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ddlsmith

Supporting Founder

Last reply Nov 27, 2006 · posted in Cable Television and Fiber Providers

How To Run Off a Customer

1. Mail your existing TWC cable customer an offer to give a $20 per month discount on his cable bill for one full year if he switches his phone service to your digital phone service. (With a $240 savings over a year, of course he jumps on the deal and switches not only his phone from AT&T but also his DSL service to Roadrunner.)

2. Bill him the regular amount the following month without the $20 discount.

3. When he calls in to billing (with a 20 minute hold time) quiz him as if he was lying about the deal, ask him what proof he has, and tell him to get it straightened out he must personally take the offer, along with his previous AT&T phone bill to prove that he has switched, to a TWC service center.

4. When he arrives at the service center, act clueless about what he is talking about, go to the back for about 10 minutes, come back and tell him you are going to not give him a $20 credit off his cable bill but will give him Roadrunner for free ($19.00/month) for the next 12 months. And assure him the mistake will not happen again.

5. Bill him the next month without the discount.

6. When he calls billing again (with a 55 minute hold time) assure him that his account has been credited.

7. Actually bill him correctly the next month.

8. Do not give him the discount on his next month's bill.

9. When he calls billing again (with only a 12 minute hold time!!) and asks to speak to a supervisor and threatens to move all of his services back to AT&T if the situation is not corrected once and for all, have the Supervsor put him on hold for about 10 minutes and come back and swear that the situation has been permanently fixed and promise that he will never, ever, ever be overbilled again.

10. Send out his next bill without the credit.

Yes, folks, the above is true. Happened in San Antonio. And I am now the proud subscriber to DishNetwork with about 15 more high definition channels than TWC offered anyway, a crystal clear picture, the NFL network (not offered on TWC here), and the local Fox channel in high def (not offered by TWC here).

Think of all the time and money that went into the marketing campaign to send me a big, shiny mailer to offer me the discount with the above results. What a moronic outfit. (And that's the nicest thing I can think to say.)

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fayrich

Nov 26, 2006

How about greatly reducing the available material on VOD (previously Comcast), and then having it not work at all. Called and spoke to a CSR who gave box a "hit" to no avail, and then scheduled a service call for Sat. afternoon. Well, Sat. afternoon came and went with no show from TW. Not even a courtesy phone call to say that they could not make it. This company is a bunch of A*holes. First of all, seems to me that this VOD problem would be a system problem, and not a problem with the box. But I figured that if you're that stupid, go ahead and spend your money on a useless service call. By the way, is anyone else in the Cleveland/Elyria Ohio area having the same VOD problem? Specifically can't get the HBO portion to work at all. Showtime portion working presently, but has come and gone. Would like to confirm that it is a system wide problem since TW is too damn stupid to know or to notify customers that a problem exists.

topcats69

Nov 26, 2006

FAYRICH said:
How about greatly reducing the available material on VOD (previously Comcast), and then having it not work at all. Called and spoke to a CSR who gave box a "hit" to no avail, and then scheduled a service call for Sat. afternoon. Well, Sat. afternoon came and went with no show from TW. Not even a courtesy phone call to say that they could not make it. This company is a bunch of A*holes. First of all, seems to me that this VOD problem would be a system problem, and not a problem with the box. But I figured that if you're that stupid, go ahead and spend your money on a useless service call. By the way, is anyone else in the Cleveland/Elyria Ohio area having the same VOD problem? Specifically can't get the HBO portion to work at all. Showtime portion working presently, but has come and gone. Would like to confirm that it is a system wide problem since TW is too damn stupid to know or to notify customers that a problem exists.

Prob a overload on the system prob Kids are out school watching skinamax VOD

JamesJ

Nov 27, 2006

could also be a signal issue, my neighbors had trouble, they cleared up the line a bit, and it works as good as new now.

Booredatwork.com

23 minutes ago · posted in BooredAtWork.COM

Sony MDR-3R Walkman USB-C Headphones

Time for another AWESOME video from BoredAtWork!

View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/DJ9tHdzvSUQ

Direct YouTube Link - Sony MDR-3R Walkman USB-C Headphones
Booredatwork.com Website
Booredatwork on Facebook

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TWiT Tech Podcast Network

23 minutes ago · posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Earth’s New Mini Moon: Meet Asteroid 2026 QQ8

Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!

