I Hate Charter!!!

[inwall75]

Charter is raising cable rates
By Jerri Stroud
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
11/29/2006

Charter Communications Inc. is raising rates for cable television and Internet services, effective Jan. 1 across most of the metro area, the company confirmed Wednesday.

Higher operating and programming costs are driving the increases, said Sharifah Williams, a spokeswoman for Charter.

Rates in St. Louis will go up Feb. 1 because the city's franchise agreement requires a 60-day notice of any rate increase. A few rates -mainly on the limited basic cable services - will go down in some areas,William said.

Rates for expanded basic cable will rise by $2 to $4.25, depending on the community. In Brentwood and Belleville, for example, rates for
expanded basic will rise to $39.49 from $35.25. Advertisement

The cost of movie and family tiers will double to $10 a month from $5. The sports tier will stay at $5. Charter is also adding a new digital tier for $5.

High-speed internet rates will rise by $1 to $5 a month. The rate for three-megabit service will go up $1 to $43.99 to $53.99, depending on whether a customer subscribes to a package of services. The slower 384 kilobit-service goes to $39.99 to $49.99 a month, an increase of $5 a month.

Williams said Charter's customers often can save money by subscribing to a package of services that includes telephone service.

Rates for basic service, which includes a limited number of channels, will go up in some cities and down in others. In Brentwood, for example,the service drops to $12.50 a month from $14.74.

jerristroud@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8384

 

[kpc01]

yep, I got my letter in the mail too. the bad thing is I am in lake saint louis, the only other internet option i have is centurytel, and they want ~60 bucks for internet. I'm thinkin about going dish network holding out for a good dsl provider to get to me...sucks not having any options. Oh and my charter now goes out approx. 3 times a week at night. they have had a guy come out and all that good stuff...still nothing....

 

[DrBDC]

Isn't broadband wireless about the same price as the charter now?

 

[jcjstl]

I checked into the hughes net and to get 1.5 meg service its 80 a month im paying 30 a month for 3 meg through charter ... trust me if i could drop them i would love to but almost 3 times as much for half the speed?

 

[Reggae Fish]

I wouldn't go to AT&T/SBC if they paid me.

I have had ZERO issues with Charter in the 6 years I've had them. I switched from Dish Network on a "dish buyback plan" and they gave me every channel and internet for what I was paying for just all the channels with DN and I got a $300 credit. When my rates go up, I cancel my service effective 30 days from then and just call back sometime for anything and they'll give you a deal of a lifetime. They were so hell-bent on letting me keep my rate, I canceled and they ended up just giving me 7 free months and after that my price never changed. I never said they were smart.

I can call charter and have someone on the phone within 90 seconds which is longer than when they had the 636-207-7011 number but it's still not bad. Try that with AT&T

 

[jcjstl]

The service at att/sbc is horrible because they have sent thier call centers over seas and as of yet ... charter hasnt... I sbc billed me for 7 months for dial up i canceled 3 days after i signed up ... then they took 3 months to credit me ... after i fought with them 1 to 2 times a week for the whole 10 months.... i wont go to any att/sbc/cingular service ever again...

 

[roader247]

I had the same problem cable was down more than it was up I had 2 tech's to the house they both said it was my wiring. So I changed it and added a booster. Had another tech to the house and he said it was my wiring so I asked him for a 50 foot piece of coax I put ends on it and ran it from my modem strait to charters cable box. Guess what it was still down. He then checked the cable I had made and then got mad and left. I called Charter and told them I wanted a refund for all the down time, the next day the problem was fixed and it stays up. Good Luck

 

[Ocicat]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8644429#post8644429 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jcjstl
The service at att/sbc is horrible because they have sent thier call centers over seas and as of yet ... charter hasnt..

Yes, they have. And no one who you talk to really has any power to do anything except upsell you and possibly discount your rates; they certainly cannot refund faulty charges like I need to have happen. It's terrible. This most recent (third) time I called, I first tried their local number from the phonebook - it has been disconnected.

Admittedly, overseas call centers are the norm rather than the exception these days. Heck, if I have a problem with my computer at work, someone in India answers my phone call to the IT help desk; then THEY contact someone in my building if it has to be resolved locally on my machine.

