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Los Angeles, CA - TWC - Page 225

post #6721 of 8618
7/27/09 at 5:51pm
Gees...anyway to lower the dam TW bill? I'm now at $105 with Surf N Go and 6 speed Internet...still $105. Really wish U-Verse would get here.
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Gear mentioned in this thread:

post #6722 of 8618
7/28/09 at 1:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bgooch View Post

Currently TWC does not have a specific time for introducing Navigator for Motorola boxes but are working to launch it as soon as possible hopefully before December but there is no specific date.

This might be very interesting. I think the DCH/DCX boxes could run ODN since it's already being used in SA boxes and is compatible with both SA and motorola since it's java based. I think it could also be 1 version that supports the Moto API. Who knows really. I think it's going to cause problems to the old DCT2000 boxes that lack the performance to run it. The older SA and Pioneer boxes also seem to have issues with Navigator due to a lack of ram.
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post #6723 of 8618
7/29/09 at 8:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by leebo View Post

Yes, the former (series recordings). The one's like "Monk" that are repeated several time during the week (or even on the same day). I go through future recordings and attempt to delete scheduled recordings of shows I've already watched. Exit the menu. Return to check and the scheduled recordings have changed from the line through it to the full red dot.

Further interesting observations on this issue...

I think there must be special logic in the "detection algorithm" dealing with the definition of "first run" when there is not a "(new)" shown in the Guide Info which double-checks against any recordings that might already exist on hard drive. If there is such a show already recorded which has the identical Guide Info in it (disregarding a "(new)" or "(repeat)" if present in either the new show or recorded show), then the new show is considered an unwanted duplicate and not scheduled for recording.

This prevents the duplicate shows from being scheduled for recording as long as you keep an earlier recording of the same show on your hard drive. But as soon as you delete it (i.e. you watch it, and then delete it, as would obviously be 100% perfectly normal behavior) that opens the door up to the "ambiguous" subsequent showings without the double-check to prevent unwanted recordings, and once again a later showing that week is once again scheduled even though we all know it's clearly not a true first-run.

I had this happen several times this week, as I gradually began to work my way through the accumulated backlog of "Nurse Jackie" and "Weeds". Sure enough although duplicate episode recordings during the week had definitely not been scheduled previously, as soon as I caught up and watched this weeks episodes (and then deleted them) lo and behold later recordings for this week were magically suddenly scheduled!! They weren't scheduled before, but as soon as I deleted a recorded show from this week (and thus deleted the double-check information basis) the first upcoming showing later this week suddenly got scheduled!

Also, I absolutely know for sure that "Bill Maher" was only scheduled once, on last Friday night, and not scheduled again until this coming Friday night. Absolutely, for sure. I frequently check all upcoming scheduled recordings going out two weeks to inhibit any duplicate series recordings I see that got mistakenly scheduled. Well once I watched last Friday night's show and deleted it, all this week I've been seeing unwanted duplicate recordings showing up in MyDVR list, which obviously came from "suddenly scheduled" recordings that got auto-scheduled once I deleted the hard drive "original" first-run recording from last Friday (i.e. the basis for the double-check logic to avoid recording any unwanted duplicates).

Also, even when I discover an upcoming unwanted non-first-run recording and inhibit it, I check to be sure there are no further unwanted scheduled recordings later in the week and there aren't. Only that one first upcoming (and unwanted duplicate of a previous first-run) showing is scheduled, nothing further. But once that inhibited showing gets passed, the next one showing gets auto-scheduled by itself (but again, nothing further beyond that).

Obviously the logic is trying to avoid scheduling unwanted duplicates of these kinds of shows. And the logic includes double-checks against (a) already scheduled upcoming showings, as well as (b) already recorded showings of the identical program. And this seems to work, mostly... unless both kinds of double-check data points are deleted (or passed in time). And that seems to be what causes these unwanted duplicate scheduled recordings to occur.

Interesting. Can't see any logical solution, in the absence of a self-contained and indisputable and 100% dependable "this is the very first run showing of the week, and anything else is not the first run showing " flag bit in the Guide Info provided by TV Guide which the scheduling logic could reliably depend upon.

