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Readers asked questions, and Time Warner Cable’s local presidents responded. Mostly.

Back in October, I told readers that Time Warner was letting me meet Deborah “Debi” Picciolo, president of residential services for the West Region, and Clarence Caldwell, president of network operations/engineering for the West Region.  Picciolo and Caldwell, pictured below on right, were willing to answer questions. So, readers asked away.

Picciolo and Caldwell were patient and responsive. And they’re relatively new to Time Warner. Picciolo joined three years ago from Comcast Corp. Caldwell came in 2007 from Cox Communications.

For those keeping track, Time Warner acquired the Orange County operations of Adelphia and Comcast in April 2006. Customers have had everything to complain about ever since, as Time Warner faced merging billing systems, customer service, programming, equipment. In Orange County, Time Warner combined its billing systems last fall. Picciolo said call-center operations consolidated in June.

During the interview, I concentrated on a few major questions:

• How much work is left in Orange County?
• Why are cable prices so high?
• When are we getting more HD channels? (Here’s an answer.)

And then there is the a la carte question many readers want answered: When will Time Warner let customers pay for only the channels they want to watch?  These key questions I split up as separate posts and will publish them in upcoming days.

I went through all the reader questions that made it by my Nov. 1 deadline and categorized them. I edited some for clarity and consolidated duplicate questions and submitted them to Darryl Ryan, director of media relations. My instructions to him: Please answer all questions possible with simple responses. Follow-up questions can be asked later.

Not all questions were answered, but I’ve listed them in case Picciolo, Caldwell or Ryan would like to try again (Update: Here’s the list of unanswered questions). Answers are categorized in these topics:

• Programming
• DVR questions
• Customer service, pricing
• Technical, reception

Here are the questions:

Programming questions

Some background: I submitted questions to Time Warner during the first week of November and a day after my Nov. 5 interview with the presidents, they also sent me answers to all the questions. Since then, Time Warner has announced several new channels coming to Orange County lineups by Dec. 15. See earlier story: “Time Warner adding 21 HD channels in December.”

1. QUESTION: When are you going to add the Mountain West Conference Channel (MWC)?

Time Warner Cable: We don’t have an agreement with MWC but we are in talks with them.

2. Can we please get the NFL Network? Why can’t it be offered as a separate package?

TWC: We don’t have an agreement with NFLN but we’re still talking with them. We (and our customers) have been, and continue to be, tremendous supporters of the NFL. Our customers already spend hundreds of millions of dollars per year to watch the vast majority of available NFL games and football-related content on broadcast stations and ESPN. Without NFLN, most of our customers still see all of their home team games over the course of the season; customers in limited geographic areas might miss only one game of their home team. (Here’s the list of weekly NFL games.)

Spending so much on NFLN might keep us from making other investments that would better serve our customers’ needs 365 days/year.

[Gadgetress note: Time Warner also answers this question online, offering more details. In essence: Time Warner wants to make NFL a special sports tier but the NFL wants a broader tier, which would mean more customers would have to contribute to NFL fees whether they watch or not. Time Warner's last proposal was to offer subscribers NFL coverage on a per-game basis and give 100 percent of the revenue to the NFL. The NFL rejected this.]

3. Is HDNet coming back?

TWC: Time Warner Cable no longer carries HDNet.

[Gadgetress note: HDNet, owned by Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, had wanted the channels off the paid-HD tier and offered on Time Warner's basic digital tier for all customers. Time Warner pulled the channels in May 2009.]

4. When will TW-LA be adding the Big Ten network?

TWC: We don’t have an agreement with the Big Ten network but we are in talks with them.

5. What about FEARnet?

TWC: Time Warner Cable no longer carries FEARnet.

6. Why do I get Spanish on half of my channels?  I would like to see a cable package that would only include English speaking programs. Foreign-language channels make up at least 20 percent of the channels I receive. And can you take off the religious channels, too, unless I ask for them?

TWC: We are an all inclusive company, and we have diversity in programming, and we do our very best to make sure everyone is  served.

7. Does Time Warner plan to offer movie extras to match what a DVD offers? Is it difficult to do this?

TWC: This option will be considered, tested and evaluated for its effectiveness.

8. Why are there three of the same channels? When are you getting rid of this?

DVR questions

9. Is there a fix coming for HD DVRs? The system continually “stutters” when fast forwarding or rewinding?

TWC: This is not universal problem amongst our customers; anyone experiencing this problem is encouraged to contact our customer support line. We will be there to service 24/7, and can replace a damaged box if necessary.

[Gadgetress note: Time Warner's customer service number is  1-888-TW-CABLE (1-888-892-2253), or you can send an e-mail, or chat live online with a service rep.]

