Reply #11: Most likely ... [View All]

[RoyGBiv]

Your cable company is populated by idiots. That's just the blunt fact. They get their order, can't find the problem easily, and give up on it. It can be fixed. The problem is actually getting it fixed.

I'd suggest one of two things. 1) Call tech support, be mad but rational, explain you're having a repeat problem, need to speak with a supervisor immediately, and don't let them get rid of you until you've spoken with the supervisor. Then, explain the problem to the supervisor, detailing everything, and explain you will be canceling all your services if they do not fix the problem immediately. 2) Cut to the chase and call in to cancel all your service and offer to explain why. If they don't seem interested in trying to save you as a customer, you have cable company that doesn't care about customer service and doesn't deserve your business.

I say this as someone who works in a related industry and for a company that takes customer service very seriously. I've gotten people fired for not fixing problems like yours when they could be fixed. I know quite well what causes these problems and how to fix them. It's not entirely the technician's fault that it isn't being fixed because the company itself is probably placing limits on his or her time that can be spent at any one job. They get dinged in their evaluation for taking too long to fix a problem, regardless of whether that problem actually required that amount of time. (The only way to reverse this trend is for consumers to call in and compliment techs when they receive good service, but that won't happen on a regular enough basis for it to matter.) However, some techs are just lazy or don't want to get dirty.

Bottom line, if the company doesn't want to help you, don't give them any more of your money.

I should also add that the problem really could be essentially unfixable by any single technician. A lot of systems are not set up to handle the bandwidth required for digital cable, but because the company can do it with some of its systems, it offers it in all of them. It's not the digital cable itself -- when it works, it works well. It's a bad set of business decisions by some companies that rely on hoping enough people won't notice.

If I were to deal with you face to face, I 'd ask you to let me personally take care of the problem and would tell you it will be fixed in a week, or you will know why, explicitly, it can't be fixed in that time, at which point I would give you a hard time-frame for getting it fixed. You'd be credited for your digital service going back to the install, and I'd probably throw something else in as well since you've been patient for so long. If my efforts didn't fix the problem, I'd tell you I'd set up your disconnect and credit your bill back to the day I took over the problem so that you don't risk losing any more money on bad service by giving my company one last chance.

If your company doesn't offer you something like that -- which will probably take a little prodding, and I'm offering this advice to let you know how far they will go if they're serious about keeping you as a customer -- you should probably search for another provider.