View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6kVDC3xcUVE

Direct YouTube Link - Earth's New Mini Moon: Meet Asteroid 2026 QQ8
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed

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Bruce

Supporting Founder Lifetime Supporter

Last reply 24 minutes ago · posted in Internet Television (IPTV) Discussion Forum

Traditional/Streaming Live TV Providers Losses, 3rd Quarter 2026 Edition

Comcast is the first to report, with a massive 274,000 loss in video subscribers.

In the 3Q of 2016, Comcast had 21.42 million video subscribers and was the #1 provider, now at 10.39 million and is the #3 Provider, YTTV is #2 ( who also surpassed DirecTV-8 Million and Dish-under 5 Million), Charter/Spectrum is #1.

Comcast Just Lost 274,000 TV Customers & 144,000 Internet Customers In Just Three Months | Cord Cutters News

Comcast Corporation reported its third-quarter 2026 results on October 22, showing continued erosion in its domestic residential broadband internet and video customer bases as competitive pressures intensified across the connectivity market. The company recorded a net loss of 144,000 domestic...

cordcuttersnews.com

22 Replies · 886 views

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Reactions: Howard Simmons

ncted

Yesterday at 12:06 PM

All my parents had to do to get a discount on Spectrum Internet is say the words "Verizon Home Internet," and they cut the price by $30/month.

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NYDutch

Yesterday at 12:38 PM

ncted said:
All my parents had to do to get a discount on Spectrum Internet is say the words "Verizon Home Internet," and they cut the price by $30/month.

I don't think they'll go below the current $30 price since it's part of a deal they have with the non- profit that owns the apartment building.

Reactions: MikeD-C05 and ncted

ncted

Yesterday at 12:46 PM

NYDutch said:
I don't think they'll go below the current $30 price since it's part of a deal they have with the non- profit that owns the apartment building.

Yeah, I was just saying Spectrum suddenly wants to keep what customers they can.

Reactions: MikeD-C05 and NYDutch

Tom Speer

Yesterday at 1:26 PM

Optimum, which bought up our previous cable company, Suddenlink (originally COX), replac ed all of their coax disdribution with Fiber several years ago. They ran new fiber links to the house, but installed RFOG (RF over glass) devices on the outside of the house, which makes the house coax system look like a cable system. They used DOCSIS modems and of course we had the same assymetric bandwidth of cable internet. When I called them a couple years ago, and said I had installed a connection to the local Fiber provideer, MetroNet, They panicked and offered me the 300 MBit "Fiber powered" cable service for $20 per month. They were bleeding customers. I cancelled my Metronet and went with the $20 deal for a year, even though I didn't like the old cable technology.

Then T-moble Fiber struck a deal with Metronet Fiber where T-mobile would take over the marketing, billing and customer relations for residential Customers. They offered a "Founders Deal" for 2 Gigabit service, symmetric speeds, for $70 per month for new customers. That included all taxes and fees and was guaranteed for 10 years. I couldn't resist. That deal is no longer offered, but I am set for 9 more years.

Now the successor to the old local telephone company, Brightspeed has also installed a modern Fiber system in the neighborhood, but won't be getting my business. But their Fiber technology is also superior to Optimums cable based system.

With Fiber competition, the cable companies are eventually doomed.

Reactions: MikeD-C05

Foxbat

Yesterday at 4:26 PM

Meanwhile, my neighbor 300' away has gigabit fiber, and I'm stuck with copper solutions.

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savarese04

58 minutes ago

Foxbat said:
Meanwhile, my neighbor 300' away has gigabit fiber, and I'm stuck with copper solutions.

similar situation. almost every neighborhood around me has fiber, but our 3 block area. I called AT&T and was like, how hard is it to bring fiber over about 200 feet (I am closest to the folks with fiber and can see it on the poles from my front door); crickets and very frustrating.

ncted

24 minutes ago

savarese04 said:
similar situation. almost every neighborhood around me has fiber, but our 3 block area. I called AT&T and was like, how hard is it to bring fiber over about 200 feet (I am closest to the folks with fiber and can see it on the poles from my front door); crickets and very frustrating.

"Business Intelligence" is more of an oxymoron than Military Intelligence.

