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Time Warner holds back information from advisory board

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By JEFF KORBELIK / Lincoln Journal Star

Thursday, Apr 26, 2007 - 07:23:26 pm CDT

The Cable TV Advisory Board progressed toward a recommendation for the City Council about Time Warner Cable, but it will do so without some requested information from the cable company.

The board submitted about 60 questions to Time Warner concerning Navigator, the controversial programming guide the company introduced last fall to its digital subscribers in Lincoln and Southeast Nebraska.

The questions were formed from the 400 comments the board solicited from the public as part of its performance evaluation of the company.

Story Photo
(LJS file)

Time Warner answered “unknown” to questions about how many customers had and how many still are having problems with the guide.

They also declined to reveal how many of those customers have been compensated, saying the information is “confidential and competitively sensitive.”

“It will be difficult to assess some sort of remedy,” board member Laurie Thomas Lee said during Thursday’s meeting. “It will be based on a lack of information.”

Meanwhile, Time Warner issued another software upgrade last week that the company said has solved several more of Navigator’s issues, including restoring the “jump back” function — a one- to seven-second fall back after fast forwarding.

“At this point, we’re hearing from customers who are saying ‘Don’t go back (to the old guide). We like the changes. We like the new features,’” said Ann Shrewsbury, public affairs director of Time Warner’s Nebraska division.

Time Warner, the nation’s second-largest cable company, has been under fire locally since it dropped the contracted Passport channel guide last fall in favor of Navigator.

The cable company changed the guide to make it compatible with other software programs coming down the line.

 The change affects 46,000 digital cable subscribers in Southeast Nebraska, including 33,200 in Lincoln. Time Warner has 110,000 cable TV subscribers in Southeast Nebraska, with 75,000 in Lincoln.

Subscribers complained that the new guide is inferior to the old one and that they had difficulties with their digital or DVR boxes after the guides were loaded.

The performance evaluation came in response to a resolution introduced in early March by council member Jonathan Cook after fielding customer complaints.

The board discussed Time Warner’s responses to questions but took no action. During the discussion, board member Arthur Zygielbaum said he felt Time Warner used Lincoln as a beta site for the new program guide.

“We were made part of the development process, and we weren’t warned about it,” he said. “There was no plan for compensation.”

The board will meet again at 4 p.m. May 10 at the City-County Building. It will review reports from its subcommittees, which are looking into issues concerning Navigator and Time Warner’s customer service.

Reach Jeff Korbelik at 473-7213 or jkorbelik@journalstar.com.


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Mud wrote on April 26, 2007 7:29 pm:
" Well this seems to be the perfect place and situation for a problem such as this. Time warner doesnt have to answer the questions but lets fill in the blanks ourselves. I can tell you all that none of my friends or co workers have been compensated for anything time warner has messed up. whether its the digi cable navigator or road runner outages. So lets help each other out here. Anyone been compensated by Time Warner for any of this mess??? Is a class action lawsuit possible in this situation?? "

 wallace mcnabb wrote on April 26, 2007 8:03 pm:
" I think it is time for Time Warner to get some competition. It is a proven fact that when competition is introduced into a market that had only one cable company (monopoly) rates were reduced. Not only does this need to happen before someone files a law suit, it is the right thing to do. I travel quite a bit and see other companies commercials and believe me we are not getting any deals from Time Warner. "

 get over it wrote on April 26, 2007 8:57 pm:
" Maybe as a community we should get this worried about our schools or funding for the libraries or affordable housing or health care or something that actually matters -- stop whinning about your cable tv. "

 don't stop wrote on April 26, 2007 9:52 pm:
" Don't stop complaining. By complaining and making a big stink over inferior service, the customers of Lincoln have forced Time Warner to do something. I haven't received any reimbursement for awful service, but Time Warner is being held to the fire and having to listen to their customers-even if it is through the media. People voicing their displeasure over inferior services can only help! "

 Tortis wrote on April 26, 2007 11:25 pm:
" MY tooth aches, maybe that is time warners problem as well. Oh I forgot, this is one of the city council members favorite pet peeves. Lets go get the cable company, we don't have anything else to do, Oh , wait, we have a 9 million short fall, and we want to build more buildings downtown, wow, my goodness what a chain of events. go after the cable guy and build buildings that we cannot afford, draw attention off hot issues and create another issue that really doesn't matter. Great tactics, but I don't think it will work. "

 William wrote on April 27, 2007 1:02 am:
" I was compensated! I had a problem so I called technical support, they had a technician come out to my home for free then I received DVR service free for three months. "

 I see no problem. wrote on April 27, 2007 2:53 am:
" ...then again, I havn't watched t.v. in 9 years. "

 Bob wrote on April 27, 2007 2:58 am:
" I'm sure they haven't a clue how many customers have been affected. It's impossible to call them when the cable is down...I tried to call them one day when my cable box wasn't functioning and couldn't get thru on the phone.....I tried for over 9 hours. Then, at 6 pm, they just magically quit answering the phone, so I went from a busy signal to no answer at all. Some service... BTW, my cable box still resets itself while I'm watching TV; that happened 5 times last week alone. Time Warner has made it nearly impossible to get thru to them when you have a problem. They must have one phone line in to the company, and they must just take it off the hook when things aren't going well... "

