Time Warner Cable - Legacy → If You Could Add A Feature, A Product, or Make A Change to Services?

Hey Guys,

The DSL Report for Brighthouse Networks has a wonderful topic that asks this question above. I thought it would be cool to provide this option for all TWC Members. If the posts are good, and the quality control is reasonable, maybe someone from TWC will continue to monitor this thread.

To keep things at a reasonable amount of questions or inquires so that all get a chance to participate, select no more than three things, and make your questions courteous and constructive. The more people who participate in a proactive and productive way, the more TWC can begin to take feedback on any new features and developments. Your three requests can be in regards to any of TWC's products or services. (Cable TV, Phone, Internet, Mobile, Security.) Let's see what interests customers the most! Here are mine below:

1.) Special Discounts for Long-Standing Customers Who Have Been With the Company for Many Years, pay their bill on time, and are loyal- It is cool that new customers get great discounts and on-line specials, Give perks to those of us who have been with TWC for ten, fifteen, twenty-years. It is very considerate of TWC to do this and much appreciated!

2.) Better Cable Guide and Boxes for all customers (Not Just Whole Home and Signature Home Subs.) In order to allow customers to experience the full range of TWC TV services, work to improve your boxes and features to provide better search functionality. There are policies within divisions that currently refuse modern boxes unless you are a Whole House/Signature Home subscriber. I know the older boxes have memory issues, but at least get those SA boxes up to what they did with the Passport Software ten YEARS ago. Allow the keyboard to search for keywords and nothing else on the legacy boxes. This would cover all the bases of a search, Title, Person, Topic. Keep the other advanced filters for the modern boxes, if memory is a problem. But either:

a.) Give everyone a new Cisco, Samsung, or Motorolla box OR
b.) Bring Keyword Search to the legacy boxes like Passport used to have to make programs easier to find.

3.) On Digital Home Phone Service: Expand your call blocking technology to allow more than thirty blockable numbers in My Services. (My Account.) This thirty number limit is laughable with what phone technology should be today. That list should be expended to 100 blockable calls, or even 500.

That's my three things. I hope you all will find this helpful!

Regards,

Satch

Here are my suggestions:

1) Stop the 1 year "new customer pricing" deals or make them permanent. All this does is generate ill-will from long-time customers forced to call-in once a year and haggle and threaten to leave just to get a reasonable rate.

2) Upgrade DVR storage amounts or enable customer provided external storage on DVRs that already have USB/eSATA ports for just that purpose. The current DVR storage is woefully inadequate to record HD programming.

3) Upgrade the DVR software. I have the Pace multi-room DVRs and the software locks-up, mysteriously turns off recordings with no conflicts, gets confused about what channel its on, and has a user interface that looks like it is from an 1980s era Atari.

Here in the former Insight areas in Northern KY
1 They need to update us to the newer guide and channel lineup.
2 Update software with look back and forward.
3 Provide us with the full on Demand lineup with CBS and Fox.
4 TVLand and Oxygen need to be in HD as well as all premium movie channels should also be in HD.
5 Cheaper pricing on multiple DVR Box's.

Everything on Zig's list, plus more HD channels. LA's HD lineup is just pathetic.

1. Ultimate:
I might be out of line here, but their highest package (Ultimate) should be 50Mbps/10Mbps. Not 50Mbps/5Mbps.

2. Internet packaging is rigged and needs fixing:
Low Price = 2Mbps/1Mbps | 14.99
Basic = 3Mbps/1Mbps | 29.99
Standard = 15Mbps/1Mbps | 34.99

This pricing is ridiculous as it pretty much forces you to get standard. Why is basic even on there? Fifteen dollars more for 1Mbps, but the next step up is only five dollars for 12Mbps more. Nonsense.

1) Faster interweb speeds at reasonable rates
2) Sports packs channels in 100% HD (NHL CI, MLB EI, NBA LP, etc)

No, it's not nonsense and no one is forcing you into Standard. That's a decision you have to come to on your own. It's decoy marketing and is a brilliant business move.

I'm sure you can find dozens of examples of the similar situations from different companies that do the same thing. Go to the movies and how much more popcorn and how many more ounces of drink do you get when going from a medium to a large for a fifty cents more.

... and we have our first thread crapper.

Not really but If you think so. Whatever. Just thought I'd explain what a brilliant marketing move it is by Time Warner and that how other companies do the same thing but most people wouldn't notice because they have such a blind hatred toward the cable company.

I really don't see this business really making those kind of changes when most of the other big ISP's do the same kind of things.

Really the big share holders don't want to own this business anymore. They got that new CEO for nothing more than to sell to the highest bidder. That was his job and he is getting a big pay check due to him doing the job he was hired to do. Bring value to the share holders. I mean how else are they going to come close to getting $160 a share.

They would have to play a much more risky game called upgrade and expand. Even then it would take years just to maybe get close to 150 a share.

The owners of this business have wanted nothing more than to milk it's old dying copper lines till they could dump it and move on to the next thing they could milk.

The fact they would have to deal with stuff like Google fiber and city's wanting to build there own networks is why it will become harder over time for them to stay with out withdrawing, selling for cheap or upgrading. All those choices are going to cost them.

If the deal doesn't go though they will most likely do upgrades as needed in market's they risk losing a lot such as the case of google fiber. The end game for them looks bleak in the case they can't sell out. With internet speed becoming ever more important, it's likely they will become a rural/small city focused business kind of like DSL.

Now you may ask why would Comcast want them, because Time warner cable is blocking them from getting into many markets they would love to be getting customers from such as the state of NC.

But I do agree long time customers should get a break. Also those only for one year rates for "new customers" need to go away. (Note I know why those things won't change but it's nice to dream.)

If I was to add a product it would be FTTH for those who want more than 50/5. With speeds up to 500mbs like what Comcast does. But to make it better it would be 500/500.

Here in Milwaukee,WI...
1) Have internet pricing that is competitive with At&t
- The 18 Meg IP-DSL / VDSL is cheaper than the 15 Meg from TWC
[Even without a contract...]

2) Put all the sports channels in their own tier - that has to be ordered separately.