Letter to the Editor:

Great news, Spectrum is now 100% digital in your area, ‘woo-hoo.’ I’ve noticed that whenever something is declared “great” or is “new and improved,” it’s far from being nice news. So what does this mean, first I just wondered what percentage of digital was Spectrum before now? Well I know what it means to the customers that have cable with them, it means a few things.

It means that if your TV does not have a box, you’re not going to have cable on that TV until you get one. That seems to be an interesting procedure. I went up to the Spectrum store on March 21st and the police/sheriff’s car, parked outside, seemed very foreboding to me. My wait wasn’t bad, but was interesting since people the day before had a three hour wait. Of course, when I got called up I was told the box I needed wouldn’t scan (this made no sense to Spectrum’s technical support) and I would have to call customer service to get one. The lady I sat next was commenting how the box was free for twelve months, and I let her know that only applies to one box. The cost per month, per each box, after the initial free one will run from $7.99 to possible $11, and that is before tax is applied. Some people were told that they would be charged $30 to have a box sent to them. And I was told personally, that to have a technician come out and install it would cost you $40, hopefully that is not per TV. I will add, if you try to hook it up and can’t, for one reason or another, a technician would be sent out for free.

But that is narrow thinking, when I broaden my mind, the reality is shocking. First consider, Spectrum is in 45 states, I don’t know in what areas this update has been applied. This “wonderful” change affects hotels, hospitals, nursing homes, doctor’s office, gyms, restaurants, sports bars, medical waiting rooms, rehab centers, apartment complexes (even the ones for the aged and disabled) and etc. I know a woman who resides at a local nursing home who has been told she will no longer have cable do to this “wondrous” change.

If I dig deeper, I know what this means, higher cable prices and at least millions of dollars lost for Spectrum due to their losing customers;

(Giggles), and a great opportunity for satellite companies and maybe a new cable company to make some real money. Who pays the cable increases: the patients, the customers, the renters, the elderly, and the people renting the hotel rooms do.

Spectrum sent out letters about this change, some got their letters late and some didn’t get them at all. I called and asked what my Mother-in-law needed to do, they said nothing, yet, still in the end she had to order a box. One woman behind me, said that she needed someone to read the new program listing to her, and I can understand after seeing the extremely fine print of it. I saw an elderly man in Wal-mart “having” to buy a new TV, and I wondered how much this had to do with Spectrum’s “advancement”. This is why when I hear of an improvement of something that doesn’t seem bad or damaged, I shiver. It’s a good thing that they informed us that this is “GREAT NEWS,” otherwise I might have thought it was anything else but great.

 

Brenda D. Woolever

Orange