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ewindowman

Lifetime Supporter

Last reply 30 minutes ago · posted in DISH Network Support Forum

Dish Bankruptcy - Business as Usual

Looks like dish is Bankrupt. Filling tomorrow Tuesday June 30th

456 Replies · 15915 views

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nelson61

Monday at 12:22 PM

Washington Post

SpaceX has held talks with Boost's parent company EchoStar in recent months about launching its own signature wireless service through a deal with the company, according to two people familiar with the negotiations.
Musk, the SpaceX CEO, has discussed the deal personally, meeting with EchoStar chairman Charlie Ergen last month, according to the people. The potential deal may result in SpaceX acquiring Boost Mobile or SpaceX gaining access to its network, which it leases from AT&T and T-Mobile US, the people said.
Access to those lease agreements would be a coup for SpaceX. The back door would allow Musk to make a play for a U.S. wireless market that equity research firm MoffettNathanson estimates is worth $235 billion. But the proposed service may need consent from those carriers for the service to actually launch, the people said.

Reactions: DialgaChampion, MikeD-C05, Foxbat and 2 others

Scott Greczkowski

Monday at 1:25 PM

nelson61 said:
Washington Post

SpaceX has held talks with Boost's parent company EchoStar in recent months about launching its own signature wireless service through a deal with the company, according to two people familiar with the negotiations.
Musk, the SpaceX CEO, has discussed the deal personally, meeting with EchoStar chairman Charlie Ergen last month, according to the people. The potential deal may result in SpaceX acquiring Boost Mobile or SpaceX gaining access to its network, which it leases from AT&T and T-Mobile US, the people said.
Access to those lease agreements would be a coup for SpaceX. The back door would allow Musk to make a play for a U.S. wireless market that equity research firm MoffettNathanson estimates is worth $235 billion. But the proposed service may need consent from those carriers for the service to actually launch, the people said.

Can't remember where or who I saw predict this.

It wouldn't surprise me to see Elon soon own all of DISH / Echostar in the future.

Reactions: DialgaChampion, MikeD-C05, Foxbat and 1 other person

Bruce

Tuesday at 10:17 AM

Scott Greczkowski said:
It wouldn't surprise me to see Elon soon own all of DISH / Echostar in the future.

Again, why would Musk want a TV Service, specially one that is losing over a million subscribers a year.

Phone service…maybe, but not TV.

Reactions: MikeD-C05 and charlesrshell

Scott Greczkowski

Tuesday at 10:22 AM

Bruce said:
Again, why would Musk want a TV Service, specially one that is losing over a million subscribers a year.

Phone service…maybe, but not TV.

I know he wants TV. He wants to deliver EVERYTHING to EVERYWHERE.

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Bruce

Tuesday at 11:30 AM

Scott Greczkowski said:
I know he wants TV. He wants to deliver EVERYTHING to EVERYWHERE.

Again, if so, why would he want Dish/Sling of all the providers?

He could deliver anything without actually owning, for example, watching the Lions game in my Tesla Y on it's screen via the YT app, while on the way to my future in-laws on Sunday.

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slow_poke_pete

Yesterday at 2:54 AM

Bruce said:
Again, if so, why would he want Dish/Sling of all the providers?

He could deliver anything without actually owning, for example, watching the Lions game in my Tesla Y on it's screen via the YT app, while on the way to my future in-laws on Sunday.

dish has new sats dtv does not

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renjy651

Yesterday at 6:37 AM

slow_poke_pete said:
dish has new sats dtv does not

Hate to say this no one is ordering Satellite TV. Both DISH and Direct no new customers.
After 25 years with centurylink DSL 80 speed i changed to Xfinity 300 speed for $50 wow lightning fast for streaming. Still have DISH 27 years with them. Americas 250 package for $103. What you think of superbox or vseebox for streaming is it legal?
Still dish is easy to operate and change channels. What will Charlie Ergen do with new super satellites with loosing customers with satellites and boost?

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comfortably_numb

Yesterday at 8:31 AM

renjy651 said:
What you think of superbox or vseebox for streaming is it legal?

NO.

