Despite efforts to improve their reputation, cable companies are hated so much the industry now scores lower than any other according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI).

The only reason the industry’s average score or 68 out of 100 ticked higher are some new competitors, especially Verizon’s FiOS fiber optic network, which scores higher than any other provider.

The cable companies you grew up with still stink, ACSI reports, with Comcast (63) and Time Warner Cable (60) near the bottom of the barrel.

At fault for the dreadful ratings are constant rate increases and poor customer service. As a whole, consumers reported highest satisfaction with fiber optic providers, closely followed by satellite television services. Cable television scored the worst. Despite the poor ratings, every cable operator measured except Time Warner Cable managed to gain a slight increase in more satisfied customers. Time Warner Cable’s score for television service dropped five percent.

Customers are even less happy with broadband service. Verizon FiOS again scored the highest with a 71% approval rating. Time Warner Cable (63) and Comcast (62) scored the lowest. Customers complained about overpriced service plans, speed and reliability issues. Customers were unhappy with their plan options as well, including the fact many providers now place arbitrary usage limits on their access.

The best word to describe customer feelings about their broadband options: frustration, according to ACSI chair Claes Fornell. “In a market even less competitive than subscription TV, there is little incentive for companies to improve.”

AT&T wants everyone in Oklahoma City to stay off the phone and rely on text messaging for communications with family, friends, and loved ones “given high call volumes.”

Although AT&T has announced it is waiving voice, data, and text overage charges through June 30 for customers in the affected areas, it won’t automatically waive your bill for services you cannot use or per message charges incurred if you do not have a texting plan.

“AT&T customer service told me the waived fees only cover overlimit fees, not plan fees,” says Susan Ramos, who received a text message on her AT&T phone advising her of the special tornado victim compensation plan. “When I called them to learn the exact terms, they told me if you don’t have a text plan, for instance, you will still be charged a per message fee.”

Ramos, who is in Moore, Okla., tells Stop the Cap! AT&T is pleading Oklahoma City customers to stay off their cell phones and rely on text messaging. But without a text plan AT&T will charge 20 cents per text message, 30 cents for each picture or video message.

“Looking at AT&T’s website, their generous offer doesn’t seem so generous when you notice they are only selling a $20 texting plan that already provides unlimited messages,” Ramos notes. “How about just waiving all text message fees for everyone until June 30?”

AT&T’s remaining unlimited data customers in the area also wonder whether the company’s notorious speed throttle will still kick in after using a few gigabytes.

Ramos doesn’t think AT&T’s offer to waive voice overages means all that much either.

“Does anyone ever exceed their voice allowance anymore?” she asks. “Besides, they don’t want you using your phone for voice calling anyway.”

Time Warner Cable executives got an earful last week from investors concerned about the amount of money the company is spending on lobbying activities, the lack of full disclosure on where that money is going, and the cable operator’s continued corporate support for the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

Among those attending the Time Warner Cable Annual Shareholder Meeting in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., was Tim Smith from Walden Asset Management, which owns 369,000 shares of the company.

Smith, along with 16 co-sponsors, introduced a proposal to force better disclosure of how their shareholder money was being spent on lobbying, noting Time Warner Cable paid close to $28 million on lobbying from 2008 to 2012.

“It’s interesting to note that Time Warner Cable’s spending on lobbying was almost five times the average of its peers,” Smith told the board of directors.

Smith noted that Time Warner Cable’s current quarterly disclosures were opaque and hard for the average person to understand and that the company provided almost no information on state lobbying, which he called a “big, big gap.”

Smith

“You [also] do not disclose details of the amount of dues to trade associations that engage in lobbying nor the portion used for lobbying,” Smith complained. “So for example, if a company is a member of the Business Roundtable or the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, over 40% of those dues are spent on lobbying. So we think that is important to be a disclosed and in the public record.”

Smith noted that Time Warner Cable abandoned its financial support of The Heartland Institute, a Koch Brothers’ backed group that has argued for deregulation of the telecommunications industry, fought against Net Neutrality, and supports consumption billing and usage caps. A number of corporations stopped supporting the group after its corporate contribution list was leaked to the media in early 2012. Time Warner Cable told Walden Capital Management it dropped support of the group later that same year.

But Smith remained unhappy Time Warner Cable continues to support ALEC.

“Time Warner Cable’s continuing support for the American Legislative Exchange Council, which is called ALEC, is highly controversial and really we think it’s harmful to our brand,” Smith argued. “Right now, the American Legislative Exchange Council is working with The Heartland Institute, where we withdrew, working on a campaign around this country to try to stop renewable energy legislation and regulation. That’s our money at work, and we’re not dissenting. We’re not standing up and saying, ‘This is not Time Warner Cable.'”

CEO Glenn Britt claimed the lobbying expenses were important because Time Warner Cable is “a highly regulated company in a highly regulated industry” and that the company exercises “a value judgment” when it chooses to support third-party groups and lobbyists.

Britt also acknowledged ALEC’s extensive database of model, pre-written legislation suitable for introduction on the state level has proved very useful to Time Warner Cable in the past.

“[ALEC] is very helpful in creating a model legislation for all the states we do business in,” Britt said. “They’re particularly focused on telecom matters, which are highly complicated.”

As for other activities ALEC is involved with, such as opposing renewal energy initiatives for large fossil fuel energy companies, Britt said he does make Time Warner Cable’s views known on those issues.

“Quite honestly, if we thought the objectionable part of that outweighed the benefit, then we would consider leaving,” Britt said. “But it’s a constant balancing of that.”

“Although we fully understand the motivation […] the board recommends a vote against this proposal,” Britt concluded.

