TWC Chat Transcripts

What follows is a transcript of my "Live Assistance" session with TWC. The service is anything BUT what it's title suggests. The "humans" on the other side are barely alive with their "canned responses", and as the the "Assistance"... The transcript speaks for itself.

Karen F: Thank you, and with whom am I speaking currently?
steve: Steve
Karen F: Thank you, what technical issue may we assist you with?
steve: in the last 10 minutes I've lost connectivity twice
steve: on my cable modem
steve: AND my digital phone
steve: (just installed a couple of days ago)
steve: I work from home, so as you can imagine, this is VERY debilitating
steve: I tried to call (from my cell phone of course) and there was a 35 min wait
steve: so I know TWC is having a major technical glitch
steve: I just need to know how much to expect
steve: If I can't make my conference calls today I will have to reconsider my digital phone decision
Karen F: What area of Austin are you in, please?
steve: SW
steve: Southwest Pkwy
Karen F: We are not showing any problems in the south west area at this time, when the connection drops, what do the lights on the modem do, please?
Karen F: Hello, are you still with me?
steve: yes
steve: a bunch of lights flashing
steve: it's a VOIP modem
steve: so I'm not used to looking at the lights here... Gimme a sec.
Karen F: What are the labels by the lights that are flashing, please?
steve: i see cable go out and then start flashing
steve: like i said... it's not usually a problem
steve: but this morning it is
steve: and it's BOTH my modem and my phone
steve: I can't communicate with e-mail, instant msgr, telephone
steve: it's working fine at this very moment. I just thought I would report my issue so that TWC will have record as to why I switched…should this continue to occur
Karen F: Are there any other technical issues we may assist you with?
steve: no thanks... my issues are never resolved via "Live Assistance"
steve: good bye
steve: disconnected
Karen F: disconnected


As you can see, "Karen" was trying to get me back on track with her Expert System. You see, they can't possibly answer a question unless it's programmed into this system and is somewhere on a path in their flowchart. The "What are the labels by the lights that are flashing, please?" is the starting point which will eventually lead you into "Please try to reboot your PC... Please reset the power on your cable modem... Are you connected to a router... What operating system are you using"... not in that order, mind you. All I know is... They should have 2 versions of customer service... One for newb's that don't know what the problem is (nothing against newb's by the way), and one for people who know where the problem is and want someone on the other line to confirm their suspisions and maybe talk tech... and be all geeky together. Maybe someday... but until then, Time Warner's "Live Assistance", is the suck.