Wednesday, November 14, 2012

I Hate Time-Warner Cable - Reason 417


We have an older HD digital set-top box from TWC that does not have an HDMI out interface.  This wasn't a problem with our old TV, as it only had two HDMI interfaces available and I was using them for the Blu-ray player and the home theater computer.  With the new TV, I've got 4 HDMI ports, so I'd like to swap out the set-top box for a new one with an HDMI interface.  Given the limited hours the local TWC office is open, I thought I'd call first to make sure they have one available.  Um, yeah, about that...

No phone number is listed on the TWC website for the local office.  There's only a toll-free number.  So I called it and stumbled through a voice menu that didn't have any options that really matched what I needed.  Tech support?  Not really, I know what I need and can swap out the box myself.  Service upgrade?  Not really - same service, just need a box with a different interface.

So I tried service upgrade anyway and got a nice young woman on the phone.  I explained what it was that I wanted.  "So you want digital service?"  No, I have digital service - I just want to swap my cable box out for one that has an HDMI interface.  "Ok, you can do that at the local storefront."  Yes, but I'd like to talk to them and make sure that they have one available before I disconnect my box and carry it over there during their limited hours of operation.  But they don't seem to have a freaking phone!  "I'm sorry, sir, they operate as a walk-in service.  I can pull up your account and go over your service with you."  Jeez, lady, I'm perfectly capable of pulling up my account online - I can read you the goddamn MAC address of the box that I have at home off of your website that I managed to log into all by myself but you can't tell me the freaking telephone number of the local office?

Un-fucking-believable.  If it weren't for Carolina basketball I'd drop that shit in a heartbeat.

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