Charter Communications and cablecards

[spring2008]

Sorry but I am beyond exasperation with Charter and need to vent.

I set up an appointment with them to have a multi stream card installed when I initially received my Tivo. After much drama (first being told that Charter "doesn't have to support Tivos" by someone in a call center in Canada, then the installer never showed up and another person who was dispatched to replace the first installer complained all the time he was in my home), 2 single stream cards were installed. When I asked why I didn't get one multi stream card I was, in essence, told that they normally don't have multi stream cards in stock and that I was "lucky" to even get cards that worked.

Fast forward a few weeks. I'm on the phone with Charter about an unrelated issue when the customer service representative begins to review my current services. I then ask politely about the cablecard issue again and the representative assures me that multi stream cards are available and that he would (at no charge to me) have one installed. I'm impressed and thank him profusely for his assistance.

The installer just left. He walked in, looked at the work order in his hand and began to complain to me that he "hated cablecards" and in no uncertain terms told me that I should just get a Charter DVR so I wouldn't need them. I tried politely to explain the situation about the multi stream card and that all cable providers are legally obligated to support them. When I asked him if he had the multi stream card with him, he said no, they have to be "special ordered" and that if I didn't like that I could call Charter's 800 number. Then he just walked out without another word.

Is the unavailability of multi stream cards common or just in my western MA area? Is it just Charter? I never had customer service issues like this with any other provider and it is discouraging to think that I have years ahead with this company.

On the plus side, I love my HD Tivo and it works flawlessly. I purchased a refurb with one year of prepaid service and I think it was a great deal.

I still love my Tivo ... just not the cable it rides in on :)

spring

[RonDawg]

It's the same way here in SoCal. Charter seems to have two types of techs:

1. Ones that know what they're doing, and

2. Total morons.

There appears to be no in-between. And unfortunately I've had both types.

I'm waiting for one to appear between 3 and 5 PM this afternoon to check on a problem I've had for the last 3 days, which is I haven't been getting my digital channels, only the analog ones. Mysteriously, sometime between 6 AM this morning, and about 2 PM this afternoon, the problem resolved itself. Since I took time off work to make this appointment happen, I'm going to have the tech show up anyway to make sure there's no other issues.

[rainwater]

By any chance are the installers that setup your cablecards contractors or are they Charter employees? The only time I have had a CableCard install issue is with contractors. I would call Charter and ask to someone else do the CableCard install.

[RonDawg]

Tech showed up at 4:20 PM and left by 4:25 PM. Apparently they were doing upgrades at the head end which were completed today, which explains why I had no digital service at 6 AM but did at 2 PM. He said the office usually doesn't advise the call center of such upgrades (which I suspected was in Canada, by the way the helpful rep pronounced the word "process") so that's why they were unaware of this temporary outage.

I took the time to ask him about Switched Digital Video, and he said to his knowledge Charter in my area had no plans in the near future to implement the technology.

[spring2008]

It's the same way here in SoCal. Charter seems to have two types of techs:

1. Ones that know what they're doing, and

2. Total morons.

There appears to be no in-between. And unfortunately I've had both types.

Well, at least it's heartening to know that there are good ones out there because I haven't experienced it yet. :) God I hope Verizon hurries up and gets FIOS here. I will be shoving people out of the way to be first in line to sign up for it.

[/QUOTE]I'm waiting for one to appear between 3 and 5 PM this afternoon to check on a problem I've had for the last 3 days, which is I haven't been getting my digital channels, only the analog ones. Mysteriously, sometime between 6 AM this morning, and about 2 PM this afternoon, the problem resolved itself. Since I took time off work to make this appointment happen, I'm going to have the tech show up anyway to make sure there's no other issues.[/QUOTE]

Funny but we just had a similar experience in my area. We lost our HD stations but got them back within a few hours. Spooky how that happens :) My husband was all upset because we bought the big HD tv for him to watch sports and he was without NESN. You would have thought the world was coming to an end, lol. Don't blame you for having the tech come anyways especially if you took time of from work (I hate having to waste good time off like that!)

[spring2008]

By any chance are the installers that setup your cablecards contractors or are they Charter employees? The only time I have had a CableCard install issue is with contractors. I would call Charter and ask to someone else do the CableCard install.


Actually both times were Charter ee's. The only contractor we've had from Charter was one who installed the telephone and he was great, very attentive to detail.

What leaves a bad taste with me are the not so subtle Charter opinions about Tivo. It is simply unprofessional.

Is it worth pushing to get an M card do you think? It would save me $2 a billing cycle ... not that the $2 will break me but it's become the principle of the thing ....

[RonDawg]

What leaves a bad taste with me are the not so subtle Charter opinions about Tivo. It is simply unprofessional.

I've had a couple of Charter employees (one a tech, the other a CSR) who mentioned that CableCards can be "temperamental" but neither have said anything about being against TiVo, nor have either tried to push Charter's own DVR on me.

Is it worth pushing to get an M card do you think? It would save me $2 a billing cycle ... not that the $2 will break me but it's become the principle of the thing ....

If your current two S-card setup is working, I would say no, or else risk some other problem happening.

The only reason I went to a single M-card from two S-cards is because for a previous problem, the tech who showed up at that time (and knew what he was doing) thought the CableCard was the issue so he swapped them out for a single card.

[spring2008]

Tech showed up at 4:20 PM and left by 4:25 PM. Apparently they were doing upgrades at the head end which were completed today, which explains why I had no digital service at 6 AM but did at 2 PM. He said the office usually doesn't advise the call center of such upgrades (which I suspected was in Canada, by the way the helpful rep pronounced the word "process") so that's why they were unaware of this temporary outage.

