Bad service prevails at MediaOne
Written: Jun 17 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Not a whole lot.
Cons: Horrible service, consistant slow internet connection, expensive
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| TOMRYN's Full Review: MediaOne |
MediaOne is the bottom of the barrel as far as I am concerned. I have their cable TV and RoadRunner broadband internet service. Let me start with the Cable TV aspect. I have the interactive programming guide (which you would think would be free.. it is an extra $2.95 a month) for this you need their cable box and remote. Both of which they so thoughtfully charge monthly rental fees for. There is no good reason why in this day and age, where TV's have been "cable ready" for over 10 years now, that I should have to have a box on my set. But back to the interactive guide. When you press the "guide" button, it brings up not the current listing, but what is on 2 hours from now. To get the current listings, you have to tab backwards to the current time. Not a big deal but it is something I have called them on and should be a simple thing to change. They have told me a variety of reasons from "We are working on it." to "It is done by a third party so we have no control." to a basic "Too bad, get over it." type response. Gotta love it. I have the "Third Level" plan. This is basically made up of Level 1, which is presumably local channels, Level 2, which is wild and sassy and has things like Weather Channel (which is a WHOLE other story all together) and the like. If you want Lifetime, TNT (which I thoughtfully call "Commercial Central") and MTV (do they even have music videos anymore or is it all news and anything unrelated to music? I guess just playing the videos like people want is out of the question.) this is all in the big fat price jump called "Level 3". Mind you, I have no movie channels or anything, and for a standard month of programming I am paying $39.95 just for the Cable TV portion. And while we are on the issue of the rediculous money I pay to watch TV, wasn't the original idea of paying for TV that you wouldn't get commercials? I find it totally rediculous that not only are stations like TNT, Weather Channel, and USA Network INFESTED with commercials, but many if not all of the stations are not-stop Info-mercials at night. Am I going to get a discount for this useless programming? I think not. And just to get a slight amount off track more, lets talk Weather Channel. All I want to know is the local weather. That's it. Just tell me the temperatures and rain or shine. Probably will be wrong but tell me what you think. (Which is supposed to be on the 8's) Let's cut to the chase: It's notoriously late because we have to see the weather for Guam, China, some shots of the moon, a parade that happened in Germany, and lengthy shots of what rain looks like when it hits a puddle near the great lakes. Then 10 to 15 minutes of commercials to fund the "Super Cuts" of weather forecasts. And when they start talking about weather for the eastern US (where I live) they stand right in front of the whole right side of the country. Afterwards the local forecast comes on, so it can say (about 90% of the time) NO INFORMATION AVAILABLE. Not MediaOne's fault, but worth mentioning. Don't bother with Pay Per View either. The sound cuts out every time I've gotten it. Usually during the heaviest part of the plot, and the last 10 minutes of the movie. Hop on the phone to complain if you've got 45 minutes to spare.
Lets move onto RoadRunner service. I want to tell you, that coyote would have caught up long ago if MediaOne had their way. My service (as well as everyone I have talked to that has it) has ALWAYS been as slow or slower than dialup. I have contacted them and have always been told it's because I don't clean my disk cache, or that I need a new IP address. Just to humor them, I followed their instructions. Still slow. Want my advice? Use dialup and send me the extra $20 a month. I'll send you the tape of the pretty music they play when you call them. You got that right, I have called them three times about various problems. I have been on hold no less than 40 MINUTES each time. But as the lady in the recording points out, they DO value my business. Of course they do, because they probably use the $39.95 I pay for internet connection to fund the band that has to play the 40 minutes of music you have to hear before you talk to one of their techs.
Not as if I had a choice, but I rank MediaOne's service right up there with Fleet Bank. But at least they are consistant.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
TOMRYN
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Location: Rhode Island
Reviews written: 12
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
"As soon as you're born you start dieing." - Cake
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