RCN vs TIME/WARNER

[SNAFU]

Posted: 12/3/09 at 4:06pm

I was a customer of RCN for 10 years. I had one cable TV outage. I moved and the building I am in now is wired by Time Warner. I have been a proud customer of Time Warner for a day and a half and have had one cable outage already! Way to go Time Warner!

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 12/3/09 at 4:12pm

Time Warner was my nightmare when I lived in NYC. I had Comcast for a few years here (which was just as bad), but was finally able to to switch to RCN a few months ago and I have had virtually no complaints.

When I first moved to NYC and got Time Warner they told me they had to have such and such amount of money before they would install it, so I got a money order paid them and then the guy came and installed my cable. For six months they kept billing me for the installation fees that I had already paid. It was absurd. I was like, didn't you tell me you wouldn't install the cable till all the installation fees were paid, and did you not install the cable after I paid the fees? It took months to straighten it out.

I am very sorry for you. They suck balls.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 12/3/09 at 4:41pm

Phyllis, I eny you having RCN! It was an awesome cable company, They too told me to have a check ready for the guy to install it. I asked him and he told me I should wait and let them bill me for precisely the reason you mentioned.
The company does suck balls and not in the "ohh that's nice " way!

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 12/3/09 at 4:44pm

The only thing that Comcast had over RCN was more On Demand programming, but I'll live. The HD on RCN looks a zillion times better than it did on Comcast.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/3/09 at 5:21pm

Nice to hear RCN has improved. When I first moved to Chicago, I had RCN and it was horrible. The outages, the picture quality, the customer service. I switched to Comcast and after a couple of years, they were even worse. But lately, they seem to have cleaned up their act a little and my HD looks great. But even if I wanted to switch back to RCN, they don't service my building. I guess the notion that we have a choice is supposed to be attractive, but after working so long with multi-family real estate, I realize what a huge crock it is. If you live in a multi-family building, chances are, the choice is up to the management company/owning entity and which company they choose to sign an exclusive profit-sharing agreement with.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 12/3/09 at 6:08pm

I know with my condo, the wiring installation was contracted to Time/Warner who owns the wiring in the building. That is why we have to go with them. Choice my ass!

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 12/3/09 at 7:57pm

I'm going to dissent with the praise to RCN. We have all kinds of issues with them in my apartment. I am constantly getting channels that are "temporarily unavailable." This will happen on one TV in the apartment but if you go to another TV that channel is fine. Sometimes unplugging the cable box to reset it will bring the channel back, but other times it does nothing at all. We'll also get bad picture quality at least every few days where it gets all pixellated, the kind of start and stop you used to get while streaming video on an old dial-up connection.

All this happened last year when they forced the digital boxes on us. Before that there were no problems and I was more than happy with RCN's service. In all honesty, I wish AT&T would offer their U-Verse service in the area. My parents had it back in Cleveland and I was highly impressed with it, including being able to DVR up to four programs at once while still watching a fifth and having DVR playback from any receiver box in the house.

[NYadgal]

Posted: 12/3/09 at 8:05pm

I despise RCN.

I would do anything to have my building give up the contract they have with them!

In fact, I believe my anger toward them was the origin of the Shut Up thread!

Updated On: 12/3/09 at 08:05 PM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/4/09 at 10:59am

I've been reading about AT&T U-Verse and it sounds fantastic. I wish it was available in my area. I would definitely give it a try.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 12/4/09 at 11:08am

Perhaps the cable company's service varies from area to area. When I had RCN, I was living in the Financial District and the building was wired by RCN. I had perfect service and only one outage. When I did have the upgrade to HD, their tech people were helpful and prompt on the scheduled appointment making for a great customer Service experience. Time Warner... not so much. I had then when I lived on 14TH and 6TH... Horrible service and crappy customer relations.