This is a letter I sent to Charter. It is long I realize but we have been dealing with problems for 5 weeks almost daily. There are a lot of details to include. The letter follows:
We have had nothing but problems with Charter cable since before June 15, 2008. I have listed below as much details as possible. The dates are to the best of my knowledge, I could have a few dates off but the details and the number of times remain the same. We have had technicians to our house at least 7 times. Every time a tech comes out that requires us to take time away from our jobs and wait at least 5 hours for them, 7x5= 35 hours. Charter doesn’t care.
This is besides the line techs that have to come because nothing can be done for our problem by the regular technicians. 35 hours does not include the hours and hours we have spent on the phone calling Charter, Charter corporate, different technicians, and the technician supervisors. We now pay for Charter but have to use an internet card through a cell phone company if we want to be sure to have internet. Charter doesn’t care.
We have a daughter that has severe asthma and has to make frequent calls to 911. This is the only reason we keep a land line. Sometimes she passes out and they can find her because the address shows up, but not without a phone. We have probably told 25 or more different people at Charter about the medical condition and how important the phone is to us. Charter doesn’t care.
We have an alarm system that has an alarm every time the phone goes out. So we spend night after night getting up 2, 3 and even 6 times all night long getting out of bed and going downstairs to reset the alarm. It is a very good reminder of how much Charter service is down. Charter doesn’t care.
Beside all of this we have another daughter that has a fiancé in service of his country in Afghanistan and the internet is sometimes their only means of communication. When internet is out for days on end her not being able to keep in touch with him is an added stress for the family. Charter doesn’t care.
My husband works out of town Monday through Thursday and is only home Thursday night through Sunday night. This past 6 weeks when he is in he is spending hours and hours of his time on the phone with Charter rather than being able to enjoy his few short days at home. Charter doesn’t care.
None of these things are ever considered. None of these things matter to Charter. They seem to think that having internet and phone is unimportant. If it wasn’t something we feel we need then we wouldn’t be spending $112 every month. The only thing Charter is interested in is sending us a bill every month and trying to sell us more Charter Communication Services, when we call to tell them for the 20th time that the service we have doesn’t work.
For this moment in time our services are working. If you will read every detail below you can see why I am saying now that when they go out again as I am sure they will today or tomorrow we are finished with Charter. I don’t have time to find another source for internet and I don’t want to deal with it but we have went further with this than most people would and we are the only ones putting effort in here. We are now looking into changing to Embarq or other service. Charter isn’t interested in anything but mailing the bill. There is no surprise in the fact that Charter stocks are selling for $1.00. A company is only as good as its customer service and reputation and both of those are very poor.

If you think this list of problems is too extensive to waste your time reading, just imagine living it the past 6 weeks. The time it will take someone to read it is very small compared to the time we have wasted trying to work with Charter.

June 15, 2008
Our internet has had a weak signal and constantly cuts off and on every few minutes for months. Our tv has had poor reception for months. On June 15th the phone and internet went out completely and the tv became worse. We called Charter – they set up an appointment to come out on June 24th. We explained at this time that our daughter has severe asthma and has to call 911 frequently. We were assured that they would get it fixed as soon as possible. They said that it would be fixed either Monday night or Tuesday by 5:00 at the latest. I asked for a call so that I could meet the technician at the house if it went into Tuesday. Because of hospital and doctor appointments we could not be here all day Tuesday to wait for the technician. I asked for a call at 30 minutes ahead of time so I could get home. The agent said that since it is a sub contractor that Charter has no control of how much notice they give, he could not guarantee that I would get any notice. He said that he would put down that I needed a call, but they might not call ahead of time. I don’t understand why if the sub contractor is hired by Charter that Charter has no control over whether they can give a call or not. At the end of the phone call he tried to sell me more Charter services when the ones I am paying for now don’t work.

June 17,
Tuesday around 4:30 I got a call from the technician on my cell phone. He was 5 houses away and I was 25 minutes away. He agreed to wait until I could get someone here. I got a neighbor, (whose cable is out also) to come and let him in. When I showed up about 25 minutes later he said that the problem was not in the house that it was in the line up the street. I told him that I was sorry I wasn’t there, but that I had asked for a 30 minutes warning that he was coming. He said that he would have called and given me time to get home, if Charter had put that on his work order. They put my cell phone number but said nothing about calling first. He spent at least 15 minutes in his truck on the phone setting it up so that Charter would send someone out Tuesday night because of my daughter’s medical condition. He was concerned and I am sure he put in the work order. They told him, someone should probably be there within the hour, but for sure before the night was ended.

June 18,
No one came out Tuesday night. No one came out Wednesday during the day. On Wednesday at 5:00 I once again called Charter. The agent that answered the phone named Robert informed me that they showed no record of a line technician ever being requested. He said there was no work order. He took down my information once again and tells me that they will send out a line technician. He said he put it down for a Thursday work order but then expedited it so that it would be done Wednesday night because of my daughter’s health problems. He said that a dispatcher would be calling soon to set everything up. He asked if they could get in the house if the needed to and I told him yes if it was Wednesday night, but on Thursday my daughter was having surgery and we would not be available, but if they would call I could have someone meet them. I told him that the last technician said no one else would need to come in the house that it was on the line. He said they still had to get in, and that he would have dispatch to call to set up a time. He took down our cell phone numbers yet again. Then after hearing all of these problems he tried to try to sell me an upgrade to my package. Nothing I have works, but Charter thinks it is the time to try to get me to upgrade. Amazing marketing strategy.
No tech came that evening. No dispatcher called to schedule as we were told.