 Ready for Dish wrote on April 27, 2007 5:35 am:
" We have not been compensated nor have our problems gone away. I have several programs set to record weekly, and at least once a week a show is not recorded. $150+ a month is a lot of money to not get what you paid for! "

 Doug wrote on April 27, 2007 6:22 am:
" To "get over it": I am sure I am not the only one here who is capable of having concern for many things that affect me and my life. By you way of thinking I would have to ask you why you are not concerned about the current situation in Iraq. You didn't mention it so it must not be an issue, right? This isn't just about cable TV, it's about paying for a service and then not receiving what you've paid for. Some people are capable of multitasking. I can worry about many things at once and still have time to think about my cable TV. I'm sorry for you that you are unable to do the same. "

 Why is the City involved again???? wrote on April 27, 2007 6:48 am:
" I am a TW customer also, I have navigator, and yes it has scrfewed up a couple times for me. I don't feel compelled to run to the mayor and have her fix it for me. If at some point in time I feel the urge to get the thing fixed I will march ove to TW and have them fix it not the mayor's house. If I recieve no resolution I can either fly to TW headquarters and talk with the big guy, dump time warner and go with dish, get rid of my cable all together (my wife would prefer that one), point is why do we have the city looking into this. We're big people we should be able to take care of this ourselves.... The city should be worried about the condition of the road I have to drive on to get to TW..... "

 JH wrote on April 27, 2007 6:57 am:
" I have been compensated in the amount of $59.00. First they wanted to give us more pay stations, but we already have enough. They still have not fixed our problems. I like to hear from the people that Ann Shrewsbury says want to keep the crappy guide. We are really considering moving to Direct TV, plus we will get 28 HD stations unlike the 10 cablevision offer. And the NFL channel so we can watch Football "

 Direct TV wrote on April 27, 2007 7:22 am:
" If you would just let your actions speak for you and switch to Direct TV or the DISH, then TWC might take notice. Nothing like hitting them in the pocket book to get their attention. "

 Customer wrote on April 27, 2007 8:55 am:
" My cable just locking it self up yesterday when I was going through the guide. I had to wait until the system rebooted it self. I'm guessing the software updates did not help that problem. "

 Tim wrote on April 27, 2007 9:14 am:
" There is little reason to believe anyone will build a competing cable network, especially when technology is about to provide other forms of video services to homes (IPTV, for example). But you can drop cable and use satellite. I have it. It works far better than the old days--rain, snow don't matter and reception is better than my cable was. Plus its cheaper. I don't get Omaha TV but I cut my monthly bills by $18 and got more channels, so I'm willing to give up Jim Flowers for that. "

 j wrote on April 27, 2007 10:03 am:
" i recieved 6 months of one premium channel free and a couple months refund on the box charge. it's not enough. "

 Compensated wrote on April 27, 2007 12:04 pm:
" Yes I have been compensated. I called TWC and expressed the problems I was having and asked for compensation. I have two DVRs in my house and received compensation for both of them for a three month period. It only ended up saving me $12/month but it's better than nothing. The upgrade process was unpleasant to say the least but it seems TWC has made requested modifications and now seems to be working quite well. "

 Are you kidding?? wrote on April 27, 2007 12:25 pm:
" You want to file a lawsuit about Cable TV? If your service doesn't work, get another service. YES there is competition in the form of dish or satellite. A lawsuit is just ridiculous when you have control over keeping or cancelling the service. AND its just TV! "

 Jeff68512 wrote on April 27, 2007 12:56 pm:
" I hate to say it, but I was very upset about the performance of my DVR 2 months ago. After the latest updates I'd say we are pretty close to being even with where we were before. New and repeat shows are clearly labeled, the jump back feature is back, and now there is a display that shows what percentage of the DVR is full (I like that and we didn't have it before). The search function and graphics are still behind, but right now I'm happy. That being said, the way we got to this point has not been handled well by Time Warner and some credit should be done for the "guinea pig" months. I am shocked sometimes when I go other place at the different systems. Grand Island has Charter and their system is called MOXIE and is as polished graphics-wise as I have ever seen. It's like using you desktop computer, super clear and easy. They also have a channel that is the National Weather Service and 24hrs a day it show RADAR and has the NOAA weather radio broadcast for audio, very cool! Last, but not least can we stop with the competition talk??? That's what Dish and Direct TV are. Time Warner owns the lines and nobody is going to come in and install a second set of cables, just like no one is going to come in and install a second set of phone lines, gas lines, or electrical, so stop saying it. "

