MEDIACOM we need to TALK!

[HoosierHelen]

I have been a MediaCom customer since 1989. I carry their complete package with my phone, internet and cable. The price I pay for their service has always been higher than what I feel good about, but I have generally enjoyed my service, so I paid it.

Whomever is in charge of Customer Service there would be looking for a job come Monday if they worked for me. I'm not talking about Customer Service at the local Auburn level. I'm talking about whomever made the decision to not receive input via phone for those of us who are unhappy about loosing our WAYNE TV. I tried to contact them PRIOR to Sept 1 to tell them that WAYNE TV is important to me. They had an automated recording informing me that they were in negotiations and that my call was not necessary. I TRUSTED YOU MEDIACOM....my mistake!!!!

Today, I missed my Sunday Morning show from WAYNE TV that we watch religiously. Tonight, I will miss 60 minutes (another family tradition). The rates I pay for my service should certainly enable MEDIACOM to negotiate a reasonable contract with WAYNE TV. Reception in our part of the county is terrible if we don't use cable or dish TV. DISH is looking better and better to me as an option while MEDIACOM refuses to receive a customer call regarding loss of service for our favorite channel.

Does anyone else in the SE corner of DeKalb county have any suggestions for an alternate service? I am one very unhappy customer of MEDIACOM currently.

[TLC528]

I am completely with you and your frustrations. I did get thru to customer service and the response was repeatedly “sorry but it’s their fault”. They did offer to give me the higher cable package free for three months. This still does not get the 2 channels I’m missing. I called Direct TV and changed my service and the cost is much less than cable. The only catch is I will be paying Mediacom $90 for early cancelation, the plus side it will only take about 2 months to get my money back in savings. I’m thru with Mediacom and their mediocre service.

[krazetrain]

I too, am unhappy with Mediacom. They claim to be in negotiations with the parent company of WANE tv, yet we have no service for that station and radar channel. Mediacom's service has continually eroded in content and quality, and as more people get online the speed of the internet service is rapidly declining. I don't get to negotiate with mediacom about what channels that I do or don't want. Their bill never goes down , only up! They occaisionly provide a new channel, only for me to find that one of the old one is now nothing but infomercials after midnight. give me the choice to purchase content from only the channels that I want! Take away my Home Shopping Network, QVC, MTV, VH!,CMT ( they have very little music anyway. and are mostly all unreality tv shows). Take away FOX news acct of being UNFAIR & Biased, and unethical as recently proven by tactics used in England. Mediacom your service is getting worse. Oh well I can't afford it much longer anyway!

[LuciusBeebe]

They are terrible, but because of tree coverage they are my only option.

I got the HD package and maybe one or two channels are watchable, the rest are either pixelated or don't come in at all because of poor data flow.

They're just awful. Service calls are terrible to schedule, too.

I hate mediacom.

[evilkumquat]

I'm on the Mediacom hate bandwagon as well!

Their service is spotty, reception is poor, customer service is lousy and they have a habit of hiring as independent contractors any idiot with a van.

True Story #1: Years before the new siding was put on my apartment house and while I was still a Mediacom customer, I came home to find that the cable was out in my bedroom. I went outside and found the coax cable I had strung haphazardly outside connecting my living room cable outlet to my bedroom cable outlet was cut. The excess cable was stapled to the outside of the house, immediately telling me this wasn't a random act of vandalism. I called up the local Mediacom office (this was in the days when Mediacom HAD a local office with local employees that local customers could call instead of a faceless outcall center located somewhere in India). As luck would have it, the call happened to be taken by the "tech" who had cut up my wire. "That's right," he replied indignantly to my angry queries, "You were stealing cable. That's what happens!" I angrily informed him that the cable he had decided to cut in an assumption I was a cable thief was what linked my living room to my bedroom. I told him he had better get his *** back down to my place and put things right as well as to apologize for calling me a thief. To his credit, he did get back to my house within five minutes of my call, but when I met him outside he refused to apologize for the insult. We traded some barbs for a few more minutes before he left in a huff. I called the local office again, demanding Mediacom send someone back immediately to fix things. Within five more minutes another tech arrived and quietly replaced the cable with no incident. I never did get my apology from the company.

