Someone emailed us the direct line for the office of Barry Rosenblum, executive Vice President of Time Warner Cable for NY and NJ, and when we Googled it, we found this treasure of trove of names, addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers.

So, if you've got a complaint or concern with Comcast, Cablevision, Adelphia, Cox, Charter, Insight, or Toledo Buckeye CableSystem, the information in this list can help it reach the top of the heap.

Top 100 Cable Systems - Systems Directory [Multichannel]

And in a twist of bitter irony, Ben is actually an employee of Time Warner. Even he gets horrible service. Read his plight, inside...

Ben writes:

I'm one of thousands of SoCal residents who made the transition from Adelphia to Time Warner Cable recently. I had plenty of problems with Adelphia, so I figured TWC had nowhere to go but up... wrong.

I received my statement about a month ago (March 15th, see attached file) and noticed that I was being overcharged by $5 dollars. You see, one of the improvements of Time Warner Cable's takeover is that they've simplified their pricing structure so any one basic service like digital cable now costs $44.95 (not counting extras like DVR, HBO etc)... but if you purchase two services ( i.e. Cable AND Internet), the second service is $39.95, and if you get a 3rd service like digital phone, that one will cost $34.95. I've attached Time Warner's pricing guide for the City of Beverly Hills, which explains this deal in a simple, cheerful, colorful manner.

As you can see, on my March 15th bill, I was charged $44.95 for Cable AND $44.95 for Internet. I called up TWC customer service and pointed out this error. The CSR totally agreed with me and said that one of those charges should be $39.95. She checked with her supervisor to see how much I should be credited... she said she would credit my account for $25 dollars since this overcharging had been going on for several months. Let me stress for reasons you'll see below, $25 was the figure TWC offered me... I just was hoping for $5 credit, so I found this offer to be a nice surprise. They told me the credit would take a couple days to process, so I should just pay my bill in its entirety ($128.80), and the credit would just appear on next month's bill. I did what they said and paid my full bill.

Flash forward to today. I receive my new bill dated April 15th (see attached). Mind you, I'm expecting the bill to be around $98 dollars, since my monthly bill should be around $123, minus the $25 credit. Much to my surprise, my bill was for $190.35. At this point I couldn't help but laugh at the Sisyphean ordeal I knew I was about to endure. If you look at my April bill, I was charged for Internet services three times... once at the old rate of $44.95, AGAIN at the new rate of $39.95, and then I also received a back charge of $46.60 for the previous month (Even though I paid my March bill IN FULL... I guess they felt like I should have paid for Internet TWICE last month too.) Oh, at least I did receive that $25.00 credit though. It's pretty clear to me what happened... the CSR I spoke to a month ago ADDED another cable Internet service at the new price rather than adjusting the old one.

I immediately called Time Warner Cable customer service. After a 15 minute hold time I got a CSR and while I probably sounded a little annoyed, I stated my case matter-of-factly: "Hi, I was expecting a $25 credit on my bill this month, but instead I was overcharged by almost $100 and I'd like to sort this out."

The CSR asked for a moment to take a look at my most recent statement. I tried to tell her more but she kept shutting me up and telling me "If you keep on talking I won't be able to look at your bill." She looks over my April 15th statement (the atrociously messed-up one) and replies "I'm looking at your bill, I don't see any problem."

I ask her if she finds it strange that I was charged three times for cable Internet on one month's bill. No, she replies. She then goes on to "Explain" things by simply doing a line-item reading of my bill, as though by simply regurgitating the information we both have in front of us it would offer some sort of explanation e.g. "You see sir, you have one charge for Roadrunner High Speed Internet at $44.95, and you have another charge for Roadrunner at $39.95. The other charge is back charge for the previous month at $46.60."

Well thanks for that explanation, Ma'am.

I asked her how that makes any sense. There was a pause as the gears slowly moved. "Do you have two cable modems, sir?"

Of course I don't! Why their billing system even allows this, I have no idea... is there really anyone out there who pays for TWO cable modems at double the price where they could simply buy a router? (sad answer: probably yes). I told her that if she looked at my previous bills she would see that I only have one cable modem.

