Another series of town hall meetings you should try and attend to thank Congressman Massa for his efforts on our behalf:

Thursday, 4/09/09 6:30-8:00 pm
Pittsford Sutherland High School Auditorium
55 Sutherland St
Pittsford, NY 14534

-or-

Friday, 4/10/09 7:30-9:00 pm
Henrietta Fire Dept Training Center
60 Erie Station Road Extension (corner of E. River Road)
Henrietta, NY 14586

We’ve had numerous reports pouring in to StoptheCap! about the many methods Time Warner is using to try and retain their customers, who’ve already started canceling Road Runner service over the outrageous cash grab “experiment” they are conducting at the expense of residents in Austin, Greensboro, Beaumont, San Antonio and Rochester.

Now I don’t put the blame for this on the customer service representatives themselves, who have absolutely nothing to do with the decision to ration your Internet access at top dollar pricing.  They are being handed memos from management with “talking points” they are expected to use to try and hold on to your business.  But as the days pass and the cancellation calls continue to come in, this Titanic mistake on the part of Time Warner management has progressed to the point where some representatives are telling some pretty tall tales in order to keep people from leaving.

Just remember, when you call to complain and/or cancel, be polite.  These people are not the ones you should direct any anger towards.  Be persistent in making sure they understand that the reason you are calling is because of this usage cap.  It’s not about how much bandwidth you get, or them trying to pit how much usage you have vs. your neighbor.  This is about the fact there is a cap coming, you pay them enough money every month already, and you are either leaving today or you will cancel the millisecond this cap project goes live and the resulting Time Warner Money Party begins.  Be persuasive.  Tell the representatives you are not going to sit and watch a “gas gauge” worrying about every little thing you do online.  They make enough of your hard earned money already.  Let them know you’ve been a loyal customer and you feel abused, and that your trust in this company is now gone.  But also let them know that there is still time for them to cancel this entire project and leave your Internet access alone.  If they do, tell them all is forgiven and you will remain a loyal customer.  If you are leaving now, let them know you will always consider coming back in the future if the company learns from its mistakes.  But just like their proposed bandwidth meter, the clock is always ticking and time is running out.

And here, from our readers, are just a sampling over the last few days of the things they are hearing when calling to complain:

“I did talk to a nice TWC rep yesterday. Don’t remember her name, but I could tell she just didn’t believe this metering was a good idea at all, even as she was giving me the script.” (Sunflower)

“When I told the rep my reason for moving was to stop paying Time Warner and that I preferred to give my money to another company. She then informed me that the media was wrong. They would not be capping my service, rather I would only have to choose a plan in the summer. (I really don’t think that the rep’s even understand what is going on).” (Jeffrey)

“I called and canceled on Friday.  The woman at Time Warner said, “Honey, are you reading those blogger people?  All they do is write in their basement and eat Cheetos and they don’t know anything. I work for the company and I am telling you we are not going to charge you more, we are just testing this to see whether people like to pay less for their Internet. This is going to save your money!” (Louisein14624) [Phil: Ah, I recognize another Morning Joe watcher when I see one… bloggers eating Cheetos….  I hate cheese flavored Styrofoam personally.]

“I live in San Antonio. Here is what happened to me: This weekend I called Time Warner to let them know that metered usage is a deal breaker. They meter, I drop all services. Tonight, customer retention calls and attempts to offer me a deal on my cable. (I couldn’t believe it.) I stop the rep and let him know I’m not interested in any deals.  Once I voice my concern he states,  ‘You know that AT&T is going to do the same thing, right?’” (Josh) [Phil: AT&T is testing a 150GB cap in poor Beaumont, the city that just can’t win, to get reaction from customers.  After watching the blow back over Time Warner, perhaps they will tread more carefully.]

“TWC customer service rep told me the exact same thing in Rochester. He said you know Frontier, Verizon, etc. are all going to put in bandwidth caps.  When I told him he was wrong he tried to tell me that he was privy to insider information that Frontier and Verizon aren’t telling the public. He said he had an email from Verizon and Frontier in his inbox saying they are going to put in bandwidth caps.” (Craig)

“I got the same run around when I called. ‘We have no plans to place an internet cap on out broadband services, what we are doing this summer is simply collecting data.’” (Down With TWC!) [Phil: Simply collecting data so that we can place a usage cap on your Internet.  They are going to have a meter up over the summer so you can see your usage, before they charge you a fortune for it in the fall.]

