Spoof Time Warner Cable Site And Video Asks Customers 'What Can We Do Worse?'

from the tough-question dept

Tue, Apr 2nd 2013 10:04am — Mike Masnick

Last week, a lot of people liked that video about what a TV commercial would be for an honest cable company (ah, if only truth in advertising laws really worked...). And, soon after that came out, a few people alerted us to a new "gripes site" called TWCCustomerService.com, claiming to be (you guessed it) Time Warner Cable Customer Service... but using the slogan "Enjoy Worse." They put up a video in which they pose as Time Warner Cable Customer Service employees walking the streets of New York asking people what they can do to make their service worse. The original video on YouTube has been taken down, but other copies are being uploaded in a bunch of places. The website itself has a list of helpful facts, such as:

We have a monopoly in parts of New York City and no incentive to provide customer service.

We will bill you for services you don’t have and fight you when you dispute the charges.

We will set up appointment times that force you to miss work then cancel at the last second.

We can record your phone call but you can’t record ours.

Even if you report a service outage you will still be charged.

If you call one of our customer service experts to disconnect your internet we will continue to charge you indefinitely until you return our modem. We will make no mention of this during our phone call.

We have one star on Yelp.

Our customer service people routinely "play dumb" during an outage and are rude to subscribers calling for service.

The latest American Customer Satisfaction Index ranked Time Warner Cable the 8th worst in the country!

Clearly whoever put together the site is... well... not a happy customer. They also include a... um... "message" from TWC CEO Glenn Britt.

As gripe sites go, these guys are definitely pushing it, but it's ridiculous to think that anyone viewing the site would actually think that it's an official TWC site (the guys on the street may be a different story...).

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Filed Under: spoof, trademark, what can we do worse
Companies: time warner cable

29 Comments

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Atkray (profile), 2 Apr 2013 @ 9:12am

Possible charges
I don't think they can claim they are doing any sort of parody, too close to the truth. I am afraid they might get charged with identity theft.
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Akari Mizunashi (profile), 2 Apr 2013 @ 9:54am

I just read the source material. FoxNews.com has a score of 84.

Welp, so much for using that source as support material.
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- nasch (profile), 2 Apr 2013 @ 9:18pm
  
  Re:
  I just read the source material. FoxNews.com has a score of 84.
  
  Welp, so much for using that source as support material.
  
  It's a rating of customer satisfaction. Why would you expect foxnews.com's customers/users to be dissatisfied?
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VMAX, 2 Apr 2013 @ 10:25am

Reminds me of this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ilMx7k7mso
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- Colin, 2 Apr 2013 @ 10:25am
  
  Re: Reminds me of this
  Uh...
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- Anonymous Coward, 2 Apr 2013 @ 12:04pm
  
  Re: Reminds me of this
  Read the article again.
  Actually, you don't even need to do that. Just read the first line again.
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- IronM@sk, 2 Apr 2013 @ 12:15pm
  
  Re: Reminds me of this
  You don't say...
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Anonymous Coward, 2 Apr 2013 @ 10:30am

Uh...
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Anonymous Coward, 2 Apr 2013 @ 10:35am

Interesting...
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Anonymous Coward, 2 Apr 2013 @ 10:51am

i cant see how anyone could possibly mistake this site for the genuine article, but if it shows the level of service that customers DONT get, then it's doing a good job and TWC would do well do take notice!
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- Davey, 2 Apr 2013 @ 3:46pm
  
  Re:
  Well, people watching might think it's some kind of new mindreading tech or truth serum or something.
  
  And a big FU to Google for pulling it off Youtube. Yet another little slash at free speech from the corporate rulers.
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Anonymous Coward, 2 Apr 2013 @ 10:57am

LMFAO! That was great! It's too bad Time Warner is far worse than those two could ever dream of being.

Fuck you!