10. If the DVR is recording two shows, why does it cancel a third scheduled show if the existing recordings go 1 minute over? Why not record the remainder of the show?

TWC: The DVR is programmed to record time slots of shows, and its priority is set to record to the time slots the user requested it to record.

[Gadgetress note: In other words, the DVR only records two shows at the same time. However, the reader's question may really be why does the box CANCEL the third show? As a Time Warner customer myself, I haven't seen this problem. The DVR won't let me do this because it is smart enough to know if I'm trying to record three things at the same time. What usually happens for me is the third show starts recording after the other two are done, so the beginning is cut off by a minute or so. Anyone else want to chime in?]

11. Can we go back to the previous DVR software?

TWC: Going back to previous, outdated software would not be conducive to forward moving progress in the technology industry.

[Gadgetress note: Time Warner began rolling out the new Mystro software during the summer to prepare for new features like "Look Back" and "Start Over," which let viewers who forgot to record a show rewind or start from its beginning.]

12. Why won’t TWC get rid of bad hardware? The (Motorola) DVR box we were issued has a problem of not being current with the commands given via the buttons on the remote control. It will either speed past programs by not stopping when selected, or at times will revert completely back to the beginning of a program. We are now on (Motorola) DVR box number three. According to several Time Warner service personnel who have replaced these DVR boxes, “this is a problem that Time Warner has been aware of, but there has been no solution as yet.”

TWC: New hardware being used.

13. How do I stop my DVR from going into “Sleep Mode”? The message pops up all the time on the screen saying that the DVR is going into “sleep mode.”

TWC: We encourage the customer to call customer support and a representative can help them, walk them through and resolve this issue.

[Gadgetress note: I'm a Time Warner Cable customer, too. On my DVR box, if you go into "Settings," there's something called a "Sleep Timer" that turns the box on or off. You have to set it. If this doesn't answer your question, ask it again to Time Warner's customer service (or here). Time Warner's customer service number is  1-888-TW-CABLE (1-888-892-2253), or you can send an e-mail, or chat live online with a service rep.]

14. Since channels are switching numbers constantly, why can’t I search by station name?

TWC: This option will be considered, tested and evaluated for its effectiveness.

Customer service, pricing questions

15. Why are we subjected to 20 questions whenever we try to cancel service?

TWC: Our customer service representatives want to help the customer. Before a customer decides to cancel, we attempt to check and see if there is anything we can do to help to prevent them from canceling service. In addition, we would like to know the reason why, so we understand why, in the rare occurrence, a customers decides to cancel.

16. Why do you share the Social Security numbers of your customers with so many of your employees?

TWC: This is incorrect.

17. When will bills be available online?

TWC: Bills are available online. We believe in “going green.”

18. When new HD channels become available, I would like to receive notification instead of just stumbling upon them months later.

TWC: We always notify our customers of new HD channels and movie previews in the billing statements and messages are sent to their cable boxes as well.

[Gadgetress note: It's true. That monthly bill has a lot of information.]

19. How can a consumer escalate a problem? And what is the escalation procedure?

TWC: The customer can ask to speak with a supervisor.

20. Time Warner Cable offers all types of incentives to NEW customers. Why do existing customers get overlooked? With the cost of services especially for us who have HD cable, digital phone and home internet, our bills can approach $200 a month. It would be nice to get a discount on a bill, an improved package price, etc.

TWC: We are always looking to “right-size” current customers. If a customer would like to be “right-sized,” we encourage them to call customer service and ask.

21. Do you offer a discount for multiple internet cable boxes?

TWC: No.

Reception, technical questions

22. Why does the signal cut in and out during commercials, on the HD channels?

TWC: This is not universal problem amongst our customers; anyone experiencing this problem is encouraged to our customer support line.

[Gadgetress note: Time Warner's customer service number is  1-888-TW-CABLE (1-888-892-2253), or you can send an e-mail, or chat live online with a service rep.]

23. How come since TW took over Comcast whenever I watch something on demand, in the middle of it, it turns black and white?

TWC: This is not universal problem amongst our customers; anyone experiencing this problem is encouraged to our customer support line.

24. Why is my DVR spinning and clicking at 5:00 in the morning?

TWC: This is not universal problem amongst our customers; anyone experiencing this problem is encouraged to our customer support line.

25. Can Time Warner Cable control the loudness of commercials or between channels on their cable network?

TWC: We encourage the customer to use their remote to control the volume.

[Gadgetress note: On my DVR, within the settings there is a feature called "Audio Range," which is found under Audio. If you select "Narrow" this is supposed to offer consistent sound levels.]

More answers are coming. Check back. I’ll post the related posts below.

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