 Same ole same ole wrote on April 27, 2007 1:05 pm:
" what compensation? all you get when you call is reboot or bring the box back. My daughter has now had four boxes and still having problems. Sometimes it records sometimes it doesn't we both record the same shows hoping one of us will get what we want to watch. They are quick to disconnect if you have financial problems but not so quick to help when it's their problem. Can't change to direct tv as our landlords don't allow so we are kinda stuck with what we have. "

 nitemare wrote on April 27, 2007 1:12 pm:
" No cmpensation here. I keep hearing about some that did, but no one that I know personally yet. Maybe that's why they are with-holding info!!! "

 Realist wrote on April 27, 2007 1:47 pm:
" “At this point, we’re hearing from customers who are saying ‘Don’t go back (to the old guide). We like the changes. We like the new features,’” WHAT?! No you're not! Now Time Warner is lieing to us too? I STILL can't get the DVR to record shows through my 'series manager'... it's hit and miss. And when I call them about it, they say, "Bring in the box and exchange it." It didn't help before, why will it help now? It's definitely time for a change. Who do we write and/or call to tell them how we REALLY feel? Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, is telling them "don't go back". That's just an out and out LIE. "

 E. wrote on April 27, 2007 3:32 pm:
" We are still having problems despite the claims of upgrades and solutions. Two nights ago we had "No data Available," again. If we are being used as a "test market," we should be charged as a test market. You wouldn't make a focus group pay for testing and sampling. In fact, test groups are usually compensated, not punished. We never had the option to try or not try the new software. We didn't sign a release saying we are responsible should service decline. We were offered a discount of $9.95 per month for our HBO. For one month. Big whoop! What is the point if you can't get data or the DVR fails to work? There is no reason digital cable bills should have been at full rates for the last 4-6 months. "

 Do we need the city involved? wrote on April 27, 2007 3:33 pm:
" Everyone has valid concerns, but do we really need the city to spend their time with this? As for competition, all competitiors "share" the cable in the ground. If you go to Omaha you won't have 1 cable/phone line for Cox and 1 cable/phone line for Quest. Questcould easily come in and use existing cables (LES has miles and miles of dark fiber just sitting around waiting for someone to use it. I personally have TW and am perfectly happy with the service. I am not however a DVR user, I have a DVR built in my TV so I don't depend on TW, they just supply the video feed. Can we try and take care of this ourselves instead of getting the city involved? "

 here we go again wrote on April 27, 2007 5:03 pm:
" Geez, i cant say it again...but i must. You people really have no idea, do you. Do you want to know why this was done, really? To make it better. Bottome line, I have seen the future, and it is good, i swear, and if all you people starting up about dish wanna get it started, then start with this-you have to have direct line of sight to the south, no trees, tall buildings, clean sight. Not to mention having to scoop it off when it snows, and also the contract, thats enuff right there not to go that route, but go ahead, find out for yourselves, like i did. dish network still owes me 20.00 from over 4 years ago that I had to pay upfront to have dish installed, and when they got to my place and saw a tree of all things, they said they couldnt install it, and when i tried to get my money back...i literally had to call 15 different #'s, and then they still never sent me my refund. yeah, go to dish, you 'll come back. "

 shafted wrote on April 27, 2007 7:37 pm:
" I do not know to whom Ms Shrewsbury is talking, but it must be those same "voices"that often seem to be a part of the self denial typical of those who refuse to acknowledge reality.My system works part-time at best and requires a reboot at least three times a week. That frequency is predicated on a maximum number of viewing hours of less than 15 per week. In short, the damn thing doesn't work even when I don't use it much. The first recommendation is to open the market by suspending Time- Warners contract ,the next is to call for the resignation of Ms. Shrewsbury and those above her in the company's hierarchy. "

 HELLO !!!!!!! wrote on April 27, 2007 9:57 pm:
" City of Lincoln, we are here. Try sending out a questionnaire with our water bills and see what kind of a response you get. I was not compensated one penny from TWC and at this point am getting used to the Navigator Software. I like the fact that the jump back feature was restored and other than a few minor glitches, its almost better than the old Passport. The problem is that TWC should have really worked tbe bugs out before they put it in service and since they chose not to, we should be compensated for our pain and suffering. I think half off of my bill for the past 6 months is fair. City of Lincoln, pay attention to what we are saying. You can get the answers to those questions but you have to ask us, not TWC. "

 Shut Up Already wrote on April 28, 2007 4:16 am:
" you people do realize that you only pay 3.95 for the guide right? if you don't like it, go back to basic or switch to dish. quit whining about it. enough is enough! "

 Rick B wrote on April 28, 2007 7:55 am:
" Dear City of Lincoln, My Windows Vista is "buggy" would you mind setting up a committee to look into that for me? Sincerely, I don't think the City of Lincoln has better things to do with their time... "

 Helloooooo! wrote on April 28, 2007 9:41 am:
" Did anyone notice that people who were compensated actually CALLED or VISITED Time Warner? Posting inane, grumbling complaints on the Journal Star blog solves nothing! This sort of news is getting pretty old. The City Council and the Advisory Board insist on their trivial witchhunt, and lazybones customers are out for Time Warner's blood. It's a good thing the weather's going to be nice this week, otherwise I think the only thing that would disuade people from yakking about this Time Warner fox hunt any further is a visit from the Pope! "

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