She looks at my previous bills, and this is where things really begin to turn south.
"I'm looking at your bills here, and the reason you were back charged was because this credit of $25 dollars is incorrect. You shouldn't have received this credit."

WHAT?

"I'm looking at your bills here, and back in January you were receiving a $15 off Internet as a promotion for new customers."

Full disclosure: back in January, I was receiving a discount on Internet since I recently signed up for Roadrunner (I previously just relied on them for TV), but the discount was subtracted from the incorrect amount of $44.95 rather than the correct amount of $39.95, so my entitlement to this credit should still be valid. But this simple arithmetic was totally lost on her. Let's also not forget that the $25 credit was Time Warner's call last time... I was only asking for $5!

But it was too late... this CSR was locked on to the $25 credit like a laser. I tried to steer her back to the main issue at hand... the fact that I've been triple-charged for Internet. She refused to cooperate and kept scolding me for interrupting her. Not only was she REFUSING to resolve my gross overcharge, she was trying also REVOKE my $25 credit, which would have brought my bill up to $215!!!!

At this point, I had enough and demanded to speak with a supervisor... in a very condescending tone, she told me she would explain what's going on to supervisor, essentially implying that my efforts to move up the ladder would be fruitless.

I was on hold for over 10 minutes, suddenly a voice answered "Hello sir...". I immediately said hello but no one replied back (my mute button wasn't on). "Hello? Hello?" I keep saying. I could hear the ambient noise of a call center in the background, but my supervisor seemed to have disappeared into the ether. I stayed on the line for at least a couple more minutes, shouting into the darkness, hoping someone would hear me. I even played Mary Had A Little Lamb with my touch tone keypad. Nothing. I could hear people in the background but no one was picking up the receiver. Finally, I was just disconnected.

All and all, I was on this call for 45 minutes, and there was no way I was going to do that all over again. I called the Beverly Hills' Cable TV office at City Hall [ed. (310) 285-1178], which has actually been really good to me in the past. They had gotten many Adelphia problems resolved for me, going as far as conferencing me in with supervisors from the cable company's local office. (One of my few experiences with local government really working on the side of the consumer, so I have to pay my respects.) I filed my complaint with the city, but it may be several days before I hear anything. I'll of course keep you updated.

Here's the bittersweet irony of it all... I'm an employee of a different Time Warner subsidiary. Oh, and if you're wondering if Time Warner employees get a discount with Time Warner Cable... the answer is no.

We've heard of this magical cable ombudsman in the LA area. Do any other cities have someone comparable? — BEN POPKEN

Shockingly, it is not a problem with the line or the box. It is a problem with the coding coming in through the line. The technician tells us that our line is showing both Adelphia codes and Comcast codes coming through it. When both sets of codes hit the box, the box shuts down.

Laura's email, inside...

To whom it may concern -

I have had completely unreliable service from your company for over two weeks now. I have given up on calling any of you numerous 800 numbers and have decided to send you a timeline of the incredibly poor service that I have received.

Timeline: 2/10/07 - channels 23 - 70 were not coming through. I called to resolve the issue and after being instructed to re-boot my cable box 5 times, I was told there was a widespread outage throughout all of Massachusetts. I called four more times that night and had varying successes in getting my service somewhat back to normal. In the end, the last person to 'help' me ended up crashing my cable box and it was unusable.

2/11/07 - I called again and was told that a service technician would have to come out.

2/13/07 - we had a service call scheduled for the 5PM - 7PM slot. I left work 1.5 hours early to meet this appointment. While I was driving home, the technician called to tell me he was not coming. As I arrived home, I was shocked to find a Comcast van in the driveway of my neighbor's house. That evening I drove down to my local Comcast office and delivered the broken cable box to them. They gave me a new one. I went home and plugged it in and discovered that I was not receiving over half of the channels that I pay for. I called your 800 number and the 'helpful' technician once again sent a signal to my box — it crashed. I was then told that they would set up a service appointment for me on the 16th. I opted to drive back to the local office. I received another new cable box and was told that the problem was the result of Comcast's botched take-over of Adelphia. The coding that was put in place was incorrect, but no one had bothered to fix it.

