TWC blows E* away!!!

[n9xcr]

I have been an E* customer for a number of years. Perhaps I have only been lucky, but I never had equipment problems or experienced rain fade, even during EXTREME storms. I attribute the lack of rain fade to an excellent installation by the technician that installed the dish.

My wife and I purchased our first home this past October, and I immediately called E* to schedule an installation at our new home for the day we were going to start moving. The tech wasn't scheduled until 10 or 11 AM, and I was going to be here at 9 with the televisions and receivers so he could install the dish and I wouldn't have to wait another week or two after moving. The tech showed up at around 8 AM and called my cell phone to tell me there were too many trees in the way, but that I was entitled to a second opinion.

The second tech shows up the following weekend and says the same thing. He didn't even go into the backyard to see the clearing in the trees where a pole-mounted dish would have sufficed. I understand the technicians know the stuff much better than I do, but I wish he would have at least checked it out, but that's not what pissed me off.

I called E* and asked them if they could at least ship a dish to me and allow me to install it myself. They refused, but told me I could purchase one myself and that would be alright. Hmmm.....E* had a promotion going on at the time I requested a dish at my new house. Dish Mover was free for a limited time. Kinda makes you wonder, doesn't it? Oh, and I've been paying my monthly service fee since. I'll be going to their web site next to cancel Auto-Pay, and remove my CC# from my account with them. I'll be cancelling my service next, whether my contact is up or not. To hell with E*.

I purchased a dish on eBay, but I am not a cold-weather person, and waited until recently to install the dish. I managed to get one of the satellites in, but not the other two. I have figured out, upon further troubleshooting, that the other LNB is bad.

I decided to get digital cable from TWC until I can get the new parts for the dish. The installer came out with my 8300 DVR and another receiver, installed them, and showed us how to use all the features. I was excited to find out that the DVR has 2 tuners! I was also happy to hear that when I get an HD television, all I have to do is call TWC and they'll replace my DVR with an HD DVR! I've been reading about E* customers that have to BUY HD DVR's if they really want them. On top of that, they still have to pay a monthly "outlet" fee to have the receiver enabled, and the DVR fee on top of that!!! What kind of crap is that to pull on your customers?!?!?! Things started to come back to me regarding E*.

I had the opportunity to upgrade to a new receiver when I upgraded to SuperDish. I asked for a dual-tuner model (I think it was a DVR), and they told me I wasn't eligible for that model since I was an existing customer. It turned out that I wasn't eligible for a lot of the models being an existing customer. I went with the single-tuner DVR.

I think policies that many company's take regarding their treatment of new customers vs. old customers is absolutely reprehensible. My web hosting company gives existing customers the same deals they give new customers during promotions. I'll put it this way, I have over 70GB of disk space available to me, and over 2 terrabytes of monthly bandwidth. If my hosting company acted like E*, I wouldn't have those resources available to me.

I won't say that E* needs to clean up its act to remain competitive. I'd only be fooling myself by making such a statement. They are a big company with a good customer base. It would take quite a big to bring them down. I'm sure they don't care about increasing their customer base, as I am quite sure their management people are living quite comfortably with things as they are. They're probably gaining new customers as fast as they're losing existing customers.

Time will tell how satisfied I am with my service from TWC, but my initial opion of them are very high. I don't care for E* anymore, and they would have to make some serious changes to win back my respect. TWC has my utmost respect.

 

[toadfannc]

I have been an E* customer for a number of years. Perhaps I have only been lucky, but I never had equipment problems or experienced rain fade, even during EXTREME storms. I attribute the lack of rain fade to an excellent installation by the technician that installed the dish.

My wife and I purchased our first home this past October, and I immediately called E* to schedule an installation at our new home for the day we were going to start moving. The tech wasn't scheduled until 10 or 11 AM, and I was going to be here at 9 with the televisions and receivers so he could install the dish and I wouldn't have to wait another week or two after moving. The tech showed up at around 8 AM and called my cell phone to tell me there were too many trees in the way, but that I was entitled to a second opinion.

