Time Warner CEO: We Can Grow Time Inc.

Given Time Warner's Track Record in the Public Relations department with their consumers, I do not foresee a lot of growth. Read below: Dear Ms. Bridges Recently, I was visited by a Ms. Dawn Brown at my home in Statesville, North Carolina who stated she was with Time Warner Cable and she asked about my Roadrunner High-speed Internet service and my Time Warner Digital phone service I ordered approximately 2 months ago. She was extremely pleasant and stated she wanted to make sure the services I received were what I needed and if I was having any problems with them. I told her I was very pleased with my services. She then proceeded to ask about my Television services, which I have with Direct TV, and how that was going. I explained that my Direct TV service was excellent and that I had these services for about 3 years without any problems. She then asked about costs, reception, etc and I explained these things to her. She asked if I would be interested in making a switch to Time Warner Cable. As I explained to her, I was very reluctant to do so because of the track record of Direct TV over the past 3 years. If ever a problem occurred with satellite, I knew I could contact Direct TV, speak to a person as opposed to a machine, and my problem would be taken care of nearly instantaneously. I know this because over the past 3 years, I have had only 2 problems and both of those were corrected instantly. Ms. Brown assured me that my Time Warner customer service would be as good. Because I would save on average of $30.00 monthly, I went ahead and ordered my cable service. The next day, as scheduled, an installation tech came to my home and did what he had to do to establish my cable services. Up to this point, I was impressed with the services provided. Ms. Brown was extremely polite, had a great smile, and my services were connected within 24 hours. Then the nightmare started! After only 5 hours of service of Time Warner Cable, I lost all reception. I ordered basic cable in 2 of my rooms and extended services in my master bedroom and living room. In the rooms with basic cable, I was getting reception, only the picture was “snowy” on all channels and the audio was static. In the rooms with the boxes for the extended services, I had a black television screen except at the bottom it would show channel information but I was not seeing the program. I called Ms. Brown and explained my problem and she had me call “customer service”. What a joke! I listened for 20 minutes to elevator music before talking to a real person and then was walked through about 30 – 45 minutes of troubleshooting to no avail. I was then told I had problems with equipment and it would be Tuesday (this was a Saturday) before I could get the problem corrected. With NCAA Basketball Championships on television that night, among other programs I wanted to watch, needless to say, I was upset. But, as I had not turned off my Direct TV services as yet, I figured I would just go ahead and reconnect all of my satellite boxes and watch television that way, until I could get my problem corrected. After connecting my satellite boxes, I realized I was not getting reception from the satellite. After inquiring about everything the cable technician had done, my wife, who was home for the installation, told me he had been under the house, where my satellite cables were neatly placed by Direct TV. I decided to look under the house. I was appalled. Not only where the coaxial cables used to connect Time Warner scattered erroneously about, but the junction box used for my satellite coaxial cables was torn off the beam it was, at one time, neatly attached to and all the coaxial cables were cut from the box and utilized for Time Warner. These were not Time Warner’s property to utilize. They were my coaxial cables I was charged for by Direct TV and I did not authorize Time Warner to use my equipment. After calling back “customer services” I explained my displeasure to a “supervisor” who promised me a service technician to my home the next morning (Sunday) to correct the problem. My wife received a call this morning (Sunday) from another supervisor who stated there were no emergency technicians in our area on Sunday and it would be later this week before the repairs could be made. Needless to say, I am livid with Time Warner and the horrible services they have provided (or should I say, not provided) since connecting only 1 day ago. I have called Direct TV and have told them about the horrible mistake I made in switching services to Time Warner. Again, I talked to a real person (Amanda) and they are coming this week to reconnect my satellite services. As Amanda explained, I would probably be charged for a service call. I told her I understood because it was not Direct TV’s mistake. Having said this, it is not my problem either. It is now Time Warner’s problem. I have photographs of the mess Time Warner left under my home and I now expect Time Warner to return to gather their faulty equipment and reconnect my satellite coaxial cables the way they were before Time Warner came and messed it all up. If they cannot correct this problem, then any bill I have to pay to Direct TV to correct my problem will be paid by me and Time Warner will then be liable for those charges. If need be, I will send this bill for reimbursement to Jeffrey Bewkes, Time Warner CEO, along with a copy of this e-mail to the Better Business Bureau with attached photographs, and call my local television station to explain my problem to Action Line and I’ll write my home city editor at The Charlotte Observer. Please forward this e-mail to Mr. Bewkes so he will know what to expect and disconnect my “CRIME” Warner cable services.