Charter cable communications/internet service SUCKS!

[samdogmom]

I haven't had email ALL day because of some "server" problem. Actually the problem started last night about 8:30 p.m. It's now nearly 4 p.m. the day after and the problem STILL isn't fixed! (Now I can't even log on to my online account to check my email---apparently my email/password combination is no longer acceptable. WTF???? I haven't changed anything! GRRRRR)

Good grief I pay nearly $170 a month for my combined internet/digital cable TV package...and I spend half my time on the phone with Charter every month trying to get internet or cable glitches resolved. WHY can't companies just deliver what they promise?????

When I called for the THIRD time today to carefully explain my problem I was told I was lucky I could even access the internet! HUH?

Meanwhile, Charter had me uninstall and reinstall my antivirus software and my Microsoft Office 2007 software--they refused to admit they were the problem until I did all of this nonsense, useless "maintenance" and then the third customer service guy finally admitted that they're having "server" problems and that it was never my computer's fault AT ALL!

That's all, I just needed to vent!

Anybody else on Charter? Are you having problems, too?

[madaboutharry]

1. We have Charter and I agree,

They SUCK. I refer to it as CLOWN CABLE.

[nc4bo]

2. sigh............it took us about 6 months to get our service right. They do suck. nt

[petronius]

3. Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of charter. The cable has been fine, but I hate

their stupid search redirect that happens when you incorrectly type a web address... :grr:

[Mist]

4. I had them in western NC--they're awful. Had an overcharge it took 6 months

to get rid of (I refused to pay it).

[napi21]

5. I don't know where you live, but I had the same problem with them.

The problems lasted almost 9 damn months...on & off. I'll tell you how I got things finally straightened out.

I wrote a polite but strong business letter to the President & CEO, Neil Smit, and copied Harwan Fawz, VP and Chief Technology Officer & Robert Quigley, Ex. VP and Chief of Merketing.

Their Corp. office address is:

Charter Communications Inc.
12405 Powerscourt Drive
St. Louis, Mo. 03121

I was concise in my description of the long term problems I've had, kept it to one page, and at the end I asked "Is this REALLY the way you want Charter to function?

I sent hard copy letters via snail mail individually to each Officer. 5 days later, I received a call from the Secretary in the President tellilng me they had received my letter and she had notified the local VP in charge of operations and the local field supervisor as well. I would be hearing from them very soon. That afternoon, I received calls from both the VP & the Field Super. Both gave me THEI PERSONAL CALL PHONE #'S and told me as soon as there was a problem, I was to contact them immediately.

It did take about 2 weeks after that to get the problems cleared up, actually for several valid reasons, but I haven't had any major problems since.

The problems I've had since have been either weather related or due to some diphead digging and cutting the cable.


Here are the current Officers and their positions:


Executive Officers Position

Neil Smit President and Chief Executive Officer
Michael J. Lovett Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Jeffrey T. Fisher Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Grier C. Raclin Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
Marwan Fawaz Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer
Robert A. Quigley Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer
Joshua L. Jamison East Division President
Paula J. Trustdorf West Division President
Mary L. White Central Division President
Eloise E. Schmitz Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning
Lynne F. Ramsey Senior Vice President, Human Resources
Kevin D. Howard Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer

If I can help you any more, just PM me. Believe me, I know every emotion you are having right now! I've had them all and probably said worse things than you have!


BTW, I live in North Georgia. Sorry. I should have included that.

[samdogmom]

6. Thanks for the links!.....I'm starting my letters RIGHT NOW!

Every single Charter board member and decision-maker is going to hear from me! I'm sick of the nonsense. I pay REALLY good money every month ($170+)...I EXPECT THINGS TO WORK! And when they still don't 24 hours later...I expect a huge refund! (Thus far every time I've complained to Charter, I've NEVER earned a deserved refund...GO FIGURE!) I just wasted a day paying for internet/email support...and I didn't get my money's worth!

(And...probably off topic...but Charter made me un-install and reinstall my anti-virus software and my Office 2007 package. GRRRRR! In reality these programs had NOTHING to do with the problem...I wasted nearly 5 hours performing these tasks! I am ROYALLY PISSED!)

Can I be compensated for my time being told to chase dead-ends?

Charter cable service SUCKS! Anybody out there considering this provider..think again. I could NEVER in good conscience recommend Charter!

[napi21]

7. BEWARE of the arguments the "help desk" people give you.

I've had Charter since July 2000. I've gotten into arguments with them over some of their recommendations. Every time a tech has come here to fix a problem I hear the same thing. "You can ignore MOST of what those idiots tell you. They are given a list of things to answer, and if it's not on the list, TS! Most of them were flippin burgers YESTERDAY!"

A story I can almost laugh about now is what finally pushed me to contact their President. For MONTHS the internet service would be fine EXCEPT WHEN IT RAINED! I'd call, get the usual reboot your computer, unplug your modem, blah, blah, blah. Every time (usually several days later) a tech would come out here, it had stopped raining and the service was back to normal and they couldn't find anything. I couldn't help it, one time when I was explaining to the "help Desk" that it doesn't take a mental giant to realize that this was a problem involving a cracked or broken line or piece of equipment that was affected by WATER! After fighting for almost 9 months, and I finally got the cell numbers of the local supervisors, we managed to get a team of techs out here WHILE IT WAS RAINING! They found the problem in about 45 mins. It was a cracked housing on one of the transformers that was letting water in and disrupting the signal. IMAGINE THAT! They had to order a new transformer which took about 3 days, but since then, the service has been fairly good. As I said, I can laugh about it now, but at the time....the words I called that company can't be repeated!

