We live in a new age. Gone are the days of one telephone company holding a monopoly in service area. They say that monopolies were once broken, but that is not entirely true. I’ve moved a lot in my life and found that the local phone crew did everything they could to get me to use their services. If I chose a completely different carrier, they made things difficult for me.
Having tested with many different phone companies I have come to feel that none are good, just a little better than others. There was really no reason why you would want to treat a customer-service-tips as a human being, because you don’t but you would use their services.
A guy I know suggested I try Vonage cell phone service. This digital phone works through internet connection cables and bypasses the phone company entirely. Intriguing! I’ve done some research and like what I’ve heard, but never got around to making the switch until now. I went with Vonage instead of Time Warner and went with my local cable company.
Why We Switched
Finally at the end of the line with my phone company. I was three days late on my bill when I received a call from my phone company. The message stated that they had disconnected my phone while leaving for the office. stunned My phone is blocked because my bill was three days late? When my husband phoned them he said he had no choice because people are running bills and then switching to a digital phone. They were pretty dirty about it.
I think if it runs on a digital phone, I can do more with customer service than anything else. I find this type of behavior unacceptable. They also said that if someone turned off our services, it would cost us twenty dollars. It also cost us 26 dollars to get back into it. This telephone company considers local, long distance and optional long distance services to be three separate entities. That’s a whopping 78 dollars!
What Got Us?
I was seeing ads in my area for Time Warner Digital Cable phone service. They said they could save me a bunch of money and kiss the phone company goodbye. We called and were blown away by what they were offering. They have a package called “All in One” which consists of top internet speed, residential phone services and digital cable with DVR. We offer this package for $125.00 per month. After doing some math I realized that I would be saving over $100.00 per month.
Of the good and the bad
I can happily say that we are very pleased with our new phone. There are a few downsides to a digital phone, but they are minor. It is relatively new so the quality is not the best. If the power goes out like this the digital phone. The only time I’ve been without service in a few months I’ve had a digital phone and that was because my modem needed the internet. A quick phone call on my cell phone and it is fixed within minutes.
One fabulous benefit of a digital phone is its features. You get caller ID, call waiting, and a whole host of other benefits at no extra cost. The caller ID happened to be my employee. It is not as defined as with the telephone company’s caller ID. It gives a number, but only says the city where the caller lives, not the name. international-vocat does not handle well. The call came from Australia as ‘Maryland’ and I almost didn’t answer.
The best bonus of a digital phone is long distance. You can call anywhere in the US and Canada for free. Buy international calls substantially less than a traditional phone. I can call my friends in Australia for ten cents a minute.
If you turn
Digital telephony is not available in all locations. If you live in an area where you can’t get cable, you obviously can’t get a digital phone. If you live in a service area and are thinking about switching this is what you can expect.
Time Warner will handle all the details. They can port your number so you can’t deal with a new phone number. Here it takes seven to ten days. They may ask you to notify your phone provider. If your current job finds out you’re gone, they can lock your account and lose your phone number. A technician will come to your home and set everything up for you. You can use your existing phone.
Final thoughts
Time Warner is a dream to act in comparison to the telephone company. They are always polite, prompt and very helpful. They answer their phones at any hour of the day unlike the phone company in my area that closes at 6 AM. The kinks are still being worked out, but this job is amazing in all. It was a mix up of our work order that caused the old phone company to bill us. Time Warner took care of the problem for us. Not only does it save you money it also makes life a whole lot easier.
