Time Warner’s ‘free’ HD commercial is misleading, says agency
March 5th, 2010, 7:25 am · 30 Comments · posted by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
Noted: Time Warner Cable likes to tout its “free” HD to make itself look more affordable than the competition. But free isn’t true, as some readers like to note.
The Better Business Bureau doesn’t think so either. After a competitor’s complaint to the Council of Better Business Bureau, Time Warner Cable said it would “revise its advertising to curtail use of the word ‘free,’” reports Multichannel News.
AT&T complained about the misleading ads that are used to promote cable service. The National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus looked at the issue and said that the issue is Time Warner’s “free HD” was part of a temporarily discounted price that eventually went up so free HD should no longer be considered free. The agency recommended that Time Warner discontinue such advertising.
The misleading Time Warner ad showed a U-verse TV customer named Ed who rejected Time Warner’s “free HDTV” and instead says “Sure, U-verse hits me up with an HD surcharge every month but, no big deal, I’ve found ways to make extra cash…” The ad ends with “Don’t Be Ed …Don’t Accept HD Surcharges” or “Don’t Accept Less. Get Digital Cable with Free HD.”
Time Warner offers dozens of HD channels at no extra cost as part of different levels of standard cable service. It has one special tier of HD-only channels for about $5 a month, which customers can order separately. AT&T charges $10 per month for HD channels.
Readers have complained about the “free HD” campaign as well since technically, customers still need to order a minimal cable service and equipment to get the “free” HD channels. Time Warner’s not the only one using the marketing gimmick. Cox and other cable providers also tout free HD.
Readers: What do you think? Did the “free HD” campaign win you over? LEAVE A COMMENT
Read the full story at Multichannel News: Time Warner Cable To Change ‘Free HD’ Claim After AT&T Complaint
Recent Time Warner news:
Reader Comments
Comments are encouraged, but you must follow our User Agreement.- Keep it civil and stay on topic.
- No profanity, vulgarity, racial slurs or personal attacks.
- People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked.
- By posting your comment, you agree to allow Orange County Register Communications, Inc. the right to republish your name and comment in additional Register publications without any notification or payment.
30 Comments
-
ADVERTISEMENT
-
Things to do
-
To view local listings CLICK
HERE
Or visit your TV provider: * Cox Cable * Time Warner Cable * DirecTV * Dish Network * AT&T U-verse * Verizon FiOS *
Watch a show online HERE. Get TV/mobile help on Twitter
-
-
The North Orange County Computer Club answers your tech questions. Visit the PC Club page and the Stump archives.Recent Q&As:
>>Click HERE for more PC Club answers 
More O.C. Tech News- SRCH2 Bolsters Enterprise Search With Broad Language Support May 22, 2013
- San Diego, Irvine Tops For Engineering Job Demand, Says Report May 21, 2013
- AnyMeeting Gives Gentle Nudge Towards Pro Plans May 21, 2013
- Kaleio Launches Professional Workforce Networking Service May 20, 2013
- ChicksStarter Pulls Together Funding For A Lucky Female Startup May 20, 2013
- YouMail Spins New Updates To Android App May 20, 2013
- Alteryx Gets $12M For Big Data Analysis Tools May 20, 2013
- QLogic In CEO Shuffle May 20, 2013
- Privlo Raises $2.1M For Private Mortgage Marketplace May 17, 2013
- Mindspeed Adds Board Member May 17, 2013
-
ADVERTISEMENT
Here's a list of TV/mobile companies helping consumers one tweet at a time. 
the same can be said about the “internet” being free. you just need to pay for the path to get there.
DON”T FORGET ABOUT THE TIME WARNER CHANNELS PACKAGE. MOST OF THE CHANNELS YOU GET IN THE PACKAGE ARE THE ONE MOST CUSTOMERS DON”T WATCH SUCH AS INFOMERCIAL, FOREIGNERS, RELIGIOUS,AND POLITICIANS.
It’s all a rip off.