Once again, I'm afraid that to avoid all of this nonsense, and possible duplicate recording (if there's no existing recording for double-check) which runs the risk of causing your hard drive to fill up at worst but also requires that you at least delete the duplicate recordings if they're made or manually "inhibit" upcoming unwanted scheduled recordings at best, the only other practical solution is manually setting your weekly recordings (by Guide cell, not date/time/channel/duration).
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post #6724 of 8618
7/30/09 at 8:43am
For all you guys with DVRs: I have only a STB (Moto 6200) and use my media PC as a DVR. I record via firewire with a small program that works in conjuction with Vista Media Center. What happens is two recordings are made simultaneously -- one by VMC (which, of course, is not hidef) and the other via firewire (which is). If the recording is successful, the program deletes the VMC recording, and I'm left with an OAR recording @ 1080i.

This has worked great for the past few years, but lately I'm noticing on some channels (Palladia and MGM-HD, so far) that I'm no longer getting that firewire recording (only VMC's SD one), while on others (CBS-HD and TCM-SD) I still am. So my question is, since I haven't been following the discussion here re: DVRs, etc., have the flags on some of these hidef channels recently (like in the last week) been changed to "record once" or something similar? That's the only thing I can think of that might be causing this behavior. I believe there is a way to check the 6200 menu to see if a channel is 5U-compliant (if that's the right terminology), but don't know if that's the answer I'm looking for.

EDIT: Make that "5C-compliant." Anyway, I dug up the readme file for my recording software and it got me into the 6200's menu where I could check which channels are 5C-compliant, and, sure enough, every one I checked that is not digital SD or local HD stations is "copy once." So I guess the free-wheeling days of recording HD movies, ESPN and HD concerts are done . Still, this must have been a very recent change, because, as I said, it's only come up in the last week or two.
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post #6725 of 8618
7/30/09 at 6:29pm
Did anyone else experience this strange glitch just now. I was waching a dvr recording of last night's Jimmy Fallon show. All of a sudden, it booted out of that onto what appeared to be a home shopping network, but with no sound. I lost all control of DVR functions and the display on the DVR showed : "EA5" or "EAS." I rebooted once with no luck. I rebooted again and now all appears normal. Very strange. Just wondering if there was some sort of TWC problem or hack, or maybe my DVR is on the fritz.
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post #6726 of 8618
7/30/09 at 7:09pm
Does anyone get frequent intermittent pixelation on Chans 441, 442, and 443 in the Ventura County area?(Occurs simultaneously on all three channels at intermittent intervals varying from 5 minutes to 2 hours. A Time Warner Servicemen came out last December and said they did not know the cause and that it was affecting all of Ventura County. Of course it has not been fixed SEVEN MONTHS later. It really makes it irritating to watch USA-HD. I wish they would move USA to Chan 465 and put silly Faux News on 441 if they can not fix it.
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post #6727 of 8618
7/31/09 at 3:13pm
Thread Starter 
Time Warner Cable losing basic, premium subscribers
July 29th, 2009, 9:04 am · 14 Comments · posted by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress

Time Warner CableOur favorite cable TV company released its second-quarter earnings report this morning and its CEO is pleased.

A look at the numbers http://gadgetress.freedomblogging.co...7/twc2q09a.jpg

Time Warner Cable continued to make more money, netting income of $316 million in the three months, ending June 30. In the same time last year, it made $277 million. Sales also grew 4 percent, or $176 billion, to $4.5 billion in the three months.

Nearly every segment of Time Warner grew subscriptions were up 6 percent to $4.3 billion, video revenues grew 3 percent to $2.7 billion, Internet revenues were up 9 percent to $1.1 billion, and digital phone revenues were up 19 percent to $471 million.

The only areas that declined were basic and premium video subscribers and advertising, which was down a hefty 25 percent to $174 million. (And no wonder! One premium channel is $15 a month. And if you order all five premiums, that adds $53 to your monthly bill.)

If you're scowling at this report because your cable bill went up this year, Time Warner said that its costs have risen, too. Video programming expenses, which include the per-subscriber fees paid to TV networks for the right to broadcast their channels, jumped 7 percent to $1 billion.

