I unfortunately use Earthlink's BroadBand service through Time Warner NYC. I've had Customer Support issues twice in the past -- when I moved and when an ex-girlfriend moved , Earthlink & TWC screwed up their partnership communications and didn't fully migrate/close the accounts. TWC tried to charge us each about $400 a year after closing each account. I needed to get a lawyer involved to make those problem go away.

If you ever try closing an Earthlink/TWC account, my suggestion is to get proof in writing from both companies that the accounts have been fully closed on BOTH their systems.

TWC sunk to a new low this week -- with just about the worst customer support I've ever encountered.

During the heavy rainstorm last week something happened to my broadband connection signal. My cable modem would stop working for 4 hours at a time, then suddenly work again. The cycle would repeat nonstop. After a day of service like that , it was clearly not a network test. I called TimeWarner and they tried to test the line -- no luck. They made me a service appointment for 5 days later - it was the best they could do.

The next time my cable flickered on, I got them on the phone and they tried to test the line again - they could barely pick up a signal on the modem and said it was definitely a line issue -- but the only way to up the signal strength was for the service tech to come, and I should keep the appointment.

The service tech was supposed to show up on Tuesday May 1st between 2 and 6pm. At 5:55 I called TWC , who said that they were probably just running behind schedule -- but work until 9, so they would definitely be there. He put a note on my appointment that they were late.

At 7pm no one showed so I called again. After assuring me that someone was still on the way, suddenly a new note appeared on my file -- something to the effect of "We can't make this appointment, we didn't contact the customer, reschedule an appointment if they call".

I was a bit pissed: they were running late on the appointment and didn't let me know, they cancelled the appointment and didn't let me know , and then they offered to reschedule the appointment FOR A WEEK LATER.

Yes, thats right -- I had to wait about a week to get my cable modem fixed, they cancelled the appointment without telling me, and then offered to leave me without service for another week.

When I suggested how unacceptable this was, the representative said I had no other options. I said "Sure i do-- DSL".

I hung up and called Speakeasy, who quoted me up to 2weeks for an install. I work from home where I run two .com startups -- I can't go for 2 weeks without internet access of my own, so I called TWC again asking for a supervisor.

My 7:15 call, asking for a supervisor, ended with their system saying "Fatal Error" then disconnecting me after 15minutes on hold.

My 7:30 call, asking for information on how to register a complaint, ended with their system saying "Fatal Error" then disconnecting me after 10minutes on hold.

My 7:40 call, asking for information on how to terminate my service, ended up with me being on hold for 10minutes. Unlike the other hold music on their system, the 'Product Care' department's hold music is akin to scratching rusty nails on a chalkboard -- its bits and pieces of different songs, mashed together and put through a filter to produce a clipping effect. TWC doesn't want you to make a complaint or cancel their service, and they're damn adamant about it.

When I finally talk to a product care 'specialist', she says that she's going to get the dispatch on hold and get my cable fixed ASAP. She puts me on hold and after 8 minutes I hear "Fatal Error" and i'm disconnected.

I call again to find out how I can end service. They try to put me on hold, I refuse. They're not allowed to give any information on how to disconnect, only product care can. The customer service rep asks me why I'm so adamant about cancelling - I explain and he's awestruck. If he can't help me, I want to speak to a manger who will -- and i refused to go into the customer care line again (ie: the "wait on hold for us to disconnect you" line).

I finally speak with Jackie , a supervisor, who is extremely apologetic. She says she'll do her best to get me an appointment either later tonight or tomorrow -- and takes down my info for a callback. An hour later she calls and says the best she can do it 10-2pm the next day. "Fine." I say, and thank her.

At 2pm on Wednesday TimeWarner hasn't shown up , so I call. The Tier 1 support person says the job is still open , I ask to speak to a supervisor because this situation is already at that level. Missing one appointment then showing up late to the reschedule is just not acceptable.

The supervisor I speak with this time is named Mrs. Flores. She apologizes profusely, looks at the record, and says that she'll have to talk to dispatch and will call me back.

An hour later Mrs. Flores calls. She tells me that according to dispatch I did not answer my doorbell at 12:15, and did not answer my phone either when they tried to call. I call her on the bullshit. At 12:15 I was looking out the window - my desk faces the window - no TimeWarner cable truck came by. If one did either A) I would have seen it or B) my landlord who was sitting outside in a lawn chair all morning would have let him in. If a tech did show up to my address, he was in the wrong zipcode -- because no one came to my building.

Mrs Flores then said "Well, we have a record that they tried to call you at 12:15 and you didn't answer". I called her on the bullshit again. My phone didn't ring, there was no voicemail, and there was no record of this call during my 2 earlier calls today. Mrs. Flores claimed that dispatch was too busy to leave voicemails - I told her I failed to see the logic in not even using an automated "We tried to visit you, but you weren't home" message. I got 6 calls of that kind trying to confirm my appointment -- they can't even send 1 saying "we missed you"?

Mrs Flores claimed that I must have missed the appointment, not them. The chances of them showing up at the wrong address and calling the wrong phone number were just too slim. I asked Mrs Flores why I should believe either of those events happened -- there was no post-it on my door saying "We missed you" , I don't have a voicemail , and they didn't have an internal record for a missed appointment until several hours after they allegedly showed up. Mrs Flores couldn't provide an answer. I asked her what Sprint will tell me when I ask them if a call was placed to my phone - she was sure that they would confirm it. I then asked for her manager.

I'm waiting on a callback from a TimeWarner manager , however I just spoke to Sprint who were very happy on checking my records to tell me if any phonecalls were attempted or completed to my telephone today at 12:15. Sprint told me that no one had tried connecting to my number between 9:15am and 3pm.

So, Time Warner Cable NYC -- you not only have bad physical service, but your customer support is abhorrent and you are lying sacks of shit.

I'm now comparing DSL plans from SpeakEasy and a few other operators.

For those of you who want to get away from TWC, this is the information that you're not allowed to know:

You have 2 options. Either bring your equipment to a payment center or schedule a pickup call. Billing stops when they take possession of the equipment , not when you call to cancel service or they terminate the signal. There is a week or longer wait on them picking up equipment , and they'll charge you $5.

UPDATE:

I finally got a callback from TWC's tier 3 customer service rep Anetta. More bullshit abound: On tiers 1 & 2 , the customer service reps will tell you that it is an explicit policy for Dispatch to NOT leave a phone message if an appointment was missed they will "just hang up after 4 rings or if voicemail picks up, because they are very busy with scheduling service calls". If you question the mindlessness of that policy, they'll be happy to check with dispatch, who reiterate the same exact thing.

On tier 3, the customer service and dispatch reps will say that it is an explicit policy for dispatch to leave a voicemail message if any sort of answering service picks up.

The tier 3 customer service rep had no explanation why everyone on tiers 1 & 2 believe that there is an official policy that states the exact opposite.

She also had no explanation as to why no one called me on Tuesday when they cancelled the appointment, and couldn't explain why a phone record for an alleged 12:15 service call didn't appear until sometime after 3pm, why no message was left on my answering service for that call, or why the phone company has no record for that call ever being made.

TimeWarnerCable is now claiming to come fix the service again on Friday between 2 and 6. Will they? Who knows? Maybe I'll webcast my front door that day, so the whole world can place bets on them showing up or not.

Unfortunately, I have to deal with their crap for about 2 weeks -- the lead time Speakeasy quoted me for a DSL install.