“I called TW to ask about the new plan, and basically give them a piece of my mind. First off, I found it interesting that with no reported outages, the wait time was 20 minutes. Hmm, people with concerns maybe? So, I get a very nice lady. Mind you, I have always been happy with customer service reps there, but wow, they have been briefed heavy as of late. I was told that none of the hype in the media was substantiated, and as of [Monday], ‘there are no plans in place at this time to start any rationing of broadband in Rochester.’  I could hear the exact same conversations going on in the background, and when she asked my about what sources I had for this information, I mentioned one of the TW reps that was on the news. To which I was told that the information was taken out of context. At this point, I politely told her that for now, I was a happy customer, but by the end of the year I would be ‘getting my services from a more customer oriented company.'” (Dan) [Phil: I love it when people complain they were taken out of context when their direct quotes were published.]

“The representative told me the usage caps will be applied to NEW customers who sign-up for Road Runner service only. Existing customers, and customers who subscribe to both cable AND RR, will be unaffected.” (Jay) [Phil: The Beaumont trial only impacted new customers.  The latest test will impact on every customer.  I could find nobody who would confirm the claim by the representative that it would not affect those who take both cable and data packages.]

"Test" Money to Pay for Time Warner's Usage Cap "Test"

Here is the solution to this entire matter.  Let them know you will change your mind, and stay, if they are willing to mail you a letter that states, explicitly and without condition, that as long as you remain a Time Warner customer, your broadband account will never be subjected to any usage meter, bandwidth or usage cap, consumption billing, or termination of the existing plan you are on right now.  If they aren’t willing to send you that written guarantee, everything else they say denying this punitive usage cap is just a lot of talk that ultimately says nothing.

Experiments and tests that involve your wallet are nothing to dismiss so casually.  When they say it’s just a test, ask them if it is then okay to pay for the resulting higher bills coming this fall with “test” Monopoly money, which is particularly appropriate when we are talking about cable companies.

MONOPOLY�, THE DISTINCTIVE DESIGN OF THE GAME BOARD, THE FOUR CORNER SQUARES, AS WELL AS EACH OF THE DISTINCTIVE ELEMENTS OF THE BOARD AND THE PLAYING PIECES ARE TRADEMARKS OF HASBRO, INC. FOR ITS REAL ESTATE TRADING GAME AND GAME EQUIPMENT. ©1935, 1936, 1947, 1951, 1952, 1954, 1961, 1973, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997 HASBRO, INC.

KOOP-FM Austin is presenting its award winning “A Neighborly Conversation” program this afternoon to discuss whether Time Warner Cable’s proposed bandwidth caps are good or bad for protecting the citizens of Austin and driving innovation. KOOP has invited two guests: Chip Rosenthal, Chair City of Austin Technology and Telecommunications Commission and Chris Boyd, owner of Midas Networks, a local internet services company.

The show ran Wednesday afternoon from 12-1pm CDT.   Thanks to our reader Brad who shared this news with us.

We liveblogged the event in the comments section.  I will post a link to the archived show when it is available so you can listen again.

A hat tip to Nathan who reminds us that there is a very important meeting for Austin residents upset with Time Warner about their broadband rationing plan to attend tonight.  I know it can be a pain to get downtown to go, but make the effort to help nip this in the bud now, or pay a lot more later.

Austin Community Technology and Telecommunications Commission
Regular Meeting
Wednesday – April 8, 2009 – 6:30 p.m.
City Hall – Room 1101
301 W. 2nd Street, Austin

Rep. Dan Maffei (D-NY) 25th Congressional District Map

Rep. Dan Maffei (D-NY), who represents New York’s 25th district (which includes eastern Monroe county), will be holding an open Town Hall meeting this Thursday at 6:00pm.

If you are interested in appealing to Congressman Maffei to work on the issue of broadband usage caps, and to ask him to support Congressman Massa’s efforts, please consider attending, especially if you reside in his district.

The meeting will take place at the Irondequoit Town Hall, 1280 Titus Avenue.

You can also contact Rep. Maffei’s local office to speak on this issue, even if you cannot attend. Calling is the most effective way to draw attention to an issue of concern. Writing/faxing a letter is second. E-Mailing is better than nothing, but most congressional offices are swamped with e-mail, and it can be less effective in measuring what hot button issues are most important in a district. Take a few minutes and call.

Irondequoit Office
1280 Titus Avenue
Rochester, NY 14617
Phone: 585-336-7291
Fax: 585-336-7274