US Cable Support > Mediacom > [RANT] No warning or email on ban

reply to Anonymous

Re: [RANT] No warning or email on ban

Forgot to add that there is no TV. Died around 1:00 this afternoon. Phone tech did what he could. But still dead. And the cable box still shows 12:00 My SiliconDust box doesn't work either.

Mark

reply to NightTripper
just because you take them to small claims court does not mean they will pay you off. Its a civil order theres no teeth to it.

The tech is not an expert on cable equipment. They have it in the TOS and AUP that they are not responsible for YOUR equipment connected to there network. The tech made a guess it was bad.

Who in there right mind would send a 60 dollar modem in for repairs just go buy a new one. And if your own a computer shop you could get one at cost.

straight from TOS

In addition to a cable modem and any other items We or our agents, suppliers or contractors furnish for use with the Service (which we call ”Mediacom Equipment”), use of the Service requires that Customer supply his, her or its own computer, an Ethernet device (if required) and an operating system that meet Our technical requirements. We inform Customer about these requirements before or at the time of the initial Service installation, and they also can be obtained by contacting Customer Service at Customer‟s Mediacom Cable System. The fact that We rent, sell, recommend or approve a cable modem, computer, operating system or other item for use in the Service does not make Us responsible if it has defects or problems.

»mediacomcable.com/site/_pdf/Onli···ment.pdf

reply to NightTripper
Apologies if I wasn't clear... Not four cable modems... one cable modem with four dynamic IP addresses. Each router facing the cable modem would require its own individual IP address from Mediacom.

I would really like to be able to sympathize with your situation (and I really do, actually, or I wouldn't take the time to post), but your actions make it difficult to do so whether or not Mediacom is right or wrong about the functionality of the modem when you're attempting to fix your own issues by directly interacting with the municipal cable franchise's infrastructure yourself. That infrastructure is not yours to troubleshoot or repair. Could you imagine doing that with an electrical transformer? A natural gas main? The others are correct in saying Mediacom would have been fully within their right to disconnect you for connecting a cable to the tap whether your actions resolved an issue for your service or not. Legally and from a pure safety/common sense perspective any telco, water department, natural gas company or electrical service provider would not be okay with you attempting to mend their infrastructure whether it is "on" your property or not regardless of your qualifications (the property it's on would be considered easement, anyway, just like it is when it's up on the pole or buried in the ground). I believe it is understandable that the techs may judge your credibility when it comes to troubleshooting issues with your connection if you're prone to "vigilante self-service".

My sincere advice to you is to let Mediacom's service process work. It may not be fast; it may not be good (in fact, it may completely suck); and it may not even be "done right", but it's what you agreed to when you chose to purchase your service(s) from them. However, I believe that they can eventually get it working consistently and reliably for you--they have for most of us (except for perhaps WadeG and some others where they have made numerous attempts). But you came to what I believe is the right place to get help. MediacomChad (and the other Mediacom folks) can cut through a lot of bureaucracy for you that you might face by otherwise calling in your issue. Others here have offered sage and reasonable advice. Many the replies you've had are from folks that have had horrible service and have learned from it--they genuinely want to help--even the Mediacom folks.

I apologize if any of this came across the internet as condescending--that wasn't my intent, but I want to help to get you pointed in the right direction to help you get the most from your internet service as a fellow customer. I bothered to look up your business and website and I understand how important this must be for you. I've worked for a similar business in my distant past and can extrapolate how vital connectivity is for you day-to-day. One business-owner to another, I really hope they're able to help your situation soon.

wow you really have a big mess there good luck with getting it resolved

reply to NightTripper

reply to NightTripper
My apologies--you're right. I did miss it as I was typing my reply. They were coming in quickly. Again, my apologies.

If I were in your shoes, here's what I would do:

Permit Mediacom three more attempts to get your service working and stabilized.

If they get the service working, wait a few days to ensure stable service and swap back to your preferred modem.

