Reasons Why Charter Sucks

Since Ludlow is stupid, the only cable company that is allowed to provide service here is Charter. There is the option of going with satellite, but I have already spent an awful lot of time learning which channels are which for the awful service, and I can't go through that again. Just come watch me some time when they switch up a couple of the channels. It's like a deer in headlights. Unfortunately, Charter sucks. I should have Dad chime in with an addition to this post since he has had a lot more difficulties with them, to the point where he has a note on his file that he is a potentially dangerous customer. I aspire to reach that point some day, and, if they keep it up, I just may.,

These reasons are in no particular order of aggravation. I am not motivated enough to sort them by degree of annoyance.

Reason #1 - The DVR is broken, and refuses to listen to the way I program it. Instead of allowing me to record all episodes of a show only when they are labeled as "New," I have to record every episode. If I try to program it as "First-run only," it decides that every show is on Sunday nights and doesn't bother to record any of them. That is absolute horseshit.

Reason #2 - They call me constantly to ask if I want to add Charter's phone service to my account. That's right. They CALL me. On the phone. To ask if I want phone service. Oh yeah, I bet your phone service is top-notch based on how awesome the cable is. There was a period of about 2 months where I had a phone call every single day from them. Even the weekends. Come on, Charter, honor the Sabbath at least! I have since started to ignore the calls, and they have finally dropped to maybe once every 2 weeks. Which does not stop them from being annoying.

Reason #3 - When our HD wasn't working, instead of giving me the 30-second fix over the phone, they sent someone out here who fixed it in 30-seconds, and then tried to bill me $35 for it. Fuck that. If someone had bothered to tell me the whole problem could have been fixed in 30 seconds just by holding down 2 buttons on the cable box, don't you think I could have handled it? There is absolutely no way that I am paying $35 for someone to come push buttons here. Ball lickers. After an extensive phone call, I got the $35 taken off the bill. Score one for being persistent.

Reason #4 - My bill is dated the 16th of every month, due the 29th of every month, but usually doesn't show up until the 27th. As you probably know, my faith in the postal system is basically non-existent, so there is probably a 0% chance that my bill will make it from here to Arizona in 2 days. I swear, if there is ever a late charge on my bill, or my credit scores take a hit from this, you will be hearing about an arson incident shortly thereafter, as there is a Charter office here in town. Just kidding. I plead the 5th.

Reason #5 - Sometimes, for no apparently reason, the cable just doesn't work right. The biggest problem is that instead of flowing smoothly, the cha ne s c e in spo ad a ly, l ke th l s se t e. Were you able to understand what I just wrote? Was it a pain in the ass either way? Now pretend you are actually paying for this. Annoying, right?

Alright, that is probably enough for today. I mean, Charter has got to be busy shipping jobs off to India and driving those vans around pushing buttons. If they fix these 5 issues, I will see if there are any other major problems that I forgot about and write about them in the future. I am not holding my breath though.

-Jon