Consumerist
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insiders
10 Confessions Of A Charter Customer Service Representatives
Did you know there isn't a formal way to report a Charter cable outage, and that you're entitled to a $20 credit if your tech is a single minute late for your appointment? These, and other fantastic tips to get faster, cheaper service from Charter, as told by a former customer service representative, inside... More » -
charter
Charter Publishes Unlisted Numbers In The Phone Book
Tim enjoyed his unlisted phone number for over thirty years until Charter published it in the local phone book. Now he has two options: ditch his long-time number, or lose his cherished anonymity. Inside, Charter's apology letter. More » -
big ten channel
Charter And Big Ten Network Decide To Play Nice
Reader Jon tells us that he got a call from Charter Cable letting him know that they'd just inked a deal to offer the Big Ten Network and sure enough, the AP is reporting what may be considered "peace in our time."
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charter cable
You Won A 65-inch TV From Charter Cable! Here Is Your 19-inch TV!
The News Courier reports Charter Cable ran an online contest asking kids to submit stories about why their dad was the "World's Greatest Dad," and the winner was supposed to get a 65-inch TV...instead, a 19-inch one showed up on his doorstep. Is this any way to treat The World's Greatest Dad?
UPDATE: Charter has responded to this post and says they're working with the family to get them a better prize.
UPDATE: Charter Gives Family 2 TVs After Contest Snafu More »
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privacy
UPDATE: Charter Will Track Your Internet Activity Regardless Of Whether You Opt Out
Last week, we wrote about Charter's decision to begin tracking its users internet activity and inserting targeted ads. One of our readers wrote in to let us know he discovered that Charter's insecure opt-out solution—downloading a cookie that must be downloaded for each user and browser, and downloading it again whenever the cache is cleared—only blocks the ads from showing up; it doesn't block Charter from monitoring users' searches and web activity. More » -
privacy
Charter To Begin Tracking Users' Searches And Inserting Targeted Ads
Charter Communications is sending letters to its customers informing them of an "enhanced online experience" that involves Charter monitoring its users' searches and the websites they visit, and inserting targeted third-party ads based on their web activity. Charter, which serves nearly six million customers, is requiring users who want to keep their activity private to submit their personal information to Charter via an unencrypted form and download a privacy cookie that must be downloaded again each time a user clears his web cache or uses a different browser. More » -
annoyances
Big Ten Network Continues To Annoy Consumers
So, apparently there is this sport where people try to throw a ball through a hoop that's suspended above a "court." It's quite popular, says the Chicago Tribune. Colleges have teams and there is even a brand new cable station that shows games from just one conference: More » -
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isps
Tired Of Your Entrenched Service Provider? Consider A Local Alternative
Few consumers realize they can ditch their monopolistic service providers in favor of local, independent telecoms that often offer similar services at competitive rates. These smaller outfits depend on service, not size, as reader Sharpstick recently discovered:In the Charleston SC area we are fortunate to have local a internet / phone / cable provider called Knology that has made customer service an art form.
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whoops
Charter: Sorry We Deleted Your Email, Want $50?
Charter Cable is blaming a software error for accidentally and permanently deleting the email accounts of 14,000 users, and is offering a $50 credit as compensation, says the AP: More » -
consumer reports
Best Internet, TV, Phone Service Providers
Lots of companies are pushing deals for their bundled internet, tv and phone plans, but which are best? Consumer Reports surveyed its readers and here's how they ranked the service providers:
Overall rating / Company / Rating for Internet / TV / Phone
250 Verizon FiOS 84, 84, 82
222 Bright House 75, 69, 78
222 Cox 74, 69, 79
221 Verizon/DirecTV 73, 74, 74
221 Qwest/DirecTV 72, 74, 75
221 AT&T/Dish Network 72, 70, 74
214 Cablevision 72, 65, 77
208 Time Warner 71, 63, 74
199 Comcast 66 ,62, 71
188 Charter 61, 59, 68Despite occasionally setting a house on fire, Verizon FiOS is clearly tops, while Comcast and Charter are scraping the bottom.
