Since August 18th of this year I have been trying unsuccessfully to get cable access to the Internet installed in my home. The first technician came out,could not reach the telephone pole located in the neighbors yard (it should be noted that at the time of my making this first appointment, I had a week previous assisted techs from Time Warner in gaining access to that yard for a different customer, and had mentioned this to the sales rep since I knew it was an "issue")

This tech who came out on the 21st told me when rescheduling I needed to tell them I needed a "drop line run" (which I had also already told them by telling them there had never been any cable connections into this residence when I had them on the phone to make this appointment.)

Four phone calls that I made on the 23rd got me set up to have the installation on the 30th of August. Longer than I had hoped, but still before the holiday weekend which is what I was aiming for to get service set up and running so I could cancel my dsl line that had been giving me fits and I had little to no luck in getting resolved with at&t over the last couple of month.

I would like to think that I am a reasonable person and not given to unjustified anger, but think I may be losing my perspective here. I had opted for a "special promotion" where if I bought a $89 modem I would get rebates back in the same amount (minus shipping charges) but there was no return policy on this deal. I have since learned that I did not need to buy a modem as the charges include a modem rental (despite this not being mentioned in the "special" deal, only that the modem had to be here before the installer arrived.)

August 30 arrives, and I cut short my Mother's visit to my Father in the nursing home to make sure we were home by the appointed 4 hour time slot for the installation to a happen. By twenty minutes to five (the hours of the appointment were between 1 and 5) I was outside with my phone in hand looking up and down the street for the Time Warner truck. I was out there until ten past 5 and no truck or tech was in sight.

I came back in the house, and gave them another 10 minutes before calling to see if they were just running late. I was told that the tech who had been assigned had said he was at the house at 5pm and was unable to get access!! So their tech was lying to the office.

Now, in addition to my having been out there, I had obtained a key to my neighbor's gate to give them access to the telephone pole that they needed. During all of the four more calls I made to straighten this out I also asked them if they had it on their notes (as everyone I had talked to previously had said "I'll make a note of that here") that I needed a drop line run. It was NOT in any of their notes.

I was told I would get a phone call back in an hour to confirm an appointment that they would set up for the 31st. Well despite what Time Warner thinks, I have a life, and got busy and did not think about this again until later in the evening when I realized they had not called me back. So I had to call again, since I did not have a confirmation of the appointment on the 31st. When I called their automated system informed me I had an appointment for Sept 2, 2008 between 8 and noon.

First of all, I am not available in the mornings as I take Mom everyday to see Dad, second of all, there is a doctor's appointment for Mom that afternoon so I would not be available that afternoon. They had arbitrarily set up this appointment without any call to me to make sure it would fit my schedule.. they obviously don't think I have a life. I kept hitting buttons until I came to a live person, (and that takes some doing with Time Warner) and complained bitterly that not only had they failed to get me an appointment on the 31st, they had created a scheduling conflict that I was unable to work with. (Mom's doctor appointments are NOT negotiable, her health and well being are first priority around here and will always be.)

To placate me they now have offered me two free months of service, which I pointed out was all well and good but did me little good if I did not have the service to begin with. They could not give me an appointment on the 31st as previously promised, and promptly moved my appointment to the 3rd in the afternoon.

When I stayed home and waited for them on the 30th, I was foregoing a photo-shoot I had scheduled to an event (I am a photographer) and the 31st was also a photo-shoot that I had cancelled thinking I would get the tech out to install this. Two days work gone.

What I have learned is that Time Warner has virtually no inter-company communications that work. I have talked to folks in Colorado, Van Nuys and Chatsworth, and none of them had notes about the things I was told "I'll make a note of that now.."

I have bought a modem I did not need to buy (and can only recoup my money via rebates only available if I ever manage to get Time Warner to hook up the line. (this of course also brings into question the ethics of charging me rental of their modem that I do not need now that I own one)

There is serious doubt in my mind that I have gotten any real names of these folks, as every I ask for the person I talked to last or was told would call me back, no one has any idea who that might be (even when I have said she said she was with the Chatsworth office, she said she was in Van Nuys)

Time Warner is not the only cable company serving this area, which I have pointed out to them on several occasions, and also told them if they cannot get this damn thing installed I want them to buy the modem I bought including the shipping fees so I can go elsewhere. They pretty much pass over that with they don't know anything about a modem.. so I think I am stuck with this part of the deal.

If Time Warner has any ethics I think they should adjust the monthly fees for those who have been hoodwinked into buying a modem. (then again, maybe anyone foolish enough to buy the modem never gets the service hooked up.)

The bottom line here is, if you have a choice of cable companies in your area, Time Warner gets a very big thumbs down. I called again this morning, even though I knew it was a holiday and guess what??

They told me the when the tech came out on the 3rd, he would have to make notes about needing a drop line and it would have to be referred to their maintenance department and the installation could not happen!!! So I lost it, I raised my voice and started in about all I have been through (they still did not have the notes about needing a drop line) I demanded a supervisor, and got someone who claimed to be one, who's first language was not English so communications got even harder. While I was on one phone with them yelling about them apparently not having any record of who had come out to my house the first time or any notes that a drop line was needed.. my other phone rang. It was another employee of Time Warner who had gotten a call from the woman I was on the phone with, and she said they would be able to run the drop line, that they kept ladders on their trucks all the time. The issue was access, so again I told them I had a key to the gate where they could get access to the pole (how many times I have told them this is somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 to 8 times.. no notes made that I was told were being made) The first woman hung up on me while I was talking to the new one. I had her on speaker phone so she was able to hear all that was being said on my end of the current conversation.

I still don't have a cable hook up, I still don't know I will have one or when. Maybe my next call should be to the better business bureau or my attorney....or maybe both.