A review of the Cable and internet provider CHARTER / COMCAST - Are they terrible?

Let’s start by saying Charter Comcast are not cheap, but some of us have no other option. When you first want to sign up, some of their representatives are friendly. Unfortunately, most are not. Somehow we live in an age where we need to pay $30 dollars for TV and $30 dollars for internet before we even get any add-ons. If Charter had their way, this would be counted as cheap. So let’s put together a fictitious bundle on their website.

For a new customer, with 2 TV’s and needing wi fi internet. This sounds pretty standard. You would also think, that today, HD is the new standard, but it’s not. I also require a DVR box. Again, something pretty basic in 2012. BOOM! $119.97 per month with a charge of $19.99 for the installation. But hold on a minute, back there it said it would be $30 each for the TV and the internet. It did didn’t it….. It then told you the bundle would cost $85.99. And now with a $19.99 charge for the DVR “services” and $5 for each box, you are looking at a monthly bill, before tax, of $119.97

Now for premiums I have been told it will be $10 for HBO alone per month. $10 for Starz/Encore and $10 for Cinemamax. I will save $5 if I order all 3. I didn’t even enquire about sports extra. I am, at this point overwhelmed.

As a Charter customer, I have had no choice but to use their service as I have no line of sight for a dish. I have had 4 movies, which I paid for, become blurry and unwatchable, 4 faulty HD DVR boxes, 5 issues with my monthly bills being incorrect and 5 internet black outs that lasted more than 10 minutes. I will not even mention how often short internet cuts come about.

Originally I thought it was just a problem with my apartment and I would like to think so. However, it was not. Please note, I have only had service for 6 months. The above issues are not the worst thing about this company. Yesterday, I received my bill and I had been charged for a movie I never heard of. More interesting, was the fact that, when this movie was apparently ordered it was right at the time that our baby goes to bed. This is a time when no TV in the house is on. Never! So I went online and thought they would have some information to help. Instead I received a copy and paste response. Almost like speaking to a robot who had no knowledge of the situation or people skills. If you want an even more confusing and manual read conversation, you can always try customer service over the phone.

As usual, after my customer service experience, I am still unsure exactly how this happened, but in order to find out how, I would have to have a technician come to my house and I would have to make sure someone is there to let him in. I have had at least 6 technicians come out. They always blame the box, unless they can charge you for not blaming the box. On one occasion, they charged me for nothing being wrong with the box, due to the fact that they came out. 2 weeks later the box was deemed to be faulty. It took me hours on the phone to receive my reimbursement. A waste of my time and this was only worth the wait due to principal. I am sure most people would let them keep the money and of course, this is how they make so much profit.

The quality is below par. Let’s leave out the technical issues I encounter weekly, and focus on when our cable and internet do work.

The picture quality is mediocre on my 240 hz 1080PHD TV, simply due to the fact that the source (charter) is bad. I am experienced with TV’s and electronics in general and this is a good TV I purchased. The hardware provided by Charter however, is just about useable. The only pro is, it is so difficult to find what we are looking for, that we often switch off the TV and play a game or just spend some quality time talking.

The user interface on the TV is reminiscent of the 90’s. We had Direct TV for a short period before moving here and the transition to charter was quite a hurtful one. Forget about using youtube or surfing the web through your box. Simple functions and very badly laid out menus are what you will have to get used to.

Regarding the wireless router, it is slow to booth, and the internet speed is much less than advertised even though our building is capable of taking 30+ mbps. I didn’t even bother questioning why I am not getting better speeds. I try to avoid contacting them at all costs.

This is by far the worst experience I have had, not only with a cable and internet provider, but with any company. Compare this to my review on page plus and you will see that I am usually one to give praise. For me, I want to make people aware and make sure they avoid this company at all costs. For me, I am sticking with Netflix for now and would rather have no cable than this cable.