June 19th
So, here we are Thursday at 5:00. No phone, no internet. While my daughter was in surgery today, a technician came to the house, no phone call, no notice, no one called to say he was coming. Dispatch was suppose to call to set up an appointment. My other daughter happened to be here. The tech said that he tried to call, but the only number that he had to get us on was the charter phone number… a number that we have reported as inoperative that he was coming to fix. Charter had my cell number, the first technician called me on it and I had given it to the last person on the phone. That technician on June 19th came into the house twice. He determined that it was a line problem and not inside. Big surprise, since that is what the first man said and what I told them on the phone. So, it was noon and he is sending out a line tech. We were told again that a dispatcher would call us today. No call, no phone, no internet. The only thing we are certain of at this point is that we WILL receive a bill from Charter as usual. I have never dealt with a company that goes this far to not service its customers. My husband has been on the phone all afternoon with Charter trying to find out if someone is coming and when. No one at Charter cares about the hours and hours we are spending on this or that our daughter had surgery and has no 911 service.

June 20th,
It is 1:30 am, June 20, Friday, our phone and internet just came on.

June 21st or 22nd- I have lost count at this point.
Our internet and phone are out again, our TV is fuzzy. Keep in mind that every time ours is out our neighbors is out also, 100% of the time. They are also calling and getting the same service that we are. We call charter and try to explain the history. We tell them that they have sent numerous techs to the house and the problem is not here. We tell them we don’t need to sit and wait on them for 5 more hours that it is a line problem. But, Charter again sends out a technician to check the lines IN our house. This technician has to step around my daughter, who has to lie on a mattress in the floor in the living room because after surgery she can’t go up and down stairs. She can’t stand any noise and the tech has to go outside with my husband to discuss the problems we have been having. This is an intrusion when we know that it is a waste of time and it will lead no where. He assures my husband that he will get if fixed. He, like the other technicians we have talked to is concerned, especially since he is face to face with our daughter and the medical situation is apparent. But, they can’t do anything but report to Charter. He checks our lines and then says he will send out a line tech because the problem isn’t in our lines it is in the main lines. He says we have a very weak signal… again. We wait.

June 21st
At this point we count on cell phones for 911 services even though it won’t show our address if our daughter passes out again and is alone. At this point my husband’s company purchases an internet card for him through their cell phone company because he can’t do his job without internet and we are on Charter. He has to have internet at home. You can be sure this company and everyone in it know that Charter is the reason that they have to pay $60 extra a month for an internet card. For that matter at this point I am making sure everyone knows the level of service that Charter is providing us especially in light of my daughter’s medical situation.

June 23rd
Internet and phone come on for a few hours today and then go out again. We call Charter. They gave us another window of 5 hours that we can sit and wait on Charter again. Charter can’t just send a line tech out it seems. Even though we have been through this over and over no one will listen and just send out a line tech. It seems that a company would work on their communication between departments rather than put a customer through unnecessary problems. Oh and at the end of the call by the way; would we like to add on some more Charter services? Sure, things are going so well with what we have. What is your largest package?

June 24th
Five more hours… A tech came to the house. He said the problem wasn’t in the house lines. He said we had a very weak signal and the problem was in the lines up the road. He told us he would send a line tech out. We again explained the medical situation with our daughter and he assured us that it would be fixed that night.
It was not fixed that night.

June 25th
It was not fixed the next day. More calls to Charter, more time wasted.

June 26, 2008
We were promised it would be fixed last night. It was still out in the morning. Late the evening of June 26th a tech shows up at the house. He checks the lines. He said the problem wasn’t in the house lines. He said we had a very weak signal and the problem was in the lines up the road. He told us he would send a line tech out. We again explained the medical situation with our daughter and he assured us that it would be fixed soon. He looked over at our TV and asked if our reception was always that bad. We said yes, we have Charter. We again explain that we know it isn’t in our house and that our neighbor’s is always out when ours is so that shows it is on the line. We were told that the dispatcher would call us today (6-26) and set up a line tech. We need 911 but we still have no phone, no internet and bad TV reception. No call from dispatch. No line tech came out, it still was not fixed.

June 27, 2008
I called Charter, again explained the problem. No phone, no internet and poor TV reception. I explained how many times it has been checked and how many times we had called. This person gave me the phone number for Charter corporate. My husband spent the afternoon on the phone explaining it all again to corporate. They said they would send a tech to the house. At the end of the call he tried to sell me more Charter services. Who ever came up with the strategy of trying to sell more product to someone that is completely irritated and frustrated that your company won’t provide what they are paying for is remarkable. Seems that fixing the situation they called about first would be paramount to trying to upgrade them.
So again we sit and wait on a tech for 5 hours, again one comes to our house. Again we arrange our time and life around Charter. So, a tech comes to the house, surprise, he determines that the problem isn’t in the house that it is up the line and that we have a very weak signal. He promises to send a line tech. We explain once again the medical condition of our daughter. This tech did all he could but it was still beyond what he could do without a line tech. So we wait, yet again.


