How well you’ll be able to stream season two of Breaking Bad on Netflix may depend largely on which company you’re paying to provide internet service to your home. Netflix has just released the results of its own study on network performance and the results may not surprise you. [More]
charter
Charter Drags Feet To Fix Entire Neighborhood's Internet Access
By 7.21.11
What does it take to get an entire neighborhood’s Internet connection working when something is clearly wrong on the cable company’s end? Judging from Alex’s experience…a lot. His neighborhood has had wonky connections in the summer for years. Unfortunately for Charter, Alex actually knows something about networking, and got them to actually fix the problem. Here, for your edification, is his tale of woe and ultimate triiumph. [More]
5 Pay TV Companies Make 19 Most Hated Company List
By 7.13.11
5 of the 19 companies getting the lowest scores on the American Customer Satisfaction Index are pay TV providers. In 3rd, it’s Time Warner, 4th, Comcast, 5th, Charter, 17th, Cox, and 18th, Dish. Hmm, why might that be? [More]
AT&T, Comcast Rank Last In Customer Satisfaction Surveys
By 5.17.11
The folks at the American Customer Satisfaction Index have released their annual report on the various elements of the information sector. And it probably won’t come as a surprise to Consumerist readers that AT&T’s wireless division and Comcast each brought up the rear in their respective fields. [More]
Comcast Begs Employees To Vote For Charter In Worst Company In America Poll
By 3.23.11 — Updated: 3.20.13
We know that none of the companies in this year’s Worst Company In America tournament want to be on the list. But reigning Golden Poo holder Comcast has decided that, rather than actually do anything about the problems that make it a perennial favorite, it will just beg its employees to vote — multiple times — for the other guy. [More]
Worst Company In America Round One: Comcast Vs. Charter
By 3.23.11
Finally, after a week of watching from its locker room, the reigning Worst Company In America steps into the ring to defend its title. [More]
Charter To Customer With Five Failed Service Calls: "You Haven't Bugged Us Enough To Resolve Your Problem"
By 9.21.10
Charter tells it like it is: the problem with Eric’s incorrectly installed Internet service is that he hasn’t been trying hard enough to fix it. Here’s a copy of an email that Eric tried to send to Charter’s CEO last week, but it bounced back. Maybe someone at Charter can read it here? [More]
Cable Companies Could Save Money By Flagging Certain Customers "Not An Idiot"
By 7.12.10
Cable companies could be saving lots of money and pissing off fewer people if they implemented special “this guy is not an idiot” flags on their tech savvy customer’s accounts, argues the NeedCoffee blog. [More]
Worst Company In America 2010: Charter VS Time Warner Cable
By 3.25.10
It’s time for two major cable companies to put the gloves on. In one corner, Time Warner Cable, which has drawn the ire of lawmakers and consumers alike for its love of “consumption based billing,” an idea so wildly unpopular that they had to put it on hold before people got the pitchforks and torches out. [More]
Is Charter Telling Customers Their Router Is Broken Just To Rent Them One?
By 3.18.10
Earlier this week, a reader wrote in to tell us how a customer service rep at Charter Communications tried to convince him to keep his cable service my telling him a whopper of an untruth about cable companies taking over all the streaming video services on May 1 or some such nonsense. Now, another Charter customer says the company is misleading them and other customers into believing that their routers don’t work and they need to rent one from Charter. [More]
10 Confessions Of A Charter Customer Service Representatives
By 5.2.09
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…
By 2.13.09
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It looks like Charter Communications Inc will be filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing the loss of 1 billion dollars over the first three quarters of 2008. [Bloomberg]
Charter Publishes Unlisted Numbers In The Phone Book
By 9.14.08
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.
Charter And Big Ten Network Decide To Play Nice
By 8.27.08
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.”
You Won A 65-inch TV From Charter Cable! Here Is Your 19-inch TV!
By 7.8.08
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 Will Track Your Internet Activity Regardless Of Whether You Opt Out
By 5.20.08
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.
Charter To Begin Tracking Users' Searches And Inserting Targeted Ads
By 5.13.08
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.
Big Ten Network Continues To Annoy Consumers
By 2.8.08
Stop us if you have heard this one before: Comcast and the BTN still don’t have a deal. Nothing has changed since the football season, when many fans were upset at not being able to see the Wisconsin-Ohio State game, which aired on the BTN.
