1) How can a three-year old love Football?
2) Isn't Football a little violent by itself for toddlers!
3) GO Patriots!!!

If You Are A TW Subscriber – You Loose
By Ed Young – Rathdrum, ID

Most everyone in the Panhandle of North Idaho and some cities in Western Montana, by now, are well acquainted with the KAYU FOX 28 & Time Warner Cable argument. I make the affected consumers to be in access of 100,000 or more. I wonder what the KAYU FOX 28 advertisers think about paying for these numbers for their ads that those in the blacked out area will never see?

I called TW customer service 1-888-683-1000 to report the problem and ask for an adjustment on my cable bill, $50 a month plus, and was told that they are working on the problem and that I should call FOX 28 and talk with them. Around and around and no one at either company cares about those who purchase their services. I did go to the KAYU website and they are pushing DirectTV and indoor and roof top antennas; $30 to $300 at your local store. Their site shows that a small indoor UHF antenna will do the job and will give you the FOX 28 NFL programming on either Channel 28. The have a link to retailers who market the UHF antenna. I visited the local Radio Shack store yesterday and was met at the door by a young, intelligent looking employee. I showed him the directional antenna map I had pulled off the FOX site and he said: “You are the fifth person to walk in here with a map like that. I can sell you what you need, however, I went to TW yesterday and they are handing out the UHF and a switch box, with cables for free”. I told him I had called TW customer service and no one told me about this band aid fix. He said he had called also and they had not told him either: so off I go to TW at 2305 W. Kathleen Ave., Coeur D’Alene. I arrived about 1PM and joined the long line that stretched out the front door. One tall (6’4”) with gray beard to the middle of his chest loudly announced: “I over $50 a month for cable service and to watch my football and here I am standing in line to get what I paid for”. It came my turn to talk with the TW representative and she smiled sweetly and said: “ I bet you are here for your free UHF antenna”? I asked her why their customer service did not know about this band aid fix and she told me that they were supposed to directing customers to come in and pick up their FREE UHF and switch box. I told her that I had called three times over the past two days and asked for an adjustment to my cable bill and they said I would have to talk to billing. I listened to music for 25-30 minutes before someone came back on line and said I should call FOX 28 and that they were doing everything they could to solve the disruption of channel service. I am sure they thought by leaving me on hold for that long that I would just hang up and they would not have to deal with me.

I arrived back home and proceeded, with great expectations, to follow the hand drawn diagram for the band aid antenna hookup. It did not work. I called customer service and the young man (professional tech support) suggested everything that was on the diagram. I told him that is what I did. He said he could not help me that it must be my TV or connections. He did not offer to have a service person come and take a look. I asked him to schedule a service call. (TW is big on saying their service calls do not cost anything to their users) It is one of the big ad campaigns again dish sales. He said he could have someone out this coming Saturday. I asked him for a time window? He said they were really busy and that it could be anytime between 8-5. He said the tech would call before he came. Now I have to stay home by the phone all day Saturday to make sure I do not miss him and more NFL/Fox 28 programming Sunday and forward.

AOL, part of the TW corporate, was the defendant of a class action law suit in 2000. It charged them with billing fraud. They settled it in 2006 for $25,000,000. Their track record in dealing with consumers is not a good one.

CALL TO ACTION: I would suggest that every person that reads this article call their local TW office 1-888-683-1000) and request an adjustment of their cable bill until and when this KAYU FOX 28 snafu is fixed. Make a note if you are told about the FREE UHF give away? If they don’t go, en mass, to your local TW office and ask for your FREE UHF antenna. If you can not get it to work call 1-888-683-1000 and ask for a service call from the “no charge” tech. Tell every person you know that has TW cable services about this article and email it to everyone in the North Idaho and Western Montana area. If you have the opportunity begin writing down all the advertisers on KAYU FOX 28; log on to their web sites or write them letters telling them they are missing 100’s of thousands in lost sales, maybe millions, because you and your neighbors can not take advantage of their advertising you are not seeing.

H. Edward Young
P.O. Box 1430
Rathdrum, ID 83858-1430
208-687-1960
ehymain@adelphia.net

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