topic Re: TWC - Tech Support.. OMG in Community Chat

TWC - Tech Support.. OMG

CouponQueen — Thu, 05 Feb 2015 18:23:59 GMT

We have Time Warner Cable for phone, internet and cable.

Have been having phone issue..internet and cable work fine.

I call last night on my cell phone...OMG I had already tried everything under the sun with the lines, wires, etc..

I had called to make sure they had no outages in the area..or the modem was fine etc..I had a couple questions..as they hooked it up...When I asked my question the Tech Support Girl (sounded very young and American..clear English )..told me "sorry I had to try and google that I am not very tech savvy.." I did say.."wow, calling Tech Support and being told they are not very tech savvy doesn't leave me very warm and fuzzy.."

Oh I just type all the questions in ....Okie Dokie..well it didn't work as somebody is coming out today between 1-2..I had to go to the HEAD Boss in the Region..Cause get this..if the Repair Man cannot make contact to the home and say they are on their way..they will cancel the work order..Umm the phone isn't working..how do we do that..use a cell..No my husband is disabled, he is home with the HOUSE LANDLINE all day..he has no need for a cell..this went on ...leave your cell..NO I am on the road commuting all over..in/out court, houses etc..I need my cell..Well borrow one..ARE YOU SERIOUS???

Finally I said I wanted her Boss....I am making myself very clear..if they do not show up and cancel this work order..they can make a appointment and come and take all your stuff back..as I have been on the fence on keeping this company...they keep calling torying to hook up with me on packages..I am not threatening, I am not looking for a deal right now, I am telling FACTS..I wnat my phone repaired..I do not want to be told to borrow a phone..or wahtever!! Now please I would like to speak to YOUR boss..he wasn't in..I want the highest boss ON DUTY...I waited and he got on the line- Regional Boss ..He was very nice..

I explained the situation and told him..why can't the work order go out with a note that there is no phone in the house..so please KNOCK ON THE DOOR..IMAGINE THAT!! He said I just did that ma'm no issue. I said really why is the NON SAVVY Tech Support girl telling me over and over it will be canceled..if they can't call..what did you do before cells? He didn't reply..

Now to see if they show up LOL..

Re: TWC - Tech Support.. OMG

terrier3 — Thu, 05 Feb 2015 18:28:48 GMT

I worked for TWC for 16 years.

They are in the midst of being sold and are doing everything on the cheap, including laying off long time employees (with pensions and 401ks) and hiring newbies.

You are lucky you reached an American CSR...they have outsourced a lot of call center work overseas.

Re: TWC - Tech Support.. OMG

Lipstickdiva — Thu, 05 Feb 2015 18:31:18 GMT

TWC's CS, no matter the department, is a complete disaster. The right hand doesn't know what the left is doing.

We were having modem/internet issues at our house. They'd send someone who would change a few things around and claim it was fixed...same issues. Someone else would come, undo what the first tech did and claim it was fixed...same issues. We had techs out probably 4 times before a supervisor finally showed up and got the issue fixed.

I am very lucky that a very good friend of mine is a supervisor with TWC so when I have a problem, I call her. She either points me in the right direction or handles the issue for us. From the time we signed up for cable she has told me not to ever, every contact CS because they don't know what they are doing. She was right.

Re: TWC - Tech Support.. OMG

Toppers — Thu, 05 Feb 2015 19:34:48 GMT

For a long time in my area, they were the only kind of service you could have, but that has changed.

AT & T has moved in to the area. It has taken time, but now people are able to have that service in some areas, for their TV.

Re: TWC - Tech Support.. OMG

MomOf4 — Thu, 05 Feb 2015 19:40:06 GMT

In my opinion, TWC is one of the worst companies on the planet!!!

Re: TWC - Tech Support.. OMG

terrier3 — Thu, 05 Feb 2015 19:43:05 GMT

On 2/5/2015 MomOf4 said:
In my opinion, TWC is one of the worst companies on the planet!!!

When I started there (17 years ago!), I was so proud to work for the company.

Five years ago, they spun off the cable business, to prepare it to sell.

Like everything else, quality went down dramatically.

When the deal goes through this Spring...and they are bought by Comcast (voted the WORST company in America!)..the CEO will make 80 million dollars - he's been there one year now...and my old boss will make 12 million.

Re: TWC - Tech Support.. OMG

Lion — Thu, 05 Feb 2015 19:46:07 GMT

I feel your pain, CQ. I hope the tech shows up and gets everything fixed.

I've had the same problem LipstickDiva mentioned above. Repeated "fixes" to fixes and assurances that it wouldn't happen again.

The last tech finally gave me the phone # directly to the local TWC tech office and told me to use that if my problem recurred. It seems to be happening again so I'm glad I now have the that contact number.