Time Warner Cable's customer count, as of June 2009That brings us to the number of subscribers: It had 14,652,000 million, as of June 30, 2009. That's down 11,000 from March's 14,663,000 subscribers.

Those who remain with the company continue to switch services around perhaps tempted by a offer to bundle? Many are jumping to Time Warner's triple-play bundles, which is going for $99 a month right now. That includes TV, Internet and phone service. Triple-play customers numbered 3.3 million, up 90,000 new customers during the quarter. The number of customers who order just one or just two cable services declined.

Phone subscribers were also up to 4 million, Internet subscribers were up to 8.8 million. But overall video customers were down to 13 million. Click chart on right to enlarge details.

Based on its penetration rates, Time Warner is losing its hold on customers. The penetration rate or the number of households who order service in communities where it's available - is shrinking. Its video penetration rate dropped to 48.4 percent by June, down slightly from the 48.7 percent in March. Two years ago, that number was above 50 percent.

This compares to the inroads TV service rivals like Verizon FiOS and AT&T U-verse have made into Time Warner territory. While much smaller, FiOS and U-verse penetration rates continue to increase. FiOS TV, for example, was up to 24.6 percent penetration in its communities in June, compared to 19.7 percent a year earlier (see Average Verizon FiOS bill is $135; TV service still growing).

With competition heating up, Time Warner is looking into other areas to grow, such as wireless phones and web TV content. Reuters reminds us that the company joined Comcast Corp. and Clearwire Corp. last year in a 4G wireless partnership. Also, the company previously said it would be testing a TV Everywhere, allowing customers to watch cable TV shows on the Web.

Comments:
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July 31, 2009 at 2:17 pm

My beef with TW is that they don't understand TV Guide OnScreen, also known as Guide Plus+.

My DVR became almost useless last year when TW quit passing through the analog TVGOS signal. This was somewhat to be expected with the digital switchover, but many cable systems are converting digital TVGOS to analog TVGOS for their customers. Not TW.

In January we bought a Sony HDTV with digital TVGOS and that worked for a while, but toward the end of May the digital TVGOS went away, too.

Contacting TW about this is hopeless. They have no clue what TVGOS is, and don't understand why anyone would care since they have their own TV listings service. Not that it's usable by my TV or DVR.

Macrovision (now Rovi) used to provide a page for users to complain about cable systems that weren't carrying TVGOS, but they don't even bother any more. They just say We have confirmed with your cable provider that you should receive TV Guide/Guide Plus+ listings after the digital transition. If you are not receiving listings or if your listings discontinue, please contact your cable provider for more information.
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Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress says:
July 31, 2009 at 2:25 pm

Doug I don't know much about TV Guide's feature either. BUT this may help. Another reader had what I think is the same issue and somehow he resolved it. He, too, has a Sony and Time Warner Cable. Anyway, he said he redetected the stations using an antenna instead of his Time Warner basic cable feed (w/out any cable box). He told me: The next day the TV went through a software update (detected somehow through the RF antenna). Then the TV rebooted/restarted, completed the software update. Then the TV guide function (embedded in the TV) was available and functioning. Neither Sony nor Time Warner could adequately explain why neither of these functions worked through Time Warner. The Sony Rep said the TV Guide function had been giving a lot of trouble and should be updated in about a month. Anyway, maybe that will help? Good luck.

wthitc says:
July 29, 2009 at 8:54 pm

Screw a bunch of TW. So their cost went up did they even try to negotiate with the networks. Of course not because they are in collusion with the networks to rip us all off so they can post a profit and the CEO can be pleased. The CEO obviously has not listened to the complaints from his subscribers about poor customer service and high pricing. Is he pleased with that also??

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urbutt says:
July 29, 2009 at 3:26 pm

i was on hold for over an hr.
my bill went from 51.46 to 80.22.
you SERIOUS????!!! im sure they're not getting charged that much more.
i hate TIME WARNER CABLE!!!!!!