Anyhow, I have called Charter 3 times in the last 2+ weeks in an attempt to get this latest over-billing issue resolved. (All 3 reps have had foreign accents of varying thickness.) Every time I have been told that they are "putting a form through" and a specialist will call me back. The second time, the woman told me it would be within 4 days. That was on Tuesday 11/14, and again no one called me. I called for the 3rd time on this past Monday, and this particular woman seemed slightly more competent. She told me that the first TWO times I called, "the form did not go through." So... she put through another one. I think the stars might have aligned and the form really went through this time because she was actually able to give me a ID # for the form (I asked for some sort of reference # on my first call and they could not provide one). Better than this, she gave me a fax number (a 636 number) to fax in my Visa statement showing the excessive charges. If it isn't resolved by next week, I will dispute the charge with Visa.

 

[Reggae Fish]

Ocicat,

ALWAYS document who you spoke with, what time, and the date...If you call a 2nd time and give them that information and also gather theirs, I assure you it will eliminate ALOT of headaches down the road.

 

[Nanook]

My digital cable box has been out of it for four days now...they are supposed to be here on Friday between 8 and 12am...we will see

It took 45 minutes to finally get someone to help me setup an appointment because they knew I had gone through all their usual channels that most people just hang up on...I finally had to get very assertive to get help.

FWIW, they do have telephone helpers I think in the Phillipines...if you get one of them, they can not help you no matter what. While I am not ready for a dish or whatever, I am getting closer each time something happens.

:mad2:

 

[Ocicat]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8646746#post8646746 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Reggae Fish
Ocicat,

ALWAYS document who you spoke with, what time, and the date...If you call a 2nd time and give them that information and also gather theirs, I assure you it will eliminate ALOT of headaches down the road.

I have times and dates. The first time, when she couldn't give me a reference number, I tried to get a name, but I couldn't understand her. I had run out of patience by that point and wasn't about to try to get her to spell it.

 

[Ocicat]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8647858#post8647858 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Nanook
My digital cable box has been out of it for four days now...they are supposed to be here on Friday between 8 and 12am...we will see

Ha! I wouldn't hold your breath - they can't even make appointments when it's 75 with clear skies. ;-)

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8647858#post8647858 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Nanook
It took 45 minutes to finally get someone to help me setup an appointment because they knew I had gone through all their usual channels that most people just hang up on...I finally had to get very assertive to get help.

I know what you mean... I'm not sure whether my 3rd call seemed the most productive because the rep was more competent or because she could tell I was barely restraining myself from yelling.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8647858#post8647858 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Nanook
FWIW, they do have telephone helpers I think in the Phillipines...if you get one of them, they can not help you no matter what. While I am not ready for a dish or whatever, I am getting closer each time something happens.

:mad2:

I think I have gotten 3 of them in the Phillipines. :hmm4:

 

[Reggae Fish]

I truly never have problems with charter. good luck everyone

 

[DrBDC]

I've only had 1 problem and it was a bad frequency splitter. That's once in about 6 or 7 years of internet through them.

 

[HouseDJSTL]

I know alot of problems that I've heard of is customers doing there own wiring. Sometimes it's done right, but if you put on a bad connector or leave a leg on a splittler open you get alot of signal leakage and can cause major problems....

 

[DrBDC]

I didn't realize open legs will do that. Would that be any different if there is an outlet w/o a television hooked to it?

 

[HouseDJSTL]

No, what I mean is that you have a cable hooked up to a splitter and the other end is either an open cable (unstripped or w/o a connector) or one w/ a connector. Signal can leak out of those. The ones in the wall have a barrel attached to it and keep the signal from leaking out....So the ones in your house that are just the wallplate w/ the barrel end are OK. Some people on older homes, run cable from the splitter up through the floor and have it hooked to nothing, this causes problems...Hope this understandable...

 

[drummereef]

I just got a letter from Charter saying they are raising my rate $1.00 - Jerks. :mad2:

This is after the hit or miss service I've had for the last 2 weeks. Unbelievable.

 

[frenchie]

Charter caters to missouri customers they get better service over there than here in illinois like att/sbc dsl target there business over here in metro area in illinois and not good over missouri

 

[HouseDJSTL]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8651495#post8651495 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by drummereef
I just got a letter from Charter saying they are raising my rate $1.00 - Jerks. :mad2:

This is after the hit or miss service I've had for the last 2 weeks. Unbelievable.

Some rates are going up because starting in Jan. 07, Charter is putting up and upgrading almost all lines. This will definately improve your service overall....