Home » Consumer News »Editorial & Site News » Currently Reading:

Time Warner Cable’s 10 Hour Internet/Phone Outage in Rochester, N.Y. – Get Your Service Credits!

Phillip Dampier October 7, 2010 Consumer News, Editorial & Site News 5 Comments

Time Warner Cable's offices on Mt. Hope Avenue in Rochester, N.Y.

Bad marks to Time Warner Cable, who left large areas of metropolitan Rochester, N.Y., with barely/non-functional Internet service and non-working “digital phone” service for 10 hours yesterday.

No explanation for the outage has been given, which resulted in inaccessible websites and traffic bouncing back and forth between equipment in western New York.  “Digital phone” customers were unable to reach… anyone. Customer service lines were jammed as the outage began just after 12 noon.

The disruption extended from Monroe County into both Wayne and Ontario counties, where residents in Newark and Canandaigua also reported service problems.

Time Warner Cable’s automated customer service attendant was the Helen Keller of cable outages:

“I’m not seeing an Internet outage in your area,” came her reply — even after a local employee recorded a message telling callers there were problems with phone and Internet service across the Rochester region.

While some websites still worked, many more were unreachable.  Some customers reported slow, but working service in the early evening.  Full service restoration to the area would not happen until 10pm.

Time Warner Cable’s social media representatives took several complaints from local residents about the extended outage, without reminding them they are qualified to receive service credits for the interruption.

Here at Stop the Cap!, we will remind you, and in fact encourage you to request a full day of credit for the phone and Internet service you did not have from the cable company yesterday.  Of course, we represent your interests and they represent theirs, which is why credits come only to those who ask.

Stop the Cap! Presents Your Easy Service Credit Request Menu

Customers can request one day of credit for both phone and Internet service (assuming you have both services, of course).  Make sure you request -both- credits if you are entitled.

Sample Request You Can Cut and Paste:

I am writing to request one day service credit for the phone and Internet outage that occurred in Rochester yesterday, Wednesday Oct. 6th.  We were without service for most of the day.  Please credit my account.

Methods to Obtain Credit:

  1. Use Time Warner Cable’s Online Chat system, select Billing Inquiry, and type to a customer service representative.
  2. Call (585) 756-5000 or toll free 1-800-756-7956 and speak with a customer service representative.
  3. Use the Online E-Mail form, select Billing Inquiry, and send a message requesting credit.

[Update: 2:47pm ET:  A day’s credit was provided just three hours after submitting the request using the e-mail method, so this was as painless as can be.]

0 0 votes
Article Rating
5 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Tom C
Tom C
13 years ago

Thanks for the heads up. Submitted my request.

Mazakman
Mazakman
13 years ago

Submitted my request a couple of hours ago and I have received credit for yesterday. Thanks for the links Phil !

Chris Rzatkiewicz
Editor
Chris Rzatkiewicz
13 years ago

Thanks. I used TWC’s email support and received my credit confirmation by email in less than an hour of submission. The credit shows up on the next billing cycle.

Tim
Tim
13 years ago

Wonder if it will work for the business customers? We had fiber optic lines down for hours. Blows…

Search This Site:

Contributions:

Recent Comments:

Your Account:

Stop the Cap!