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OC Tax payer says:
July 29, 2009 at 3:18 pm

I can believe it!
$65 for crap basic cable!
I wish my landlady would let me put up my dish!
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Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress says:
July 29, 2009 at 3:30 pm

Hey OC Tax payer (hey, that's me too!) I've mentioned this before and it may help you: Apartment owners are required by law to allow outside antennas to improve TV reception but only if it's on a renter's private balcony or patio area. Here's the FCC's recap page: FCC's Over-the-Air Reception Devices Rule, see 47 C.F.R. Section 1.4000, which prohibits restrictions that impair a person's ability to install, maintain, or use an antenna There are exceptions, of course. But if you have questions or need more info, call the FCC: 888-CALLFCC (toll free) or (202) 418-7096.
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o
OC Tax payer says:
July 30, 2009 at 8:50 am

Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
Thanks again for the info however my apartment has no balcony or patio or anything I can put a dish on without attaching it to the building and my windows are facing east (so I cant have the dish inside)
So I am stuck
Its even worse for the disabled and low income seniors who only have rabbit ears on analog TV
Now with Digital they get one or two channels if they are lucky
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Bobomo says:
July 29, 2009 at 2:19 pm

Why can't I turn to my boss and say my costs have gone up, I'm passing them on to you? Because there's competition in the labor market, but not in the de-regulated' cable market. Interesting.
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Patty says:
July 29, 2009 at 1:46 pm

Time Warner sells/gives/trades your home address and UNlisted phone # to Whitepages,com
When I called to talk to someone about this invasion of privacy, I only got to email someone in India, never could get a phone #, name of a supervisor or anyone that I could talk to. period. If you call the local office they refer you to a website, hence the emails to India. There was a good reason for me to have an unlisted phone #, now that person whom I didn't want to have it, not only has my phone # but my address also. I only had a phone with them (their package deal) for a month before they gave my #. to the white pages. In one of the emails I was told I don't know how your information got from here to there !
DON'T USE TIME WARNER PHONE PLAN IF YOU WANT AN UNLISTED PHONE # TO STAY PRIVATE.
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Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress says:
July 29, 2009 at 1:51 pm

That reminds me of a recent LA Times column on unlisted numbers. Time Warner, like many other telephone companies, charges a recurring fee to keep the info unlisted. If you've been paying that fee and your information is still public, let me know and I'll try to look into it.
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DREY says:
July 29, 2009 at 1:00 pm

Their service is horrible. Not only do they keep sending us the bill in SPANISH, but refuse to send one in english!!! BYE BYE Time Warner!!! or should I sayHasta LaVista ? @@

Check out the Gadgetress http://gadgetress.freedomblogging.co...cribers/17919/
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post #6728 of 8618
8/1/09 at 4:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DSperber View Post

I think there must be special logic in the "detection algorithm" dealing with the definition of "first run" when there is not a "(new)" shown in the Guide Info which double-checks against any recordings that might already exist on hard drive. If there is such a show already recorded which has the identical Guide Info in it (disregarding a "(new)" or "(repeat)" if present in either the new show or recorded show), then the new show is considered an unwanted duplicate and not automatically scheduled for recording.

This prevents the duplicate shows from being auto-scheduled for recording as long as you keep an earlier recording of the same show on your hard drive.

But as soon as you delete it (i.e. you watch it, and then delete it, as would obviously be 100% perfectly normal behavior) that opens the door up to the "ambiguous" subsequent showings later in the week without the double-check data present to prevent unwanted recordings, and once again a later showing that week is suddenly auto-scheduled even though we all know it's clearly not a true first-run.

Obviously the logic is trying to avoid scheduling unwanted duplicates of these kinds of shows. And the logic includes double-checks against (a) already scheduled upcoming showings, as well as (b) already recorded showings of the identical program. And this seems to work, mostly... unless both kinds of double-check data points are deleted (or passed in time). And that opens the scheduling door again to pick up a new "first run", and it is this which seems to be what causes these unwanted duplicate scheduled recordings to occur.

I give up.

I'm back to my own every-two-weeks manual scheduling of the true first-run-only showing of the shows which are involved (for me) with this problem. This works perfectly, and is of minimal inconvenience to me especially when compared to the annoyance of what happens when "series" is used for these problem shows.

While the auto-scheduling process seems to look good early in the week, as the week moves on and I watch and delete the recording made early in the week the later showings in the week spontaneously auto-schedule themselves, as explained by my earlier post!