Re: TWC - Tech Support.. OMG

Lion — Thu, 05 Feb 2015 19:49:06 GMT

I've heard bad stories about AT&T, too. Plus, they don't offer the channels I like for the same price. I'd have to pay more with them.

So, I'm hesitant to go through changing companies along with all the rewiring that AT&T would have to do.

Re: TWC - Tech Support.. OMG

MomOf4 — Thu, 05 Feb 2015 19:51:52 GMT

On 2/5/2015 terrier3 said:
On 2/5/2015 MomOf4 said:
In my opinion, TWC is one of the worst companies on the planet!!!

When I started there (17 years ago!), I was so proud to work for the company.

Five years ago, they spun off the cable business, to prepare it to sell.

Like everything else, quality went down dramatically.

When the deal goes through this Spring...and they are bought by Comcast (voted the WORST company in America!)..the CEO will make 80 million dollars - he's been there one year now...and my old boss will make 12 million.

Gosh Terrier, thanks for the explanation. You're right about TWC being such a different company than they were many years ago.

Those salaries really are obscene! Not only has the quality gone down but the bill has gone up.

Re: TWC - Tech Support.. OMG

terrier3 — Thu, 05 Feb 2015 19:52:16 GMT

My favorite fix (it works more times than not) - just disconnect the cable at the back - let it sit for a few minutes, reconnect and it will re-boot.

Cable companies are doing so many upgrades now, the systems often need rebooting.

Re: TWC - Tech Support.. OMG

MomOf4 — Thu, 05 Feb 2015 19:59:54 GMT

On 2/5/2015 terrier3 said:
My favorite fix (it works more times than not) - just disconnect the cable at the back - let it sit for a few minutes, reconnect and it will re-boot.

Cable companies are doing so many upgrades now, the systems often need rebooting.

We don't have our phone with TWC and rarely have a problem with the TV. It's the internet being down on a regular basis that drives us nuts. Every time it happens they want to sell us a TWC router. Supposedly that will solve all our problems. I seriously doubt it. We own our own router and it's new.

Re: TWC - Tech Support.. OMG

terrier3 — Thu, 05 Feb 2015 20:05:33 GMT

On 2/5/2015 MomOf4 said:
On 2/5/2015 terrier3 said:
My favorite fix (it works more times than not) - just disconnect the cable at the back - let it sit for a few minutes, reconnect and it will re-boot.

Cable companies are doing so many upgrades now, the systems often need rebooting.

We don't have our phone with TWC and rarely have a problem with the TV. It's the internet being down on a regular basis that drives us nuts. Every time it happens they want to sell us a TWC router. Supposedly that will solve all our problems. I seriously doubt it. We own our own router and it's new.

We have our own router too.

Sometimes (in fact, OFTEN) there is an issue in wiring from the pole to your home.

Rebooting the system can help too.

Re: TWC - Tech Support.. OMG

MomOf4 — Thu, 05 Feb 2015 20:07:51 GMT

On 2/5/2015 terrier3 said:
On 2/5/2015 MomOf4 said:
On 2/5/2015 terrier3 said:
My favorite fix (it works more times than not) - just disconnect the cable at the back - let it sit for a few minutes, reconnect and it will re-boot.

Cable companies are doing so many upgrades now, the systems often need rebooting.

We don't have our phone with TWC and rarely have a problem with the TV. It's the internet being down on a regular basis that drives us nuts. Every time it happens they want to sell us a TWC router. Supposedly that will solve all our problems. I seriously doubt it. We own our own router and it's new.

We have our own router too.

Sometimes (in fact, OFTEN) there is an issue in wiring from the pole to your home.

Rebooting the system can help too.

Thanks Terrier, I'm going to keep everything you said in mind.

Re: TWC - Tech Support.. OMG

RedHeadedWench — Thu, 05 Feb 2015 20:08:28 GMT

We have TWC also (phone, internet, cable), and on my cellphone, I have them listed as "Time Warner Idiots".

Sums up how I feel.

Re: TWC - Tech Support.. OMG

Justina rae — Thu, 05 Feb 2015 20:10:22 GMT

Where I live we have an agreement for special rates with TWC. Two weeks ago a re-negotiation of these rates resulted in TWC forcing its customers to significantly upgrade or downgrade to Basic service which is significantly less than what we currently have. There was no more in between service and I'm sure they figured everyone would upgrade. We would not allow them to hold us hostage so we downgraded. I will look into buying a Roku gadget. I don't know anything about them.

I would never take a bundle of phone, internet, and cable with any provider. They can't be trusted IMO.

Re: TWC - Tech Support.. OMG

Toppers — Thu, 05 Feb 2015 20:41:45 GMT

On 2/5/2015 Justina rae said:
Where I live we have an agreement for special rates with TWC. Two weeks ago a re-negotiation of these rates resulted in TWC forcing its customers to significantly upgrade or downgrade to Basic service which is significantly less than what we currently have. There was no more in between service and I'm sure they figured everyone would upgrade. We would not allow them to hold us hostage so we downgraded. I will look into buying a Roku gadget. I don't know anything about them.

