I seriously dislike the cable company right now

[Jackofalltrades]

This is exactly why I ditched the big C or the big V. I was paying $100+/month for 100 channels (3 that I actually watched) and Internet that was throttled down to below 150kb/s download. It was so slow that my XBOX live would disconnect at random intervals. I would contact the the tech support about once a week, tried 3 different routers, and manually changed the splitter that they wanted me to pay a tech $150 to change. (A fucking splitter). Funny, as soon as I drop the company, I have been dropped by Xbox Live 6-7 times in 3 months, and only due my ping being too high. I wish those people at the big C get f*cked to death with razor-laden vibrators.

Side Note: Initially my service was 69.99/month for service, then went to 150.00 after 6 months and no one told me. I also talked to techs and they had "upgraded" me free of charge. Fuck them.

//rant over

[Golden Phoenix]

If it's any consolation British ones are no better.

I'm with Virgin Media (A la Richard Branson)

When i moved into this house i immediately signed up for service as we'd had it at my old house with no problems (I'm just going to note that the service there was not in my name, this is somewhat relevant)

In signing up i have this conversation:

CS: Ok, we'll be delivering the set-top box to your house next week, all you need to do is plug it in.
Me: Actually i think i might need a Tech to come too, the connection box on the outside of the house has been smashed, it'll need to be replaced.
CS: No, it's very easy really, all you do is plug in the reciever to the power and the cable that comes in through the wall and you'll be good to go.
Me: ....?

I got through to her that the actual box outside the house was smashed to pieces and there was no connection so she sent a tech.

Visit went without a hitch and i began to enjoy my lovely cable TV, internet and phone. (Got a 3 for £30 packeage)

Then a week later i had less cahnnels, my internet was running slow and i couldn't make outbound calls. Except to VM.

So i called and asked what was wrong and had the following conversation:

Me: So, yeah, everything's gone kinda funny, no outbound calls, less channels and stuff.
CS: Ah, yes, i see that your account has been put on restriction for non-payment of your last bill.
Me: WHAT? But i only had this installed last week!
CS: I'm sorry madam but you must have had the service longer than that, or your account would not be in suspension.
Me:.....?!?!?!
CS: So, would you like to pay this bill by credit or debit card?
Me:....I'd like to speak with your supervisor please.

After a bit of convincing they finally realised their computer had screwed up and managed to get everything restored but i never got a word of apology out of them.

I think these days i should ahve caused more of a fuss, especailly after practicaly being called a liar.

[Javarod]

Every cable company is like that unfortunately

Actually no, Cox is quite good here, but we are in their core area (they started in Phoenix). Quality of the subs is hit or miss, my last place they couldn't set up cable because the first time they didn't have a big enough ladder, the second time they didn't have enough cable, third time because they didn't have the owner's permission to work on the building (in an apartment complex¿!?), finally i had to get up on the roof and sort it out. They did at least show up on time though. That said, even though in the end the lack of connection was basically my fault, they credited me the week's worth of unused service, and they've never tried to upsell me by phone, instead they like to fill my mailbox with junk mail.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Our local cable provider is the same company that owns AOHell, if that tells you anything. We left them almost 2 years ago due to increasing rates between the digital cable and high speed Internet (uh, no I'm not going to pay an extra $10/month for my Internet and another $10-15 per month for digital cable.)

Getting our Internet installed was a royal pain in the assets. The tech came as scheduled - but spent almost 4 hours just to get both desktops up and running.

Believe it or not, my desktop was up and running within 30 minutes. It was my brother's PITA (which has WindowsMe) that took forever. The tech even had to call back to the office and get a walk-through on the wireless setup (the modem was set up in the dining room, which was the closest to the center of the house we could get it for both computers to get an equally good signal) for the USB adaptor because apparently Windows wasn't locating a driver on the disk for WindowsMe.

It finally got done and all was well. But due to increasing costs, we left cable and went with satellite and back to DSL.

DSL may not be quite as fast as cable, but at least the equipment is easier to isntall . . . or at least the wireless gateway we received last year was.

That last one I got back in September when I was in the process of moving out . . . let's just say 2Wire sucks and so did the updated CD that was sent out. The CD was only for Windows XP and Vista. My desktop still has Windows 98se.

Had to hardwire the laptop to the modem to install . . . then got a message I didn't have enough memory to compete installation. On Vista, minimum was 512 MB RAM, but my Inspiron 1501 has 446MB RAM (I would have to have a laptop with an odd number of RAM.)

So that ended up being an 80 minute call to Blue Ball tech support (the company formerly known as HellSouth) because I had to go into settings and C-pompt to double check settings. By the time I was done and had the laptop up and running, it took me another 10 minutes to get the desktop online by manually going in with the browser (after connecting the ethernet cable) to the 2wire page for the home network and change a couple of quick settings. Boom - we had that one online.

And not only did I need at least half a pack of cigs after that phone call, I needed at least a case of wine.

I've since sent back that 2wire gateway, as now that I didn't get to move in completely and have to stay here with Mom, I didn't need it.

Besides, I've still got my old one and all the installation CD's . . . which I may end up using out in the office after it's redone and I get my desktop set back up because I can barely get a wireless signal back there with the laptop.

It's either that or move the Westell from my brother's room out to the office and hook him up on the wireless adaptor. Either way, I've got to have a signal back there. But with this being equipment I'm more familiar with and will work with Windows98, I think I'll be okay without having to call tech support.

Where there's a will, I'll find a way to do it.

[Kogarashi]

Alls I have to say is Qwest was a pain for me. When you needed something to change, they had to try & sell you more. Even if you had something changed, the change for some odd reason wouldn't take place & would have to call back & change hadn't even been made...etc...etc. You name it, it was done wrong.

Qwest is the reason why Hubby and I got our DSL through AT&T in our first married apartment. Apparently we were in the black hole of high-speed internet. Even though the apartment got Provo Cable (but nothing else), Provo's cable internet wasn't available there. The only high-speed options we had were DSL through AT&T, or DSL through Qwest. Some friends of ours in the same complex had Qwest for their phone and internet for a while, and warned us off. Apparently Qwest liked to randomly increase charges on their bill without notifying them.