And even if I manually inhibit those later recordings (because I want to keep the "series" recording, to retain the benefits of that kind of an event) when the inhibited recording date/time passes the auto-scheduling door opens yet again and the next upcoming showing will once again be spontaneously auto-scheduled!!

Yes, it looks like only one recording at a time for a given show is scheduled if you check out the rest of the week's upcoming recordings. But this changes dynamically as the week moves on, and there seems to be no way to prevent this from happening.

===>> manual Grid-based recording scheduling for these shows every week or two seems to be the only solution given the Moto DVR implementation of "series" and "first-run" and the TV Guide info that supports the process.
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post #6729 of 8618
8/4/09 at 10:07am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Video Engineer View Post

Does anyone get frequent intermittent pixelation on Chans 441, 442, and 443 in the Ventura County area?(Occurs simultaneously on all three channels at intermittent intervals varying from 5 minutes to 2 hours. A Time Warner Servicemen came out last December and said they did not know the cause and that it was affecting all of Ventura County. Of course it has not been fixed SEVEN MONTHS later. It really makes it irritating to watch USA-HD. I wish they would move USA to Chan 465 and put silly Faux News on 441 if they can not fix it.

Same exact problem. Had two techs out last week. They changed out some of the connectors but there was no improvement. I'm going to keep hammering on them until they get it fixed as we watch USA-HD more than any other channel. The upside is that the spray paint guys from Verizon FiOS have been on our street - hopefully this will be my solution as I don't believe that TW really cares.
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post #6730 of 8618
8/4/09 at 4:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeffrey47 View Post

Same exact problem. Had two techs out last week. They changed out some of the connectors but there was no improvement. I'm going to keep hammering on them until they get it fixed as we watch USA-HD more than any other channel. The upside is that the spray paint guys from Verizon FiOS have been on our street - hopefully this will be my solution as I don't believe that TW really cares.

I called them way back LAST DECEMBER!!! And it is still not fixed. The tech measured signal level and there was no problem.
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post #6731 of 8618
8/5/09 at 2:05pm
Question: Does anyone know if Time-Warner will be showing the 3rd season of "Mad Men" HD on demand as they did the last 2 seasons?
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post #6732 of 8618
8/6/09 at 6:34pm
Goodbye TWC. I finally got D* installed. Got my hdnets back and I am enjoying MUCH better PQ than TWC Orange County was providing. I know D* has it's own issues,but PQ isn't one of them. I will be keeping TW for my internet....for now. Good luck guys.
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post #6733 of 8618
8/7/09 at 4:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hobbs47 View Post

Goodbye TWC. I finally got D* installed. Got my hdnets back and I am enjoying MUCH better PQ than TWC Orange County was providing. I know D* has it's own issues,but PQ isn't one of them. I will be keeping TW for my internet....for now. Good luck guys.

Outstanding choice. The more people leave Time Warner the better. As soon as FIOS is available here I will be a happy ex- TWC customer also. Time Warner doesn't care about us so why should we care about them by providing a check to them every month?
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post #6734 of 8618
8/8/09 at 5:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Video Engineer View Post

Outstanding choice. The more people leave Time Warner the better. As soon as FIOS is available here I will be a happy ex- TWC customer also. Time Warner doesn't care about us so why should we care about them by providing a check to them every month?

Yep. Satellite is not an option I am willing to consider.... but I'm good as gone the day FIOS is live in my part of West LA. Hopefully soon.
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post #6735 of 8618
8/8/09 at 7:18pm
so, for the past year and a half i got TW "broadcast basic" package and my qam tuner was able to pick up the HD channels without any problems. In the last week, all HD channels were gone.

I spoke with their customer service and they say that I shouldn't be getting broadcast HD channels and said they will give me an upgrade for digital cable for $83.

Then they recanted and said i should be getting the digital HD channels but I need a STB.

I fought them on that and so they sent out a technician. He has no idea what I'm talking about and when i explained to him what a QAM tuner does, he stared blankly back at me.

is anyone else having the same problem as I am with TW "broadcast basic" and getting HD channels with QAM?

All i want are the FOX, ABC, CBS, NBC in HD.