True Story #2: Last summer, a Mediacom van backed into my car while it was parked at my house. The van had sheared off one of my rear tail lights. I wasn't angry because accidents happen and I felt bad for the kid driving the van. I spoke to a Mediacom supervisor who asked me to get two quotes for repairs. Even though I felt it wasn't my responsibility to drive all over town to get a quote to fix their mistake, I spent the rest of the day making calls, setting up appointments, driving to the body shops and getting the quotes. I dropped the quotes off to the closest Mediacom representative THAT VERY SAME DAY, assuming since this was their mistake, they would rectify it quickly. Long story short, it took them over TWO WEEKS to get back to me with a check for the damages and only after my insurance agency made phone calls to them (Mediacom had quit returning my calls after the first week). Because they took their sweet time in getting me their check to cover the damages, it took over a month to get my vehicle repaired (since it took another two weeks for the autobody shop to work me into their schedule).

True Story #3: A friend of mine had Verizon landline, Verizon DSL and Dish Network digital satellite service. He decided to try and save some money by replacing them with Mediacom's all-in-one package for phone, internet and digital TV. The first time I stopped at his house after he swapped his services, I asked him if his TV was broken because the once-crystal clear HD football game I was used to seeing had been replaced with a fuzzy, snowy picture. He angrily replied that this was one of the "HD" channels from Mediacom. He dropped their package a week later.

[ebbieday]

It's unanimous...Mediacom S*CKS! We made the mistake of switching from Direct TV to them in April. The first two days I was regretting that decision. When the "installer" walked in our house, the first words out of his mouth were, "I thought I was going to go home early today but I got stuck with this job." I should have shown his butt right back out the door immediately. Within the month we were back with DTV. Mediacom customer service is THE worst I have ever dealt with. DTV has wonderful CS and will never part with them again if I can help it. LB is right...they have a horrible HD selection and if you are paying that much money, you should get EVERY channel in HD. We do still have their phone and internet service, but when the year is up for the $14.95/mo phone deal, I will be disconnecting that part totally.

[Torget]

No complaints from me at all. I have never had their service and not likely ever will. No cable on my road and not enough houses to warrant it either. LOL. No dish either, my antena works just fine and I still have WANE as well as all other Ft. Wayne stations, South Bend stations, Grand Rapids, kalamazoo, jackson, lansing and on occasion I can get Toledo. NBC, CBS, ABC, PBS, FOX all of them. I get all the news and shows I want and it doesn't cost me a dime!

[ferratus]

I have had Mediacom for years now and have very little complaints. The only grief I have had is with their internet being slow. It seems as of late things have slowed down even more. I have always had good tv signal and quality. We switched to dish because of rates 2 years ago but maintained their internet. However, we will be going back to them after our contract is up with Dish. Dish TV also had this same flub with a major station about 6 months ago and at some point they were able to come to an agreement so as far as that is concerned I think it happens. Now the other horror stories are just that.. horrible.

[matt_s]

I am not a lawyer and I try not to play one one the Internet, however I would believe a loss of a channel would constitute an "adverse impact" and you should be able to escape the contract without fee if you are willing to push for that. Do a little research, but I believe basic contract law allows for a 14 day window to respond to adverse changes in a service providers contract with you. Once again, I am not a lawyer, not sure adverse impact is the right term, but they are not delivering tha package of goods you were sold. That is a breach.

[evilkumquat]

I am not a lawyer and I try not to play one one the Internet, however I would believe a loss of a channel would constitute an "adverse impact" and you should be able to escape the contract without fee if you are willing to push for that. Do a little research, but I believe basic contract law allows for a 14 day window to respond to adverse changes in a service providers contract with you. Once again, I am not a lawyer, not sure adverse impact is the right term, but they are not delivering tha package of goods you were sold. That is a breach.

I'm sure the Mediacom user service agreement says something about no guarantees of the availability of all channels.

[armyda]

Looks like on here the WANE propaganda campaign has come through with shining colors. Not one person is calling WANE TV to get back on Media com. How many have asked how much WANE and it's parent company are demanding? Or have you called the Advertisers on WANE to tell them of your displeasure? Also, when your cable rates go up who will you blame, Media Com or WANE TV?

I'm not being a supporter of Mediacom, just pointing out that there are 2 sides on this issue.

