Give me a break Time Warner 2.0

The ongoing Time Warner Cable TV saga continues. I called today to find out why my rates just went up over 30% in the last 2 months. Given my delight with their funkedelic services and product, I guess it's not surprising that when I called and finally reached someone, had to go downstairs to read them the last four digits of my driver's license (in order to be able to confirm who I am -- it's just my invoice for chrissakes!) to finally be able to ask her why my rates increased. She went into a laundry list of expense line items, so I told her how dissatisfied I was with the huge rate increase and then she tried to upsell me on bundled services.

I told her it was unimaginable that they would inact a rate increase in the midst of such poor service due to their adoption of the new Navigator to which she responded that she was sorry I was having trouble. And I replied that no, they were having trouble, in keeping me as a customer. That their decrease in product quality and customer service certainly didn't warrant the annual amount spent and that I needed a solution that resulted in lower prices or that I would act on what I've been considering since they adopted the ridiculous Navigator ... to cancel TWC.

So she asked me to hold on and put me on hold for, I dunno, maybe 45 minutes ... and here's why I'm bothering to write this boring drivel .... the on-hold music was Simply Red's "I'll Keep Holding On." I think someone in programming has a good sense of humor, which you'd certainly need to work for TWC! So, now I'm on hold again and they note it will be a one hour hold time. How can they get away with that I really wonder? I know they're the only cable game in town, but you'd think they couldn't sleep at night over this level of bad service.

And the song has cycled back on again ... amazing.

Finally got through, and to my further amazement, I actually reached a human with feelings and a brain. Tim #8022. This was one good guy, who not only shared my frustration, he shared that others shared my frustration, explained what was in the works at TWC (though no time-lines), and gave me a $180 credit which represented a 6-month credit on the cable boxes I have. Not that this is a huge amount compared to the rest of my annual cable bill, but he was a blessed relief. So I called the "compliment line" at Time Warner, which I assumed would have NO wait time, and told them how nice he was.

Oh yea, Tim said knowing the guys in the voice/music area, they do have a sense of humor.