HELP! After speaking to 11 reps, TWC in NYC still refuses to set up my S3!

Call TIVO and tell them the problem you are having with Time Warner. Some have had the experience of having TIVO call the cable company with you on the phone to answer questions and dispel any myths with the cable company.

 

Hey bsj - be ready to be annoyed.
I'm on TWC NYC also.

You should call back TWC NYC and tell them you want a service technician to come to install TWO cable cards.

If they ask if it's a TiVo say yes, but that's all the need to know - they might ask for the model number of the TiVo.

If you are lucky, the service rep they send will already have installed cable cards in a series 3.

When I had mine done last fall - the service guy had already done about a half a dozen units
- I should mention that I ended up getting a second unit and the second technician didn't have a clue - but the end result of that was his supervisor came 3 hours later and did the installation.

They've done plenty of these going back to last fall
- a tech guy shouldn't be surprised - even if the customer service reps don't know what you are talking about:

just MAKE SURE customer service has the request that you need TWO cable cards.

 

Unbelieveable. Aren't cable companies mandated to provide cablecards (or other equipment) for any approved device? Surely TW in Manhattan can't be that far behind the times.

Definately call TiVo and explain it. When the Series 3 first came out, TiVo encouraged users who got pushback from the cable company to call them and let them investigate. I'm sure a TiVo rep can get on the line with them and you and basically let them know that they are supposed to provide the equipment.

Failing everything else, I'd pull a ruse in desparation. Call back later and tell them you need two cablecards. If they ask what they are going in, tell them TVs. Make something up. Get them to your apartment and play dumb. Point the guy to the TiVo (make sure you have the TiVo installation instructions in your hand - and make the installer follow them). If the installer asks, just say you requested 2 cablecards and the issue about what they are going in never came up. Of course, this plan will completely fail if TW has logged your other calls and recorded the fact that you mentioned TiVos.

 

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I think this is more of an issue of the person on the phone line not knowing what the story is - but the last poster is correct - Have the installation instructions sitting there - but like I said - more than likely the service tech will already know how to do it. You just have to get him there with TWO CABLE CARDS.

 

There's something fishy going on then. I live in the East Village (TWCNYC), I had my cards installed on Saturday (my second tech visit), and it was no problem. I never got any resistance from any rep I talked to (probably at least four (4) due to confirmations and work order adjustments and changes). It is unclear why then all of these reps would give you the runaround, unless there was some sort of policy change and/or organized cover-up.

You need to call the Tivo Cablecard Helpline, and three-way with Time Warner.

"If you have been dealing with CableCARD problems like I have been, here is the direct number to the TiVo CableCARD support team:

1-866-986-8486"

 

I was about to post something similar. I live in Brooklyn and have TWC, and I made an appointment to get cablecards installed with no real problems.

 

I had the same response from Bright House here in my city. They first told me that they didn't have any cable cards...

I called Tivo, told them of what was going on with my cable provider. The Tivo rep then called Bright House with me on the phone and explained that they are required to provide cable cards for the Tivo, by law... Refer to the FCC mandate thread...

What got my goat was the temperment of the reps contacted at Bright House, extremely rude, to say the least.

I nearly opted to drop the cable service, and go back to DirecTV... In my case, that is still an option, if these ongoing problems are not resolved in a timely manner.

 

Weird. I got my S3 installed in september 2006, and I wasn't the first one they had done. TWCNYC here too, southern manhattan.

 

I would also complain directly to FCC:

http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/complaints_general.html

I used the general complaint email fccinfo@fcc.gov, instead of the form 475 which seems mostly designed for phone related complaints.

 

NYC Cable Complaint Form: http://www.nyc.gov/html/doitt/html/consumer/consumer_cable_service_form.shtml

 

This is totally bizarre becuase I've had TWC install cable cards in my machines three times (I bought three, but not at the same time), and all three times, I simply asked for a tech to come out and install two cable cards, they asked me what my device was, I told them a Tivo Series 3, and got an appointment. The last tech who came out said that he'd done about 25 other installations on Series 3 units and that just one week earlier, at their tech training session, there was a lesson specifically devoted to Tivos so that all their tech would know how to set them up. I could understand getting a bad rep once, or even twice, but 11 times? The mind boggles.

 

As others have indicated I would take the time to file a complaint with the local franchise and the FCC.

This stuff has to stop and it's absolutely unaccepteable that outfits like TWC in NYC take joy in lying to and bullying their customers. This is exactly why the FCC legislation was passed.