NOTE: It says what great features Charter Cable has, but if you can't afford the features or they don't work what difference does it make! If you have problems, call the City Manager J. Duff at (626) 357-7931 to voice your complaints or contact a Councilperson. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article Last Updated: Monday, February 25, 2002 - 12:24:08 AM MST Charter cable users angry Rate increases, long waits rile customers By Elizabeth Lee Staff Writer PASADENA -- Trying to communicate with Charter Communications, the fourth largest cable company in the country, has long been a source of frustration for its local customers. But since the company consolidated six of its local call centers into one facility in Irwindale in December and January, Charter has infuriated callers by reportedly keeping many on hold for half an hour or more. "I don't know of anything more irritating than spending this kind of money for a service, and then your rates go up, and then your service decreases to the point of this kind of frustration," When Pasadena Star-News columnist Charles Cherniss wrote several columns about customer complaints this month, more than 50 readers responded. Angry subscribers complained about problems with the new digital cable service, recent rate increases and long telephone waits. Lori Sandoval, a city employee who has been formally tracking cable complaints to City Hall since September, said the number of complaints jumped in December. And the pitch is getting higher. "There is this sense that the level of frustration is increasing," she said. Hills said her 80-minute wait happened three or four weeks ago. After going to the local Charter office in person to complain, she said she heard similar stories from other customers. "This one woman (there) was elderly and she was actually crying, she was so frustrated. She said, 'You don't realize how hard it is for me to come down here. But my television is my life; I don't have anything else to do,' " Hills said. Hills, too, was told the reason for the delays is the consolidation of offices. "Like that's our problem. My response was, 'Then cut our rates until you can measure up to the kind of service you're charging for,' " she said. Charter and its predecessors have provided cable to Pasadena for about 18 years. The company also serves Alhambra, Altadena, Azusa, Duarte, Irwindale, La Canada Flintridge, Montebello, Monterey Park, Norwalk, Rosemead, San Gabriel, Temple City, Walnut and West Covina. Under the old system, customer calls were routed to local centers including Alhambra, Whittier and Burbank. Five moved to the new center in January. The Burbank center closed early in December due to a flood, said Joe Camicia, Charter vice president of government and public relations. Camicia's first response to a reporter's questions about customer service problems was that maybe some customers were dialing the wrong number; the new number is (866) 499-8080. "We had a day (Tuesday) in which we answered 90 percent of the calls within 30 seconds, which is normal" he said. "While we have had . . . the flood . . . in our call center in Burbank that forced us into the new facility earlier than we had hoped, we're sort of getting past that." When told of the 90-percent-in-30-seconds standard, Hills said, "That is bull-you- know-what. Even in the good old days, before it got this big, they never answered quickly. Never." Pasadena City Councilman Sid Tyler, who has gotten several complaints from constituents about Charter, had a similar response. "They are so far from that (standard) it's laughable," he said. "What Charter is very good at -- they think, anyway -- is telling you how good their service is, and how effective it is," Tyler said. "But they don't have a truly objective, independent analysis of the way people feel about the service." Pasadena council members have expressed increasing frustration with Charter, and last year awarded a 15-year franchise to Altrio Communications to provide cable, Internet and telephone service to Pasadena residents. Altrio could be ready to serve residents in the Hastings Ranch area in 30 to 45 days, depending on when the city gives it permits, Altrio and city officials said. Camicia said he isn't worried about defections to Altrio due to service problems. "I think by the time Altrio is ready to go, this will be so far behind us it won't be an issue," he said. On Wednesday, a Pasadena council committee met with Camicia and other Charter officials to discuss a rate increase of 13.9 percent, which became effective this month. Charter said the increase was due to higher programming, energy and operating costs. The talk soon veered to customer service problems. Camicia defended Charter by pointing out all the features and channels that Charter offers, including music and movie-on-demand channels, and interactive information services. "'This is probably the most advanced cable television system in the country," he said. Customer service representatives also answered 90 percent of calls within 30 seconds on Wednesday, Camicia said. "I must be hearing from the 10 percent," said Councilman Steve Haderlein. The company has spent $20 million on the regional call center, built when they realized the former system couldn't handle their volume of calls, Camicia said. More than 200 new customer service representatives are being hired and trained, he said. While the city has no power to regulate Charter's rates, its franchise agreement with Charter states the company can eventually be fined if it fails to meet customer service standards. Staff have requested data on call response times from Charter, according to Chief Information Technology Officer John Pratt. But that information is now unavailable, Camicia said Friday. He said records for the difficult December and January months are incomplete or nonexistent, and previous data were lost during the transition to the new call center. Although the local cable market is open to competition, cable companies like Charter have effectively had monopolies for years, with the exception of satellite dish TV. Competition was a practical impossibility because competitors found it cost-prohibitive to build networks in cities once a provider had already moved in. But technology and changes in federal laws have made it easier for companies to provide cable, telephone and Internet services at once, making cable competition more lucrative. -- Elizabeth Lee can be reached at (626) 578-6300, Ext. 4461, or by e-mail at elizabeth.lee@sgvn.com.