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ErieBlogs.com OpEd: Are you getting the service you’re paying for?
Posted by Mike on December 6, 2007
In our second OpEd piece, we welcome local blogger and software developer Erik Barzeski. If you read his blog, you may have read about his ongoing issues with Time-Warner Cable and their promised broadband internet speeds.
Why are we covering it here? A few reasons - one being we want all our readers who live west of I-79 to be able to come here many times a day and get our site quickly. Second, there’s no reason people in Erie (or anywhere) should not get services they pay for, be it cable internet, satellite TV, housekeeping, any type of service. Can you tell I’m an avid reader of Consumerist?
If you’re an ErieBlogs.com reader living in the affected area, please check your speeds and make sure you’re getting what your paying for. If you follow Erik’s directions below and don’t get action from Time-Warner, here’s a little tip. Call the CEO. Seriously - call 212-598-7389 and ask for the office of Barry Rosenblum. You’ll get an assistant, but by calling or using the “executive email carpet bomb” technique, hopefully you’ll get results.
By the way, where’s our FiOS already? Without further ado…here’s Erik.
Attention Road Runner (Time-Warner Cable Internet) Customers in Erie west of I-79
You’re being ripped off, and you’ve been getting ripped off since June.
Time-Warner’s Road Runner cable Internet service costs anywhere from $15 to about $50/month. The “Turbo” plan promises speeds of “up to” 15.0 Mbps (megabits per second). Standard Road Runner service offers speeds of up to 7.0 Mbps. Basic offers up T1-like speeds of 1.5 Mbps, and the “Lite” service is half that - up to 768 kbps (kilobits per second).
Because of the way cable networks behave, you’ll almost never see the full 15, 7 or 1.5 Mbps, but you should almost always see download speeds of about 7-10, 4, and 1 Mbps - roughly 66% of the top speed. These are minimums that should be met, according to Time-Warner, even during peak use hours.
Unfortunately, since June, 2007, customers living west of I-79 in Erie have been seeing rates ten to twenty times slower than the minimum acceptable speeds. For example, I subscribe to the Turbo service, and I’ll often find that my download speeds clock in at a measly 400 kbps - less than 4% of the minimum speed I should be getting. On a “good day,” an average of twenty speed tests conducted throughout the day will give me an average speed of between 1 and 2 Mbps - still 1/5 to 1/10th as fast as the minimum speeds for which I’m paying.
I’ve recently learned that this has been a problem since June. I was told by a technician who came to my house on a service call recently that they were only told of the problem a month or two ago. The same technician also told me that they’ve only recently discovered what they believe to be the cause - a faulty piece of equipment - and that a replacement has been ordered. The equipment resides in the Time-Warner property on Asbury Road and affects most of Erie west of I-79. The technician did not know when the faulty equipment would be replaced, but did say that the hub was due to for an overhaul in January, and TW was likely to wait until then.
In other words, not only have Road Runner customers been getting ripped off since June, but we’ll continue to get ripped off right through the holiday season and likely through most of January.
What Does This Affect?
Unfortunately, this problem affects everything in your house that uses the Internet. DirecTV has video on demand, which downloads shows over an Internet connection to your DVR. Your game console (Wii, PS3, Xbox 360) can be connected to the Internet to download games, play online, or even to receive weather and news. And of course this affects all the computers you use to go online. Slow download speeds affect everything from how quickly simple web pages download to how easily we can watch streaming video or download software updates. Everything that uses your Internet connection is affected by this problem - drastically so.
What Can You Do?
The first thing you can do is run some speed tests. Check your Time-Warner bill to verify what plan you’re on - most likely you have “Road Runner Service,” which is the standard 7 Mbps plan. Next, visit DSL Reports and use their speed tests. Run a few tests (preferably to the New Jersey servers, as they’re closest) and see what your average speeds are. Note how much the speeds vary from test to test.
Compare the speeds you get to the minimums you should be getting: 7-10 Mbps on Turbo, 4 Mbps on Standard, and 1 Mbps on Basic. You should get these minimum speeds consistently.
Unfortunately, if you’re in the affected area, you won’t be getting the minimum speeds consistently. You might never get the minimum speeds. And again, this situation has existed since June.
Time-Warner’s national support/help desk (1-877-772-2253) has no idea that such a problem exists (or has existed for so long) and there’s no real way to get in touch with local Time Warner officials about this issue.
If you’re as upset by Time-Warner’s treatment of you as a consumer - providing service at 5-10% of the minimums you should be getting - you can do two things. Armed with the results of your speed tests, you can call the national support/help desk at 1-877-772-2253. Ask to be escalated until you can be escalated no further, then voice your concerns for this problem and the six months it’s been going on while you’ve been paying full price. Make the national help desk people aware of our local problem and perhaps they’ll pressure the local office to do something more quickly.
Second, drop in at the Time-Warner “store” in the Millcreek Mall. Share your concerns with them. Pressure them for credit on your account or three free months of service to make up for the six months of shoddy service you’ve been receiving. Be respectful, of course, and remember that the person you’ll talk to is not the cause of the problem.
I plan to pursue this issue until it is resolved and the Road Runner customers of Erie get the value (and download speeds) for which they’re paying. If you’re an affected customer, please add your comments at the bottom of my entry on this issue.
Posted by Mike at December 6, 2007 9:40 AM
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