Wait a few more days to ensure stable service; report any variances to Mediacom and seek appropriate credit.

Cancel your service if they fail at the three attempts.

If at any point you're so frustrated and want to make an official complaint, this is provided for in Mediacom's Franchise Agreement with your municipal governance. Mediacom will have to respond to a documented complaint per the terms of the Video Customer Protection Law, 220 ILCS 5/22-501. Also, you can request a copy of the franchise agreement and see what particular remedies are afforded in your particular case. Complaints against the franchise are far more annoying to a MSO like Mediacom than any small claims judgment could be. Franchise issues impact their ability to renew a franchise agreement in the future. If Mediacom loses the franchise, they basically lose all investment they make into improvements in the cabling plant and make it really easy for the next Cable Company to come in and take over. In reality, it rarely happens, but it is something that gets their attention.

GLIMMER,

I saw that to be the case when I looked it up. The IL Video Customer Protection Law, 220 ILCS 5/22-501 covers that. There are still numerous references to municipal councils being an avenue for complaint since the cabling plant and easement is technically still owned/granted by the municipality.

However, I didn't catch that it might be repealed--that's good for the customers in IL... Maybe. Always tough to know how that might work out.

I'm just hoping they can help get Mark's situation resolved. I totally understand his frustration.

reply to NightTripper
The solution to your problems is rather simple. Got to the first splitter behind the drop connect run for some time. Stays up go forward to splitter at the home. Goes down network issue on the local node. At the home splitter repeat. Stays up at the splitter side of the home drops good move forward, into the home. Goes down bad drop, splitter something physical. Move into the home with new equipment run on it , while disconnecting every other room in the home but the place where the modem will reside. Stays up possible bad run leaking rf, grounded whatever other runs. Goes down replace run with brand new rg6 coax single run. From side of home last known good spot. Stays up its you wiring and your issue to replace. As far as modems go yes they do go bad. As a tech in another area I cover in general about 30 different kinds of equipment weekly. If your current modem is not supported get over it. Equipment does die, it happens maybe threw misuse maybe threw something that in the manufacturing process years before it ever was yours. As far as your equipment beyond the modem my company chooses to use. That's your problem, I don't support your network or the choices you made to put into it. If it works great for you wonderful if you have issues and constantly have to rebuild it, not my problem. I supply a pipe to the demarcation if I can run on that pipe continually without Interruptions. Not my network. You want network level management in your home become a buisness level account and I'll support some of your network, if you do it my way. Don't want to don't blame you . Last tip on a personal note you sound like a pita type of Customer. Or the kind I would as a tech to the least to help. Telling me you know more about networks then god , not a good start to our interaction. I'll do more to fix your problem if you let me grasp the situation. Otherwise I'll swap a modem call it good move on. "Meet a butt head once, maybe there just a butt head. Meet butt heads all day , maybe your the butt head".

Sincerly a local Tech

If you work for mediacom how about you register. Not hide behind anon.... And your a typical mediacom employee. My way or the highway. Sorry customer service is more important than anything. Your the front line the customer see's. Mediacom and there contractors is a whole other problem.

reply to thistool

The original message of the thread wasabout being banned from Mediacom's forum. How can you get this message by accident?

"Sorry Night, you are banned from using this forum!
This ban is not set to expire."

Mediacom's reresentative here says noone there banned me. They have no idea how it happened. No one ever said how I got readmitted to the forum.

And yes on the other parts I am getting fustrated. This has been going on for a LONG time. They fix it and everything is good for a bit. Then down it goes agin. And it is never Mediacoms fault.

We got off on this recent rant because of not being able to grab an IP address. "They" said my modem was bad. But it still took th etech close to an hour to get an IP address to Mediacom's modem. Not the techs fault

Mark

Mark,

With the forum issue, what are you looking for as a resolution? An apology? An explanation? It's been pretty clearly stated that whatever the issue was, it was inadvertent. Are you implying that you were deliberately banned from the forum for reporting your issue? Are you able to access the forum now? If so, I don't understand why you don't just address your concerns via PM. It just seems very vitriolic here and doesn't help instill goodwill toward anyone here wanting to step up and help you.

