Menu
Spectrum.com

Spectrum.com review: picture loss, poor quality 7

P
Author of the review
11:53 pm EDT
Resolved
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Featured review
This review was chosen algorithmically as the most valued customer feedback.

We are having horrible problems with time warner cable loss of signal, pixelation/tiling, loss of sound, and picture freezing.
We are paying for every channel, hdtv, 2 hd-dvr boxes & 2 dvr boxes (lots of $ monthly, in the $100's).
In the past year, we've replaced hd-dvr boxes five, yes, 5 times! Finally, we got a technician to come look at the signal.
The first technician simply re-set/re-initialized each box.
The second technician checked the signal, said it was weak, and left saying he'd send another technician (that never happened).
The third technician came and checked the signal and the wiring and put in a signal amplifier.
We are still having problems to the point where many channels are simply un-watchable, especially during primetime.
We used to think it only affected the hd channels, but now the problem has "spread" to the other non-hd channels as well.
The worst problems *seem* to be with very popular shows, for example, "survivor" - we haven't been able to watch this program on an hd or non-hd channel on any box in the house for over 3 weeks now. My brother and father are going nuts because the problems occur during the ncaa games!
We are ready to switch to at&t's u-verse service, even though I hate the thought of being an at&t customer.

Resolved

The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

7 comments
Add a comment
R
R
retiredat44
San Diego, US
May 29, 2012 7:52 am EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Time Warner History 2 channel is tiling. WTH is the damned thing tiling? That is complete b.s. in the day and age when you pay $100 per month and to have to put up with tiling.. do they monitor channels they put out and make sure they are ok? or do they just sit back and say screw the customer?

D
D
dpacker
Hartsville, US
Dec 12, 2010 4:30 pm EST

We're having the same problem. At first we thought it was our Tivo boxes, but then we found out lots of others in our city are having the same problems. I'm frustrated that they charge everyone so much for cable, but do not seem to be fixing this problem. It's ridiculous!

I
I
icemud
Costa Mesa, US
Dec 04, 2010 12:40 am EST

I agree that Time Warner is one of the worst companies I have ever experienced. I am in SoCal as well and have the 10MB internet, well I pay for 10MB but get only 1/3 of that speed. I have DAILY internet dropouts, modem resets and disconnected errors, where it makes online gaming not even possible for more than 1 hour without being disconnected and having to reset. My modem error logs read "DHCP Failed", "T3 Timeouts", "sync timing issues" and more on a daily basis, and were not just talking about 1 instance a day. I have had issues for over 3 years with the company, had over 10 techs, senior techs, maintenance crews all out to my location and exactly as stated above, they all do the exact same tests, find nothing at there level of "expertise/stupidity" and then I hear nothing back, no problem fixed, no credits or apologies, nothing...

I have even gone as far as doing my own research, spending hours throwing ideas and concepts back and forth with Tier 3 techs (who are a 3rd party company by the way) and found out a few good targets of the problem (all within Time warners system at the amps and hubs) but yet nobody either has the knowledge or aptitude to pursue it further, or they just don't care because they have the monopoly in my area. (no other providers). Someone needs to start a class action lawsuit against Time Warner and there unfair and unethical business practices

I just completed writing my 2nd letter to the "office of the president of TWC", the 1st letter was never acknowledged, acted upon and I never even received a courtesy call letting me know they are looking into the issue. Since the first letter over 1 year ago, I have had about 4-6 more techs, about 4-5 different modems, senior techs involved and still nobody seems to do anything besides run a line test, say everything looks good and then pass it on to the next A-hole in line to repeat the process again. If I do not get a response from TWC in 1 week, the letter along with all of my forum posts, documentation and supporting evidence will be forwarded to the FTC, BBB, local news and local city government, and I encourage everyone with issues with Time Warner to do the same. I have been unemployed for 5 months now and would love to replace some of the corporate a-holes who collect a check and do nothing. Lets get noticed! If anyone would like to contact me in regards to this posting, you can email me at pistolpeteengineer@yahoo.com.

M
M
macg4t
Valley Village, US
Oct 24, 2010 6:12 am EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I'm experiencing the same problem and just today had a discussion with a group of guys. It is happening over a large area and from the posts all over the US. They know they have a problem, but refuse to even acknowledge it and always say they have to send out a repairman. They always think it is "your equipment or configuration". But in Never gets fixed...after time it seems to just calm down and go away

As soon as Uverse is in my neighborhood, I am out of here...TWC should be thrown out like the trash that they are ...shame on you TWC

E
E
enottingham53
Temple, US
Jun 24, 2010 10:03 am EDT

Same complaints as above- picture pixelating and freezing up. Workmen have been here five times in the last month (different worker each time and have to repeat everything all over again). When they leave they're sure that they "fixed it". I'm no expert but I imagine that the problem is that with so many people watching TV in the evening the bandwidth loses signal and TWC is too cheap to add better transmission cables.

D
D
Dallas
irving, US
Apr 05, 2009 10:33 pm EDT

Completely agree. We have the worst pixeling problem. It seems to happen anytime the weather gets cold. Know that sounds stupid but it's true. HATE IT. We usually have to disconnect the cable from the DVR unit and plug it into the TV directly for the shows to run clear, although we miss out on anything we might want to record. They've come out several times but are lazy about it like unplugging wires, turning on/off, etc..things I can do myself. TWC is on it's last leg with me...

S
S
somewhere88
Smithtown, US
Mar 31, 2009 8:53 pm EDT

I feel for you really- I have been a customer for well over three years - ever since the digital transition started I have been having the same problem as you - every week for the past 11 weeks I have had to call their customer service technical dept. to have my reciever box reset------- up to 6 times per week ------- I can only hope that at some point they will be forced by someone higher up to give a $$$ credit to customers for this incredibly pain in the *#>*%@ experience .
For those who utter the words - just switch service providers - I live in a very rural area where the alternative choices are limited.