[TW] Need Basic Cable First?

[TW] Need Basic Cable First?
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seph29 @ 11th Feb 07:27PM:
[TW] Need Basic Cable First?

*sigh* So, I had been a Timewarner RoadRunner subscriber for a while, and some of the things that Earthlink offers with their service enticed me to want to switch (like free usenet access and a $30 promotional price). I signed up for service on their website in a chat session with one of their sales reps. According to him, I would receive a call asking me to confirm and that service would be transferred transparently.

I received a call today from a tech who thought that he had to come out and install service. I told him no, I already have Roadrunner so all that needs to be done is the switch on your end. He said alright and put a note in my file, or whatever. I figured I would call during my lunch break and see when said transfer would occur. Of course, this was a bigger deal than I figured because nobody at Timewarner seems to know what Earthlink is. Finally, I get through to a manager and ask him about it. He puts me on hold for about 15 minutes and then comes back and says that I can't get Earthlink because it is "designed" to work in a package with a cable TV subscription. Well, I don't want Timewarner's good-for-nothing cable service, I just want their pipe to connect to the internet.

Earthlink has already set up my email account and everything and I have been able to login, etc.

So, that's where I am now. Just wondering if anyone here has had a similar experience or was able to successfully switch to Earthlink without purchasing Timewarner's cable TV service.

I was also wondering what the transfer process (from a RoadRunner account) was like for some of you who have gone through it recently. Did you have to have a tech come out? Did you just magically start pulling an Earthlink IP address one day, or did you have to call Timewarner and deal with them to finish the switch? I'm kind of waiting to see what happens if I just sit here for a few days and see where things land. I'm wondering if the change will go through anyway, or if it's going to bounce back to Earthlink at some point and my account is going to close. I've tried to talk to Earthlink support about it, but they're completely useless.

All I know is, they'd better not charge me twice or something.
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seph29 @ 11th Feb 09:04PM:
Re: [TW] Need Basic Cable First?

Wow.. so another 45 minutes on the phone later and I've been bounced around even more. Finally found someone at Earthlink who seemed to know what she was talking about and got a work order ID. Called Timewarner again and tried to have it all set up using that. First guy I spoke with tried to set it up, but found he couldn't because I already had RR (I thought that was supposed to be replaced automagically like the sales guy told me?!). Transferred me to customer service, told them my dilemma all over again, gave them the order id. They say that they have to cancel RR completely first because they can't put the work order for Earthlink through with RR still active. They send me to their cancellation department. Explain everything all over again. This time RR offered to honor the $29.99 promotional price for a full year, which basically works out to the same price as the Earthlink offer when you add in a usenet subscription.

I decided it just wasn't worth the hassle to continue pursuing the switch to Earthlink even though their services outside of the pipe are much better.

Seriously, guys. Has anyone else had this much trouble switching from RoadRunner to Earthlink? I feel like I somehow made this more complicated than it needs to be.

Oh well. Earthlink order cancelled. Hopefully this doesn't somehow get screwed up on my bill or the order somehow manages to make it through the magical crack in the system that nobody knows about. Yeesh!

EDIT: Sorry about the double post. Totally missed the edit link first time around.
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BrianFX @ 11th Feb 11:41PM:
Re: [TW] Need Basic Cable First?

said by seph29 :

Just wondering if anyone here has had a similar experience or was able to successfully switch to Earthlink without purchasing Timewarner's cable TV service.

Yes successful, no cable package necessary.

I've been switching back and forth between RR and Earthlink for close to 3-years now, thereby locking in the promotion rate the entire time. The switches have been amazingly easy, a 5-minute phone call to TWC, turn off/on the cable modem and presto, all set.

Never call or contact Earthlink, that was your mistake. If your provider is TWC, Earthlink account setup is entirely 100% handled by TWC (aside from Earthlink email setup, that I contact them directly for). My TWC reps know all about Earthlink, I'm surprised yours didn't have a clue.

I'm done with switching now b/c RR shutdown their usenet access, really no point in going back to them anymore (and there's talk of them expanding their 40GB caps to other markets).
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BrianFX @ 11th Feb 11:44PM:
Re: [TW] Need Basic Cable First?

Just to reiterate, no TV package was necessary, I've never had a cable TV package in my life (they usually forget the analog filter). I'm not sure why the manager told you one was required. These cable co's are full of lies lately, especially with regards to the DTV transition.
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BrianFX @ 11th Feb 11:48PM:
Re: [TW] Need Basic Cable First?

Doh, just saw you're from LA. Nevermind, forget everything I said. My LA buddy tried to switch to Earthlink too last week and the TWC reps had no idea what it was. It must be handled differently by TWC depending on market.
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NewsAdmin @ 13th Feb 04:32PM:
Re: [TW] Need Basic Cable First?

said by BrianFX :

I'm done with switching now b/c RR shutdown their usenet access, really no point in going back to them anymore (and there's talk of them expanding their 40GB caps to other markets).

It looks like RR's early testing with the caps went well, and they've already announced plans to implement the "consumption based billing" model in other cities. For anyone using newsgroups, p2p, or any site with multimedia content for that matter, the 40GB isn't going to offer much capacity. Some RR accounts will be restricted to as little as 5GB month. No word on what cities they're planning to expand into next.

Bob / NewsAdmin.Com
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