Time Warner Cable Kinda Sucks

Normally I'm a huge fan of Time Warner Cable, with their advanced services such as DVR's, digital cable, RoadRunner internet service (beep beep), video on demand, extensive channel lineups, rarely interrupted service, ability to pay automatically via credit card, etc.

But why does it require someone to come to my apartment when I move to turn on my cable? After waiting over a week for an appointment, the serviceman basically looked at the back of my box and called in the serial code. I could have done that 8 days ago myself.

Time Warner's Manhattan office on 23rd street is pretty awesome; free internet while you wait, computerized waiting list with lots of seats, many many customer service representatives who sit behind a low counter with a friendly smile. The Brooklyn office is pretty much the complete opposite- completely disorganized, with unclear signage directing you where to go. To exchange equipment, you find a small 1 foot square sign, telling you to wait in a dark alcove with 4 seats. Adjacent to the alcove is an office with 2 customer service representatives sitting behind a huge wall of bulletproof glass. There is no little cutout near their mouths , it is a solid wall of glass and it makes conversing with the CSR extremely difficult and repetitive. To physically trade in equipment, there is a huge box build into the glass with doors on both the tellers' side and customer's. It's a completely ridiculous and unfriendly system.

So now I've got my service back, I present to you this photographic moment of Time Warner zen from high above inside the Time Warner Center mall building. I wonder if residents of this building have to wait a week for an appointment too. Doubt it.