Thanks.
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post #6736 of 8618
8/8/09 at 9:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by nunuclikna View Post

so, for the past year and a half i got TW "broadcast basic" package and my qam tuner was able to pick up the HD channels without any problems. In the last week, all HD channels were gone.

I spoke with their customer service and they say that I shouldn't be getting broadcast HD channels and said they will give me an upgrade for digital cable for $83.

Then they recanted and said i should be getting the digital HD channels but I need a STB.

is anyone else having the same problem as I am with TW "broadcast basic" and getting HD channels with QAM?

All i want are the FOX, ABC, CBS, NBC in HD.

Could be some semantics here, and confusion caused by ambiguous terms being used. TWC doesn't have something called "broadcast basic" or "digital basic".

According to the "TWC Channel Lineup" there is a group called "Broadcast", which includes the local OTA channels in both SD and HD. These cannot be encrypted and must be provided by TWC "in the clear", meaning they do not need a STB to receive. The QAM tuner in your TV should work, just it would if you had an OTA antenna. Perhaps the channel assignments have changed recently. Have you tried re-scanning?

Then there's a separate group called "basic cable". These are the very common long-standing cable channels, many of which have been around for decades. Used to be what we now refer to as "analog" but now many of these have HD counterparts to their SD versions. By all accounts on this forum, many LA area users used to get these channels unencryted via QAM tuner on their TV's (myself included, for a while). And then they went away (actually, they got encrypted, making them untunable to those QAM tuners if no CableCard was in use).

Then there's something called "digital cable package", which appears to be the sum of "broadcast" and "basic cable". The "broadcast" channels would be unencrypted and accessible to QAM tuners without CableCard, but the "basic cable" channels should now be inaccessible to QAM tuners without CableCard.

Then there are optional "tiers", a choice of at least one of which along with "digital cable package" is part of what I think they might think of as about the closest thing to what's called "digital basic" in other parts of the country. Again, all of these tiers are encrypted and thus off-limits to QAM tuners without CableCard.

So, only the OTA networks (SD and HD) are absolutely available unencrypted in the minimum "broadcast" group, and should be available on your coax. As I understand the restrictions from the FCC, you shouldn't need to pay for a CableCard or STB or DVR to tune them with your QAM tuner in your TV because they are not allowed to be encrypted. At least I'm pretty sure that's the case.

Anything else... you need either CableCard or STB or DVR to tune encrypted channels, which is the rest of TWC's channel offerings.

I think that's the story.
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post #6737 of 8618
8/8/09 at 9:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by nunuclikna View Post

so, for the past year and a half i got TW "broadcast basic" package and my qam tuner was able to pick up the HD channels without any problems. In the last week, all HD channels were gone.

All i want are the FOX, ABC, CBS, NBC in HD. Thanks.

TWC might have moved these streams to a different channel(s) on the cable; their STB will automatically map 'real' to 'virtual' channel numbers to keep the latter the same. Broadcast (OTA) locals must be unscrambled somewhere on the cable. Have you tried rescanning?

CS reps are Not Programmed To Respond in that area (direct connected DTVs with QAM tuners); TWC is keeping it simple for the Great Non-technical Masses.

OTOH your conversation with their field tech is disturbing but not unexpected - sounds like a recent grad from Matchbox Installer School. As a minimum they should be able to check your cabling, splitters and most importantly signal levels. Sometimes you only get 'the minimum'.
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post #6738 of 8618
8/8/09 at 9:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by GizmoDVD View Post

Gees...anyway to lower the dam TW bill? I'm now at $105 with Surf N Go and 6 speed Internet...still $105. Really wish U-Verse would get here.

Without knowing What Level of TV service you want, we can't help that much.

If you don't talk much, get a regular land line phone. AT&T starts at about $20 in my hood.
If you don't game or stream a lot of video, 6Mbps is overkill. I'm happy with my 1.5Mbps DSL from DSLExtreme for about $25. NO DOWNLOAD CAPS or filtering like TWC and the other MonsterCos love to impose.
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post #6739 of 8618
8/8/09 at 10:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hobbs47 View Post

Goodbye TWC. I finally got D* installed. Got my hdnets back and I am enjoying MUCH better PQ than TWC Orange County was providing. I know D* has it's own issues,but PQ isn't one of them. I will be keeping TW for my internet....for now. Good luck guys.

