1/30 – I called Dara Electronics to schedule service for my television.

2/6 – The TV repairmen came and took the TV back to the shop to determine the problem.
 
2/23 – The repairmen brought the TV back and plugged it in. It worked fine. They plugged the cable in and it short-circuited again. They tested the cable line and determined that it was well over safety level. I called the Time Warner Cable to explain the problem. I was told that no one was available immediately so I scheduled service for Monday, 2/26.

2/26 – I could not get time off of work so I called Time Warner early in the morning and rescheduled for Saturday, 3/3.

3/3 – A service man came out and noted that the line was sparking and that someone would have to first verify this and then someone would be able to fix it. I scheduled further service for Saturday, 3/10. All of the above is noted on my receipt. I cancelled a weekend trip to be home for this service. My receipt also indicated that I needed to call Christina Hargrave. However the number given to call her was a fax number. I called the regular service line to get her extension and I left a message. She never returned my phone call.

3/9 – I called Time Warner to confirm my service for the next day. I was told that nothing was scheduled. I explained that the appointment was listed on my receipt. I was told that I was not scheduled because the technician had not properly filed the work order and I could not get service on such short notice. I asked to speak to a supervisor and was told that no one was available. The customer service representative told me that Christina Hargrave was in a meeting and could not be interrupted, but that she would go talk to her. She came back and told me that Ms. Hargrave had scheduled service for me for the next day and that someone would be coming between 8-9:30AM. I arranged to be home during this time period.

3/10 – I received a phone call from Time Warner around 8:30 AM indicating that no one would be able to come on this day, so I rescheduled for the next Saturday, 3/17 between 8AM-12PM.

3/17 – At 9AM I called to confirm service. I was told that nothing was scheduled and that this was because I had cancelled my appointment for the previous week (which I did not) and that I had never rescheduled (though I had, for the 17th). I was then disconnected. I called back and an hour later got through to a customer service representative. I was told that the service request had to go through dispatch, that I could not talk to a supervisor because they would not be in until 10AM (though the time was 10:20), but that no matter what I would be called back. I was never called back. I called Christina Hargrave and left a message explaining the situation. My call was never returned.

3/19 – I called Christina Hargrave and got her voicemail, which said that her extension was not currently accepting messages. I called customer service and asked to speak with another manager. I was put on hold and then disconnected. I called again and I was told that no one was available, but that someone would call me back. No one has called me yet.

My mother called Time Warner and spoke with Ms. Tamaya Hall regarding these problems. She spoke with a supervisor and confirmed that someone would be out on March 20th at 5:30PM.

3/20 - Neither my sister nor myself (the occupants of the house) were available at this time, so my mother drove to our Philadelphia residence from Southern New Jersey. She arrived at 5:00PM. No one from Time Warner arrived. She tried to call Time Warner to inquire about this. She was put on hold for one hour. Finally, she hung up.

3/21 - My mother called Time Warner to question why no one had arrived as planned. She again spoke with Ms. Hall who referred the problem to a supervisor who would call her back (this was after she said she would be contacting the FCC). Mr. Rus Fairy returned her call. She was told that someone had been there at 3:30PM, but no one was there. The problem was located in the pole box on Harmon Road. Electricity (more than 750 bolts) was in the line, according to Mr. Fairy. She was told that an electrician would be sent to the site to evaluate the problem. It was finally agreed that no one needed to be home for Time Warner to verify and fix the problem on the outside line. Mr. Fairy told her that he would call her by the end of the week to report on the progress.

3/26 – My mother called Mr. Fairy to inquire on the status. He said the voltage problem was resolved. He did not know if an electrician had been out, but that Time Warner had been to the pole. He said that they needed access to the property to ensure that everything was okay and grounded properly. He asked if anyone had talked to Ms. Hargrave and she told him that she had not returned any of several messages left for her.

3/27 - I received a message on my answering machine saying that the problem was fixed and that Time Warner just needed to verify this from inside the house. I scheduled this service for April 3rd. I told Mr. Fairy that I would take the morning off but I had to leave for work by 11:00AM. I could not be any later than this. He told me that he would try to have someone there between 8:30AM and 9:00AM, but someone would be there no later than 10:00AM.

4/3 – At 10:00AM no one had arrived. I called Mr. Fairy and left a message to confirm my service and to remind him that I had to leave in one hour. He called me back at 10:15AM saying that he had forgotten to schedule the service. He thanked me for the reminder and promised to send someone right away. The technician arrived at 10:45AM. He said he needed to go into the basement. I let him in and when he came back upstairs he said he was going to hook up the television. I assumed (stupidly, I guess) that if he was hooking my television that he verified that the problem was fixed. He plugged in the cable box and the TV. Both worked fine. He then hooked the cable to the TV and, again it short-circuited. He told me that he thought the problem was with the outlet. I asked him why he tested it in that outlet if he though there was a problem with it. He said it was because I did not have an extension cord. I then asked how he expected to confirm that the cable was fixed if he thought the problem was the outlet and he said he did not know. I asked him why everything that was plugged into the outlet worked and the problem only occurred when the cable line was hooked up to the television. He said that this was beyond the realm of his knowledge. I asked him if he had a tester TV in his truck and if he could have tested that on another outlet and he said that he should have done that. So, he brought in his TV and hooked it up to another outlet (one that he said was fine) and the cable did not work. I asked why he didn’t test it that way in the first place and he agreed that he should have. He apologized for short-circuiting the TV and I left for work at 11:45AM.

