I’ll be the first to admit that my relationship with Time Warner Cable over the years hasn’t consisted of a lot of love, but I have to take a moment and give the cable giant some props.
Yesterday while watching the Tour de France my TV screen kept freezing up and at times simply went black. This has been an ongoing issue so I did the only sensible thing (said with humor), I posted the following to Twitter from my @ShellandtheCity (strictly NYC stuff) account.
ShellandtheCity: Anyone else in NYC have problems with the Time Warner Signal going in and out so you get a black screen sometimes?
Within a matter of minutes I received a response from @TWCable help,
TWCableHelp: Is this affecting all televisions?
I was totally impressed with the fact that they were listening (I’m sure they have to do a lot of this) and were being proactive. I then responded and the following conversation ensued.
ShellandtheCity: @TWCableHelp One, the only one I have.
TWCableHelp: @ShellandtheCity If there’s a box on the account I can attempt to check the levels if you’d like.ShellandtheCity: @TWCableHelp OK. Can you look it up by my name?
TWCableHelp: @ShellandtheCity As long as it’s a unique name. Account or phone number also work. Can DM info.ShellandtheCity: @TWCableHelp Sent DM.
TWCableHelp: @ShellandtheCity Some of the levels are out of spec, will need a technician out. First available is 07/17 11am-2pm. ^BPShellandtheCity: @TWCableHelp Not happening. Has to b in the evening & I’m not blocking 3 hrs of time. Did that when it was supposed to b set up. [Note: this is where proper training for online customer service reps becomes important.]
TWCableHelp: @ShellandtheCity Can do 5-8pm same day; all time slots are 3 hour blocks. ^BPShellandtheCity: @TWCableHelp I’ll give you a 1 hr block. That or you’ll need to credit my account for costing me such a large amount of time. [Sorry, can’t help but be annoyed with that.]
TWCableHelp: @ShellandtheCity We don’t have 1 hour blocks. If you’d rather, I can schedule on an alternate day. ^BPShellandtheCity: @TWCableHelp Sorry, that doesn’t work for me right now. Do you have 3 hrs of your time to waste for something that will take 5 minutes? [I set the bait, but was happy to see they didn’t address this.]
TWCableHelp: @ShellandtheCity If there is someone else that is atleast 18, they may be at the residence in your place. ^BPShellandtheCity: @TWCableHelp Would a doorman be an option? If so, I can see if they’d do that.
TWCableHelp: @ShellandtheCity As long as they cant grant admittance to the residence. ^BPShellandtheCity: @TWCableHelp Ok. I’ll check and be in touch. Thanks.
TWCableHelp: @ShellandtheCity Certainly. To keep the appointment it is currently scheduled. If it needs to be changed please advise. ^BP
All and all I’d say this was a positive customer service experience. I’m always going to think there 3-hour window is obnoxious, but at least the agent worked through the issue and kept looking for solutions.
Time Warner Cable doesn’t get a lot of love from customers, and I don’t think they ever will, but it’s great to see them actively engaging customers and taking part in the online conversation.
Kudos to their efforts… but seriously, we have to work on that 3-hour window. Especially after I had to pay $25 for one of your techs to come “set up” my box only to leave without it being done properly. That’s an entirely different conversation though. 🙂