Congrats hobbs on a well made decision. You didn't mentioned rate difference though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rajuabju View Post

Yep. Satellite is not an option I am willing to consider.... but I'm good as gone the day FIOS is live in my part of West LA. Hopefully soon.

How come? WHy would you not consider satellite?

Rudy
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post #6740 of 8618
8/9/09 at 11:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by RudyG View Post

Congrats hobbs on a well made decision. You didn't mentioned rate difference though.
Rudy

Cost is close for both services for my package. For what I am getting with D* in the PQ department, I would gladly pay more.
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post #6741 of 8618
8/10/09 at 5:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hobbs47 View Post

Cost is close for both services for my package. For what I am getting with D* in the PQ department, I would gladly pay more.

Welcome to Dish Network Hell. If you thought TWC was bad, wait until you need some help with your Dish installation. You'll pay everytime a service person comes out after your "warrenty" expires.

Also their customer no-service has really gone downhill... check out these reports from consumer reporter Clark Howard found on this website

Quote:


Jul 21, 2009 -- Dish Network agrees to customer restitution
Dish Network has reached a deal with the attorneys generals of 46 states over allegations that it cheated customers during a 5-year period. The states of California, North Carolina, Illinois and Ohio are still holding out for a better settlement with the satellite TV provider.

Among the allegations, Dish Network is said to have passed off used equipment as new; charged penalties when you canceled the service; required a minimum term of service in order for you to get advertised deals; and made their promised rebates virtually impossible to get.

Dish Network has not admitted any wrongdoing, but it has agreed to pay restitution to customers. The company has also agreed to provide clearer disclosures in the future.

When Dish Network launched in 1994, the market was wide open for them because people hated their cable monopolies. All that Dish Network needed to do was provide a good customer experience. Clark will never quite understand how they blew it.

Today the consumer champ puts out a renewed call to the company to rethink how it builds relationships with customers. Dish Network honcho Charlie Ergen is welcome to come on the show and explain his side of the story.

If you filed a complaint against Dish Network between Jan. 1, 2004 and July 9, 2009, you may be eligible for compensation. Call Dish Network customer service at (888) 825-2557 or contact the office of your state's attorney general for more details.
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post #6742 of 8618
8/10/09 at 6:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by SPDICKEY View Post

Welcome to Dish Network Hell. If you thought TWC was bad, wait until you need some help with your Dish installation. You'll pay everytime a service person comes out after your "warrenty" expires.
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D*=Directv I do not have Dishnetwork.
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post #6743 of 8618
8/10/09 at 8:21pm
Does anyone know if the HDMI cable TWC gives you with the box is 1.3?
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post #6744 of 8618
8/10/09 at 9:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by rajuabju View Post

I am the exact same way. I check verizon's site every now and then, hoping against all odds, they will Fios. I mean, I live in freaking West LA near Bundy & Santa Monica. How much denser of an area do you want?

Please Verizon, PLEASE... I hate TWC, and I will switch the DAY Fios is available to me.

Hey Rajuabju... I'm near Wilshire and Bundy, also waiting for FIOS. I can't stand TWC, they drop the ball on so many opportunities and price-gouge like no tomorrow. I would love to switch back to Verizon (once FIOS arrives), even their internet was better at the 3.0 Mbps than TWC's 6.0 Mbps.

I called TWC yesterday complaining about the DVR recording repeats to the point that my DVR is filling up, so aggravating. During this call, I asked whether Navigator arrived and maybe once the software is upgraded the problem will be solved. The lady said I should already have it, as should most of L.A. She told me to restart my DVR and see if the "Maestro" logo appears. I have no idea what she is talking about, but restarted the DVR and I never get got this "Maestro" thing.

A technician is coming out tomorrow, I am starting to think TWC has no idea what is going on with anything at this point. At least they can do evening service calls, that's the only bright side so far.
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post #6745 of 8618
8/10/09 at 10:02pm
Cost is close for both services for my package. For what I am getting with D* in the PQ department, I would gladly pay more.

