OK, There IS a Difference

By Tim Hermes | Published: February 17, 2010
Tim Hermes, BGR CEO

Tim Hermes, BGR CEO

The winter blues. Never had em so bad after the winter we have had here in DC. So last weekend I grabbed the wife, kid and pot-roast-with toenails we call our bulldog London and headed south to our little beach place that we had used our son’s college savings to afford. ANYTHING and I mean ANYTHING to get away from the snow. If we didn’t, there may have been a few shallow graves in the backyard.

I had it all set up in my mind. Lots of running, sleep late, and watch the Olympics over the long weekend. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that my cable was out. After all I heard about the horrible luge incident and mercifully was spared the live broadcast. So I picked up the phone (cable triple play) to call my local provider and of course that was out too. Internet access? Toast.

The hell with it. I took the cable out of the STB, ran it into the TV and got a few channels  although the signal died completely intermittently. And I GOTTA watch my Spongebob! I have based my life on his teachings! Granted, this is a tough-weather area prone to hurricanes, salt corrosion, rain and wind. Gotta be a tough locale to run an op. However I remember the day we had the install done and the contractor had to leave for two hours because “he forgot his tools.” I saw at least four outdoor enclosures that had been struck by vehicles that were listing, exposing their protected equipment to the elements.

And when I got home? I had a letter from said provider saying my bill was over-due. Funny, I paid that a month ago by auto-pay from my bank, and they cashed the check. $80 bucks to pay a bill for a service I hadn’t used and when I needed it it didn’t work.

So for this cable-ista, the front end and the back end of this local op doesn’t get very high marks. My guess is that many local cable companies still have a way to go on reliability, service, and billing. But I take great confidence that cable’s willingness to improve, put the customer first, and deliver fast reliable service. I’m still a believer.

And we still had a great long weekend.

Tim Hermes is CEO at Broadband Gear Report. Email him at timhermes@comcast.net.

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