woody7
Premium
join:2000-10-13
Torrance, CA | hmmmmm...
It is ok for corporations to be frivolous and carefree and spendaholics and be able to declare bankruptcy, but when a private citizen does it, they are evil and irresponsible....peace
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BlooMe |
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Cheese
Premium
join:2003-10-26
Naples, FL
clubs: | Grew to big to fast?
More like spent to much to fast.... |
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alex goldman
@speakeasy.net | the Paul Allen effect?
It is also possible that managers believed that Paul Allen would keep pumping in cash no matter how much they lost. |
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jolt
@chartermi.net
 from:
Core0000 
| Jerry Kent
Someone should remind Jerry Kent that Charter still makes $1 Billion a year in gross revenue. Seems they are still suffering from the poor decisions that he made. They were not fine when he left. That's why Allen fired him. |
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WALL_E
Premium
join:2003-05-28
USA
| reply to alex goldman
Re: the Paul Allen effect?
Paul Allen...
First, he killed of TechTV (but it wasn't much of a loss, because the former show hosts now have gone in their own direction and started a number of great podcasts.)
Then, he killed Charter (which also shouldn't be too much of a loss, because they have some of the worst customer satisfaction levels in the industry.)
Perhaps we should be thanking him? |
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jester121
Premium
join:2003-08-09
Lake Zurich, IL
 ·surpasshosting
 ·ViaTalk
| reply to woody7
Re: hmmmmm...
said by woody7 :It is ok for corporations to be frivolous and carefree and spendaholics and be able to declare bankruptcy, but when a private citizen does it, they are evil and irresponsible....peace They are? I thought they were getting a big mortgage bailout program from the frivolous carefree government. |
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ender7074
join:2006-11-21
Saint Louis, MO
 ·AT&T Southeast
| Many, many things
Having previously worked at Charter for over 3 years (and having family members there longer than that) I can safely say that Charter is completely jacked up from the ground up in the corporate building. The revolving door for high level executives and the golden parachute that went along with their incompetence caused most of the problem. I could go on for hours about specifics but it all traces back to incompetent executives that were only there to get their free paycheck after they were fired. |
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ender7074
join:2006-11-21
Saint Louis, MO
·AT&T Southeast
1 edit | reply to jolt
Re: Jerry Kent
Kent left mainly due to the actions of some of his underlings, specifically lying about subscriber numbers. The stock was great and the employees and customers were generally happy. Once Vogel took over, that all went away. Stock tanked, partially due to the scandals but also for very poor business choices made by Vogel and his team of clowns. Kent was long gone before that. Also, you do know that Kent is a very successful businessman in other industries right? If he was the problem, how could the other companies be doing so well? Also, who cares how much revenue you collect if you cant pay your bills? |
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Xenomorph
join:2000-06-10
Fenton, MO
 ·Charter Pipeline
2 edits | Maybe more people would pay for service if it was cheaper?
Lets see, in many areas covered by Charter, AT&T offers 6 Mbps for $35 (with phone service, which runs about $6 for a dial tone). Can't afford $35? Well, they have $25, and even $15 service plans available. $15 for broadband!
Charter on the other hand, charges $55 as their LOWEST priced broadband offer. Not only that, it's a shared connection. You can "SAVE" by getting a bundle. One where they charge $40 minimum for just having a dial tone. GREAT SAVINGS, RIGHT? $95 for Charter, Under $25 for AT&T.
Charter also charges a lease for the cable modem, while AT&T has been giving out free modems for years. So many people have been paying the lease for years and years on their modem. They have spent more on the modem "lease" than what it would have cost them to just go out and BUY several cable modems. This was $5 a month, now it's just $3.
Anyone who spends more than 5 minutes looking at what each company offers will not pick Charter.
Charter makes money in the areas where AT&T doesn't offer coverage. I live right outside of St. Louis, and neither DSL or U-verse is available here. So I have to suck it up and pay for Charter.
$55 cable internet, plus $20 for Vonage (500 minutes). That's the cheapest I can get service.
That same $75 would have got me a FASTER speed with AT&T (6 Mbps), and unlimited calling.
As soon as AT&T brings service here (DSL or U-verse), I will drop Charter, start saving money, get faster speeds, and probably have a more reliable connection. Right now I deal with stupid router and modem power cycles because I fail to get a DHCP address assigned to me every now and then.
If Charter offered better service for less, more people would sign up for it.
Are they hoping to grab one person per street at the $55 price? Why not lower it to $35 and grab TWO people? Happier people, and they get more money per street.
Anyone with AT&T available will grab the 6 Mbps for $35 and pass on Charter's 5 Mbps plan for $55.
What the heck kind of business plan is it to offer LESS and charge MORE?
This company is going bankrupt, with such an iron-clad business as that? REALLY????
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»xenomorph.net/ |
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woody7
Premium
join:2000-10-13
Torrance, CA | reply to jester121
Re: hmmmmm...
Actually it is way less than the bailout the banks are getting, and it seems that all people seem to remember is the home mortgage part, which I also am not happy with but kind of understand. Peace
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BlooMe |
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BF69
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN
1 edit | reply to Xenomorph
Re: Maybe more people would pay for service if it was cheaper?
said by Xenomorph :Anyone with AT&T available will grab the 6 Mbps for $35 and pass on Charter's 5 Mbps plan for $55. I have both available in my area and for the record the 6 Mbps is tier is $43 if you bundle it with phone service. $48 if you want naked DSL for people like me who don't need at&t phone service. Charter's 5 meg tier is $44 if you have cable $55 if you don't. If those are the 2 choices, sure I'm going with at&t. Until at&t can offer somewhere near the 20 Mbps I'm currently enjoying as of today, forget about it. |
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Xenomorph
join:2000-06-10
Fenton, MO
·Charter Pipeline
1 edit | reply to Xenomorph
I just read more of the article linked.
