Crummyvision
Written: Jun 22 '01
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Pros: Reliable
Cons: Only game in town, horrible customer service
The Bottom Line: Seriously considering directv
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| silks636's Full Review: Cablevision |
Living in the most densely populated area of the country would lead one to believe that there would be a decent selection of choices when it comes to home entertainment. Well, that certainly isn't the case here in northern NJ... we have CABLEVISION!!!!
I've had Cablevision as long as i can remember, not by choice though... if there were other cable alternatives, you can bet i would be investigating them. I am still on the fence about buying a dish because 1) i don't live in a mansion, but those suckers look ugly sticking out of the roof of every house on the block and 2) they aren't the most reliable (if you get some good rain or snow you can kiss your picture goodbye). If things keep going as they are with Cablevision though, i might have to go that route.
I can remember back in the early days Cablevision used to have a call in show on the public access channel. People would call in and ask some PR gurus "when are we getting the Cartoon Network?" and "why are my rates going up?", etc... show after show. it was kind of pointless after a while, but it was a nice gesture to give the subscribers a place to vent. With all the disgruntled customers these days, they would need much more than the 1/2 hour time slot they used to fill up. They also kept you abreast of channel line-up changes, as well as outage info and upgrade updates, which was very helpful. Anyway, that show has long since vanished, and we're left to fend for ourselves. On that show, i can remember back in 1997 them saying that they hoped to have the whole system upgraded to digital in 2 years or so... well, here it is 2001 and nothing much has changed.
Out of the 50 or so channels i get, i probably only watch a few. I really couldn't care less about the local Board of Ed meetings, the 3 different home shopping channels, and the Spanish speaking channels, but i will live with them. There are friends of mine living in central NJ with digital cable, and i'm sick of hearing about all the channels they get. I think they are getting sick of me calling them to tape programs for me on channels that they get that i don't. For example, i am a huge motorsports fan, i would give my right arm for Speedvision. We don't get that on Cablevision. I will give them credit for their local sports coverage though... every NY/NJ team that is playing, i can watch. That's probably because the Cablevision empire owns half of them.
about 6 months ago, i began to notice tons of "Optimum TV" trucks around (don't let them fool you into getting that... all i got with "Optimum" is what i already have, plus the Disney Channel for $10/mo. more). I figured something must be up! UPGRADE!!! well, as soon as i got home, i called them up. It was like talking to the wall... you are put on hold for an eternity only to be transferred around to somebody else. I spoke to about 4 different people (one of which was extremely rude) and nobody seemed to know what was going on. I spoke with Sales, Installation (don't even get me started on them), Customer Service, you name it. Finally i was put on hold and transferred to a woman who sounded like she was 16 and it was her first day on the job. She entered my information into the computer and i waited. She mentioned something about the "computers being slow"... it's funny, i've heard that from their operators on numerous occasions prior to this. anyway, she said that we would be getting an information packet in the mail soon about the channel additions and changes! Excellent, i thought, now i'm getting somewhere. I asked what the new line up would consist of and how many new channels i would be getting... "well, i think it's about 3 or 4..." Great. She said we would probably be getting Court TV, that's cool, it's a channel they took away from us a few years ago so we could have more home shopping. She then said that these changes would take effect "around weeks end". Ok, it's a start.
Well, a few months went by... nothing in the mail, no new channels. I called back. This time i spoke with a kind gentleman who said it would be "another month or two" and that we would be getting a huge upgrade with plenty of new channels. This is what i wanted to hear! I could see it now, Speedvision, The Game Show Network, TV Land!!!! My heart skipped a beat.
Well, a few more months went by... nothing in the mail, no new channels. I called back. This was just yesterday... i spoke with a woman who sounded like she just smoked a pack of Camels. She put me on hold (possibly to finish her cigarette). She then asked me for my phone #, i guess that's how they pull up your account. I had my phone # changed 4 months ago, they still haven't entered it in the computer properly even though i have given it to them over the phone and made note of it whenever i pay them (i guess they're only interested in the check). Finally, she said, "well, i don't know what's going on over there... let me ask somebody". I now hear her talking to the person next to her. She comes back on and says, "well, it's going to be really soon that you're going to be getting your new channels. They've had some problems in the area and should have things up soon." Ok, where have i heard this before? I asked if she had any idea how many channels we would be getting. "Oh, i think it's about 8". We went from 3 to "plenty" to 8. I don't know what to think anymore and i have given up trying to get information from them since it just seems as if i'm being lied to. Do they instruct their operators to just make up things? That's the impression i get.
Now i read in the paper that they're increasing rates...
Meanwhile, they haven't stopped calling me to try to get me to sign up for Optimum Online service. I guess somebody over there has my correct phone #. I always tell them, "i'm not interested in giving Cablevision any more money than i already do". It leaves them dumbfounded.
Dumbfounded as i am at how a company can get away with such terrible business practices.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): $40/mo
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Epinions.com ID:
silks636
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Location: New Jersey
Reviews written: 6
Trusted by: 1 member
About Me:
Graphic Artist, Fisherman, Dad
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