June 30th. Jul 12th
Fixed but not fixed. Internet and phone comes on. We thought a line tech had finally came and fixed it. When we used the internet and phone it became quickly apparent that it was not fixed. Internet cut us off every few minutes and our alarm that is hooked to the phone cuts out and has to be reset or listen to it beep over and over. All night we get up to reset the alarm.
Sometime during that time frame, we called Charter corporate again, and spent 45 minutes explaining history and problem. So, they say they have to send out a tech into our house again. I told them there was no point and that I didn’t have time to sit and wait another 5 hours. Doesn’t matter again, I wait. I meet this one at the door telling him he is wasting his time and mine. I told him exactly what he was going to find and what he was going to tell us. He said that if there was a problem with the line he would get a line tech out. I told him that he would try, but that it wouldn’t matter, but I invited him in to check our lines yet again. So, after a through check, he found that it was not in the house and that we had a line problem and a line tech would have to come out. And oh yeah, we have a very weak signal. He assured us it would be fixed by the next day. Exactly what I told him he would find and say.
Finally the next day it seemed to be fixed… for a couple of days. Then it all started again. My husband again called and spent hours on the phone trying to get something done through corporate. She had him to run a speed test on speedtest.net and it was in the 200 range. The person he talked to tried turning up our signal to a higher speed. When she had us to run a speed test it showed that when the speed was turned up to the maximum speed (10mg) we still only had a number of 400 rather than the 3300 we were suppose to at our speed. But she left it at a high speed until it could be fixed because it seemed that it was going to help us to use internet at least. It worked for an hour and then began getting cutting off again. We don’t bother to call that day; we are tired of it and out of patience and time. I guess this is what Charter counts on happening.

We called back a few days later, another tech was sent out to say that the problem was not in the house. This one could not find a problem anywhere and said that we have a strong signal right then. I could not get across to him that it was going off and on. We would have internet and phone for a couple hours and then it would go out. He said it had to be out for him to find it. I told him that was impossible because when I call by the time they get someone out the next day or two that it was back on. We know every time the phone and internet go out because our alarm system goes off and sounds. We have to get up all night long sometimes 5 or 6 times to reset the alarm.
This tech left with a “call when it is out.’ It remained out more than it did on but I have to wait to call until I can find 5 more hours to devote to Charter.

July, 13, 2008
Phone, internet both went out again this afternoon and TV went fuzzy. It all went off and on all evening and then finally stayed off completely.

July 14, 2008
We called and reported to Corporate that we were completely out of phone and internet and that TV was again fuzzy. They set up and appointment for the next day for a tech to come out. No problem, 5 more hours, what else do we have to do? 1 hour after the phone call it all came back on. It went off and on several more times and we reset our alarm all night but in the morning it was back on.

July 15, 2008
Tech came out, it was on, and he found no problem and left me a number on the bottom of a door tag. I found out from a neighbor he was there and I met him as he was leaving in the road leading to our house. I talked to him and tried to explain the problem but he said with it not being out at that moment that he couldn’t fix it and that this was more frustrating for him than me. At this point, that is my main concern. I am concerned that Charter might be having frustrations. I am paying $112 per month for service I rarely have, I am spending about 25-25 hours a week either sitting and waiting on Charter to send a tech out to tell me what I have already told them, or talking or holding on the phone to try to get someone to do something. Yes, Charter’s frustrations are at the top of my list of concerns. And by now I am just hoping for another great offer to upgrade to even more Charter services when I get to call in again really soon I am sure.
By 3:45 when I got home it was all off again. I called the number on the hang tag. David (line tech supervisor) came out and worked on the lines. He stayed on the phone checking to see if it was better as he checked different points on the line. He said he found something and everything came back on and the TV cleared up. He had me to reset everything and our speed and signal looked good. All seemed to be going well. But during the night the phone and internet went off and on over and over as was evident by having to get up and go downstairs to keep resetting the beeping alarm system. By morning it was all out again completely. At least at this point I had a number to call someone directly that would come out. I called David again and he came out and worked on the lines and they again seemed to be fixed… until about 11:00 pm, when it started cutting off and on about every ½ hour to one hour. It went out completely around 3:30 am.

July 16th
I again called David and he came out and worked on the lines and by the time I got home at 3:30 it was on again.


July 17th
All of it was fine until 6:00 am on July 17th when it all went out again. I called David and he came out to work on it. When I got home at 3:30 it was all working again.