Did anyone notice?
March 2000: 7 million subscribers.
July 2003: Four Charter executives are indicted on federal charges of defrauding shareholders by inflating revenue and subscriber counts. Included were allegations that Charter failed to disconnect customers whose accounts were past due and that it delayed disconnections requested by customers. The four later plead guilty to various charges.
September 2004: 6 million subscribers.
February 2009: 5.1 million subscribers.
Surprise, surprise. The "growing too quickly" article actually says that Charter has been doing NOTHING but hemorrhaging customers.
Again, this is a company who has been long-hated for poor customer service, the "I'll be there between 12 Noon and 6PM" all-day service installations (my install didn't happen until 7:30PM. Thanks for making me miss a whole day, Charter), and the "charge more, give less" service packages.
AT&T didn't make me wait for any highschool dropout contractor to stumble into my home to install my Internet connection like Charter did. They just sent me a free modem and turned on my service.
Heck, even after I purchased my own Cable modem, Charter continued to charge me to use their modem (which I never got). It took THREE billing cycles to clear that up.
$55 for broadband, $40 for phone service? Do they not realize many people have a choice, and that *every* other choice is cheaper?
Charter has been crapping down peoples' throats and calling it "good service" for too long. I hope they go bankrupt, get bought out by a bigger, better company, and everyone that ran Charter gets replaced.
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»xenomorph.net/ |
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Xenomorph
join:2000-06-10
Fenton, MO
·Charter Pipeline
| The old standby.
Another thing about Charter, I'm not sure if they are ever anyone's first choice now.
Can't get DSL where you life? "Awww, guess I have to get Charter."
Can't get U-verse? "Awww, guess I have to get Charter."
Can't put a satellite dish up where you are at? "Awww, guess I have to get Charter."
That is one good thing - Charter is available almost everywhere. But it's still bad that Charter isn't the first choice. People only get Charter when nothing else is available. Again, a business like that can't survive.
What does Charter offer that other companies don't? What, maybe some "on-demand" stuff with cable TV? Is that it? For most people, I bet that isn't even worth what they charge for the service.
"Charter: Offer Less, Charge More." (TM)
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»xenomorph.net/ |
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fcisler
Premium
join:2004-06-14
Riverhead, NY
| reply to jester121
Re: hmmmmm...
I'm against the bailout for...oh...about 75% of it.
Should we help those who bought a $750,000 house on a $60k salary? Hell no!
Should we help the bank who made said loan? Hell no!
Should we help someone like this? I think so.
I have no pity for someone who is trying to live above their means - and then puts their hands out. Wanna live above your means? Go for it. Indebt yourself all you want. Max out that $60k credit card. But DON'T ask me to help pay it off when I'm busting my A*S and trying to live within my means!
But now i'm off on a tangent... |
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Metatron2008
join:2008-09-02
Stockbridge, GA | reply to Xenomorph
Re: Maybe more people would pay for service if it was cheaper?
How much cheaper would it need to be?
With all the little fees they add, POTS is $60 AT LEAST.
10 megs cable+voip is far and away cheaper then 6 megs dsl+POTS. |
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ender7074
join:2006-11-21
Saint Louis, MO
·AT&T Southeast
1 edit | reply to Xenomorph
Re: The old standby.
Even having been through the hell that was being a Charter employee, I can honestly say that I would definitely take Charter internet over AT&T. I have AT&T DSL now and its is crap. Yes, they do offer a 6 meg tier but I'm lucky if I get 3 meg. I've called into what could loosely be described as support and they tell me tough crap. It's within their margin of "acceptable" speeds. I had Charter internet for years, free while I worked there and paid for it after that, and never got less than the speed I was supposed to. Usually I got more. Yes, it's a little more expensive but when you figure I'm paying 35-40 bucks for 3 meg (out of 6), it's not like AT&T is exactly a bargain... |
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Rob
In Deo speramus, God Bless the USA
Premium
join:2001-08-25
Kendall, FL
·Comcast
| reply to fcisler
Re: hmmmmm...
I think we can help him by finding his mortgage broker and castrating him. |
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jadebangle
Premium
join:2007-05-22
Olathe, KS
·SureWest Internet
·AT&T Yahoo
·Comcast
| reply to ender7074
Re: The old standby.
said by ender7074 :Even having been through the hell that was being a Charter employee, I can honestly say that I would definitely take Charter internet over AT&T. I have AT&T DSL now and its is crap. Yes, they do offer a 6 meg tier but I'm lucky if I get 3 meg. I've called into what could loosely be described as support and they tell me tough crap. It's within their margin of "acceptable" speeds. I had Charter internet for years, free while I worked there and paid for it after that, and never got less than the speed I was supposed to. Usually I got more. Yes, it's a little more expensive but when you figure I'm paying 35-40 bucks for 3 meg (out of 6), it's not like AT&T is exactly a bargain... If att was free like charter then it would be all good 
Nothing beat free
I wouldn't mind having an extra isp to serve me for life
Since we are paying yes I agree we expect it to be competitive like 5/5 or 10/10 15/15 30mbit/30mbit
True broadband are symmetric
Faked are asymmetric aka 3/512k or 3000kbps,512kbps |
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RadioDoc
58ef2c0
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11 | reply to BF69
Re: Maybe more people would pay for service if it was cheaper?
That may be true in Tennessee but here and in other non-Bellsouth areas 6016/768 is $35. |
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hottboiinnc
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH | reply to BF69
dont forget that the landline itself will cost your $35+ after taxes if you want to use the phone. |
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