It's been a rough year for customers of Time Warner Cable, Kansas City's leading cable provider and possibly the leader in TV-related headaches. Time Warner would like to apologize for that, and we would like to accept its apology -- mostly, though, we hope it's learned its lesson.
The trouble started in January, when Time Warner started “upgrading” people's set-top boxes with new software to control the on-screen guide, DVR recording and other features. And then there was the ongoing soap opera with the NFL Network, which wasn't Time Warner's fault (in my opinion) but still resulted in a lot of angry customers wondering why they couldn't get the Packers-Cowboys game Nov. 29. In between, a channel-changing snafu irked some fans of A&E (the channel, not the newspaper section).
Above all, though, there was the Navigator debacle. In January I wrote that Time Warner was rolling out a new menuing system for its cable boxes. I quoted a local spokesperson who said Navigator had been developed “so we can be more responsive to our customers.” Famous last words. Since then, customers have flooded Time Warner's help lines, and my mailbox, with horror stories of sitting down to watch a recorded show, only to discover their DVRs had been wiped clean by the new software. Others were put off by the new menuing system, or driven mad by the three-second response times each time they pressed a button on their remotes, or felt like they were in a car with bad brakes each time they tried to fast-forward through a show ... the list went on.
“I have never seen my wife so frustrated with anything, (and) that is an area where she usually counsels me in patience,” wrote Chad Colgan of Lenexa. On Aug. 28, Time Warner switched his HD-DVR to Navigator, erasing the entire fourth third season of “Battlestar Galactica,” which they were saving up for one of those viewing marathons that DVR users look forward to.
Two months later, when I checked in again with the Colgans, they were still having trouble. “When the DVR works we don't have many complaints,” said Colgan, “but the 50% of the time it hangs or freezes, like a slow computer, you want to yank it out of the wall.” Not only is he considering a switch to Everest, so is his brother-in-law. His cable hasn't been upgraded yet but is spooked by Colgan's tales of woe.
That's the kind of word-of-mouth damage Navigator can do to Time Warner's business, and not just in Kansas City. Its customers in Lincoln, Neb., also got “upgraded” this year, and the ensuing debacle led the city council there to pass a resolution calling for an investigation. The city's cable advisory board concluded that Time Warner had “beta-tested” Navigator on the unsuspecting people of Lincoln. (The AVS Forum's Navigator complaint thread scores high in Google search.)
I could go on: Jim Savage, HD-DVR customer, reports that “Navigator still gives me headaches as it is still incredibly slow, poor resolution, among other issues,” months after it was installed. Rebecca Tasler: “We had been so dissatisfied with the new Navigator software that my husband talked a tech into reinstalling the old Passport software system.” After that, recorded shows looked “horrible,” were heavily pixellated — what a surprise, my Passport-enabled box is suddenly doing the same thing. So now it’s not just Navigator.
Scott Simerly, who called my attention to the troubles in Nebraska, called Navigator’s interface “downright prehistoric. I fail to see any improvements in the functionality and the keyword search is horrible in comparison to the old system (Passport).”
And yet, the vast majority of people reading this are, according to Time Warner, having no problems at all. That's because they are using set-top boxes that have been tested with Navigator and work fine. The problem, says Damon Shelby Porter of Time Warner Cable Kansas City, is that there are some four dozen different cable box models in use around the area. And while Porter said Navigator has behaved well with “97 percent” of them, getting the software to behave with them all has been a bear.
“It was tested by our lab, it was tested by our employees in their homes but -- mea culpa -- it's really taken much longer for us to iron out the problems than we had hoped,” Porter said. “We're very frustrated.”
Not as frustrated as I was when I had to return my Navigatored HD-DVR to Time Warner for a replacement. To my relief, the new DVR hasn't been upgraded, because it's a different model and Time Warner has slowed the rollout of Navigator.
There was also that matter of Time Warner moving A&E to Channel 35 without telling anyone (although technically it did warn those of you who read the legal notices in the business section). Porter said a new process was put in place so future channel changes get better publicity.
And another thing — at some point, TWCKC pulled the plug on Turner Classic Movies' secondary audio (or SAP) channel. Time Warner hadn't gotten back to me by the time I filed this report, but a reader and I each independently confirmed you can't get the audio description of many TCM films offered on the SAP channel for viewers with visual disabilities. That feature should be available to everyone with cable, set-top box or not, and needs to be restored pronto.
Channels changing: On Jan. 1 Court TV, best known for launching Nancy Grace's career and for its gavel-to-gavel coverage of headline-grabbing trials, will become truTV (small “t”). Trials will still air during the day, but the channel's new owners -- what do you know, Time Warner again! -- will expand the evening lineup to include other types of mayhem besides criminal. Among its new series are “Sky Racers,” which will follow TV news choppers; and “One False Move,” focusing on people whose jobs or adventures take them to the edge of death.
Discovery is also rebooting two of its digital-tier channels in January. Discovery Times, which was launched in 2003 as a joint venture with the New York Times, petered out after three years. It's been quietly rebuilt around in-depth documentaries, and now the channel will be known as Investigation Discovery.