[Night Owl]

I have called Mediacom twice, once for dropping WANE, and once for not having a doppler radar channel as severe storms were approaching Saturday night.
You CAN get through to customer service through that recording, but it DOES take a while! I chose "missing stations" then push zero when the automated helper begins.

While I am not thrilled with mediacom, LIN Broadcasting forced them to remove the channels.

I also have sent emails to WANE-TV, LIN Broadcasting, and CBS.
No responses of course, and I am sure there are no negotiations happening on a holiday weekend.

LIN Broadcasting is just being greedy http://linmedia.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-...1-Results1.pdf


“We are pleased to report 5% revenue growth, which was driven by our 50%
increase in digital revenues. Our growth in digital is a result of our interactive strategy and ability to
secure higher retransmission fees from pay television service providers, which offset the slow economic
recovery and auto supply issues.”

Tell CBS their network shows are being withheld from as a viewer [ investorrelations@cbs.com ] This was the only email addy I could find on their site, but wouldn't shareholders like to know one of their affiliates is blocking their broadcast?

LIN & Wane - the longer they withhold programming, I am becoming accustomed to other local newscasts, they will lose me as a viewer. Lost viewers equate lost revenue (nielsen ratings, website advertising, etc.)
http://www.linmedia.com/

I am curious how many "pennies per day per customer" they are demanding, and I did ask, it is my cable bill they are raising. Mediacom claims it is a "triple digit increase." Triple digit seems excessive to me.

Hopefully this will be settled soon.

[HoosierHelen]

Thanks to all of you for your feedback. Armyda, you are correct, I should also be contacting WAYNE TV about this. I will say that prior to Sept 1 when WAYNE was dropped they were broadcasting the upcoming loss of service possibility. MediaCom did not inform me of the pending loss until I got a notice in the mail Saturday saying WAYNE TV was discontinued. I appreciate the link to LIN Media, Nightowl.

Of course it is true that there are 2 side to the story. I do expect better personal representation from the side that I make such a sizeable payment to each month. If WAYNE is the one being unreasonable with their demands, I'm thinking MediaCom should be keeping their customers informed. Don't just send me a notice after the fact saying 'discontinued'.

I will be trying to reach them again today. Maybe I will actually reach someone this time.

[TLC528]

I am not a lawyer and I try not to play one one the Internet, however I would believe a loss of a channel would constitute an "adverse impact" and you should be able to escape the contract without fee if you are willing to push for that. Do a little research, but I believe basic contract law allows for a 14 day window to respond to adverse changes in a service providers contract with you. Once again, I am not a lawyer, not sure adverse impact is the right term, but they are not delivering tha package of goods you were sold. That is a breach.

Mediacom has left themselves an out clause. They do not have to carry certain channels and can change at any time. I tried multiple avenues to get out of my contract showing they had broken their end of the deal. No such luck. Like I said in two months I'll have recouped my money just in savings. Mediacom is out and won't be back in my houshold. I know I'm only one customer but I hope it was worth it to them.

[Night Owl]

The canned response I received from LIN Media:


Thank you for your email.

We want nothing more than to reach an agreement immediately with Mediacom and we have been negotiating prior to coming off the air last week.

I sincerely apologize and I know how frustrating it is for you. As a viewer, I have been through it where I live. Unfortunately, Mediacom is refusing to pay fair market value, even though all other cable and satellite companies in your area and around the country are currently paying. Other cable and satellite companies know how much it costs to run a local TV station, and like any other business, should pay fair market value which only comes out to pennies a day per subscriber, to resell our programming to you.

Local television deserves fair treatment so we may continue to provide the quality programming you want and deserve. It costs a substantial amount of money to bid for top-quality programming, invest in high-definition, and make other upgrades to equipment and technology so we may deliver a superior product.

Mediacom is already charging you to see our programming in your monthly bill and now you are not receiving that programming that you pay for. Most would agree that's not fair to either of us. Please help us by calling Mediacom at 1-855-633-4226.

We will continue to work hard to negotiate in hopes of reaching a deal soon.


Sincerely,

[BigDeel]

How about a OTA (over the air antenna). I setup a system for not too much money.

http://www.highdefforum.com/local-hd...reception.html

I used to not be able to get locals on my satellite. The clearest HD signal I get now is with my OTA antenna. I used the Channel Master 4228. How new your TV is would be one of the things you would need to know to figure how much equipment needed.
Obviously you would rather have Wane on Mediacom, and not speed any money.This is just a alternative.

