Time Warner Cable - Digital Phone Service Review

Overall 1.94 of 5 view all 18 reviews

IsurvivedTWC
Amherst, OH

abandon hope all ye who enter here

practical

Pros

NONE

Cons

LAME EXCUSES, no power - no phone, terrible customer service, FALSE PROMISES

APR

2008

Time Warner Cable - Digital Phone Service —

Here is the story of how not to run a business. Our saga started when we saw the ads for Time-Warner digital phone service on television. We have five children and two phone lines and the tv offer seemed like a good deal, we could get call waiting, caller ID, three-way calling and digital phone service for less than what we were currently paying at Centurytel. We called your representative and were assured that we could keep our old phone numbers, which we had had for years, and in a few short minutes a technician would have us hooked up with digital phone service. It all sounded good and we made an appointment. A few days before our scheduled appointment we received a message on our voice mail that Centurytel had a block on our phone line and if it was not lifted our appointment would be cancelled. We called TWC and asked about this block. We were informed that this is standard, and once the block was lifted we would be "good to go". We wondered why we were not told about the block when we made the appointment, but we made the necessary phone calls to Centurytel and back to TWC and kept our appointment. We probably experienced our first twinge of uneasiness about this time. The day of our appointment arrived. The four hour window we were given came and went. We called TWC and were assured that a technician would be there soon. Approximately two hours after our window had closed the technician did indeed arrive. He was slightly confused about which jacks were connected to each of our two lines, so we explained in depth how each was set up. It was all for naught, however, because the technician informed us that he was unable to port the lines over because he still showed Centurytel "owned the lines". He contacted the phone department at TWC who told him that the proper paperwork was not submitted to Centurytel and nothing could be done at that point. He apologized and explained that this "happened all the time" and he left us with the number of customer service and assured us that the kind folks there would take care of everything. If he laughed all the way to his truck we did not hear him. He did manage to change our fax line over to the main phone line bafore he left, however, so we had ample opportunity to reflect on his visit every time our phone screeched in the coming days. We called the friendly folks at customer service and were connected with Malika. We attempted to explain to Malika what had transpired between TWC and ourselves but Malika told us that first she needed a "pin number". A pin number? We told Malika that we had had many occasions to talk to the TWC company and at no time had we been issued or asked for a pin number. All of our previous communications had always involved the use of the last four digits of a social security number. Malika was adamant that she needed a pin number. She told us that we could drive to the TWC office in Elyria (about 30 minutes away) and get a pin number there, until then she could not answer any questions. At this point it became apparent that speaking to a supervisor would be prudent. Numerous times I asked Malika to speak to her supervisor and after several lengthy holds I was told that "Miss Nekia" would not speak to me. My frustration and disappointment at the treatment we received from "customer service" cannot adequately be expressed in this letter. We probably should have given up at this point, but we had already invested so much time in this endeavor that we decided to soldier on. The next day I called TWC and (yet again) explained my predicament. This representative said that she showed no record of a pin number being issued to our account. She also said that one office hadn't let the other office know that the block had been lifted, or some such, but everything was straightened out now and she made us a new appointment for two weeks hence. A couple of days before the alleged appointment was to arrive we received a letter in the mail from TWC that told us that our two phone numbers were non-working lines and that our appointment had been cancelled. Actually this was a case of foreshadowing because at that time our two lines were were working great. In fact TWC had left a message on our answering machine telling us that the lines was non-working. In fact I used the call back option to speak to the rep and discussed the "non-working line problem" on the other "non-working" line he called me back on. In fact all evidence pointed to the fact that our two lines were working and after proving this to the rep, yes, we made another appointment for two weeks in the future. Surely everything that could go wrong had already happened, we assured ourselves. Four days before our scheduled appointment our phones went dead. By now the scales had fallen from our eyes and we had a pretty good idea who was behind this latest debacle. We called TWC and told them that we had two dead phone lines and five kids at home, a completely unacceptable situation should an emergency or other situation arise. The rep assured us that someone would be out that night to fix our phones, or at the very least call us back and set something up. Well our cell phone never rang that night, at least not with a call from TWC. We called Ceturytel the next day to see if they could shed any light on our dead phones and were told that they had been sent a letter telling them that on that day, April 21, they were to port the lines over to TWC and Centurytel had complied. Where our numbers were was now the latest mystery. Somehow our numbers had ended up in limbo, TWC was now telling us. This is after I called TWC not once, but twice and explained the whole sordid situation to the TWC rep. After my first explanation I had been placed on hold, cut off, and sent back to the main menu. When I finally reached a human being again, I had to explain the enitre month's fiasco yet again. I was promised that a supervisor (Mike) would be taking over my "case". Mike never called back nor did anyone else from TWC. What a surprise. After finally losing patience with having no phone lines and no callback from TWC, I called yet again and explained what was going on. After an hour on the phone, giving explantions and being put on hold, the rep told me my only choice was to reactivate my service with Centurytel and start the entire process with TWC again. I indeed took her advice and started my service again with Centurytel. It took them less than 24 hours to restore my phone numbers and service to our former specifications. They did this with one phone call. On a bright note, I had a delightful story to tell everyone who wanted to know why my phone was disconnected for three days. The day after my phone service was restored by Centurytel, I received a letter from TWC. It states that TWC tried to reach me at home, but was unable to contact me. That TWC was unable to complete installation on the "originally" scheduled date because the phone number was not in service. I was asked to contact the "customer care" department to determine the best course of action. This is all pretty hysterical in and of itself, but the best part was truly the end. It reads "The cornerstone of our philosophy has always been to provide "excellence in customer service" and we will continue to provide the high quality of service you expect and deserve from Time Warner Cable." Are you kidding me with is? Did "Miss Nekia" write this letter? No, TWC you will not be darkening my door again (assuming you'd show up). We are done with TWC, Mike the supervisor, Customer Care, "Miss Nekia", and the entire phone division. We have seriously considered switching to DishNetwork, Cinemax, and Newsweek. There is a cancer in your corporation, Time Warner. The cancer is in your cable and phone division. You need to treat this disease before it infects your entire company.