Planet Green is the new name of Discovery Home & Leisure, focusing on eco-friendly programming. You may have already heard of one program it's launching in 2008, “Greensburg Eco-Town,” which will document efforts in tornado-devastated Greensburg, Kan., to rebuild using environmentally friendly materials.
Meanwhile, another year has passed without a single international news channel being added to Time Warner's -- or Comcast's, or Everest's -- digital tiers. Al Jazeera, BBC World and France 24 are all there for the taking. This lack of public responsibility in a post-9/11 era is disheartening.
For quite some time,ive been inquiring about the new CHILLER TV channel.which is on DIRECT TV. iS THERE ANY CHANCE IT IS GOING TO THE time warnerLINUP.
Posted by: RANDY WESTON | March 13, 2008 at 04:15 PM
It looks like Time Warner has a grip on all of these people like cocaine dealers have with their addicts. If the service is terrible, leave them. That's the only way they will change. If everyone is still paying for crappy service, they don't care and have no incentive to change or fix things as long as the money keeps rolling in...that's how utilities work.
If TWC wants to try to save a few bucks by using their home brew crappy software, then they will discover it was a mistake when they lose more paying customers than they were paying for the Passport software!!! That's what I'm really curious about.
Returning boxes 4 to 5 times to TWC is crazy. The current shows on TV suck and so do the movies and number of commercial breaks. They crossed the line when you have 20-25 minutes of commercials per 1 hour show. 10 years ago it was only 10 to 15 minutes. If my box becomes screwy with the Navigator upgrade, that will be the final straw for me and I'll just ditch cable all together. I'll just go with free HD TV over the air and use a TIVO box.
When I do watch TV (which is only a couple hours a week), I spend most of it watching old shows that were on "free tv" 20 years ago anyway. Take your $100+ a month and spend it on DVDs or invest it!!!
Posted by: Jim | March 25, 2008 at 07:04 PM
Just got upgraded and it sucks!!! 3 perfectly good HD DVR's are now worthless. Why continue with the upgrades when there are so many problems? This is almost unbearable and I will make a switch it the service tech cant make it right.
I have a 720HD TV and use to be able to set the format so it would not switch on my TV all the time, but with a HDMI cable you cannot do that anymore.
Also, anyone else have a problem when you hit the guide and leave it on too long the channel stays small, like it was when the guide was up. I have to switch to a differnt station with a different signal to get the full pic back. It is so annoying!!!
Goodbye TW if this is the best you can do
Posted by: joe | March 27, 2008 at 04:18 AM
I agree with all the bad things about TWC and would like to add that I started having problems with my digital cable on Christmas Eve 2007. All of the "no commercial" movie channels were pixelating and they kept sending out a tech almost every other week. The problem was finally fixed when they sent out their contractors but it is happening again.
Their techs don't know what they are doing, they say the same thing every time just like the CSRs and I have had to exchange my DVR more than 4 times since that time.
I learned about 6 years ago from a tech that the powers that be wanted to get everyone using digital TV. Well that seems to be happening all right and now that TWC has eliminated many of the Encore channels because as they say, they were just repeats from different time zones they are now showing old, terrible, useless movies on the no commercial movie channels with the "good" movies being offered "on demand". So now they are sneakily trying to get customers to pay for the good movies that were once shown on the Encore channels. Or, they will show 1 or 2 movies of a "series" with the final movies being "on demand"/pay per view.
I would love to go out and buy DVDs but I live on a fixed income and that option is not in my budget especially now with the high prices of everything. "Everyone" is saying that they're sorry but prices are being raised due to the economy.
Many times I cannot read a book; fortunately, I was able to get in on ATTs well hidden offer of DSL for $10 a month until 2009 when prices revert to market rates...ha! Perhaps no more internet then either. I've had Roadrunner and it's not that much faster than the DSL I have.
I am this close to canceling my TWC but it is the only form of "entertainment" I have being unable to work and spend 99% of my time at home. *But* I do make my problems known. Whenever I get pixelating or (this is a good one) when I hit the Menu button I get a blank screen that says "loading", then lose my place in the show I'm watching and can't rewind...and yes I abhor the slow rewind speed and get livid when I'm told to hit rewind and hold down the left arrow key...what is that????!!!! It doesn't work and I'm getting fed up being told to do that.
It's amusing to me that when I call at night and get a CSR in South America they tell me that they don't have these problems with their cable...
Just call me confused, livid and fed up without an answer to my frustration at this time.
Posted by: fedup | June 10, 2008 at 09:53 PM
When I send in my payment this month, I'm going to withhold payment for the "DVR function" since, IMHO, the DVR is not functioning. I'm going to include a note that goes something like this:
Dear Time Warner:
You'll notice that the payment I've made this month is for $9.95 less than what you billed. That's because I withheld the $9.95 part of my bill that's for "DVR FUNCTION". I am not paying for "DVR FUNCTION" because my DVR is no longer functional after being "upgraded" to Navigator. Your support agent suggested that I be patient while Time Warner programmers fix all the problems with the Navigator software. $9.95 is a small price for Time Warner to pay for my patience.
I'll continue to withhold the $9.95 every month until the Navigator software gets all or most of the functions the Passport software had and is as reliable as the Passport software was.
Sincerely,
Posted by: PWB | July 22, 2008 at 09:16 PM