I would never take a bundle of phone, internet, and cable with any provider. They can't be trusted IMO.

I don't blame you for looking into a Roku, Justina.

I think that as prices continue to rise for cable and satellite, more and more people are going to go this route and are going to go with Rokus and other devices like them, in my opinion.

We couldn't afford to keep up with the cost of cable, and we gave it up.

What TWC is doing in our area, is that they keep raising up the price of analog cable, and are eventually going to eliminate it. They are taking channels away from it, and are moving them up to the digital tier. The basic digital tier does not cost that much more than the analog tier now.

Re: TWC - Tech Support.. OMG

straykatz — Thu, 05 Feb 2015 20:53:02 GMT

Tech support people google issues all the time.....however, a really good tech support person would NEVER tell you that they are researching a solution to your problem on google.

Re: TWC - Tech Support.. OMG

kittymomNC — Thu, 05 Feb 2015 20:55:25 GMT

CouponQueen, I feel your pain! I have the same bundle with TWC... phone, internet, and TV. We are held hostage here because there are no other cable companies. The only alternatives are satellite systems, etc.

I had a phone problem a couple of months ago and had to call on my cell phone (which is not a new-fangled phone). So after waiting for about 30 minutes, finally got someone on the phone with an accent - which was unusual. They had me unplug my modem, do this, do that, couldn't fix it, no problems in my area, etc. etc. They transferred me to a "higher level" tech support - they couldn't figure it out. One of the things I had seen online was to take the back up batteries out of the modem, but I couldn't figure out where or how. So I asked them, should I do that? They said no. Twice. Low level and high level tech support said NO.

So they said I would have to have a technician come out... this was on a Friday evening and it would be the following WEDNESDAY!. I said are you kidding, I have no phone service. So I got a supervisor, and after threatening to take every single TWC thing out of two houses, he arranged for someone on SUNDAY!. The next morning I called back, got another supervisor, threatened again, and he said he would have someone out that day (Saturday) if at all possible.

So that afternoon, a technician showed up, proceeded to TAKE THE BACKUP BATTERY OUT OF THE MODEM, and my phone was fixed! I was livid, and the tech was not happy. In the course of him checking other stuff outside the house, etc. (which he said they're required to do whenever they make a home call), he expressed his disappointment and the frustration of most of the technicians with TWC - found out they have moved call centers to the Philippines, and no one apparently knows what they're doing, so the techs are having to work extra hours to fix things that could have been fixed over the phone - LIKE TAKING OUT THE BACK UP BATTERIES! He said those batteries never worked to back up your phone anyway, so they're taking them all out because they just cause problems! Really??

I had regular cable service until two years ago, when my price promotion ended and they raised my monthly cost by about $50.00. The only way I could get it down was to go digital and get the set-top box on one of my TV's. I've had nothing but problems ever since, mostly with the TV. I was perfectly happy with plain old cable. If I had any other choices, I would not be a TWC customer!

Re: TWC - Tech Support.. OMG

Lipstickdiva — Thu, 05 Feb 2015 22:17:38 GMT

Just an fyi also, if you cable box ever has to be changed because it's not fixable, rarely if ever are you getting a new box. You are getting refurbished boxes. Actually, they may or may not really be refurbished.

Many times the techs take out the broken boxes, throw them in the back of their truck, never mark that they are broken and need to be fixed and they end up given to another customer.

About 2 years ago or so we were having tons of cable tv issues. The tech came out with a new box and it was brand spanking new. He wanted to know how we rated to get an actualy new box. LOL It was the luck of the draw.

Terrier, we don't have too many problems with that new box but you're right, more often than not if you just unplug the box and let it reboot, everything is okay. If I don't want to climb behind my tv to do that, I just call the automated line and they send the reboot signal.

Re: TWC - Tech Support.. OMG

Nuttmeg — Fri, 06 Feb 2015 01:19:19 GMT

On 2/5/2015 Justina rae said:
Where I live we have an agreement for special rates with TWC. Two weeks ago a re-negotiation of these rates resulted in TWC forcing its customers to significantly upgrade or downgrade to Basic service which is significantly less than what we currently have. There was no more in between service and I'm sure they figured everyone would upgrade. We would not allow them to hold us hostage so we downgraded. I will look into buying a Roku gadget. I don't know anything about them.

I would never take a bundle of phone, internet, and cable with any provider. They can't be trusted IMO.

I do not trust Comcast Cable either. You may have been able to get a deal while you were thinking what to do. Maybe two years. You will either become a customer of Comcast or Charter Cable. It depends where you live. You do need fast internet speed, when using a Roku box. ( Amazon Fire TV runs better than Roku) I could not get a fast internet speed without my old premium double play package.