Thursday, August 16, 2012

brighthouse sucks, chapter whatever

yes, brighthouse brings me here again... let's do a quick status check:

brighthouse digital hd cable tv (table updated 11/12/12, still trending downward):
working perfectly
working adequately
not working properly
not working at all
4% of the time

8% of the time

68% of the time

20% of the time

no problems

delays, box/channels reset occasionally, software does not adjust aspect ratio and picture size automatically
sound does not go on at start, box resets/blinks every 60 seconds, aspect ratio and picture size are off box/channel resets every 10-15 seconds or other issue requires reboot, call to tech support, or visit

brighthouse roadrunner broadband turbo internet (updated 9/5/12, trending upward):
working near perfectly
working adequately
not working properly
not working at all
55% of the time
30% of the time
10% of the time
5% of the time
no problems
slow downs
modem requires a reboot
requires a call to tech support or repair visit

and the vent as it was happening...

another hour and a half of my time working for brighthouse and i am paying them to work for them... i was working for myself on the net juggling a lot of tabs searching for tires and blogging and the modem decided to stop, blink, just stop... i rebooted four times and nothing... next came shutting down the computer and it took a half hour to save all the work i was in the middle of, but i saved everything and shut down the computer... turned it on, no change... local service only... we've been here before a few times and it ended up with blaming my computer and then service calls and then changing out the modem... i hope this isn't the start of yet another time consuming no-service cycle as i need to stay connected to continue job hunting...

i called brighthouse and was on hold a half hour listening to how easy it is to resolve modem issues by rebooting the modem... reboot, no change... reboot the modem again... no change... again, no change... reboot the computer again, no change...

after about an hour of rebooting the modem and the computer, suddenly there is a connection again... i was still on hold with brighthouse listening to the repetitive messages, so i hung up... thanks for the crappy service once again, brighthouse...

yeah, i know a brighthouse representative left a message here last month offering to help, but there comes a time after speaking with a dozen different representatives and having a half dozen house calls over a couple of months that i run out of patience and more, i run out of belief that the brighthouse reps can fix the problem and need to take a break...

the tv cable box still sucks too, but at least it's been working adequately most nights... sometimes it just starts blanking out every fifteen seconds or so and sometimes it works ok... sometimes the sound works when the box and tv go on, sometimes it doesn't... the channel needs to be changed to get the sound to work and that works about 75% of the time... the box needs rebooting at least once a week... it's a shame that i've gotten used to such poor service...

and the long term damage that i am going to have to remedy is that the box is definitely the wrong box for a plasma tv because the box does not resize the images like the other box does (a difference in software i am told, but can i believe the techs?) so some burning in of the images on the plasma screen has started... i just have not had the patience to call and set up yet another service call to change boxes again because this box at least works about 60-70% of the time and the last few boxes have not been nearly as mediocre ( in other words, they worked worse)...

one of these days i will just have to make the time to research the alternatives, direct tv, dish, u-verse, century link... friends have those others services and most seem to like them... there are drawbacks to all of them, but brighthouse is just becoming intolerable and they are the highest price service of them all...

i am so tired of wasting my time with them...

UPDATE 3:15AM... and about ten minutes later... this entry was uploaded and the brighthouse service went out again so i called brighthouse back... good news, this time i was actually connected to a tech support rep after about five minutes... this time the modem reset itself, all lights blinking off and then back on just before the rep came on the line... i shut down the computer again and when i turned it back on, it was connected again... the rep put me on hold and returned a few minutes later informing me that the tests he ran showed the modem was shutting down on it's own... well at least they see that on their end... now i am waiting for a level 1 support tech troubleshoot the problem... i hold we don't have to go to yet another visit from brighthouse to exchange modems again...

oh crap, i am listening to the annoying modem reset message again... i hope this does not mean i was reset in the queue and have an hour wait like last time... the more i listen to that stupid unplug your modem message, the more i want to hang up and unplug from brighthouse for good... i will be back later with an update...

UPDATE 3:34AM: waiting for the level 1 tech... they finally came on after 20 minutes and gave me the there is an outage in your area and technicians are working on it line... i had to wait 20 more minutes and give my telephone number and identification information and explain the problem again just to get that standard line... the previous tech could not say that... this tech chould not just say that without my repeating the ID info and problem again... they just wasted another half hour of my time... what is wrong with that picture?...

brighthouse - still poor equipment, poor technical service, and poor customer service... at least they are consistent...

5 comments:

  1. Hi, my name is Samantha. I work for Brighthouse. I work in the sales department, but I will offer my best possible help. I would be happy to place an escalation to get your services taken care of. Rather than calling customer service, please call me directly so that I can do my best to help you. 407-353-9118.

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    Replies
    1. the cable box does not work, its not repairable, what do you think you could possible do? friend.

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  2. i waited up tonight to watch something at 1am even though i really should get sleep as i work early tomorrow and instead of watching it, the box reset itself ten minutes ago and it did some sort of odd count down and is still resetting itself...

    not only do i not get to watch the show i waited for... i do not get the sleep i gave up waiting for the show...

    so what could you possibly do to give me the time back that brighthouse stole from me tonight by taking over the product i pay for and not letting me use it as i wish?...

    a free year?

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  3. Have brighthouse in alabama with the same problems as you do. Shitty router, shitty hd cable box, home phone works when modem actually works. And every forum or thread i have examined somehow has a brighthouse rep ready to help you popping up on boards after numerous complaints. Well brighthouse, you cant give tech support for crap equipment. An one line out modem that REQUIRES you to get wireless, a nd makes you have to reset the modem EVERYTIME you cahnge devices is un-tech-suppirtable. Idk what you fools have tried to do, or where our money goes, but i got better dvr boxes from direct tv in 2008...its 2013!!! Will be droppping and telling everyone i know to do the same.

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  4. yes, i feel your annoyance... the latest entry written while waiting for brighthouse to provide what I am paying for is here... they don't seem to understand that i am not paying to spend time fixing their issues - and i will expect payment for my time if i am required to spend time helping to fix their issues... they are not giving me their service or time for free - why should i give them my time or service for free... obviously, they want inequity in their favor... what they will get is my occasional reports on their service...

    unfortunately, i don't think there's any better service out there... today i had the service re-installed at a new location because i moved - and the same issues listed above are back...

    when brighthouse no longer sucks, or when they pay me for my time and service, i'll be happy to write that update.

    ReplyDelete