In reality TW would never say that they would drop by to rape your ass to death with a chainsaw coated in turpentine then say have a nice day just to be a dick.
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- AB (profile), 2 Apr 2013 @ 12:09pm
  
  Re:
  It was hard to choose between 'funny' and 'insightful'.
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Anonymous Coward, 2 Apr 2013 @ 11:19am

Time Warner Cable is the only ISP in my area as well. They are absolutely terrible. Hope they crash and burn.
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- Anonymous Coward, 2 Apr 2013 @ 12:11pm
  
  Re:
  Agreed
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Uriel-238 (profile), 2 Apr 2013 @ 11:31am

At least it's not Comcast.
Comcast is the #4 worst to Time Warner's #7.

http://www.businessinsider.com/15-worst-companies-for-customer-service-2013-1?op=1
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- Anonymous Coward, 2 Apr 2013 @ 12:02pm
  
  Re: At least it's not Comcast.
  I was just thinking this same thing. Comcast is a company that acts like its run by Snidely Whiplash.
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Anonymous Coward, 2 Apr 2013 @ 11:59am

It's parody. Just cuz it stings, don't make it illegal.

Comcast is heinous. At least we have other options here.
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- Anonymous Coward, 2 Apr 2013 @ 12:06pm
  
  Re:
  I don't know... they're pretending to represent TWC. That's a little more than just a parody.
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  - That One Guy (profile), 2 Apr 2013 @ 12:13pm
    
    Re: Re:
    Given that unless a company is run by Dr. Evil, they are probably not going to be bragging about how awful their service is, I think it would be pretty obvious to anyone that they aren't the actual company in question, making the parody defense pretty strong in this case.
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  - Davey, 2 Apr 2013 @ 3:49pm
    
    Re: Re:
    So? TWC is pretending to be a cable provider.
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    - Anonymous Coward, 2 Apr 2013 @ 4:47pm
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      Ouch.
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ChurchHatesTucker (profile), 2 Apr 2013 @ 12:42pm

All the time in the world
it's ridiculous to think that anyone viewing the site would actually think that it's an official TWC site (the guys on the street may be a different story...).

If they had time to stop and chat, they certainly weren't in a hurry.
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Adam (profile), 2 Apr 2013 @ 12:44pm

I Understand Cable Frustration
I can understand the frustration required to put up a site like this after my most recent encounter with a cable company that just happened today.

I work for a company that has locations spread across a decent sized region and one of the things I do is managing our communications (phones & internet). Because of this I have dealt with providers that range from the single town telephone coop to the big guys like Comcast, Verizon, and CenturyLink. I thought I had seen crazy after doing this for years but just today I have a new definition of crazy.

I have a new location that is in a city that signed an exclusive franchise agreement with a cable provider years ago. Somehow, even though they are the only provider allowed in city limits, they don't have cable in the ground near our building. If I want them to bury a cable I have to pay 100% of the trenching fee. That price estimate came in at $98,000. I almost laughed in the salespersons face when I was told that price.
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Anonymous Coward, 2 Apr 2013 @ 12:50pm

Nothing wrong with it, no was harmed, which would be a different matter

Plus, this is the only way you seem to get any kind of accoutability for grievances these days

More power to 'em
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- Anonymous Coward, 2 Apr 2013 @ 12:52pm
  
  Re:
  Also, .......funny and effective
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Mark Lensenmayer (profile), 2 Apr 2013 @ 4:36pm

TIme Warner Central Ohio
Time Warner Cable in Central Ohio is pretty good, mainly because of competition. From my house, I have WideOpenWest cable and ATT U-Verse already on the pole at the street.

I have the Time Warner Signature Home package, and I get almost instant assistance on a phone call and usually can get a service tech out in a few hours. I'm sure that if this competition did not exist here, things would not be as good.
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cealie, 11 Jul 2013 @ 7:11pm

TWC still charging me because of modem
Looks like it's a policy to not mention that they will continue to charge you until you return that old, used, obsolete modem. They've probably given me a bad credit report already because I'm 3 months "past due". I'm returning it on Saturday but I'm not paying the $134 they charged me after I requested to be disconnected. What a bunch of crooks.
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RScott5225 (profile), 17 Dec 2013 @ 2:41pm

How do I get in touch with you guys to further your discontent with Time Warner Cable?
Clearly you all have went out of your way to voice your opinion about Time Warner and what a shitty company they are. They must have done something to really piss you all off too.

I am an internet Marketer and my smear campaign for TWC has just begun. I was hoping someone might contact me so we can share an idea or 2 about this horrible company.

If someone would be so kind as to contact me about this, I would be very thankful. I have begun to send backlinks to yours and a few other article in hopes that they will be seen more in the search engines, and I'd be glad to do anything I and my team can to further your campaign.

Thanks in advance!!

Rob Scott
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