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slow_poke_pete

Yesterday at 11:52 AM

renjy651 said:
Hate to say this no one is ordering Satellite TV. Both DISH and Direct no new customers.
After 25 years with centurylink DSL 80 speed i changed to Xfinity 300 speed for $50 wow lightning fast for streaming. Still have DISH 27 years with them. Americas 250 package for $103. What you think of superbox or vseebox for streaming is it legal?
Still dish is easy to operate and change channels. What will Charlie Ergen do with new super satellites with loosing customers with satellites and boost?

While I agree but dish just launched a new sat. That can be used as an asset for Elon. Maybe he will repurpose em for his cell service. And if he wants tv to. God knows why he would but I think he will get a great deal on the contracts in place and equipment!!! I could think of better things to spend my money on. And to be honest Elon has nothing to offer me have blazing fast internet and ill never buy an ev. The veesee box and the super box are illegal.

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tanman

30 minutes ago

For your viewing pleasure...

AT&T, T-Mobile Are Reportedly Ready To Boot Boost Mobile If SpaceX Buys It

Semafor’s Rohan Goswami said that AT&T and T-Mobile have discussed removing Boost Mobile from their networks if SpaceX acquires the EchoStar unit, creating a potential obstacle to Elon Musk’s push to become a major U.S. wireless carrier.

finance.yahoo.com

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dishstaller

Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter

Last reply 54 minutes ago · posted in The Chit Chat Club

Color blind man sees full colors for first time at age 66

Videos like this can make you appreciate the things we take for granted.

View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/a2cgQidHQJI

6 Replies · 144 views

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Bobby

Wednesday at 10:10 PM

dishstaller said:
Videos like this can make you appreciate the things we take for granted.

View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/a2cgQidHQJI

That brought tears to my eyes.

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dishstaller

Wednesday at 10:12 PM

Bobby said:
That brought tears to my eyes.

Really...REALLY hate to do this to you Bobby, but....

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsOo3jzkhYA&pp=ygUed29tYW4gaGVhcnMgZm9yIHRoZSBmaXJzdCB0aW1l

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dishstaller

Wednesday at 10:15 PM

Okay....if you think you can take it....this one brought tears to my eyes when I first saw it and did again just now.

View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/i5UCDwHMatg?feature=share

Reactions: NYDutch and Bobby

dishstaller

Thursday at 11:32 PM

This came up in my suggestions probably because of the video I posted. I had NO idea exactly what being color blind actually was. Now I understand why that man was so blown away with seeing the trees......a lot of color blind people see green as brown, so grass, trees, etc all look brown.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i18_RngKJDQ

Juan

Today at 1:56 PM

Its a shame nobody told him orange was blue and red was purple etc etc etc

telstar_1

54 minutes ago

Often people who have organic vision or hearing activated as adults after never having had it cannot practically utilize it because their brains never developed the massive neural network needed to make sense of any of it.

Well, he sees in color, just differently. Can't he just enjoy that? My granny had anachromatic color blindness, meaning pretty much like a b&w tv

b4pjoe

Pub Member / Supporter Cutting Edge

Last reply Today at 1:50 PM · posted in Computers and Gadgets

Fox Is Buying Roku in $22 Billion Deal

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harshness

Jun 25, 2026

Given that Tubi is one of the hottest FAST services out there, I don't expect it to go anywhere. Building up intolerance for ads takes a while, and as long as the advertisers are willing to foot the bill, why not?

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Neutron

Yesterday at 3:04 PM

Another reason I'm glad we are swapping or Rokus out for Apple TVs. I was already planning on ditching the Rokus earlier this year and had been waiting on Apple to announce the new one last month. Our Rokus have had issues the last year or so with freezing video and reboots, and one with an HDCP issue randomly.

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dishstaller

Yesterday at 3:06 PM

harshness said:
Building up intolerance for ads takes a while, and as long as the advertisers are willing to foot the bill, why not?

That is what I have to explain to customers all the time. They want it free with no ads :facepalm

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TRG

Yesterday at 9:50 PM

Neutron said:
Another reason I'm glad we are swapping or Rokus out for Apple TVs. I was already planning on ditching the Rokus earlier this year and had been waiting on Apple to announce the new one last month. Our Rokus have had issues the last year or so with freezing video and reboots, and one with an HDCP issue randomly.

Hmmm... I don't have any of those problems with my Roku devices. I have 3 of them.