Internet, TV, phone [Consumer Reports]
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success stories
Local Franchise Authorities Keep Cable Operators In Line
Cable companies must constantly prove their worth to local franchise authorities. The authorities grant the cable providers permission to operate, and can whip them into action for failing to meet basic customer service standards, as reader Darren shows. More » -
complaints
Charter Bills For Returned Equipment, Sends Account To Collections
Charter accused Kevin of failing to pay for unreturned equipment, even though Kevin paid his final bill in full and has a receipt for a returned cable box. Charter customer service representatives were happy to play whack-a-mole whenever the bogus charges for the equipment appeared on Kevin's bill, but Charter eventually tired of the infuriatingly unwinnable game and sent Kevin's account to collections. More » -
dvrs
Can't Watch Your Premium Cable Channels ? Ask For "CCV Hit"
Now you don't need to get special tender loving escalation to enjoy the same solution as Charlie of Charter Decides To Care That Reader Can't Watch Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares fame. Reader Mangopants had the same problem where he couldn't watch a specific channel. He writes, "After 5 months, 60+ calls to Charter (not exaggerating) and 3 visits from technicians I finally got a supervisor visit this site and read this article and the related problem article - she sent a "CCV Hit" to my box - fixed the problem right up!" A little Googling shows it's the reset code for premium channels and it's not just for Charter, "CCV Hit" works for other with other cable companies and on other DVRs.
(Photo: Tengaport)
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success stories
Charter Decides To Care That Reader Can't Watch Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares
After we posted Charlie's complaint, "Charter Doesn't Care If You Can't Watch BBC America," a Charter Communications Corporate Escalation Specialist emailed The Consumerist and we put her in touch with Charlie.
Now Charlie writes, "Just wanted to let you know that she was able to connect me to another "escalation specialist" who ended up being able to fix my problem... More »
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complaints
Qwest Can't Get Wireless Working Because Macs Are "Practically An Obsolete System"
"This year I moved in May 2007. My new housemates and I decided that we wanted to share wireless internet in our house. We order Qwest wireless the first week of June 2007.
When I received the modem and start up disc, none of the codes would work for my computer, nor my housemates. I called Qwest and was told that it was because I had a MacBook. During the month of June I called Qwest over nine times, and was repeatedly told in both polite and in rude terms that the problem was my Mac, not Qwest. During one call to Qwest, an employee told me that he could get it up and running in 30 seconds if my computer were a PC. When I asked him if any of his colleagues were trained for Macs, he told me that hardly anyone uses macs and Qwest should not have to train its employees in a practically obsolete system. He then transferred me, against my will, to the apple support line." More »
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complaints
Charter Doesn't Care If You Can't Watch BBC America
"I have a TIVO HD that uses two cablecards. On 9/27/2007, I realized that channel 196 (BBC America) was not working on either card; it did not appear to be authorized. I called Charter customer service (as I have had to do for many problems over the last couple months), and their immediate response was, as usual, to send out a technician. I called back a bit later and suggested that they try removing the tier from my account and adding it back in - this technique had fixed another random outage affecting all HD channels that had occurred earlier in the week. As with most calls to Charter customer service, I felt that the representative didn't really know much of anything about the service and that I had to troubleshoot my own issue. The technique didn't fix it, so the technician came the next day (9/28/2007). This was the 4th technician to come to my home in the last 2 months (all because of problems with Charter service), and like the others, he did nothing that I couldn't have done myself..." More » -
monitoring
Are Bundled Packages A Threat To Privacy?
The L.A. Times read the privacy policies of several bundled service providers and found that they are feverishly monitoring their subscriber's activities. With the ability to monitor internet, phone, and television preferences, bundled service providers are able to track nearly every aspect of their subscriber's digital lives. While Google retains personally identifiable for less than two years, some ISPs like Time Warner cling to your data for an astounding fifteen years in order to "comply with tax and accounting requirements." It gets worse.There are red flags to be found in each telecom provider's privacy policy. A close reading of Time Warner's policy reveals:
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charter
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Sun Nov 22
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