It is clear that you are frustrated. It is also clear that there are likely problems with the local Mediacom infrastructure that both you and the local technicians you have worked with are aware of. The only possible solution I see to this is that you allow Mediacom an additional opportunity to address them. Give them the time their organization needs to address the issue. Ask them to set an expectation with you as to when they feel this can be resolved.

In the meantime, how can the rest of us help?

reply to MediacomChad
MediacomChad,

Any chance you can get a signal tech to check out Mark's issue? I see that you PM'd him some dates/times in a previous post. Also, would there be any additional monitoring you could do on his connection?

What I expect is the lies stop!

Mark

Mark,

Wow… That’s a strong claim. Are you sure that they’re deliberately trying to deceive you about your not being able to access their forum? If so, what makes you certain that’s the case?

Based on the discussion here, it would seem that Mediacom’s forum admins weren’t completely certain what caused your account to be banned, therefore their answers are speculative. A potential connotation of that is that they aren’t very good at administering the forum software, but that would be unfair speculation on my part. I don’t believe that any of that is really relevant, however. It’s Mediacom’s forum to run as well or as poorly as they wish. They don’t necessarily have to be accountable to any of us for that as I’m sure it states in their terms of service.

Mediacom’s employees are people, too. And while it’s not considered professional for any of them to express their frustration with us, the customers, in an open manner, I think we all know that this likely happens from time to time. It's even been discussed and addressed by Mediacom in a few threads here. That doesn’t make it okay, but it doesn’t mean it’s a federal case, either. So if someone over there did in fact ban you from the site, you’re not banned now, so is it really worth all of this venom? What do you want? Some poor guy who’s just as frustrated as you are to be disciplined or lose his job?

Personally, I choose to use this site over Mediacom’s. I simply haven’t used theirs because they are plenty responsive here and have demonstrated that they watch this closely. This seems to be more “neutral ground” anyway--although it’s pretty far from that. Call it 3rd party ground, instead.

Do you feel that you’ve been told deliberate lies about your technical issues with your service, also?

TJFriday you seem to think I am talking about being banned. It's their forum. They can clearly do what they want. What I am talking about is Mediacom lies in general. If I call in about a problem. Then we do the Mediacom dog and pony show. When in fact the whole area is down. Every time I deal with Mediacom the fault lies here. So we do the dog and pony show. The problems I'm having are clearly not here. Why does it take close to an hour to get a modem assigned an IP address? The fact that the employes running the forum don't seem to have any idea on how I got banned. Or the more funny part. How I got unbanned. Must be them gremlins.

It's so bad in this area that I've got a list of Mediacom subscribers phone numbers. That I call when something happens that doesn't look like a local item. But even then when I tell the tech on the phone what is going on and with who. Most of the time they want me to do the dog and pony show with them. With the phone numbers I give them. It would real simple for them to "look" at the other modems.

I don't blame the so called techs. They are just doing what they are told to do. Read from the book and don't deviate. Even the tech that shows up on my door step. They read from the play book. Every once in a while I get a tech and the phone or at my door that knows what they are doing.

Mediacom is just trying to get by as cheap as they can. And it shows.

Mark

A few years back there was a VP in the Quad Cities that you could talk to. He was an honest man that would find a way to help anyone who asked him. He suddenly disappeared. Maybe he was to honest?

Oh well. I have a new Thomson modem. Courtesy of Mediacom. I guess time will tell if this is the fix.

On a side note. Google maps seem to have caught me driving away from my home. That would be me the the red van going south on the left side of my home. Any guesses on what the big white thing is on the top left of my property is And what it is used for There are only a handful of them in private hands.

»maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=40···t=h&z=20

Mark