02/15/07 - I excitedly sat down to watch my DVR's recording of Lost only to discover that once again my cable box was dead.

02/17/07 - another service appt. This time, the technician showed up and gave us another new box (keep in mind; this is the 3rd box in less than a week). He told us the same thing we had heard on the 13th about the coding being incorrect.

2/19/07 - Another dead box. My husband took the trip to our local office this time and received our 4th bright, shiny and new cable box.

2/23/07 - Shockingly, another dead cable box. We called to complain and were told that the problem was not the box, but the line coming in. A service appointment was scheduled for 02/26.

02/26/07 - technician arrives. Shockingly, it is not a problem with the line or the box. It is a problem with the coding coming in through the line. The technician tells us that our line is showing both Adelphia codes and Comcast codes coming through it. When both sets of codes hit the box, the box shuts down.

So, here it is 17 full days from the start of our problems with you. I have had 3 service appointments (1 of which was cancelled), 4 new boxes, and I can't remember how many calls (upwards of 20). At this point, we have a box and we can use the DVR. However we are still not receiving channels 23 - 70 (have not seen those channels since 02/10). I don't dare call your 'help' line for fear that a signal will be sent to my box that will crash it again. I'm hoping that someone on your end will get your act together and finally fix this coding issue. You must have some programmers on staff who can fix this.

I refuse to pay for service for the month of February, and at this point it is looking like March as well.

Please, I just want my normal service that I pay for back. I want to watch channels 23-70 again. I miss the Daily Show and The Colbert Report.

FIX THIS PROBLEM NOW.

Sincerely, Your disgruntled former Happy Adelphia customers

Never quite like Rob's experience, though, where they literally got it backwards.

Literally.

Full transcript, inside...

Rob writes:

Laurie.5661 > Thank you for contacting Comcast. My name is Laurie. I will be happy to help you with your email today.

Laurie.5661 > You may be getting an error number in Outlook Express, or Outlook that starts 0x800CCC?? What are the last two digits of that error number, please?

Robert > i am not getting an error - i am contacting you to find out why my outbound email server changed prior to my receiving notice

Robert > the same issue happened to my father-in-law, who i support

Robert > the transition to comcast has been extremely problematic for me, and many of my neighbors

Laurie.5661 > Are you asking about your Adelphia or Comcast account, Robert?

Robert > i am concerned other changes will not be communicated in time

Robert > yes

Robert > adelphia

Laurie.5661 > A welcome website has been created for new customers coming to Comcast as a result of the merger. At this web site you will find information about Comcast's exciting products, have the ability to view product demos, as well as read the latest details of the merger.

Time Warner customer welcome page:

www.comcast.com/welcometwc

Adelphia customer welcome page:

www.comcast.com/welcomeadelphia

For further help, please call 1-888-683-1000

Robert > i want to know when we will receive proper notification of changes that cause our service to break

Robert > i don't care about the merger

Laurie.5661 > Robert you need to go to this site and migrate your mail to Comcast.

Laurie.5661 > https://welcome.comcast.net/Login.do

Robert > i have not been notified to do so

Robert > the only notice i received said i would receive a notice

Robert > i have nto received a notice, but my outbound server changed

Robert > as did my father-in-law's

Laurie.5661 > You should have received an email in your primary Adelphia account. We cannot change your server setting.

Robert > i have no information about changing email addresses, servers or anything

Robert > i realize that

Laurie.5661 > What do you mean by "my outbound server changed

"?

Robert > over the weekend, my father-in-law was n ot able to send email

Robert > i called support for him, they told me his outbound mail sever had changed from mail.adelphia.net to smtp.comcast.net

Robert > he received no notice of that change

Laurie.5661 > This site will lead you throught the migration. Your Adelphia mail will be forwarded to your Comcast account.

Robert > it just stopped working

Robert > this morning i had the same problem

Robert > no notice

Robert > had to change the server

Robert > to get it to work

Laurie.5661 > I am sorry if you did not receive the email advising you of this.

