Time Warner Cable / Road Runner - The Rip Off

After 6 months with Time Warner Cable's Road Runner Internet service at home I was hit with a nice surprise. Month 7th would cost me $70.95, instead of the $44.95 that was/is advertised on their site. For some reason my location does not get their standard pricing. While my initial service was great, below I've identified some issues I have with Time Warner that has led me to cancel my account.

• Their 800 Number - Whenever I try to call their customer support number I have to call at least five to ten times to get through. For some reason I keep getting a busy signal. Annoying!


• Hold Times - It takes about 10-15 minutes to get someone on the phone. I really wish I would've bought a speakerphone.


• Getting Bounced Around - During my first of three calls I was bounced around to three different operators that could not help me. However, before I reached the third person I was conveniently lost in phone-space and had to call back.


• Lack of Logic - There was no good explanation as to why the Road Runner service costs so much more in my area than someone who lives a couple miles from me.


• Customer Support Staff - While the staff was very nice, they were unable to help me. It was quite frustrating having someone tell me, "I agree that $70.95 is ridiculous and I have no idea why it is priced that way. I can understand why you would want to cancel."

As of next week I will no longer be a Road Runner customer and have since signed up with the Windstream Greenstreak service. The biggest disappointment about their DSL service is that they claim I only qualify for 3Mbps service. After living with 7Mbps and 15Mbps for the last year and a half, 3Mbps is going to feel pretty slow. I guess no more streaming HD movies from the iTunes store to the AppleTV.