July 18th,
Friday the phone, internet and TV were working when I got up that morning and left for work. Around 10:00 am I got a call from my neighbor saying it had all just went out again. I called David and told him it was out again. He said they were working on a big project and couldn’t come out right then. He had told me earlier that July 18th was his last day until August 6th so I knew that was our last chance to get someone out that knew the problem. I reminded him of that and he said there were other people that could work on it when he was out and that he couldn’t come out. I said ok, because there was nothing else I could do. David called back to my cell phone about 5 minutes later and said he was on his way to fix it. He asked if I was positive that mine was out as well as my neighbors. I told him that the last 50 times it had went out they had went out at the same time so I was positive. Still, after I hung up the phone I left work again to go home and be sure it was out. As usual internet and phone were out and TV was fuzzy. I called to confirm to him that it was out as I had said. I stayed as long as I could so he could call back to see if anything had came on. I left my house at 1:00 and it was not on. He was working about ¾ of a mile from my house at that point on the lines. When I got home at 3:30 it was all on again. We were gone on Friday night (still the 18th) about 8:00 pm and got a call from the neighbors that it was out again. When we got home around 1:00 that night the phone, internet was out and the TV was fuzzy. The service department had assured our neighbor that it would be fixed between 2-4 hours so we did not call that night.

July 19th
Saturday, it was still not on when we got up so we called corporate offices at 9:30. After going through the story once again they insisted on scheduling a technician to come to our home. We tried to explain that they had done that at least 6 times already and there was no use sending anyone to our home and making us wait for them for 5 more hours, but they wouldn’t do any other way. So again we canceled plans with our family to sit and wait on Charter cable. They were scheduled from 1:00-5:00. At around 3:00 pm my husband called the number to see if they had actually scheduled the tech to come out, because we knew from the past that they sometimes don’t schedule them when they say they will. The automated number said that Charter was scheduled to send out a tech on July 22. My husband called the local number then to speak to someone and see when they were actually scheduled. The person on the phone said that it was scheduled that day, (19th) from 1-5 and that the automated answer was incorrect. So we continued to wait. 5:00 pm came and went, finally at 5:50 my husband called again. They said they would get someone out soon. We had sat for another 6 hours for no reason. After 6:00 pm sometime a technician came to the door. He checked the house and the wiring inside and outside. He determined that the problem was not in our house and he would check the lines up the road. We told him we knew it wasn’t in the house and that the neighbor’s was out too. He had not been told that of course. He left to work on the lines. About 3 hours later the phone and internet came on (around 8-9 pm). It stayed on for part of the night and went out again but then came back on about 6:00am the next morning. (July 20th)

July 20
The phone and internet and TV have been on since around 6 this morning. It disconnected us from the internet once around 7:00 pm but came right back on. Everything is working for the moment.

July21
Internet, phone and TV are on this morning. Although at 9:00 am a charter technician came to our door on a service call. I told him that they sent someone out on Saturday and no one was scheduled to come today. I also told him that it was on right then but I was sure it would go out before the day was out and could I have his supervisor’s name and number so I could call when it went out. He gave me the name and asked if he could check the lines while he was there and I told him that was fine. That is where we are at this minute. We have cable TV, internet and phone. I don’t expect it to last long.

These details do not include the countless other calls that we have put into Charter. Sometimes it takes 3 or 4 different people before you can get across what the problem is. Every phone call is 20 – 45 minutes. The calls to corporate are not toll free and we have had hours and hours of those. We are just one of at least 2 houses going through the same problems. Charter doesn’t care.

I DO ON THE OTHER HAND CARE A LOT. I care that we have been treated this way by Charter. I care that my daughter’s medical problem is still not an important consideration for Charter. I also care about all the other people who could get trapped in this same situation. I care about the time my husband and I have lost of our 3 days a week together dealing with these constant problems. I care so much that I will promise you that I am doing everything I possibly can to get word out of just how good your service is. I am telling everyone I meet. I am putting this on every internet site I can find. When we’re playing a game on line and the internet disconnects us, we always make sure to type in, “I’m sorry, I have Charter internet and that is why it disconnects constantly.” Even when Charter internet is “working” I usually get to do this about every 5 – 10 minutes. In this way I can get the word across to hundreds of people a day. I do not miss an opportunity to share my experience with everyone. Interestingly, I am finding as I try to inform the public that many other people are having similar problems. I care enough that I am going to send this to as many people as I can as well as the FCC. I want Charter to know and remember that someone cares.