Robert > i have not been told to migrate yet

Laurie.5661 > Click on this link to verify your settings:

http://faq.comcast.net/faq/answer.jsp?name=17739&cat=Email&subcategory=Outlook%20Express

Robert > my settings work at the moment, my fear is that other changes will occur and i will get no notice

Robert > i need you to send me the email

Robert > as far as i know, i do not have a comcast account yet

Robert > not one has told me i do

Laurie.5661 > I cannot send you the email. Please go to https://welcome.comcast.net/Login.do and migrate your mail.

Robert > what is my comcast account?

Robert > how do i sign in?

Laurie.5661 > Sign in with your Adelphia username and password.

Laurie.5661 > Should you need to contact us again by Chat, Email or Phone, your reference number for this issue is:

Laurie.5661 > 78022506

Laurie.5661 > Is there anything else that I can help you with today?

Robert > that page is not available or has been moved

Laurie.5661 > I am at that page now, Robert. https://welcome.comcast.net/Login.do

Laurie.5661 > Just type welcome.comcast.net and you should pull it up.

Robert > neercs sht otni eyt tonnca i wonnow i cannot tye into this screen

Laurie.5661 > Sorry, I cannot read what you just typed. Do you have another question?

Robert > derorrim si txte ym ,xob eht otni epytyyt i newhw on when i type into the box, my text is mirrored

Robert > nekorb si loot tahcsith this chat tool is broken

Robert > wnok to ek wo i i would liketo know

Laurie.5661 > I will report that Robert.

Robert > won trevnco nac ylurt i fi if i truly can convert now

Robert > deviecre i eciton ylno ethe cnsi since the only notice i received

Robert > ouy mro fraeh i litnu gginthyan od ton od dias said do not do anythingg until i hear from you

Robert > ouy mrof dareh otne vha i dan and i have not heard from you

Laurie.5661 > Robert you are experiencing an issue with the chat program that I will report.

Robert > ?tcerroc ,nohtisueq ym dae rlltis anc ouy tub ,ok ok, but you can still read my quesiton, correct?

Laurie.5661 > You need to go to welcome.comcast.net and migrate your mail.

Laurie.5661 > In order to adequately assist you with this problem, we require a more free flowing dialogue. Please call our technical support line at 1-800-266-2278 (1-800-COMCAST) and we will be more than happy to assist you. Again that is

1-800-COMCAST or 1-800-266-2278.

Laurie.5661 > Customer has closed chat and left the room

SIDEBAR: A letter to the editor appearing in Rob's local paper.

— BEN POPKEN

"This widespread disruption made a mockery of [Time Warner's] promises that these cable services would not be interrupted as a result of the migration," the suit alleges.

"Some assert that Time Warner reduced the number of cable channels as a ploy to force customers to upgrade to digital service," said the LAT.

These disruptions are typical when company's buy each other and merge systems and databases... have companies ever considered that if they're not going to put the money in to make a smooth transition... maybe they should just leave the acquired party's system alone? Let it run as it did before? Just a thought. — BEN POPKEN

Time Warner Cable sued [LAT] (Thanks to something_amazing!)

Eventually Brainforest's service returned, enabling him to upload his video.

P.S. If you want us to find your videos on YouTube, send them to us or tag them "customer service" or "Consumerist," if you want to play it coy like that.

"Sharon Levy saw a cooking show about pizza recently and figured her mother would like to watch too. So she picked up the phone and told her mom to tune in to the Food Network.

But the two missed the segment because they spent so much time figuring out which channel on Levy's cable system in Sherman Oaks corresponded to her mother's in Hancock Park.

"She would say, 'Where's the Food channel?' And I'd say 55," Levy said. "But Channel 55 on her system is the History Channel. So we'd go through all the numbers until we found it."

Brace yourselves.

...even if you think they're the only hi-speed internet game in town.

The commission issued an emergency order to reinstate the network on a temporary basis after NFL Enterprises LLC complained the network was booted without giving subscribers the required 30-day notice.

