Cable companies. Some good, some bad.

[Archae]

I consider myself fortunate, I go through Charter Cablevision, they have a good record, and I have no gripes with them.

Friend of mine in Maryland is going through Comcast.
He was originally scheduled for initial hookup a frikkin' MONTH ago.

And they keep screwing up the order, and the guy who is supposed to hook it up never shows up.

Suffice to say, my friend in Maryland is very pissed off.

[TreasonousBastard]

1. I've got Optimum/Cablevision and no real complaints...

It seems to be a requirement to complain about your cable co, but even though the bill is seems too high, it's always on and the phone and internet connections are better than the phone company's.

[subterranean]

2. It depends on where you live, too.

I use Comcast (no other choice for cable here), and have never had problems with their service.

[pipoman]

3. The less competition, the worse service will be. ..

I see this with uniform companies. There are only a couple national uniform companies. ..service is bad, product quality is horrible, they have a don't give a shit attitude when confronted by the poor quality. ...not enough competition.

[Lars39]

4. We're ditching the basic tv Comcast for an antennae, but still have them for our 'net.

They tell you that you have to have the basic channels in order to get Internet, but it's not true.
Scrambling the channels, then going to charge more per box after 2 yrs. was the last straw.

[TexasProgresive]

5. The merger of corporations into huge giants does nothing to serve the public.

Smaller companies are more efficient in doing things right the first time and in correcting problems there after.

The giants are like the alleged dinosaur that had a second brain in its tail. They become to big to effectively communicate between the various departments. Economy of scale not withstanding.