This is a letter I sent to Charter. It is long I realize but we have been dealing with problems for 5 weeks almost daily. There are a lot of details to include. The letter follows:
We have had nothing but problems with Charter cable since before June 15, 2008. I have listed below as much details as possible. The dates are to the best of my knowledge, I could have a few dates off but the details and the number of times remain the same. We have had technicians to our house at least 7 times. Every time a tech comes out that requires us to take time away from our jobs and wait at least 5 hours for them, 7x5= 35 hours. Charter doesn’t care.
This is besides the line techs that have to come because nothing can be done for our problem by the regular technicians. 35 hours does not include the hours and hours we have spent on the phone calling Charter, Charter corporate, different technicians, and the technician supervisors. We now pay for Charter but have to use an internet card through a cell phone company if we want to be sure to have internet. Charter doesn’t care.
We have a daughter that has severe asthma and has to make frequent calls to 911. This is the only reason we keep a land line. Sometimes she passes out and they can find her because the address shows up, but not without a phone. We have probably told 25 or more different people at Charter about the medical condition and how important the phone is to us. Charter doesn’t care.
We have an alarm system that has an alarm every time the phone goes out. So we spend night after night getting up 2, 3 and even 6 times all night long getting out of bed and going downstairs to reset the alarm. It is a very good reminder of how much Charter service is down. Charter doesn’t care.
Beside all of this we have another daughter that has a fiancé in service of his country in Afghanistan and the internet is sometimes their only means of communication. When internet is out for days on end her not being able to keep in touch with him is an added stress for the family. Charter doesn’t care.
My husband works out of town Monday through Thursday and is only home Thursday night through Sunday night. This past 6 weeks when he is in he is spending hours and hours of his time on the phone with Charter rather than being able to enjoy his few short days at home. Charter doesn’t care.
None of these things are ever considered. None of these things matter to Charter. They seem to think that having internet and phone is unimportant. If it wasn’t something we feel we need then we wouldn’t be spending $112 every month. The only thing Charter is interested in is sending us a bill every month and trying to sell us more Charter Communication Services, when we call to tell them for the 20th time that the service we have doesn’t work.
For this moment in time our services are working. If you will read every detail below you can see why I am saying now that when they go out again as I am sure they will today or tomorrow we are finished with Charter. I don’t have time to find another source for internet and I don’t want to deal with it but we have went further with this than most people would and we are the only ones putting effort in here. We are now looking into changing to Embarq or other service. Charter isn’t interested in anything but mailing the bill. There is no surprise in the fact that Charter stocks are selling for $1.00. A company is only as good as its customer service and reputation and both of those are very poor.

If you think this list of problems is too extensive to waste your time reading, just imagine living it the past 6 weeks. The time it will take someone to read it is very small compared to the time we have wasted trying to work with Charter.

June 15, 2008
Our internet has had a weak signal and constantly cuts off and on every few minutes for months. Our tv has had poor reception for months. On June 15th the phone and internet went out completely and the tv became worse. We called Charter – they set up an appointment to come out on June 24th. We explained at this time that our daughter has severe asthma and has to call 911 frequently. We were assured that they would get it fixed as soon as possible. They said that it would be fixed either Monday night or Tuesday by 5:00 at the latest. I asked for a call so that I could meet the technician at the house if it went into Tuesday. Because of hospital and doctor appointments we could not be here all day Tuesday to wait for the technician. I asked for a call at 30 minutes ahead of time so I could get home. The agent said that since it is a sub contractor that Charter has no control of how much notice they give, he could not guarantee that I would get any notice. He said that he would put down that I needed a call, but they might not call ahead of time. I don’t understand why if the sub contractor is hired by Charter that Charter has no control over whether they can give a call or not. At the end of the phone call he tried to sell me more Charter services when the ones I am paying for now don’t work.

June 17,
Tuesday around 4:30 I got a call from the technician on my cell phone. He was 5 houses away and I was 25 minutes away. He agreed to wait until I could get someone here. I got a neighbor, (whose cable is out also) to come and let him in. When I showed up about 25 minutes later he said that the problem was not in the house that it was in the line up the street. I told him that I was sorry I wasn’t there, but that I had asked for a 30 minutes warning that he was coming. He said that he would have called and given me time to get home, if Charter had put that on his work order. They put my cell phone number but said nothing about calling first. He spent at least 15 minutes in his truck on the phone setting it up so that Charter would send someone out Tuesday night because of my daughter’s medical condition. He was concerned and I am sure he put in the work order. They told him, someone should probably be there within the hour, but for sure before the night was ended.

June 18,
No one came out Tuesday night. No one came out Wednesday during the day. On Wednesday at 5:00 I once again called Charter. The agent that answered the phone named Robert informed me that they showed no record of a line technician ever being requested. He said there was no work order. He took down my information once again and tells me that they will send out a line technician. He said he put it down for a Thursday work order but then expedited it so that it would be done Wednesday night because of my daughter’s health problems. He said that a dispatcher would be calling soon to set everything up. He asked if they could get in the house if the needed to and I told him yes if it was Wednesday night, but on Thursday my daughter was having surgery and we would not be available, but if they would call I could have someone meet them. I told him that the last technician said no one else would need to come in the house that it was on the line. He said they still had to get in, and that he would have dispatch to call to set up a time. He took down our cell phone numbers yet again. Then after hearing all of these problems he tried to try to sell me an upgrade to my package. Nothing I have works, but Charter thinks it is the time to try to get me to upgrade. Amazing marketing strategy.
No tech came that evening. No dispatcher called to schedule as we were told.

June 19th
So, here we are Thursday at 5:00. No phone, no internet. While my daughter was in surgery today, a technician came to the house, no phone call, no notice, no one called to say he was coming. Dispatch was suppose to call to set up an appointment. My other daughter happened to be here. The tech said that he tried to call, but the only number that he had to get us on was the charter phone number… a number that we have reported as inoperative that he was coming to fix. Charter had my cell number, the first technician called me on it and I had given it to the last person on the phone. That technician on June 19th came into the house twice. He determined that it was a line problem and not inside. Big surprise, since that is what the first man said and what I told them on the phone. So, it was noon and he is sending out a line tech. We were told again that a dispatcher would call us today. No call, no phone, no internet. The only thing we are certain of at this point is that we WILL receive a bill from Charter as usual. I have never dealt with a company that goes this far to not service its customers. My husband has been on the phone all afternoon with Charter trying to find out if someone is coming and when. No one at Charter cares about the hours and hours we are spending on this or that our daughter had surgery and has no 911 service.