The second tech shows up the following weekend and says the same thing. He didn't even go into the backyard to see the clearing in the trees where a pole-mounted dish would have sufficed. I understand the technicians know the stuff much better than I do, but I wish he would have at least checked it out, but that's not what pissed me off.

I called E* and asked them if they could at least ship a dish to me and allow me to install it myself. They refused, but told me I could purchase one myself and that would be alright. Hmmm.....E* had a promotion going on at the time I requested a dish at my new house. Dish Mover was free for a limited time. Kinda makes you wonder, doesn't it? Oh, and I've been paying my monthly service fee since. I'll be going to their web site next to cancel Auto-Pay, and remove my CC# from my account with them. I'll be cancelling my service next, whether my contact is up or not. To hell with E*.

I purchased a dish on eBay, but I am not a cold-weather person, and waited until recently to install the dish. I managed to get one of the satellites in, but not the other two. I have figured out, upon further troubleshooting, that the other LNB is bad.

I decided to get digital cable from TWC until I can get the new parts for the dish. The installer came out with my 8300 DVR and another receiver, installed them, and showed us how to use all the features. I was excited to find out that the DVR has 2 tuners! I was also happy to hear that when I get an HD television, all I have to do is call TWC and they'll replace my DVR with an HD DVR! I've been reading about E* customers that have to BUY HD DVR's if they really want them. On top of that, they still have to pay a monthly "outlet" fee to have the receiver enabled, and the DVR fee on top of that!!! What kind of crap is that to pull on your customers?!?!?! Things started to come back to me regarding E*.

I had the opportunity to upgrade to a new receiver when I upgraded to SuperDish. I asked for a dual-tuner model (I think it was a DVR), and they told me I wasn't eligible for that model since I was an existing customer. It turned out that I wasn't eligible for a lot of the models being an existing customer. I went with the single-tuner DVR.

I think policies that many company's take regarding their treatment of new customers vs. old customers is absolutely reprehensible. My web hosting company gives existing customers the same deals they give new customers during promotions. I'll put it this way, I have over 70GB of disk space available to me, and over 2 terrabytes of monthly bandwidth. If my hosting company acted like E*, I wouldn't have those resources available to me.

I won't say that E* needs to clean up its act to remain competitive. I'd only be fooling myself by making such a statement. They are a big company with a good customer base. It would take quite a big to bring them down. I'm sure they don't care about increasing their customer base, as I am quite sure their management people are living quite comfortably with things as they are. They're probably gaining new customers as fast as they're losing existing customers.

Time will tell how satisfied I am with my service from TWC, but my initial opion of them are very high. I don't care for E* anymore, and they would have to make some serious changes to win back my respect. TWC has my utmost respect.

I'm sure you will be happy ... that is, unless you hope to ever get any new programming (channels).

 

[mlb]

With TWC you still pay the "outlet" fees if you want to have the digital channels in each room. Within the next few years all the analog channels will move as well, forcing you to get a box for each TV as well.

I think toddfannc says it best, if you want new channels then don't hold your breath with TWC.

I am currently a TWC customer because I don't want to spend the $300 for an HD-DVR that I then must pay a lease fee to use. TWC charges nothing up front, but my HD-DVR does cost a fair amount of money (HD box + DVR fee is around $12-$15 per box).

 

[MNETOP]

Well, I also switched from E* about 3 months ago and since then, TWC here in Austin has added Boom and after the Winter Olyimpics left Universal HD on a permanent basis. Now if they could just add ESPN 2 HD in time for the World Cup in June I will be extremely happy.

 

[Zookster]

With TWC you still pay the "outlet" fees if you want to have the digital channels in each room. Within the next few years all the analog channels will move as well, forcing you to get a box for each TV as well.

I think toddfannc says it best, if you want new channels then don't hold your breath with TWC.

