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| Post Number: 11
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carnation 
Group: Members
Posts: 77
Joined: Dec. 2003
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Posted on: Jan. 28 2004,10:18 am |
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I am a happy charter customer. They have always given me exceptional service and have always been polite and helpful over the phone. They have walked me through several technical difficulties.
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| Post Number: 12
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Tiger
Group: Members
Posts: 606
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Jan. 28 2004,10:39 am |
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Carnation that is the first good thing I have heard about Charter in quite awhile.
I moved and they continued to bill my old address but sent the bills to my current address (therefore they knew the service was to be shut off at the old residence). It in turn got me all screwed up on my new service. I faxed copies of payments called and left messages and all they could tell me to do was to address the situation to my local office which is in Austin. They wouldn't give me the phone # I was told to go over there in person. Their office hours are the same as my office hours. Still nothing they could do for me. I was able to get the fax # eventually and faxed Austin a letter, they eventually got back to me and in the end got everything fixed after I had to get a bit nasty and refuse to pay the other bill. I guess my point is that it took them forever to fix the problem that they created in the first place. 
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| Post Number: 13
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GEOKARJO
Google This!!!
Group: Members
Posts: 7799
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Jan. 28 2004,1:11 pm |
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Ok pond scum (minnow) For the home with 5 tvs and 4 vcrs recording and at least 3 tv s being watched at the same time as recording other channels programing that means we would hane to have 9 recievers, also an outside antenna for the local channels and purchase a sports package with satilite.
costing much more than cable.
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| Post Number: 14
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wrong agin'
Unregistered
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Posted on: Jan. 28 2004,1:29 pm |
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Dish is still cheaper.
Dish has multible reciever packages available now, that are much lower total cost than cable. I haven't had cable in 8 years at least...maybe longer. All it takes is one to have consumers skills, the ability to find and secure true value..lower end cost.
I'm a pro at that! LOL 
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| Post Number: 15
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LisaMarie
Group: Members
Posts: 367
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Jan. 28 2004,3:08 pm |
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The biggest package deal I've seen advertised is four rooms, which means in Geo's case you'd still need another hookup, which in turn would cost more than cable. I've never had any real problems with my cable TV, just the internet that is jacking me over.
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Bush & Son - Sending America to war since 1990
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| Post Number: 16
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minknow
Unregistered
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Posted on: Jan. 28 2004,3:11 pm |
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BS...not the basic package which is NOT cable basic!
Learn...know...seek out TRUE value friends!
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| Post Number: 17
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big dog
Unregistered
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Posted on: Jan. 28 2004,3:15 pm |
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The quality of cable lines aren't a value at any price! I'd never stoop down to that crappy picture again...their "digital" cable is just a gimmick, a trick. It's all poor quality.
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| Post Number: 18
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Nose for News
Unregistered
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Posted on: Jan. 28 2004,9:14 pm |
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Charter squeezing bar and restaurant owners (vote with your wallet and go to commercial sat )
January 28th, 2004
Costly cable
Jump in cable fees irks bar owners
By Dan Nienaber
Free Press Staff Writer
MANKATO — If it's true that business expenses get passed on to the customer, it's going to cost a bit more to buy a beer in area bars with televisions.
John Cross
Elisa Fair, Tavern on the Avenue manager, might have to start charging more for drinks to help cover a jump in commercial cable fees charged by Charter Communications.
Bar owners are trying to figure out how to deal with a dramatic increase in their cable bills. It's an increase some say came with little warning from their cable provider, Charter Communications.
Ron Doty, owner of T.J. Finnegan's Pub, said he received a letter awhile ago saying a Charter representative would be contacting him to discuss a possible increase in fees.
Now he's found out his bill will increase from about $78 per month to $208 per month, a jump of about $130 or $1,560 per year. That was bad news for bar and restaurant owners who also have been told they could be asked to collect a 21ˇ2 percent tax on food and beverages to fund tourism-related projects, including improvements for Vikings training camp, Doty said.
"Everybody seems to need money this year, and they all want it from me," he said.
The increase in cable television fees will be about the same for Tavern on the Avenue, also a Charter customer, said owner Chris Person. Like Doty, he already owns a satellite dish and is wired to switch to a satellite service if the price is right.
Person suspects that services such as Dish Network have similar fees.
"I'm going to look for other options," he said. "Whether they will be cheaper or not, I don't know."
The Neighbor's restaurant and bar, which Person co-owns with his brother, Pat, will not be looking for other television options.
"I know, down there, they're going to discontinue service," Chris Person said.
The fees are being raised because Charter is now paying higher fees to ESPN, Fox Sports and The Golf Channel, said John Crowley, Charter vice president and general manager in Rochester. The cable company now pays $100 to provide programming to its hospitality customers, not including other costs of doing business such as paying wages and sending out bills, he said.
And bars and restaurants do have the option of saving $37 per month by dropping Fox Sports (contracts with ESPN keep Charter from dropping that network) or keeping the broadcast basic channels for $30 per month, Crowley said.
Mankato is not the only market affected, he added.
Having access to sporting events was a boon for business when Person bought the bar more than a decade ago.
He remembers filling the place when the Minnesota North Stars were in the National Hockey League playoffs in 1991.
That was a time when big sporting events weren't always available to people watching television at home. Now, people don't have to go to a bar to watch a big game.
Doty said he doubts any of his customers stop by to watch television. T.J. Finnegan's is a popular dance spot where the televisions serve more as flickering lights that go with the music.
"It's like glorified wallpaper," he said.
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| Post Number: 19
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jimhanson
Group: Moderator
Posts: 8491
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Jan. 28 2004,10:02 pm |
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Charter reclassified the Elks as a "sports bar"--and raised the fees over $500 per year. The 2 TVs are usually turned to the news/financial channels over the Noon hour--the place is closed from 2-4 p.m., and they usually have the news on during the evening. The Lodge is closed on Sundays--no sports there.
They counted every seat in the bar area when determining rates--and there is no provision for protest. Desktop media's dish cost, setup, everything for two tv's for a COMMERCIAL OPERATOR is about $90 per month--just what we paid Charter--they're HISTORY.
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"If you want to anger a Conservative, tell him a lie. If you want to anger a LIBERAL, tell him the TRUTH!"
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| Post Number: 20
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God Bless America
Unregistered
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Posted on: Jan. 28 2004,10:28 pm |
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Tell Desktop Media to head to Mankato or create a Mankato branch office and get some new customers. One companies mistake is an opportunity for another.
Charter is used to being a monopoly, competition confuses their over educated (book smart street ignorant) marketing people.
Let competition and free enterprise be the law of the land God Bless America.
Charter do as you wish there is also no law against stupidity in this great wonderful USA .
We live in the greatest country on earth with opportunity slapping us in the face if we just open our eyes.
God Bless America
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