Complaint Review: Time Warner Cable Southeast Wisconsin - Milwaukee Wisconsin

We tried Time Warner bundles because it was a cost savings at the time we signed up. We started in 2006. At that time the bundle was a special at $99 per month with the "All the Best Bundle". The programming, internet was nice but the phone was spotty at best. We would call to complain about the phone not working and were told that it was normal and that in part of signing up we signed a waiver saying that they were not responsible for phone failures (which of course was buried somewhere in page 8 of fine print). Note that when we signed up, the "special price" was disounted from $119 per month which was still a relative bargin. The deal was supposed to last 12 month. The deal also came with 3 months of all the main movie channels for 3 months. We specifically declined that benefit because we had been burnt on that before and ended up with a big bill.

For 2 years the service ran like clockwork other than a few phone failures. We typically had to simply reboot the modem. Kind of annoying but not a deal breaker for us. We did pay a higher price after twelve months as agreed in roughly mid 2007. So far so good.

When this economy tanked in late 2008 (note well after the tweleve month promotion) my wife and I noticed we had showtime. It is not uncommon for these companies to give a free month of a movie channel to generate interest. Though nothing of it. Next month the channel was blocked. Thought nothing of it. As my company paid for my interenet and phone I paid this company typically quarterly (one and a half months ahead and the same behind). I started seeing bills that didn't add up. The first bill I paid without thinking too much and assumed my wife had purchased some pay per view movies. About a month later our cable was shut off.

My wife brought me a bill that was $450. I tried going on line to review my payment history. But of course they moved the service to an "upgraded" service and I could not get access to my own account. I called customer service and got the cable back on with a committment to go in and pay in the morning. I assumed I made a mistake and paid them.

Six to eight weeks later I got a bill from them for just over $650. This time I had saved my payment receipt (and turned in my expense report late). At that time the agent said that they got the last payment but this was for the past balance and for the upcoming month. I said my bill was only $119 per month. The agent said no this $119/month was a promotion that is now expired and that my new monthly rate was $198. He further said that it didn't include pay per view or movie channels. I explained that we had never signed up for a movie channel. He said that what probably happened was that since I was a "good customer" and agent in customer service added me to a promotion to save me money and that the promotions typically come with movie channels that you need to call and cancel or pay for them if you don't.

The pay per view was remarkably interesting. My wife and I had a talk in late March 2008. I explained my company was pursuing cost cutting measures and that although I had not been told to stop turning in the receipts with pay per view on them I felt that it was appropriate to chip in anyway I could and felt it was better to stop using them. We blocked the service with a code so that our children could not get a movie by accident and did not use the service. But low and behold there were 9 movie rentals on the bill. All movies we had previously seen and DID NOT rent.

After several hours on the phone with them I was able to get some credits for the pay per view (not all) and got only one month of the movie channels removed (because they felt I should have noticed the channel being added - as if i would turn a channel on that I don't pay for to make sure I don't actually have the service).

We cancelled the service and switched to ATT. The agents there was remarkably friendly and professional. NO PROMOTIONAL RATES THERE! Sorry, I do not mean to advertise for ATT but the change was refreshing.

Why did I bother to burden the reader with these painful details? Well, the day I cancelled my service I stood in line at their office with 12 people all turning in their equipment and cancelling with similar stories. What you have with Time Warner Cable is deception built right into the company culture. Keep in mind that the people that are changing your rates, programming, etc. without your consent are people that are making $12-20/hour. I don't mean to criticize someone at that pay level at all but my point here is that for their salaries they are essentially stealing from you and are obviously willing to do it. This can only be a result of the culture of the company.

I am sure what they are doing is technically legal somehow. In addition, as if in America corporations didn't have enough power over consumers we have this wonder thing called credit reporting. All it takes is for them to say you haven't paid per terms and file it with a reporting agency and you don't stand a chance. Even 1% higher on the interest of a home loan could cost you $100,000 over the life of a home loan. Level playing field? One of the fundemtals of capitalism is that consumers are not coerced. We are leveraged to the point where we have almost no consumer rights. Trying having someone from Time Warner sign a contract outlining your stipulations and penalties if they don't perform - not going to happen. But to watch TV with Time Warner you will sign a legal contract that basically voids your consumer rights.

If you feel like being engaged with a company that will double your rates without notice, add charges to your bill without your knowledge or use, and makes you sign a waiver that releases them from liability from failure to provide to service that you are paying them to provide then Time Warner is the company for you.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I commend the efforts of ripoffreport.com. Consumers in America has rights that are less than zero and we have lost forever our ability to negotiate a fair outcome. The concept that we the consumer are on a level playing field with a billion or trillion dollar company is absolutely absurd. The BBB makes money from the very companies that consumers file complaints against. State consumer protection agencies are basically impotent. Thank you ripoffreport.com for at least providing a forum to educate consumers.

Steve ****

Kenosha, Wisconsin

U.S.A.

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