I am currently a TWC customer because I don't want to spend the $300 for an HD-DVR that I then must pay a lease fee to use. TWC charges nothing up front, but my HD-DVR does cost a fair amount of money (HD box + DVR fee is around $12-$15 per box).

Moving all the analog channels to digital (if cable companies actually ever take the risk of losing their millions of basic analog cable-only subsribers who don't want to have to rent a box) will greatly increase the amount of bandwidth for more HD. Since leaving E*, Cox San Diego has added two HD channels (TNT and MHD) and will be digitally simulcasting the analog channels very soon.

 

[terryfoster]

Well, from what I've read, cable cos will not be allowed by the FTC to "down rez" the digital signals from, for the lack of a better word, OTA providers. So that means, if you want your local stations over cable you will need to either get a new TV with either an ATSC (and get them OTA) or QAM tuner OR get a digital STB from your cable co.

 

[cobra2225]

E

I have been an E* customer for a number of years. Perhaps I have only been lucky, but I never had equipment problems or experienced rain fade, even during EXTREME storms. I attribute the lack of rain fade to an excellent installation by the technician that installed the dish.

My wife and I purchased our first home this past October, and I immediately called E* to schedule an installation at our new home for the day we were going to start moving. The tech wasn't scheduled until 10 or 11 AM, and I was going to be here at 9 with the televisions and receivers so he could install the dish and I wouldn't have to wait another week or two after moving. The tech showed up at around 8 AM and called my cell phone to tell me there were too many trees in the way, but that I was entitled to a second opinion.

The second tech shows up the following weekend and says the same thing. He didn't even go into the backyard to see the clearing in the trees where a pole-mounted dish would have sufficed. I understand the technicians know the stuff much better than I do, but I wish he would have at least checked it out, but that's not what pissed me off.

I called E* and asked them if they could at least ship a dish to me and allow me to install it myself. They refused, but told me I could purchase one myself and that would be alright. Hmmm.....E* had a promotion going on at the time I requested a dish at my new house. Dish Mover was free for a limited time. Kinda makes you wonder, doesn't it? Oh, and I've been paying my monthly service fee since. I'll be going to their web site next to cancel Auto-Pay, and remove my CC# from my account with them. I'll be cancelling my service next, whether my contact is up or not. To hell with E*.

I purchased a dish on eBay, but I am not a cold-weather person, and waited until recently to install the dish. I managed to get one of the satellites in, but not the other two. I have figured out, upon further troubleshooting, that the other LNB is bad.

I decided to get digital cable from TWC until I can get the new parts for the dish. The installer came out with my 8300 DVR and another receiver, installed them, and showed us how to use all the features. I was excited to find out that the DVR has 2 tuners! I was also happy to hear that when I get an HD television, all I have to do is call TWC and they'll replace my DVR with an HD DVR! I've been reading about E* customers that have to BUY HD DVR's if they really want them. On top of that, they still have to pay a monthly "outlet" fee to have the receiver enabled, and the DVR fee on top of that!!! What kind of crap is that to pull on your customers?!?!?! Things started to come back to me regarding E*.

I had the opportunity to upgrade to a new receiver when I upgraded to SuperDish. I asked for a dual-tuner model (I think it was a DVR), and they told me I wasn't eligible for that model since I was an existing customer. It turned out that I wasn't eligible for a lot of the models being an existing customer. I went with the single-tuner DVR.

I think policies that many company's take regarding their treatment of new customers vs. old customers is absolutely reprehensible. My web hosting company gives existing customers the same deals they give new customers during promotions. I'll put it this way, I have over 70GB of disk space available to me, and over 2 terrabytes of monthly bandwidth. If my hosting company acted like E*, I wouldn't have those resources available to me.

I won't say that E* needs to clean up its act to remain competitive. I'd only be fooling myself by making such a statement. They are a big company with a good customer base. It would take quite a big to bring them down. I'm sure they don't care about increasing their customer base, as I am quite sure their management people are living quite comfortably with things as they are. They're probably gaining new customers as fast as they're losing existing customers.

