Charter Communications is one of a handful of companies which approaches the NCAA in my level of esteem for them.
Who among us hasn't enjoyed a brief encounter with a courteous and knowledgeable customer service representative?
One of my favorites was a time last year when an Atlanta Braves' broadcast was supposed to be on PTV/CSS, but Charter's system in Greenville had the game channel blacked out. I called customer service, and after being on hold for 10 minutes or so, tried to tell the CSR that someone needed to flip a switch in the Greenville plant to get the Braves game on.
I'd have had better luck trying to talk her into sending me a blank check. She insisted on having a phone number so she could check to see if my cable was working properly, and later said there was no one in the Greenville plant to do any switch-flipping.
The concept of regional markets for pro sports seems to be foreign to these geniuses. I'm no NBA fan, but Atlanta Hawks games on SportSouth have been blacked out in Greenville as long as I can remember. When the Charlotte Bobcats C-Set cable channel went belly up, their regional games moved to Fox Sports Carolinas. Of course, Bobcats games are blacked out in Greenville, too. So, NBA fans on Charter get neither of the two nearest teams.
I've never tried to get Charter to fix it because (1) I don't care, and (2) I do like the NHL, and somehow Greenville gets both Thrashers and Hurricanes games. I don't want to take a chance on fouling that up.
That brings us to Monday, opening day of baseball. I turned on ESPN shortly after 1 p.m. expecting to watch the Mets-Reds game. ESPN News was on. Hmm, I thought to myself. The Reds must be rained out. Then, I noticed that the channel listings indicated the Mets-Reds game was on Fox Sports Carolinas. Of course, it wasn't, because Greenville isn't in the Reds market. Sure enough, Charter had struck again.
Hard to believe such a well-run company has had to file for bankruptcy, isn't it?
4 comments:
I planned my lunch break so I could watch the first part of that Mets/Reds game. Charter hates sports fans.
I get charter and I could never understand why we got neither the Hawks nor the Bobcat games. The only reason I have charter is because of CSS and their coverage of college baseball.
Eugene Jolley
That's my only reason, too, Eugene
"The Charter Experience" seems like an awfully expensive price to pay for one channel.
This coming from an inexpressibly happy Charter to DirecTV convert.
- Customer Service
- Product Offerings
The two companies are not even comparable.
- Jr.
Post a Comment