Well, I see this as kind of a gray area. The monthly fee for the HD box (the one without the DVR) is the same as that of the non-HD digital box. But what Time Warner means by “free” HD is that they put most of the HD channels on the same service level as their non-HD counterparts (e.g. HD versions of local channels are on Broadcast Basic, as are their non-HD versions; and if you get CNN or ESPN or other “basic” cable channels, their HD feeds are available at no extra charge). But satellite (DirecTV and Dish Network) charges extra for ANY HD service (including local channels). So there is SOME truth to Time Warner’s “free HD” claim.
but why are they charging $5 for some hd channels if they are claiming they have free hd…read what tamara said…so it’s not really free…
Jimmy – those extra charges are for premium content. Kinda like even though you get free HD, you aren’t going to get free HD HBO if you don’t subscribe to HBO.
i’m not referring to hbo or showtime or cinemax…i’m referring to universal and mgm hd and three other channels that you have to pay extra…
i have complained about this before…and nothing happened…it took a big company to make it happen…
They charge for the box and the remote, when we picked up the box, we asked what the extra cost of the box would be and they told us free. The HD quality is horrible, it’s on my list of things, to look into other cable companies.
Sad that it took a big company to lubricate the wheels of the watchdog but still a good thing. We need more of this, especially with misleading advertising trying to take our money to fill their pockets.
As far as Gray areas are concerned, even if they do not violate the laws, they still can fail the smell test which violates good moral fibres of honest hard working people who may not be knowledgeable and easily become victims of said deceits.
This applies to all businesses and even the governments who squander our money, (which equals our time and energy and can not be replaced)
For under a hundred bucks I bought a UHF rooftop antenna. My association could NOT say no due to the federal law which prohibits anyone interfering with my right to over the air signal reception. I put it up myself, pointed the antenna at Mount Wilson and i get over 34 channels with NO monthly fees ever!! END THE CABLE/DISH MADNESS.
Consider yourself lucky. There’s many of us terrain challenged folks that don’t have a choice. We need even the basic channels via dish or cable for the LA market. I’d do it in a heartbeat and tell Cox to beat it if it wasn’t for the large mounds of dirt around me.
The ad isn’t misleading at all. It means exactly what I would expect it to mean, that they don’t charge extra fees to get HD channels. It’s ridiculous that other companies like AT&T U-Verse do. I was very happy with my Time Warner service when I got my HDTV and saw that I automatically got HD service without even having to tell them I wanted it.
When I had their service, which I was forced to since I lived in an apartment that did not allow dishes, the only “free” HD stuff I got was what was already being broadcast over the air. Thought that was ridiculous. And their pay HD chanels were so slim compared to everyone else (Dish, Direct, U-Verse, FIOS, etc.) it was laughable. I have FIOS now where I live and I don’t mind paying about $5 more a month for 10x the TV. Plus, I have no customer service issues at all. I could never say that about Time Warner. Worst pay TV service ever in my book. Oh, and thanks for sending my bills to me in spanish Time Warner. I should have paid you in pesos!!!
The ad is very misleading. The HD is not free, you have to pay a fee to have it. They don’t tell the truth about other things either.
all of them are lying dirtbags…..
All the cable TV service providers are in the same racket, advertising one thing and charging you for another. For instance, FIOS charges for each set top boxes above and beyond the advertised price. If the special price is $99.99 then you can expect to pay $129.99 if you need or want a set top box and or a DVR. I can only find three HD channels that work. I like the UHF/HD antenna idea.
Time Warner are crooks. That is why I left them about 4 years ago. I went to AT&T and never looked back. While many people don’t like AT&T either. At least AT&T gives you better/faster service and reliablility then Time Warner. Sure AT&T service isn’t free….but neither is TIme Warner. Time Warner can be summed up in one word…..”DECEPTIVE”.
yeah, it’s free… that’s why I pay an extra $13.00 for the box to get them.. If they would broadcast the signal properly I wouldn’t need a box at all for the channels to come in CLEAR… Shame on TW for taking advantage of us..