The FCC is on their ass like black on night.

(Thanks to Forrest!)

TimeWarner divvied up bankrupt Adelphia Cable's assets yesterday, including buying all the customers. Service promptly began going FUBAR. First they screwed up Lifehacker's internet and now they're depriving customers of NFL preseason coverage. For the time being, there's no more NFL Net.

Distraught, Marc says, "The lady at the 800 number was unresponsive, and dismissed my assertion that surely Adelphia's deal with the NFL was still vaild."

Well you can't expect the new network to honor all the old agreements, right? Well it looks like it's not a passive problem, or a technical snafu, but a deliberate move.

"As I research the problem, it seems that TW has yanked the NFL Net from former Adelphia markets to up the ante in its negotiations to get the NFL to lower its price," says Marc. Maybe that's why Adelphia was bankrupt in the first place.

Marc wants to know who he should cal at Time Warner to voice his concern.

Try the office of James D. Fellhauer, Chief of Customer Care, 203-328-4017. Ignore the scary system telling you the voicemail box isn't working and wait for it to transfer you to an operator. Ask for the customer care advocate. We ended up reaching a Lorraine.

Time Warner bought Adelphia's assets in California, plus Comcast's. TW and Comcast are divvying up Adelphia's old subscriber base in a series of deals playing out on the local level across the nation.

Great for their bottom lines, but Adam's been shuffled between a trifecta of nonworking cable options like a shuttlecock at an epileptic badminton tourney.

Takeaway: Don't sign up for service from bankrupt companies.

Adam's letter, after the jump....

I just moved to a new apartment where my friendly neighborhood Comcast told me that I was no longer in their neighborhood. So I switched to my friendly neighborhood Adelphia.

In the course of one mind-blowing week, my Adelphia internet was borked for 3 out of 7 days (and I work from home!). But since I had been told that Comcast (with whom I've had surprisingly little trouble with in the past) didn't service my area, and that Adelphia was pretty much my only choice for broadband, I gritted my teeth bloody and kept going.

But a week later when I called to officially cancel my Comcast account from my old apartment, Comcast told me that they now could service my area. And I said, "Great, get your asses over here! Adelphia sucks!"

So on August 1st (yesterday), I started service with Comcast and ended service with Adelphia. But guess what - something went wonky about 30 minutes after the Comcast technician left, and rather than hanging ten all over the web with Comcast's relatively speedy 6Mbps, I was redirected on every browser request to an Adelphia installation page.

Wha? Annoyed (I left Adelphia specifically because I was sick of talking to CSR every afternoon), I called up Comcast. After much hemming and hawing (on both of our parts), the CSR told me that Adelphia and Comcast had just yesterday merged into Time Warner, and that it may be some sort of bug in a new system. In all of his kindness (actually, he was a pretty good CSR), he was sure to let me know that a technician will be on his way as early as the 3rd.

Motherfucker! So in effect, I left Time Warner for Time Warner yesterday, and now I've got this huge pain in my ass of a totally non-working internet connection for at least 2 days (thank god for my unsecured wireless neighborhood), and tomorrow I have to wait around for Adelphia (now Time Warner) from 8am-7pm to come pick up their cable modem and cable box as well as Comcast (also Time Warner) to try to fix my internet, which (sorry technicians) I'm not terribly confident will happen.

Anyway, I just wanted to extend my thanks to Comcast, Adelphia, and Time Warner. I appreciate all the inconvenience you put me through so that I can end up with nothing more than I had to begin with. You're a tribute to your kind.

• Shockingly, E-Harmony Found Electronic, Harmonious. Even more shocking is that we didn't see any ladies offering up the digits to Danilo. C'mon Orlando, single, well-spoken, good-looking guy available, enjoys shopping!
• Sony PSP: Racist? Everyone is missing the obvious Afrikaner references that informed this campaign.
• iPods Killed The Genius Bar. For those you of you playing the home version of our game, the correct answer is "Who are The Buggles?"
• Adelphia Makes Customer Pay For Porn She Never Ordered. Our grandpa said that liquor doesn't taste as good after you're twenty-one, unless it's free. We're sure that then porn for pay is like drinking a Long Island Iced Tea, steeped with actual water from Long Island.
• Sharper Image Dulled. You can take this nose hair trimmer and shove it where the sun don't shine, while enjoying the soothing yet precise blade action.