4/4 – I spoke with Mr. Fairy regarding the situation and said that he arranged for an electrician to come to the house on April 7th to determine the problem. I also spoke with Dara Electronics again to arrange service for my television.

4/5 – I called an electrician friend to discuss the situation. He said that from the above information, it sounded like it was a grounding problem. He said that even if my outlet had reversed polarity (as the technician from Time Warner suggested), there is no way that that would short-circuit the television since it is a two prong outlet. He said that this was common knowledge and that the technician should have known this.

4/7 – A service technician from Dara Electronics came to again bring parts of my television in for repair. He said that he thought it was a grounding problem and there was no way that the outlet could have caused the problem. He also said that his meter still indicated an unusual amount of voltage in the cable line and that a cable technician should have been able to test this prior to hooking the cable up to the television. He also said that, because there had been so many problems, he would not be able to return the television until everything had been fixed and until Time Warner paid for the repairs (I had been told by Time Warner in the past that I should not submit my claim until everything was taken care of). He said that I should find out from Time Warner how to submit the claim and to let him know and he would submit it right to Time Warner so that they could pay Dara Electronics directly and I would not have to worry about it.

4/7 – David Taylor from Time Warner came to my house with an electrician to determine the source of my cable problems. He explained to me that this electrician was sent at the expense of Time Warner to ensure my customer satisfaction. The electrician determined that this was a grounding problem that occurred when Time Warner initially hooked up my cable. He fixed the problem and asked Mr. Taylor to bring in a tester TV to test that the problem was actually fixed. He joked that we didn’t want to test it on my TV because we didn’t want to blow up the TV if the problem wasn’t actually fixed. I explained that this had already happened 3 times, that the TV wasn’t working now anyway and thus could not test the cable anyway, and that I hadn’t had cable since January 27th. Mr. Taylor expressed surprise at this. After testing the line, it was determined that the grounding problem had been corrected and that my cable was restored.

4/9 – I spoke with Mr. Fairy to verify that my cable had been fixed. I asked him how to submit my claim to pay for the repairs of the TV. He indicated that he would turn all of the information over to Christina Hargrave and that she would contact me with instructions. I called Dara Electronics and gave them Ms. Hargrave's’ number.

4/11 – I called Mr. Fairy (and left a message) to confirm that he had turned everything over to Ms. Hargrave and that she was the one I should be speaking to.

4/13 – Mr. Fairy called me (he left a message on my voicemail, so I did not get to speak to him directly) indicating that he had, in fact, given Ms. Hargrave all of the information and had assumed that she had contacted me. I called Ms. Hargrave to leave a message, but her voicemail was full and not accepting messages.

4/17 – I called Dara Electronics and spoke with George. He indicated that he had called Ms. Hargrave numerous times and that she had not returned his calls. He finally spoke with someone named Noel who transferred him to the headquarters in Detroit. The Detroit office then transferred him back to Noel. She promised to call him that day or by the next day at the very latest. She never returned his call.

4/23 – George at Dara Electronics called me and told me that he had called Noel and she apologized for not returning his call. She explained to him how to submit the claim and he had mailed it to Time Warner.

4/25 – I called both Rus Fairy and Christina Hargrave. Neither was available so I left messages on both of their voicemail boxes (basically the same message), asking about the claim process – how long it takes and if there was anyway to expedite it because I could not get my TV back until the payment was made. I also explained that I had received a bill for my cable services, but (even though the cable was repaired) I did not feel that I should have to pay this since I still had no television and the hold up was in waiting for Time Warner to make a payment. No one returned my call.

4/26 – I received in the mail copies of two repair receipts that Dara Electronics submitted to Time Warner. There was no note included so I do not know if these are receipts for my personal records, if this indicates that the claim will be paid, or if the claim is being refused and the bill is being sent to me.

4/30 – I called Noel at Time Warner to ask the above questions and to find out approximately how long the claim process takes. She was unavailable so I left a message. I then called David Taylor and left a message explaining the and events that occurred since his visit on April 7th.

5/1 – Christina Hargrave called my house (even though I have always given both my home and work numbers in every message that I left and explained that I can be reached at the work number during normal business hours) and apologized for not returning any of my calls. She said that she thought that Mr. Fairy was taking care of everything for me. She also indicated that the payments should be made to Dara Electronics by the end of the week.