June 20th,
It is 1:30 am, June 20, Friday, our phone and internet just came on.

June 21st or 22nd- I have lost count at this point.
Our internet and phone are out again, our TV is fuzzy. Keep in mind that every time ours is out our neighbors is out also, 100% of the time. They are also calling and getting the same service that we are. We call charter and try to explain the history. We tell them that they have sent numerous techs to the house and the problem is not here. We tell them we don’t need to sit and wait on them for 5 more hours that it is a line problem. But, Charter again sends out a technician to check the lines IN our house. This technician has to step around my daughter, who has to lie on a mattress in the floor in the living room because after surgery she can’t go up and down stairs. She can’t stand any noise and the tech has to go outside with my husband to discuss the problems we have been having. This is an intrusion when we know that it is a waste of time and it will lead no where. He assures my husband that he will get if fixed. He, like the other technicians we have talked to is concerned, especially since he is face to face with our daughter and the medical situation is apparent. But, they can’t do anything but report to Charter. He checks our lines and then says he will send out a line tech because the problem isn’t in our lines it is in the main lines. He says we have a very weak signal… again. We wait.

June 21st
At this point we count on cell phones for 911 services even though it won’t show our address if our daughter passes out again and is alone. At this point my husband’s company purchases an internet card for him through their cell phone company because he can’t do his job without internet and we are on Charter. He has to have internet at home. You can be sure this company and everyone in it know that Charter is the reason that they have to pay $60 extra a month for an internet card. For that matter at this point I am making sure everyone knows the level of service that Charter is providing us especially in light of my daughter’s medical situation.

June 23rd
Internet and phone come on for a few hours today and then go out again. We call Charter. They gave us another window of 5 hours that we can sit and wait on Charter again. Charter can’t just send a line tech out it seems. Even though we have been through this over and over no one will listen and just send out a line tech. It seems that a company would work on their communication between departments rather than put a customer through unnecessary problems. Oh and at the end of the call by the way; would we like to add on some more Charter services? Sure, things are going so well with what we have. What is your largest package?

June 24th
Five more hours… A tech came to the house. He said the problem wasn’t in the house lines. He said we had a very weak signal and the problem was in the lines up the road. He told us he would send a line tech out. We again explained the medical situation with our daughter and he assured us that it would be fixed that night.
It was not fixed that night.

June 25th
It was not fixed the next day. More calls to Charter, more time wasted.

June 26, 2008
We were promised it would be fixed last night. It was still out in the morning. Late the evening of June 26th a tech shows up at the house. He checks the lines. He said the problem wasn’t in the house lines. He said we had a very weak signal and the problem was in the lines up the road. He told us he would send a line tech out. We again explained the medical situation with our daughter and he assured us that it would be fixed soon. He looked over at our TV and asked if our reception was always that bad. We said yes, we have Charter. We again explain that we know it isn’t in our house and that our neighbor’s is always out when ours is so that shows it is on the line. We were told that the dispatcher would call us today (6-26) and set up a line tech. We need 911 but we still have no phone, no internet and bad TV reception. No call from dispatch. No line tech came out, it still was not fixed.

June 27, 2008
I called Charter, again explained the problem. No phone, no internet and poor TV reception. I explained how many times it has been checked and how many times we had called. This person gave me the phone number for Charter corporate. My husband spent the afternoon on the phone explaining it all again to corporate. They said they would send a tech to the house. At the end of the call he tried to sell me more Charter services. Who ever came up with the strategy of trying to sell more product to someone that is completely irritated and frustrated that your company won’t provide what they are paying for is remarkable. Seems that fixing the situation they called about first would be paramount to trying to upgrade them.
So again we sit and wait on a tech for 5 hours, again one comes to our house. Again we arrange our time and life around Charter. So, a tech comes to the house, surprise, he determines that the problem isn’t in the house that it is up the line and that we have a very weak signal. He promises to send a line tech. We explain once again the medical condition of our daughter. This tech did all he could but it was still beyond what he could do without a line tech. So we wait, yet again.