There's no vice more corrupt, more venal, more deserving of reproach, than porn.

Except for of course, being charged for porn you didn't even get to watch.

Curses, Dalliances Behind the Velvet Curtain, Part III

Priscilla's letter of pornographic woe and subsequent plea for help, after the jump...

Priscilla writes:

"I have my cable through Adelphia. My problem is that they (Adelphia) is saying someone in my household is ordering Adult Title movies. I know for a fact one of the early mornings order was not true. I called and they say its done through the remote. So I put a block on ordering movies, pay-per-view, on demand anywhere movies can be ordered. I even blocked the adult channels. I changed my PIN in case someone is ordering and denying it.

Anyway the problem is when I call to see what box (we have 3 boxes) it was ordered off of they say theres no way of knowing. They can't prove someone ordered it and I can't prove we didn't. So now they say I'm liable to pay. These orders just show up on my bill. I mentioned if people can steal cable then theres probably a way someone can be ordering those movies and it shows up on my bill. They say there is no way someone from outside could be ordering it. Any suggestions....?"

Dave writes:

"We live in the San Fernando Valley, a.k.a. America's Suburb, a.k.a. Porn Capital of the Western World. Our cable provider is the one, the only, the inimitable Adelphia. This means they don't have to give a hoot, because in six months they won't exist anymore.

Well, our TiVo died and rather than spend $200 on a new TiVo box, I thought I'd investigate Adelphia's DVR solution which just became available to us about two weeks ago. I called and asked for the service. Sure, they could come out in two weeks, with an all-day (8 to 5) appointment on a Friday. I enquired as to the possibility of my stopping by their offices in Oxnard Street and procuring the box myself and installing it.

No, it requires professional installation, for which there is a $25 charge. I press the issue and am told that I am welcome to stop by Oxnard Street and enquire. I did so and was rebuffed, but came away with a 1-5 appointment on the Wednesday immediately following and a waiver of the $25 fee. Score. The gentlemen showed up at 16:55 on Wednesday and despite a small matter of my explaining in Spanish that using YRB component video was not going to work as there weren't, technically, any YRB ports on my TV and could they please use the S-video cable I was proffering instead, it went well. Double score, so far. Then we started getting terrible pixelation and all sorts of digital artifacts on our channels, so on Friday I called Adelphia and complained, and the lady on the phone said,
"Oh, yeah, the DVR takes a lot more signal than a normal digital box, so you need an amp on your line. Someone will be out tomorrow between 8 and noon." Triple score, holy buckets, I got someone with a clue!

Saturday morning: no Adelphia. At 12:45 I called and enquired as to the eventual arrival of the repairman.

"Your ticket was cancelled, sir."

"Why was it cancelled?"

"I don't know."

"Perhaps you could look?"

"It looks like there was a problem in your area, but it's been fixed, so they cancelled the ticket."

"Do you think they might have called me so I didn't waste my Saturday morning?"

"I don't know, sir, I can have someone call you back in the next 20 minutes or so."

At 13:30 I called back and demanded a supervisor but was rebuffed — the technician himself would call me in about 15 minutes, on my cell phone. We went out and had ourselves a grand old time shopping, and got home at 16:00 — just in time to see the Adelphia truck pull into the driveway. No call, nothing to make sure we were home, no nothing — just they showed up. He walked around, tested the line, and said, "If you're still having problems, call back."

I called and demanded the standard compensation for a missed appointment. No, they couldn't do that. So I called the Information Technology Bureau of the City of Los Angeles, who are responsible for the cable franchises in the City. They called someone higher up at Adelphia and I got a call on Tuesday from a manager who credited me $25.00. They came and put an amp on the line — without my having to be home — yesterday.

When it doubt, use the government you pay for to get what you want."