[MediacomSupport]

We do understand the concern and the frustrations involved with the retransmission negotiations. We do have a page up to answer some common questions and general info on the matter if you would like to look it over: http://www.mediacomonyourside.com/

Many of the local broadcast channels affected including WANE can easily be picked up over the air with an antenna without requiring a change in existing service.

This is quoted from the page posted above because many of you seem to feel switching providers will resolve it, but please read here:

Earlier in the year, LIN used the same pressure tactics with DISH Network. LIN took its broadcast stations off of DISH Network while negotiating an agreement. In the past, LIN has pulled its stations from other providers like Time Warner, Brighthouse and Suddenlink. Any service provider you choose, be it a cable, satellite or phone company, will eventually face the same demands from LIN or another broadcaster. Switching providers is not the solution.

NightOwl,
We are unable to discuss the exact amount of the increase due to some legal stipulations. However, we can tell you that the rate increase is substantial.

If any of you have any problems that you feel requires any attention please email me at SocialMediaTeam@mediacomcc.com or visit our support forums at http://mediacomcable.com/CustomerSupport/

Thanks.

[HoosierHelen]

We do understand the concern and the frustrations involved with the retransmission negotiations. We do have a page up to answer some common questions and general info on the matter if you would like to look it over: http://www.mediacomonyourside.com/

Many of the local broadcast channels affected including WANE can easily be picked up over the air with an antenna without requiring a change in existing service.

This is quoted from the page posted above because many of you seem to feel switching providers will resolve it, but please read here:



NightOwl,
We are unable to discuss the exact amount of the increase due to some legal stipulations. However, we can tell you that the rate increase is substantial.

If any of you have any problems that you feel requires any attention please email me at SocialMediaTeam@mediacomcc.com or visit our support forums at http://mediacomcable.com/CustomerSupport/

Thanks.

IF you indeed represent MEDIACOM, I appreciate your unexpected response. Hopefully, you all at MEDIACOM understand that, myself and my husband (and many like us) are NOT informed in levels we need to be, to comprehend how we can receive signals from 'free TV' while also connected to MEDIACOM? Our family will most likely hire an independent contractor, someone who knows this technology and let him advise us on our best solution to our problem. This advise may or may not favor our continued status as a MEDIACOM customer. I am not sure yet...however..inasmuch as MEDIACOM has been receiving between $220 and $330 a month from our household since 1987...I should think about our value and the service they have discontinued offering us. BTW...even if we were burdened with a remaining contract..that fact would NOT influence our decision on this matter. Thankfully, there is no contract that will prevent us from making our decision if we decide to change our service.

NightOwl made very good points that also made sense to me. I have informed WAYNE TV how unfortunate I believe this failure of negotiations are. BOTTOM LINE...I cannot watch my favorite shows again this week because MEDIACOM and WAYNE TV have failed to reach an agreement that allows me this privilege. I am paying premium bucks to MEDIACOM for their service. IF I can drop their service and receive my favorite shows from a competitor at a comparable rate & level of service to MEDIACOM...I AM THERE!! Our family is very much looking for alternate solutions at this point. Mediacom, your programs and services are lacking. Your manager(whomever) in charge of negotiations is sorely lacking in the necessary skills for this position.

[Night Owl]

MediacomSupport, are you able to put another CBS station (that you have a contract with) on channel 2 until this is resolved? What about a different doppler radar? INCNews has one. That would at least allow us to watch CBS programming, which we are paying for.

[Copycatted]

Glad you mentioned Dekalb Hoosier Helen. I haven't had Mediacom for years but am quite sure problems began with the FOX renegociating. What was meant glad you mentioned Dekalb because antnnea service to the north always has been lousy at my place and went lousier after that FOX negociation but sure do appreciate the local 24/7 weather channels especially during nasty weather times but again when they are recievable. Did Mediacom even have those weather channels since the government mandated digital cross-over a couple years backs (on antnnea 15.3 and,before the Fox switch it wasn't but now is 21.3...)

May be awhile if you reply that I get back on since I don't have F.P. privedges anymore on my medocre system...