June 30th. Jul 12th
Fixed but not fixed. Internet and phone comes on. We thought a line tech had finally came and fixed it. When we used the internet and phone it became quickly apparent that it was not fixed. Internet cut us off every few minutes and our alarm that is hooked to the phone cuts out and has to be reset or listen to it beep over and over. All night we get up to reset the alarm.
Sometime during that time frame, we called Charter corporate again, and spent 45 minutes explaining history and problem. So, they say they have to send out a tech into our house again. I told them there was no point and that I didn’t have time to sit and wait another 5 hours. Doesn’t matter again, I wait. I meet this one at the door telling him he is wasting his time and mine. I told him exactly what he was going to find and what he was going to tell us. He said that if there was a problem with the line he would get a line tech out. I told him that he would try, but that it wouldn’t matter, but I invited him in to check our lines yet again. So, after a through check, he found that it was not in the house and that we had a line problem and a line tech would have to come out. And oh yeah, we have a very weak signal. He assured us it would be fixed by the next day. Exactly what I told him he would find and say.
Finally the next day it seemed to be fixed… for a couple of days. Then it all started again. My husband again called and spent hours on the phone trying to get something done through corporate. She had him to run a speed test on speedtest.net and it was in the 200 range. The person he talked to tried turning up our signal to a higher speed. When she had us to run a speed test it showed that when the speed was turned up to the maximum speed (10mg) we still only had a number of 400 rather than the 3300 we were suppose to at our speed. But she left it at a high speed until it could be fixed because it seemed that it was going to help us to use internet at least. It worked for an hour and then began getting cutting off again. We don’t bother to call that day; we are tired of it and out of patience and time. I guess this is what Charter counts on happening.

We called back a few days later, another tech was sent out to say that the problem was not in the house. This one could not find a problem anywhere and said that we have a strong signal right then. I could not get across to him that it was going off and on. We would have internet and phone for a couple hours and then it would go out. He said it had to be out for him to find it. I told him that was impossible because when I call by the time they get someone out the next day or two that it was back on. We know every time the phone and internet go out because our alarm system goes off and sounds. We have to get up all night long sometimes 5 or 6 times to reset the alarm.
This tech left with a “call when it is out.’ It remained out more than it did on but I have to wait to call until I can find 5 more hours to devote to Charter.

July, 13, 2008
Phone, internet both went out again this afternoon and TV went fuzzy. It all went off and on all evening and then finally stayed off completely.

July 14, 2008
We called and reported to Corporate that we were completely out of phone and internet and that TV was again fuzzy. They set up and appointment for the next day for a tech to come out. No problem, 5 more hours, what else do we have to do? 1 hour after the phone call it all came back on. It went off and on several more times and we reset our alarm all night but in the morning it was back on.

July 15, 2008
Tech came out, it was on, and he found no problem and left me a number on the bottom of a door tag. I found out from a neighbor he was there and I met him as he was leaving in the road leading to our house. I talked to him and tried to explain the problem but he said with it not being out at that moment that he couldn’t fix it and that this was more frustrating for him than me. At this point, that is my main concern. I am concerned that Charter might be having frustrations. I am paying $112 per month for service I rarely have, I am spending about 25-25 hours a week either sitting and waiting on Charter to send a tech out to tell me what I have already told them, or talking or holding on the phone to try to get someone to do something. Yes, Charter’s frustrations are at the top of my list of concerns. And by now I am just hoping for another great offer to upgrade to even more Charter services when I get to call in again really soon I am sure.
By 3:45 when I got home it was all off again. I called the number on the hang tag. David (line tech supervisor) came out and worked on the lines. He stayed on the phone checking to see if it was better as he checked different points on the line. He said he found something and everything came back on and the TV cleared up. He had me to reset everything and our speed and signal looked good. All seemed to be going well. But during the night the phone and internet went off and on over and over as was evident by having to get up and go downstairs to keep resetting the beeping alarm system. By morning it was all out again completely. At least at this point I had a number to call someone directly that would come out. I called David again and he came out and worked on the lines and they again seemed to be fixed… until about 11:00 pm, when it started cutting off and on about every ½ hour to one hour. It went out completely around 3:30 am.

July 16th
I again called David and he came out and worked on the lines and by the time I got home at 3:30 it was on again.


July 17th
All of it was fine until 6:00 am on July 17th when it all went out again. I called David and he came out to work on it. When I got home at 3:30 it was all working again.

July 18th,
Friday the phone, internet and TV were working when I got up that morning and left for work. Around 10:00 am I got a call from my neighbor saying it had all just went out again. I called David and told him it was out again. He said they were working on a big project and couldn’t come out right then. He had told me earlier that July 18th was his last day until August 6th so I knew that was our last chance to get someone out that knew the problem. I reminded him of that and he said there were other people that could work on it when he was out and that he couldn’t come out. I said ok, because there was nothing else I could do. David called back to my cell phone about 5 minutes later and said he was on his way to fix it. He asked if I was positive that mine was out as well as my neighbors. I told him that the last 50 times it had went out they had went out at the same time so I was positive. Still, after I hung up the phone I left work again to go home and be sure it was out. As usual internet and phone were out and TV was fuzzy. I called to confirm to him that it was out as I had said. I stayed as long as I could so he could call back to see if anything had came on. I left my house at 1:00 and it was not on. He was working about ¾ of a mile from my house at that point on the lines. When I got home at 3:30 it was all on again. We were gone on Friday night (still the 18th) about 8:00 pm and got a call from the neighbors that it was out again. When we got home around 1:00 that night the phone, internet was out and the TV was fuzzy. The service department had assured our neighbor that it would be fixed between 2-4 hours so we did not call that night.

