We use Optimum for our TV and internet. Originally Cox Communications, they sold out to SuddenLink, who sold out to Optimum. At least in our area, they are the only game in town.
They suck at what they do. When things are working, it works great, but their service staff has issues that are the bane of their customers. Earlier in October, they switched over from analog to digital for basic cable services and caused monumental problems in the area. The old analog was working fire, you understand, but they wanted to swap over to digital.
This morning, grandson comes in from work and tells me that there is a wire down in the driveway. I went out to check, and he was correct.
So, I got in the van and went to the local store, who told me that there was absolutely nothing they could do to help me, but they did give me a card and told me to call a number. Bobby again, from Mumbai.
It's Monday, we have a wire down, and Bobby can't get anyone here until Friday. That is horrible customer service. Which is why Optimum sucks.
7 comments:
Seems to me like all cable companies are having trouble with this, more so than phone companies.
I wonder if it's an issue if too few staff, or of equipment old enough or exposed enough to need more attention.
Jonathan
Sounds like you need to give Elon a call. I'm sure Starlink isn't the cure to all ills, but it's gotta be better than that.
Interestingly, the internet service (and associated customer service) is MUCH better in our rural getaway in the mountains 20 miles from the nearest "civilization" than it is at our main home in the city.
Go figure.
Oh yeah, they also encrypted the signal so we now have to rent a box from them to receive the signal. Optimum have been to my house twice in recent months for fixes. Both times the techs were very competent, polite and solved our cable problem. I am researching over the air antennas and a dvr. I've had enough of cable.
I've seen a new company running fiber optic in my area near Stillest Road.
Deacon in Louisiana
Having been in the business, I have a couple observations. First is the drain of talent that can work in the physical space. You see this in the absolute shambles that most cable boxes are. For whatever reason, the younger techs don't pickup the linesman craft that the greybeards have. When I got my cable installed in my last house, the tech had to call out a pro, because he couldn't figure out how to get from the cable interface on a pole to my house. A pro in a bucket truck showed up and knocked it out in 15 minutes. I used to do that job. It isn't hard. The second reason is that the talent drain has been such that they outsource the physical cabling to contractors. They cant' get the order from mumbai to Louisiania to a dude in your driveway in a timely manner.
That said, the messenger wire (the thick baling wire that actually holds the cable up) probably unraveled from it's eye hook or mount because dumb techs. May be faster to size it up and simply re attach it.
Unplug it at the ground block on the side of your house and report your service as down. (You need to do this to disable their diagnostics)
Remember when granny or mom hung the clothes and they would get the big sticks with the notch at one end to keep the clothes off the ground. Would work the same for this line so you can drive in and out.
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