5/2 – I called Christina Hargrave and she told me that she had since spoken with Dara Electronics to confirm that payment would be made. I called Dara Electronics and they confirmed this information, but indicated that payment still had not been made. They advised me to call back at the end of the week (since Ms. Hargrave indicated that payment would be made by this time) and then they could return the repaired parts of the television.

5/7 – I called Dara Electronics to see if payment had been made. They said that they had not yet received any payment, but agree to schedule a time to finish the television. I arranged to have someone come on May 11th.

5/11 – I arranged to go into work late and Dave from Dara Electronics came with the repaired parts of my television. Before plugging in the cable, he confirmed that the high amount of voltage was no longer running though the cable line. However after the TV was fixed, a fuse short circuited as soon as the cable was plugged in. Dave told me that he would fix it again and come back later in the afternoon. So, I ended up having to take the whole day off work. He came back in the afternoon with two new fuses. He fixed the TV, plugged the cable in, and it again short-circuited. So, he put the second fuse in and advised me not to use the cable. He also indicated that Dara Electronics still had not received payment from Time Warner.

5/14 – I called Dara Electronics to see if they would be able to help me determine the source of my problems. They said that everything worked fine in the shop and the problems only occurred when I plugged my cable in. They advised that they would continue to investigate.

5/21–6/17 – I was in LA on business

6/18 – I just got back from a business trip. I called Dara Electronics to see if they had learned anything new about the source of my problems, and they advised that they had not found anything. In the meantime, I received a new cable bill with a notice that indicated I had not pay my last bill and if payment was not received promptly my cable would be disconnected. Ironically, my bill also stated that “On time performance is hard to find. But at Urnab Cableworks of Philadelphia it is guaranteed! …If, we fail to arrive at a scheduled service appointment on time you will receive a $20.00 credit.” I have several documented (above) incidences of this occurring and I have never received such a credit. To ensure that the problem was indeed with the cable and not my televisions, I hooked up my neighbor’s satellite dish to the television. The test signal worked and the TV did not short-circuit even though it was plugged in to the same place as the cable. So, I guess this is a cable problem and I have no idea how this should be fixed.

6/19 – I called David Taylor (I left a message on his voicemail since he was unavailable) and explained my situation. I apologized for not calling sooner, but explained that I had been out of town. I requested that my cable be disconnected and that my due amount be credited (especially since I had at least four incidences of cable representatives not showing up on time or at all and each time should result in a $20 credit). I explained that it seemed I would never be able to get cable, so I would just like to end this service and that I hoped to do so without ruining my credit rating.

6/20 – Mr Falst (?) in the Claims Department had called my house and requested that I call the claims number. I called in the morning and got a message that no one was taking any calls so I left a message explaining my whole situation. I called again later in the afternoon and was able to speak with Mr. Falst. He said that he did not get the voicemail message I had left. I told him the whole story. He told me to return the cable box and that I would still have a balance of $48. I said that I did not think that I should have to pay this, especially since my bill said that I would receive a $20 credit for anytime a scheduled appointment is not kept on time. He said that that was only for installation, so I read him the quote on the cable bill, which states otherwise. He said that he was unable to adjust my fees, but that I should bring a copy of this document detailing my experience when I returned my cable box and that a customer service representative would be able to help. I am hoping that this is the case, but I am not counting on this ending easily.

6/23 – I went to Time Warner and waited in line to return my cable box and to discuss my balance. My customer service representative was Lorraine and she assured me that my account would be cleared. She said that I did not have to worry about it at all and that everything would be taken care of. Lorraine was the nicest person I’ve dealt with at Time Warner (a pleasant surprise).

7/2 – I received a bill in the mail for my cable. I called the Time Warner and spoke to a customer service representative and was assured that this bill was mailed to me prior to my turning in my cable box. I was told that the matter was resolved and that I could disregard the bill.

7/30 – I received a notice from Credit Protection Association indicating that if I did not pay the remainder of my account, it would be turned over to a debt collector. I should have realized that this couldn’t end that easily.

My TV was brand new and I had only used it one day before the first time it short-circuited. It has been 7 months since my initial problem occurred and over 5 months since I first contacted Time Warner. My family and I have had to arrange to be home (sometimes having to take a vacation day off from work or cancel plans) on no less than 8 different occasions for either TV or cable repair because of this grounding problem. Many of these times Time Warner did not even show up. I think it is also interesting that Time Warner has been contacted over 20 times and that only one person has ever returned a phone call. If Time Warner was really so concerned with my customer satisfaction, as Mr. Taylor indicated on April 7th, I would think that they would take steps to ensure that this situation was resolved as possible, ensure that my calls were being returned and my questions answered, and follow up with the situation. However, it is very interesting that if they think they are owed money, they waste no time responding to the matter.

Joanna King