[Hidden-tech] Charter broadband vs. Verizon DSL

[Roger Williams]

I haven't used Charter in the Pioneer Valley, but I was a customer in
Westport, MA until Verizon installed DSL in the local CO.  Based on my
experience (and many stories from other customers), I would recommend that you
avoid Charter.  I would submit that the following description in Wikipedia
understates the problem:

  Charter has been criticized for poor customer support and frequent billing
  consistency issues, causing the Better Business Bureau to post a warning
  to consumers about the company,

    "The Better Business Bureau has received numerous complaints regarding
    this cable, digital TV, and high speed internet access provider.
    Complainants primarily allege that the firm had improper billing
    practices, referred customer bills to collection agencies in error,
    provided poor customer service, used misleading advertising, provided
    defective internet or cable performance, used improper sales tactics or
    misrepresented the actual costs of installation and service, failed to
    properly install or maintain service, damaged customers' property, and
    failed to honor service appointments."

  Making matters worse, PCWorld also ranked Charter's cable Internet service
  as worst among 14 major Internet service providers.  In addition, Charter
  High-Speed is the second-worst-rated cable ISP on dslreports.com, and
  Consumer Reports indicated in their February 2008 issue that Charter's
  television/Internet/telephone bundle collectively is the worst of all major
  national carriers.

  It was reported by Tony Bradle on about.com that Charter Communications
  redirected error pages and Windows Live Search results to a Charter search
  page without notifying customers. Users may opt out of redirection by
  clicking a link from the Charter search page; however, the opt-out link
  installs a cookie on the customer's computer, so deleting cookies will
  require the user to opt out again.

  It has been reported that on Monday, January 21, 2008 during a routine sweep
  of inactive accounts, Charter accidentally deleted the email accounts of
  approximately 14,000 customers; even worse, the removed data is now
  irretrievable. Initial report stated that the company would not compensate
  users in any way but the company has since decided to give a $50 account
  credit to each user affected.

  In May 2008, Charter announced that it planned to monitor websites visited
  by its high-speed Internet customers via a partnership with targeted
  advertising firm NebuAd. But after customers voiced their concerns, Charter
  changed its mind in June.

>>>>> Tamar Schanfeld <tamar at tnrglobal.com> writes:

  > Does anyone use Charter broadband service in or around Hadley,
  > Massachusetts? If so, what has your experience been with their service
  > level/connection availability?  We are evaluating getting Charter's cable
  > business line vs Verizon DSL.

-- 
Roger Williams <roger at qux.com>
Chief Technical Officer, Qux Corporation
433 West Street, Suite 8, Amherst, MA 01002, USA
Tel +1 413 253-6400 * Fax +1 508 302-0230 * GSM +1 508 287-1420