[samdogmom]

8. So far (6 pm) NO JOY! I'm still getting screwed by these bastards!

Potential Charter customers....please make sure that you understand that you'll have internet down times MOSTLY the bulk of your on-line wanderings! Believe me...the INTERNET IS DOWN more than it is up with CHARTER!!!!

CHARTER SUCKS!!!!!! BIG TIME!!!! I'm not even able to award a sad/but resigned "resolved" sticker to my problem...BECAUSE I STILL CAN'T Access my email. WOW--it's been 22 hours now...I'm betting 24 hours isn't out of the question)!

I JUST WANT MY EMAIL BACK!

GRRRR!

End of story!

NWB

[napi21]

9. Have you tried to access it through this link?

http://www.charter.net/index.php

There's a box in the upper right corner that says "check email".

Unless the email srever is down, you should be able to see everything there.

[samdogmom]

10. Yea! Apparently my email address and password are no longer valid!

I got...4...3..2..1 chance to log-in using the correct info. I USED THE CORRECT INFO...I GOT SCREWED! (Sorry, I meant "screwn"!)

So now that I'm "screwn", what do I do? I've been trying to reach Charter via telephone...I'm on hold....this pisses me off!

The problem is them...WHY AM I BEING FORCED TO PAY FOR THEIR USELESSNESS?

I will post back IF I EVER GET MY EMAIL BACK! Wish me luck!

Meantime---please don't buy this service if you have a choice! These guys are HUGH clowns. I DO NOT RECOMMEND PAYING GOOD MONEY TO THEM! You'll only grow a bunch of grey hairs trying to deal with Charter!

[nc4bo]

12. Sometimes I called 2 or 3 times a day, everyday.

and I also wrote down everytime things went south. It was a royal pain but it helped let them know I wasn't some random dumb-dumb (not saying you are but they treat you like that sometimes).

At the end of it all, we got a an apology hallmark card in the mail and a nice discount.

Keep calling and tell them you want a qualified line tech+ (or whatever they call their real techies) to come out.

[napi21]

13. When you call, you know you can get past that dimwitt recorded

lady by hitting "0" or saying "agent"? If you've already gotten past the recording, there really isn't anything you can do but wait on hold. What I do when in that spot is put my phone on "speaker" and sit it down then do something else. It's obvious when they answer your call.

If they are having real problems in your area, you could have to wait for quite a while, but unless the entire mail server is down, they should be able to fix your problem right away. I know they have back mail servers where they switch to another one when there's a problem If the problem is broader than that, it's pretty bad!

[nc4bo]

11. Why thank you, i just saved all of this, just in of emergency. nt

[samdogmom]

14. Just an update...

I still don't have email...Charter changed my password to try to "prove" that it's me not them....but they were wrong. YIKES...now my email password isn't even valid any more. I just want to cry...! I want my email back guys. CHARTER YOU SUCK BIG TIME AND NO ONE IN THEIR RIGHT MIND SHOULD BUY YOUR SERVICE!

So anyone out there thinking about signing a contract with Charter...STOP/DROP/and ROLL! DO NOT sign anything with this bogus, useless company...or you'll spend the rest of your life trying to fix things that aren't broken on your computer...they're just broken in Charter-land! THIS IS A TRUE PIECE OF JUNK COMPANY! If I ever get my email back...I'll let you know. Meanwhile, I have chaos on my hands because my password was changed...against my better judgment! Now what?

Big sigh...

[samdogmom]

16. Final update: CHARTER SUCKS BIG TIME!!!

I just got off the phone with a tech rep (it was hard to understand this rep...I had to ask her to repeat herself slowly multiple times...but I finally understood what she was saying. I'm NOT happy!)

I have a new email password...Let's see if this works! I still CAN NOT download any email using Outlook! The only way I can access my email right now is to log on to the Charter web mail site. THIS MAKES ME CRAZY WITH ANGER! I want things on my own computer, Gosh Dang IT!

Anyway...if this doesn't get resolved in the next 24 hours...I will be searching for a new internet/email provider. I WILL NOT PUT UP WITH THIS NONSENSE...and Charter, I want you to know that I think you SUCK!!!!!

[Elwood P Dowd]

15. I booted Charter years ago and went with Direct TV and DSL for internet.

Have gone several months at a time without an outage, and when there is one it's usually brief. My total cost for the two is well under $100.00 a month.

[samdogmom]

17. Thanks...I'm going to look into this!

I think I can get Direct TV in my small neck of the woods. If I can...Charter is SO OUT OF HERE! I truly HATE this company and I would like to NEVER have to deal with Charter and their stupidity EVER again!

[Elwood P Dowd]

18. The only problem I have is the local stations.

In my area of Alabama, Direct TV is not allowed to furnish the local NBC, CBS, ABC, & Fox channels. I have to get them with my old antenna. It might be different in your area. I just use an old cheap $40.00 Radio Shack antenna for the local stuff, which I only watch for weather and a few college/NFL football games. Direct TV has plans starting at $29.95 a month.

The DSL service cost $39.95 a month and is rarely down.

[entanglement]

19. $170 a month is an absolute rip-off, IMHO. Even DSL + cable would cost you $100 or thereabouts