I have been a loyal customer of Time Warner Cable (TWC) in excess of five years. Additionally, I was a telephone/fiber optic technician for six years. I mention these things only so that you might trust me when I say that TWC could not care less about quality picture or customer service. Their ineptitude is rivaled only by their indifference to your plight. They are fully aware that they hold near autocratic authority in various areas of Greater NYC, and this power has enabled them to hold their customers in contempt. Where else can you go? If your service cuts out, and you decide to switch to another provider you still have to wait for the new installation…which could be two weeks in and of itself. My recent adventure with TWC was particularly harrowing. I lost service on Monday. After an interminable wait for a human to answer the phone, the customer support representative did try and reboot the system. After the failed attempt, he scheduled me for an appointment that would occur anywhere between 2:00pm and 6:00pm. Now having some experience in the business I made sure to ask the rep to note on the system my call. On Tuesday, I called and confirmed my appointment at 1:40pm saying that I was at home and would remain there until service arrived. At 5:40pm I received a call from TWC (thank you caller ID) and picked up on the second ring, where the other side promptly hung up on me. The technician apparently was trying to cancel my appointment and blame me for being unresponsive. I immediately called back and said that I was home and not to cancel the appointment. They never showed. Now pay attention folks. When you cover your actions as I had, they have no choice but to give you ONE FREE YEAR of a premium channel of your choice. They then promised to be over Wednesday and that they were sorry for the inconvenience. When I informed them that I work for a living and would have to take the day off from work to accommodate them, they offered me an appointment for 10 days later. Guess what people, I took the day off, called and confirmed the appointment 15 minutes before the time window and waited. When no one showed up this time, they then reimbursed me ONE MONTH of cable service. I know I’m ranting now, so let me just say that the third time it happened (in a row) I was reimbursed ONE MONTH of ALL SERVICES (Cable, Telephone, & Internet). I had to take a third day off (tomorrow) and with any luck they’ll fail to show. I hear the next thing they give is stock options.