No matter what Time Warner says, they will ever convince me they are better. They don’t care about their customers and always lie about stuff. I had nothing but problems with them in the past and that is why I got rid of them. They kept taking channels away and putting them in separate tiers. So if I wanted to be able to get some of my favorite channels back, I had to buy another tier. AT&T U-Verse gives me a lot more channels and HD channels. If they take a channel away, they replace it with another one that ends up being another HD channel. They just don’t take away and leave you with nothing like Time Warner does. Plus, they only do it with channels that are not that important to me. I have the channels I want that Time Warner wouldn’t let me have unless I forked over more money.
we should do a class action lawsuit. So if any attorney sees this get going before somebody else does.
When Time Warner offers NFL Network, they might be worth paying for HD channels
The only subscription free HD is OTA with an antenna.
The cable companies calling it “free” when one still has to pay a subscription is more than misleading.
Well, one can always use a QAM tuner to get the non-scrambled (broadcast) HD channels on cable, but even that requires a subscription to limited basic.
I can’t believe how so many of the posters are complete idiots. Let’s look at all of the companies: Cox, TWC, Dish, Directv, Verizon FIOS, AT&T. Everyone of these companies charge a fee for their equipment, ie box. Both Direct and Dish give you the great option of not only purchasing the box, but then you get to pay them to use the box. All of the others don’t. So looking at the average price of the equipment fee per month being roughly $7, let’s negate this since you pay for it with all companies. So now we are looking at “Free HD”. Cox, Comcast, TWC all provide the HD channels free of charge, as long as you have a box. End of story. If you want the special premium HD channels, which for all 3 of those companies there are about 8 channels you pay an extra $5 for, you pony up the cash. If you are satisfied with the approximately 50 or so HD channels these providers at no additional charge, where is the issue? I believe that not only does the original writer of this article have to educate herself on the wonders of the television industry, but so do the people who babble with no clue of what is going on. Bottom line, you will have to subscribe to any of these companies to get a service, if you want the HD service, you will always need a box. Don’t include QAM channels in this discussion as any idiot knows that an HD tv is capable of picking up OTA HD locals. And as far as using the box to get HD channels, unfortunately the cable companies are the only ones to do so. By the way, I’m an engineer for Directv and I wish I could say the same for our service.
I was not won over. I always assume the job of advertising (especially if it involves TWC) is to lie. Am I the only person that can’t stand the guy in the commercials? I feel like he is the biggest winey wimp on the planet. I am talking about they guy on the porch talking about how dish might go out in bad weather. He has done other commercials (for TWC) about other companies hating puppies.
I have always found TWC’s online people to be very ignorant of their own company. They told me I get get a HD DVR and attach it myself, this was false. The company’s policy is to have someone install it and that takes weeks to get a guy out to your home. This is just one of 4 things they have advised me incorrectly on.
Then TWC is always in a fight with networks. They dont’ carry NFL or Mark Cuban’s networks and they nearly lost FOX this year. They LIE again about the networks raising fees, truth be told they just want to keep your money to themselves. Talking about Cuban’s HDNET they replaced it that Crime network in the HD band and half the time it’s not even showing HD content.
That was the final straw for me. I took back my HD receiver and only carry basic for the last year. I plan to get dish next month. Funny thing they never called to find out why I dropped $60 in services. However, I forgot to pay my bill one month and on the 33rd day or so, they started calling 2-3 times a day. What a wonderful company.
I meant TWC’s reps on the phone..not online as I said
I get free HD OTA.
Yep,
hmm… I pay over 80.00 justy for my TWC cable, mostly because I am stuck with them where I live, but also because they have “Free” HD. YEAH RIGHT! A load of malarky. Even hey say free HD, but it is not true.
Oh, yeah. Basic service WAS included, but if I wanted to watch HD, I needed an HD capable box, which cost a dollar or two more per month. Sure, I could receive the HD channels for free, I just could not see them without also paying extra for the proprietary box.
…I hope the class action payout will be generous.