Texas Startup Blog written by Alexander Muse

Time Warner Cable: HELP ME!

February 29, 2008

DirectTV’s deal with TIVO fell apart a few years ago and the only TIVO compatible service is cable.  After remodeling our home I called Time Warner Cable and ordered terrestrial cable service.  The installer came in early January, but a couple of days later I realized that the sound did not work on premium stations such as HBO and Showtime.  I called Time Warner Cable on January 9th and reported the problem, but to this date the company has been unable to resolve the issue.  I received a disconnection notice from the company and I called to schedule another on-site visit and resolve the billing issue.  I explained to the Time Warner associate my predicament, specifically that I had not been able to terminate my DirectTV service.  She offered to refund the charges for the pay channels, but not the service in general.

I explained that I didn’t feel obligate to pay for a service that didn’t work properly.  I also offered to send her a copy of my DirectTV bill so that she could see I was still using that service until they were able to resolve the problem with their service.  She explained that between each call I made (i.e. attempting to repair the problem) Time Warner assumed the service worked and as a result would require me to make payment.  She confirmed that I had been calling over and over regarding the same problem since January 9th, but she couldn’t be convinced that the problem was continuous.  She didn’t care that I had been using DirectTV while I waited for the company to fix their service.  I can’t stomach the thought of paying for a service that doesn’t work.

Does anyone have a good business contact at Time Warner Cable?  I am sure the right person could waive their hand and resolve this matter (i.e. get my service fixed and waive the charged up-to the date of resolution).  Any help would be appreciated.