Quote:
Originally Posted by SPDICKEY View Post

Welcome to Dish Network Hell. If you thought TWC was bad, wait until you need some help with your Dish installation......

D* is short for DirecTV, not Dish. Dish Network is E*, which is short for Echo Star. My experience (at my workplace) with DirecTV's customer service is that it's not quite as bad as Dish Network's customer service. First we had E*, now we have D*, and soon our company will be dumping it all and just using a roof antenna in the customer area. I spent almost a half hour on the phone today trying to get my local channels back after they stopped working. Again. But Dish CSRs were worse, and we had more heavy-rain blackout problems with Dish (LAX area).
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post #6746 of 8618
8/10/09 at 10:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by lipcrkr View Post

Does anyone know if the HDMI cable TWC gives you with the box is 1.3?

TWC gives you an HDMI cable?

And exactly why do you need it to be 1.3? Do you need 1.3 for something?
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post #6747 of 8618
8/11/09 at 1:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by RandyWalters View Post

TWC gives you an HDMI cable?

And exactly why do you need it to be 1.3? Do you need 1.3 for something?

Yeah, picked up the HD box today and it included an HDMI cable, no component. I don't need it to be 1.3 even though my new TV supports xv color. But i bought an HDMI cable at Radio Shack because i wasn't expecting an HDMI cable from TWC, i may as well get my money back from RS.
What really sux is the On Demand feature. I thought i could get free HD movies but it's just for crappy Food Network etc. I was hoping to watch The Fifth Element in HD but all the premium movies in On Demand are SD. Why the hell?
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post #6748 of 8618
8/11/09 at 9:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheWaxGrid View Post

Hey Rajuabju... I'm near Wilshire and Bundy, also waiting for FIOS. I can't stand TWC, they drop the ball on so many opportunities and price-gauge like no tomorrow. I would love to switch back to Verizon, even their internet was better at the 3.0 Mbps than TWC's 6.0 Mbps.

I called TWC yesterday complaining about the DVR recording repeats to the point that my DVR is filling up, so aggravating. During this call, I asked whether Navigator arrived and maybe once the software is upgraded the problem will be solved. The lady said I should already have, as should most of L.A. She told me to restart my DVR and see if the "Maestro" logo appears. I have no idea what she is talking about, but restarted the DVR and I never get got this "Maestro" thing.

A technician is coming out tomorrow, I am starting to think TWC has no idea what is going on with anything at this point. At least they can do evening service calls, that's the only bright side so far.

Hey TheWaxGrid.

Not sure how long you've been in this area, but I too am near Wilshire and Bundy, and have been waiting for FiOS for over 5 years. It is nowhere near being even layed down in our area as I believe they still need to get the permission from the city to do so. But even if they got the permission tomorrow it would still be years before the service became available. Maybe 2 - 3 years.
Although, things may have changed since the few months ago that I asked.

Rudy
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post #6749 of 8618
8/11/09 at 2:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheWaxGrid View Post

Hey Rajuabju... I'm near Wilshire and Bundy, also waiting for FIOS. I can't stand TWC, they drop the ball on so many opportunities and price-gauge like no tomorrow. I would love to switch back to Verizon, even their internet was better at the 3.0 Mbps than TWC's 6.0 Mbps.

I called TWC yesterday complaining about the DVR recording repeats to the point that my DVR is filling up, so aggravating. During this call, I asked whether Navigator arrived and maybe once the software is upgraded the problem will be solved. The lady said I should already have, as should most of L.A. She told me to restart my DVR and see if the "Maestro" logo appears. I have no idea what she is talking about, but restarted the DVR and I never get got this "Maestro" thing.

A technician is coming out tomorrow, I am starting to think TWC has no idea what is going on with anything at this point. At least they can do evening service calls, that's the only bright side so far.

I'm @ Santa Monica & Bundy... Hi neighbor
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post #6750 of 8618
8/11/09 at 2:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by lipcrkr View Post

Does anyone know if the HDMI cable TWC gives you with the box is 1.3?

The cable they brought out for me was a 8 foot composite cable. Big thick sucker. Replaced that with great cables from www.monoprice.com for less than $5.
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