July 19th
Saturday, it was still not on when we got up so we called corporate offices at 9:30. After going through the story once again they insisted on scheduling a technician to come to our home. We tried to explain that they had done that at least 6 times already and there was no use sending anyone to our home and making us wait for them for 5 more hours, but they wouldn’t do any other way. So again we canceled plans with our family to sit and wait on Charter cable. They were scheduled from 1:00-5:00. At around 3:00 pm my husband called the number to see if they had actually scheduled the tech to come out, because we knew from the past that they sometimes don’t schedule them when they say they will. The automated number said that Charter was scheduled to send out a tech on July 22. My husband called the local number then to speak to someone and see when they were actually scheduled. The person on the phone said that it was scheduled that day, (19th) from 1-5 and that the automated answer was incorrect. So we continued to wait. 5:00 pm came and went, finally at 5:50 my husband called again. They said they would get someone out soon. We had sat for another 6 hours for no reason. After 6:00 pm sometime a technician came to the door. He checked the house and the wiring inside and outside. He determined that the problem was not in our house and he would check the lines up the road. We told him we knew it wasn’t in the house and that the neighbor’s was out too. He had not been told that of course. He left to work on the lines. About 3 hours later the phone and internet came on (around 8-9 pm). It stayed on for part of the night and went out again but then came back on about 6:00am the next morning. (July 20th)

July 20
The phone and internet and TV have been on since around 6 this morning. It disconnected us from the internet once around 7:00 pm but came right back on. Everything is working for the moment.

July21
Internet, phone and TV are on this morning. Although at 9:00 am a charter technician came to our door on a service call. I told him that they sent someone out on Saturday and no one was scheduled to come today. I also told him that it was on right then but I was sure it would go out before the day was out and could I have his supervisor’s name and number so I could call when it went out. He gave me the name and asked if he could check the lines while he was there and I told him that was fine. That is where we are at this minute. We have cable TV, internet and phone. I don’t expect it to last long.

These details do not include the countless other calls that we have put into Charter. Sometimes it takes 3 or 4 different people before you can get across what the problem is. Every phone call is 20 – 45 minutes. The calls to corporate are not toll free and we have had hours and hours of those. We are just one of at least 2 houses going through the same problems. Charter doesn’t care.

I DO ON THE OTHER HAND CARE A LOT. I care that we have been treated this way by Charter. I care that my daughter’s medical problem is still not an important consideration for Charter. I also care about all the other people who could get trapped in this same situation. I care about the time my husband and I have lost of our 3 days a week together dealing with these constant problems. I care so much that I will promise you that I am doing everything I possibly can to get word out of just how good your service is. I am telling everyone I meet. I am putting this on every internet site I can find. When we’re playing a game on line and the internet disconnects us, we always make sure to type in, “I’m sorry, I have Charter internet and that is why it disconnects constantly.” Even when Charter internet is “working” I usually get to do this about every 5 – 10 minutes. In this way I can get the word across to hundreds of people a day. I do not miss an opportunity to share my experience with everyone. Interestingly, I am finding as I try to inform the public that many other people are having similar problems. I care enough that I am going to send this to as many people as I can as well as the FCC. I want Charter to know and remember that someone cares.

I am renovating a house. I had all three services, TV (Expanded Basic and Premiums), Internet 5 Mg and VOIP. I called to ask them to suspend my account for two months while the house was being renovated. They refused, telling me that I could only close the account. Well I don't think I will be reopening it. Charter Communications employees, collectively, have no idea what customer services is. They treat their customers like garbage. Calling them you wait on hold for at least 10 min waiting to talk to someone, and more that not it can be 20 min. Every time there has been a problem with my Internet service I call and get a stupid recorded computerized troubleshooting technician that requires you waste 10 mins going through a number of questions that relate to your equipment, and EVERYTIME it was a problem with their equipment!

If I can get 3 mg DSL I'm going with that because I am fed up with the way Charter has treated me.

We have been a customer of Charter for at least 10 years, and have had a few bad experiences with billing issues and equipment problems, but this time they lied and more important wasted 2 days of my time. We have high speed (not really) internet with charter and their modem (which they charge us a monthly rate for) stopped working. We called Charter and they said they could come out Friday 1-5pm. Now that would be 2 days already our computer would not be working. We were home from noon on, and when 4:30 came and no one had called from Charter I called, and was told that Charter had called us twice and since we did not answer the appt. was canceled.The person got quite a earful from me because that was a LIE. NO ONE HAD CALLED FROM CHARTER. Charter re-scheduled for Sat. 1-5pm. My husband and myself did not leave this house from 10:30am and once again, charter said they called twice, then canceled the appt. I went ballistic. We had postponed so many things just to have out time wasted. We are not young anymore and consider our time very precious. I would like to know if others have experienced anything like this with Charter.

I have Charter Communications and I think they are going to yank channel eight and my TV 9 from its channel line-up in July.

Charter is unreasonable their prices are high and their customer service is horrible.

Now as of the beginning of July there is not going to be any local news programs in my area where I live.

If a deal cannot be reached that’s that.

They have a lot of nerve taking away local television especially news.

Apparently they are very greedy at Charter and cannot be reasoned with.

I hope the people that live in my area realize they might not have local news anymore thanks to Charter.