Time will tell how satisfied I am with my service from TWC, but my initial opion of them are very high. I don't care for E* anymore, and they would have to make some serious changes to win back my respect. TWC has my utmost respect.

dtv is just as bad, just for a future headsup just in case

 

[thebradybunch]

I switched from Dish a week ago. I had an 811 receiver going to a Panasonic 30" HDTV . I had planned on upgrading to the 622 DVR but did not want to thru the hassels I went thru with the 811 not working correctly and waiting for new software updates to fix problems nor did I want to put out the money Dish wanted for the upgrade. Anyway I have to say I wish I had made the change a year ago. The 8300HD has worked flawlessly so far. Picture quality on HD is slightly better than Dish and on the digital channels is much better. Sound quality has also improved. I am with Time Waner in the Greensboro NC area and they are moving the analog channels to digital now so even that is not going to be a problem.

 

[mlb]

Over the weekend I left TWC for E*. I must say, after 3 days of service, the VIP622 HD-DVR is light years ahead of my SA8300HD. Not only on space, but playback is much smoother.

I think that the HD channels are very close in terms of PQ. I could not tell a difference while flipping between the ESPNHD Sunday Night Baseball game or during HDNet's Eminem showing.

As far as SD channels go, I never had any digital channels outside of HBO. In Dayton, Ohio, if I wanted to add the package with the digital channels (I had a DigiPic 2000 with the HD Package) I would have had to pay another $10-$20. The quality looks about the same as analog to me, however.

All in all, I'm happy I switched. I'm tired of waiting for every new channel to be released on Time Warner (takes forever to add new HD). Dish offered a deal I couldn't pass up when I had been looking to leave the cable company for years.

 

[toadfannc]

All in all, I'm happy I switched.

Good for you. But, I think this thread name should be changed to "TWC blows". Anyone else agree?

 

[mlb]

Heh... they sure don't know how to keep customers around. As a customer of theirs for about 7 years, I really wasn't looking to leave. However, when a bunch of my friends left DirecTV and were offered the DigiPic 4000 at half the price I was paying for the DigiPic 2000, I got a little miffed. I then called and tried to get the same deal, but was turned down by Time Warner because I was a current customer. They offered me 3 months at half price, but that was it. Dish's price is just over half the price of Time Warner and I don't have to deal with the haggling every 3 months to try to get my price lowered, all the while I get a TON more HD than I ever had with Time Warner.

Just to give an idea on how bad I was getting screwed... for about $10 more a month than what I was paying for the DigiPic 2000 package I could have the DishHD Platinum package (Dish Everything pack, all movie channels, all HD), and have that on 4 TVs instead of only 2 TVs (I could only get the analogs on the other 2 TVs because I didn't want to pay $8 per set top box).

 

[Hall]

I have to admit, now that my 50% satellite buy-back deal is over, their prices are hard to swallow.... I've already dropped RR and have $18/mo DSL. We plan to get rid of one DVR (the non-HD one) and drop down to standard service only (ch 2-78 + 707-756). I might add the HD Tier at that point to at least have *some* movie channels. We're watching less and less TV nowadays too (maybe that's 'cause it's summer too).

 

[bhawley]

I've already dropped RR and have $18/mo DSL.

What speed DSL and who is it with?

 

[mlb]

What speed DSL and who is it with?

He has the AT&T/Yahoo Pro DSL I'm guessing (we are both from the same area, Dayton, Ohio), which is 3Mbit down, 512Kbit up.

I pay $27.99 for their "elite" package, 6Mbit down, 768Kbit up.

You must have a landline in order to get their DSL, but the prices are very reasonable if you already have a landline.

 

[Dog6869]

I FULLY AGREE T W C Does B LO W !!!!!!!!! and I am sending this using road runner..

 

[cobra2225]

twc

Good for you. But, I think this thread name should be changed to "TWC blows". Anyone else agree?

i must agree with that, i cancelled t/w and went to E just 2 weeks after the takeover.