KWPro.net

one of my biggest pet peeves in the world is being disconnected.  it's a feeling of insecurity and helplessness that gets me whenever my internet goes down for whatever reason.  this time, i was having severe problems with my Time Warner/Road Runner cable internet service.  I had called them a while back but didn't realize that the problem wasn't on their side, but on the modem's side.  So a friend of mine advised me to replace the cable modem.  Originally, i bought a new one but found out (too late) that Time Warner's service requires you to use their's, otherwise they'd charge you more (stupid concept).

Finally, today I had enough and decided to get a new one.  Their tech support and customer service were completely useless.  First, tech support simply agreed with my assessment that my modem was old and had issues.  So they gave me a ticket number and transferred me to customer service.  The customer service also agreed (reluctantly in tone) that I needed a new modem.  So their solution was initially just to have me pick up a new modem.  Of course, I could schedule a guy to come on down, but according to them, "If the technician would assess that there's nothing wrong with the modem, then they wouldn't replace it."

I ended up taking the latter choice, meaning that they gave me an address that was poorly pronounced over the phone.  The FAQ states absolutely NOTHING about there being a local office for handling cable issues.  So I had to still look up on Google Maps where this place is and found out that the address would've been wrong had I used the original spelling (thank god Google's search engine actually tries to correct spelling errors!).

I trekked down to the office, which wasn't far, but located in a slightly inconvenient zone in a crammed street.  There, the people STILL remained somewhat reluctant to provide me a cable modem.  Fortunately, I had a good story to convince them and I got a new cable modem in the end.

Ran back home and crossed my fingers in the hopes that this was the magic solution.  And yes, it was.

To summarize, basically, I just had to assess my own cable modem's problems rather than using the technician's judgment by examining other people's troubles.  My friend advised me on the correct solution, but after a great deal of trouble and being put on hold, I managed to dig up an address where I had to drive myself (meaning spending my own time and money on gas) to resolve this issue.

Bottom line for Time Warner: really BAD service.  I'm glad we don't have to tip these people, since I would just direct them to the unemployment line for their lack of good procedures to help their customers in an expedient manner.

Well, at least my internet service is back...