Reactions: reubenray

navychop

Yesterday at 10:36 PM

I suspect Fox will make me consider 2-3 more Apple TV STB purchases.

Jimbo

Today at 9:55 AM

TRG said:
Hmmm... I don't have any of those problems with my Roku devices. I have 3 of them.

I have the Roku's, 2 or 3, I just rarely use them ... I prefer the Google/Android Sony set up.

People tell me that the Apps on the TV will end thier usefulness as they age ... They are doing ok for me so far ... I also have the TV take the App Updates whenever possible ... then again, I don't know how often App updates come to it.

So, so far, I'm doing ok, but if they start to get sluggish, I'll eventually change to a Roku ... I don't want to, but eventually ... (Or buy another new TV :eeek

reubenray

Today at 12:50 PM

navychop said:
I suspect Fox will make me consider 2-3 more Apple TV STB purchases.

As long as my Roku Ultra works I will use it. I use it for all of my streaming apps except for Prime. I read that Prime works best with Android TV's.

navychop

Today at 1:03 PM

Hmmm. Not watching much Prime, but it would be on our Apple TV STB.

You know of any drawbacks using Ultra and Prime?

osu1991

Today at 1:11 PM

navychop said:
Hmmm. Not watching much Prime, but it would be on our Apple TV STB.

You know of any drawbacks using Ultra and Prime?

Prime seems to have a problem passing the DV/HDR metadata to Roku and Apple devices, but no problem with their Fire devices.

Reactions: navychop

Juan

Today at 1:50 PM

dishstaller said:
That is what I have to explain to customers all the time. They want it free with no ads

The ads are boring and repetitive...same ad over and over...bring back 1970s ads..might not be as big an issue

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TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Today at 1:32 PM · posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Google’s Space Data Center: What Can It Actually Power? #shorts

Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!

View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/rXqreoAsve8

Direct YouTube Link - Google's Space Data Center: What Can It Actually Power? #shorts
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed

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Scott Greczkowski

Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU! Cutting Edge

Last reply Today at 12:48 PM · posted in The Chit Chat Club

Song Name Game Part 3!

Sometimes a thread gets so many posts in it that is can cause issues for the server so that why today we introduce The Song Name Game Part 3!

So let the game continue!

The last song was added by Bobby who posted...

One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters

CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!

Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game

Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.

Example:

Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow

Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio

Another example:

Ride the Lightning -- Metallica

Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne

Get it?

An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....

68770 Replies · 2687295 views

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long_time_Dish

Yesterday at 9:21 PM

Really Wanna Know You - Gary Wright

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hwkn

Today at 2:43 AM

Don't WANNA KNOW-Maroon 5

harshness

Today at 9:51 AM

I Want to Know What Love Is - Foreigner

Reactions: gms49ers, RaiderPower and FTA4PA

Bobby

Today at 11:11 AM

Oh What A Night For Dancing - Barry White

sdfntx

Today at 12:48 PM

It's a Good Night for Singing - Jerry Jeff Walker

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dfergie

Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU!

Last reply Today at 12:47 PM · posted in The Chit Chat Club

Gas Price Info With National Gas Temperature Map

Stumbled across this ... http://www.gaspricewatch.com/USGas_ZipSearch.asp
I found no local prices, although it did show stations at my location...
Added these to this post...
USA National Gas Temperature Map
State By State Gasoline Taxes
Gas Buddy

Ethanol Free Stations

5569 Replies · 462460 views

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Bobby

Yesterday at 11:49 AM

Regular$5.459
Premium$5.899
Diesel$7.999
at Costco, Rohnert Park.

Reactions: harshness

dishstaller

Yesterday at 11:59 AM

Billboard along I-10 had reg at $3.81 and diesel at $5.54

Bobby

Today at 11:10 AM

Regular$5.399
Premium$5.899
Diesel$7.999
at Costco, Rohnert Park.

osu1991

Today at 11:49 AM

$3.55

reubenray

Today at 12:47 PM

$3.45 in Jane, MO.

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Linus Tech Tips

Today at 12:22 PM · posted in Linus Tech Tips

I’ve never seen this before (and it’s 20 years old.)

Time for another AWESOME video from Linus Tech Tips!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hlTu95nOCw

Direct YouTube Link - I've never seen this before (and it's 20 years old.)
Linus on Facebook
The LTT Store