Time Warner Cable chose the prestigious Gideon Putnam Resort in Saratoga Springs for its annual shareholder meeting, where rooms run $400-800 a night.

Jim Voye from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), a union that owns about 575,000 shares of Time Warner Cable, also rose to introduce a proposal to limit a potential cash cow for executives in the event of a change in control at the company.

CEO Glenn Britt is widely expected to retire at the end of this year. When he does, he will be awarded more than $50 million in Time Warner Cable stock-based awards. That is on top of his targeted annual salary of $16 million.

Time Warner Cable’s CEO spent $400,000 of the company’s money traveling on the corporate executive jet.

In the event of such a change, many Time Warner Cable executives will qualify for accelerating vesting of their own equity awards, which the IBEW argues is an incentive to favor short-term improvements in company performance at the cost of long-term growth.

“The vital connection between pay and long-term performance can be severed when awards are paid out at an accelerated schedule,” Voye argued. “A change in control event should not provide an immediate or automatic economic windfall to planned participants, especially one that could incentivize executives to pursue transactions that are not in the best long-term interest of shareholders.”

Britt recommended a vote against that proposal as well.

During a question and answer section, Smith noted Britt spent $400,000 of the company’s money on corporate jet travel expenses.

Britt also acknowledged the cable industry’s business model has been largely the same across the country, and there is little to differentiate the financial results of one cable company over others.

“We, the cable companies all tend to look the same and I don’t think it’s going to be any different in this case,” Britt said.

Helderle

A Charter Cable technician from St. Charles, Mo. was convicted of tying up and sexually assaulting an O’Fallon customer after she reported him for asking her out in an unwanted text message.

Jurors deliberated for only about an hour before convicting 22-year old Michael Helderle on four felony counts, recommending a 75 year prison sentence.

Helderle was employed by Communications Unlimited, a contractor performing work on behalf of Charter Communications.

When the victim requested a service call from Charter on Dec. 4, Helderle showed up. He obtained her cell phone number and asked her out on a date later that evening. The victim reported the text message to Charter and Helderle was fired.

The next day, Helderle broke into her apartment while she was on a video chat with her boyfriend, who was 1,700 miles away on an Air Force base. He called authorities after witnessing Helderle in the apartment.

Helderle handcuffed and tied up the victim, gagged and sexually assaulted her, covering her with a pillow. He then stole her cell phone and cash. When police arrived, Helderle placed a knife to the victim’s throat and threatened her if she called out.

Helderle eventually escaped the apartment while police untied the victim. He was arrested hours later.

Charter defended its actions after the incident:

“Charter recognizes that it is a privilege to be allowed into customers’ homes to install our services. Our customer’s safety is of utmost importance and precautions are taken seriously. We require criminal background checks on all in-home contractors prior to performing any work for Charter.”

It was not enough to avoid offering Helderle employment.

Cable operators use third-party contractors to cut costs and sometimes limit liability. Critics contend third-party contractors often use lower standards of employment and compensate their workers at a considerably lower rate of pay with fewer benefits.

[flv width=”640″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/KSDK St Louis James Helderle charged with tying up woman 12-06-12.flv[/flv]

KSDK in St. Louis covered the break-in and sexual assault back in December in this video report.  (2 minutes)

[flv width=”640″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/KSDK St Louis James Helderle convicted of burglary and sodomy 5-16-13.flv[/flv]

KSDK followed up on the story last week, noting the Charter Cable subcontractor was convicted of burglary and sodomy.  (2 minutes)

KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City captured this image of the destructive tornado that flattened parts of Moore, Okla.

Widespread cell phone outages and overcongested wireless networks are hampering efforts to find missing loved ones or call for help in areas hard-hit by this afternoon’s devastating tornado affecting Moore, Okla., a suburb of Oklahoma City. But in many areas escaping the worst of the storm, landline service is performing normally.

“We have no coverage and no signal from any cell phone provider in this part of Moore, despite the fact we escaped the tornado with no damage,” reports Susan Ramos, who was staying in Moore to deal with a family emergency. “We have borrowed a nearby neighbor’s home phone which is still working fine. My relatives back home in Texas have been worried sick not hearing from us that we are okay.”

One of the first victims of the tornado touchdown were communications towers, some damaged by the wind, others now missing a wired connection back to the network provider. Many of those still in service are overloaded with callers. Some cell towers are performing double or triple duty, handling calls from neighborhoods that would have been ordinarily served by other towers no longer functioning. The result is a cell network clogged with calls, making it next to impossible to reach storm-affected areas.

Some residents are traveling by foot or vehicle on debris-cluttered roadways looking for a cell tower that can still handle calls.

Oklahoma City media reports AT&T is asking residents to refrain from making or receiving wireless voice calls. Instead, the company is asking cell customers to only use text messaging until further notice.

Although landline infrastructure was also destroyed in and around the direct path of the tornado, adjacent areas still have service, including areas where cell phone service has failed.

“Finding pay phones in this area is not easy, and I don’t know Moore too well and many businesses closed down early after the storm, so we are grateful to a nearby neighbor we don’t even know who kept their phone service and let us use it.” Ramos added. “Now we know canceling our own wired home phone was probably a mistake after seeing what happens in emergencies.”

Cell phone providers are coordinating to transport portable cell towers into Moore and other affected areas within the next day or so if normal cell service cannot be quickly restored. But for residents desperate to communicate, the failure of the local cell phone network, either because of storm damage or insufficient capacity, has proved frustrating.

[flv width=”596″ height=”356″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/NBC News Moore Residents Cell Phone Service 5-20-13.flv[/flv]

NBC News talks with storm survivors frustrated by the lack of cell phone service in Moore, Okla.  (2 minutes)