I took the time to ask him about Switched Digital Video, and he said to his knowledge Charter in my area had no plans in the near future to implement the technology.


Glad your HD issue is resolved. Wondering if there was a similar upgrade in my area ... when I called about it and heard the recorded "outage in your area" message I just sighed and hung up, lol.

I'm not surprised that switched video technology won't be coming our way any time too soon ... no incentive for them to do so.

Please Verizon, please .... bring me FIOS ...

[spring2008]

The only reason I went to a single M-card from two S-cards is because for a previous problem, the tech who showed up at that time (and knew what he was doing) thought the CableCard was the issue so he swapped them out for a single card.

In your case it was a grand slam ... a good tech that had an M card in his pocket :) Doesn't get any better than that!! Wonder if he would mind driving to Massachusetts ....

[rainwater]

Is it worth pushing to get an M card do you think? It would save me $2 a billing cycle ... not that the $2 will break me but it's become the principle of the thing ....

It might be worth it if they don't charge you another installation fee. The last time I inquired about switching to M-Cards, they wanted to charge me $39.99 so I told them to forget it.

[farrago]

I just finished a chat session with Charter. I still have the window open, so I'll copy and paste the info here...

Thank you for choosing Charter Chat Live! A Customer Care representative from General Sales Inquiries will be with you shortly.

The next available Agent will be with you in a moment.
You have been connected to CVH Deborah.

CVH Deborah : Thank you for chatting in to the Charter Sales Team! My name is Deborah. How may I assist you?
Tom: What is the extra cost associated with upgrading from a regular digital box to the digital box with DVR?
CVH Deborah : I can certainly assist you with that information! First, I will assist you with this, and then I would like to ask some questions to ensure you receive the best value for your money!
CVH Deborah : With whom am I speaking?
Tom: I'm asking for another customer. I'm considering making the upgrade for a Christmas gift for a relative. Charter isn't even in our area, so I use dish network. I'm going to pay the extra cost for this family member that lives in XXXXXXXXX and I want to see what it would cost me.
Tom: They use Charter for their cable and they still record a lot of TV shows with VCR tapes. I want to bring them out of the 80's.
CVH Deborah : You might enjoy Charter's DVR service! A DVR receiver allows you to record programming, then watch it at your own convenience, ensuring you won't miss any shows! Upgrading a standard digital receiver to a DVR receiver is just $15.00 per month extra.
Tom: OK, $15.00 per month extra. Does the customer have the option to purchase the DVR box and not lease it?
CVH Deborah : No. They would have to lease it and they must have a credit card on file for the equipment.
Tom: Will charter's digital cable service work with a TiVo DVR with digital tuner that I purchase elsewhere?
CVH Deborah : No. You have to have Charter DVR's
Tom: OK, I'm assuming that you're 100% sure about your answer. Is that correct? I'll take a screen shot of this and shop around and share your answers with others and see what my options are. Thanks Deborah

So, as I suspected and have learned from the earlier posts in this thread ...I don't have to use their DVR. Is that still true? If so, then Deborah's pants are on fire right now.

-Tom

[RonDawg]

So, as I suspected and have learned from the earlier posts in this thread ...I don't have to use their DVR. Is that still true? If so, then Deborah's pants are on fire right now.

No you don't have to use the Charter-provided DVR. You just need a CableCard compatible DVR, and CableCard(s). If you subscribe to only analog cable, you can make do with a non-CableCard DVR such as an older TiVo.

Cableco-provided STB's are currently still required for Video on Demand (non-Amazon), and for Pay per View that cannot be ordered by phone.

[Raist999]

I'm not surprised to see these comments regarding Charter Service Techs. I live in Eastern CT and have Charter Cable. The service has been ok, but I had terrible internet issues years ago with them.

Anyways, I purchased a Tivo HD in October and called Charter to get info on CableCard availability. While on the phone with a call center rep I was told that the cards were available and would be single stream cards. (X2) I asked if mulit-stream were available and was told they were not. An appointment was setup and I waited for the date.

The installer showed up on time and was definately less than enthusiastic about having to deal with a Tivo unit. Ironically the invoice was for two single-stream cards and the tech showed up with two multi-stream cards. (I had to laugh to myself) After an unamazing "installation" of the card the tech called into a back office setup team and worked with the phone tech on speakerphone for 10 -15 minutes. It was a little iffy and the tech on the phone couldn't understand that I wasn't getting the Charter HD service. (haven't gotten the HD TV yet) The process was more painless than I figured it would be, and I somehow managed to get setup with HD channels and am not paying for them. The HD stuff looks great on my PC monitor and I am looking forward to getting an LCD soon.

I can't figure out why Charter doesnt just let the subscriber pick up the cards and call in to a team to have them turned on.

[rainwater]

The process was more painless than I figured it would be, and I somehow managed to get setup with HD channels and am not paying for them. The HD stuff looks great on my PC monitor and I am looking forward to getting an LCD soon.

Your locals (ABC, CBS, etc) should be available in HD without paying for any of the tiers. To get ESPN HD, TNT HD, etc will require you to get the HD Tier. Charter is in the process of changing their package schemes and names in most markets. However, if you are getting more than your locals in HD, expect to be paying for that $10 tier.

With Charter it is possible to pay for the CableCards and not subscribe to any of the teirs including the digital tier. All it really gives you is the locals in HD and the Music Choice channels along with the analogs. However, once you have the cards properly activated, it is easy to change which channels you subscribe to right over the phone and the channels update immediately. Also, Charter is switching many of the analogs to digital on the channels <99. So you will also get the digital versions of these.