

I'd seriously consider Knight's offer.
 
DeacDiggler said:
that's the key - dump them first and they usually will negotiate. tell them you're canceling and you have to get through 5 layers of people before you actually leave; the last one has the ability to negotiate. I have done this the last 2 years with Directv in an effort to get free NFL package and they usually give me enough account credits to pay for it.
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Don't threaten to dump them on the spot. Tell them to cancel your subscription at the end of the month (or when your pay period ends). That gives them time to forward your information to someone else who, in most cases, will call you in a few days with a better deal. If they don't call you then call Direct TV and tell them you'd like to switch to them and see what they offer.
 
BillBrasky said:
Holy shit VT. Any chance you can get a recording of that call? That's super messed up.

I'd seriously consider Knight's offer.
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Whoever called, clearly recorded the call. Not that it does me any good.

My voice actually came back over the line 3 or 4 times saying "is this real?" and the guy mockingly asked why I kept saying that.

These are all details I distinctly remembered but verified with my wife (who was already awake from the 1st call).

Truly insane. I don't even know the police set up here (does Lewisville have their own dept.?). I think I've decided it's best to at least get this stuff on record as a concern.

??? I'm at a loss.
 
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