TV services (recommendation) for Raleigh, NC (Durham, Cary: apartment, rent, credit)

[Angelique00]

I see that Raleigh and surrounding areas have a few options for TV.

Does anyone have a YES and a NO for TV services?

DirectTV, Time Warner,or Dish Network were the only options I was given.


I know in my Indiana hometown, Comcast was the only option (unless you got a 'box' or a 'dish', and in Birmingham, AL there's options.

[Charlton Dude]

TWC is by far the best choice. Their service is rock solid, pricing is the best when all promo's are done and their customer service is top notch. I have had satellite and it is not a good choice. Lot's of outages with our weather here. Plus the satellite companies have a promo price that is good, but once it is gone they eat you alive. Check out how they nickle and dime you for EVERYTHING. Stay clear of satellite and stick with proven TWC. Don't be suckered in by people trying to sell you on the merits of satellite that do not really exist.

FYI - You will hear some people swear by satellite, somehow justifying their signal loss. You can easily google satellite complaints and you will see thousands of horror stories. STAY CLEAR OF IT!

[CHTransplant]

Charlton Dude's experience with TWC is not necessarily typical. Many posters on this forum, myself included, have described the poor quality service we have received as well as the poor customer service. And as for satellite, while I'm not a customer, many people are very satisified with their service, and I believe in fact customer satisfication surveys show more people are satisfied with their satellite service than cable service. I'm not saying don't consider TWC - I still use them. Just keep in mind that individual experiences vary. Beware those who try to paint things in black and white as if one choice is absolutely fantastic for all and the other is absolutely dreadful for all.

[Charlton Dude]

OP - Please keep in mind the following things when making your choice based off of opinions:

1. People will usually take the time to complain about something, rather than praise something. Case in point, more people will complain to a manager than ask for the manager so they can praise an experience. Hence, you will always see more complaining than praising.
2. I have lived in multiple towns/cities in the Triangle and can speak to the rock solid performance of TWC versus those that have have only lived in one location.
3. I have used both services, so I can actually compare.

Best of luck with your choice.

[Babytarheelz]

I can't disagree with Charlton more. I've used TWC in Durham, Morrisville, Raleigh and Holly Springs and had a bad experience at each location. I've had equipment trouble, signal trouble and the worst customer service imaginable. I've also worked extensively with TWC in my line of work. We included cable in the rent of the last 2 apartment communities that I worked for, so their service went to over 600 of my residents. The complaints all came to me first from the residents, and believe me, there were many.

I personally made the switch to Direct TV and couldn't be happier. I've had it for about 2 years now. The outages are minimal. I can count on one hand the number of times it's gone out and it was literally only for seconds at a time while it searched for a new signal. I certainly had more time out with Time Warner. The customer service is outstanding and the prices are much better for what I get. I would never go back to TWC.

As far as other options, the only ones are Dish Network, AT&T Uverse (limited availability).

[saturnfan]

We've had TWC at numerous locations over 20 years.

Ever since TWC rewired to fiberoptic, it's been great.

[MikeJaquish]

Time Warner is an amazing animal to spawn such diverse experiences!

I have had TWC for nearly 12 years, and I'm in my third home in Cary.
I have not had the negative experiences that others report.

We just had to reset our DVR/cable box twice in the last week.
So, I am wondering if that signifies a downward trend or has just been an anomaly.

Of course, I have never had satellite, so I can't compare between the two.
But, if I was to move today, I would go TWC again, until I had an issue.

[Juanvald]

Originally Posted by Babytarheelz

I can't disagree with Charlton more. I've used TWC in Durham, Morrisville, Raleigh and Holly Springs and had a bad experience at each location. I've had equipment trouble, signal trouble and the worst customer service imaginable. I've also worked extensively with TWC in my line of work. We included cable in the rent of the last 2 apartment communities that I worked for, so their service went to over 600 of my residents. The complaints all came to me first from the residents, and believe me, there were many.

I personally made the switch to Direct TV and couldn't be happier. I've had it for about 2 years now. The outages are minimal. I can count on one hand the number of times it's gone out and it was literally only for seconds at a time while it searched for a new signal. I certainly had more time out with Time Warner. The customer service is outstanding and the prices are much better for what I get. I would never go back to TWC.

As far as other options, the only ones are Dish Network, AT&T Uverse (limited availability).

Agreed! Satelite may have had issues with signal loss years ago, but that is basically a myth nowadays. I had Directv for a couple of years and just like the poster above, only had a handful of disturbances, none lasting more than a few seconds.

Ive had TWC since August due to having too many trees in my yard and the experience has been less than adequate, to say the least. The DVR is crap and the signal on several stations has been poor. For a while, I could not even watch fox news(no big loss) due to poor reception.

I will give TWC credit for showing improvement in recent months. They have done a much better job at adding HD channels and the reception issues have not been too bad. Also, I have not had any issues with customer service so far.

But I am still pissed that they won't obey court orders and provide MASN(Mid Atlantic Sports Network). Im an avid Baltimore Oriole fan and this is the first season I have not been able to watch any games thanks to the jerks over at TWC.

If you go with TWC, I am sure things will be alright, but If I had my choice, Id take Directv over TWC any day.

[OpAck]

Originally Posted by Juanvald

Agreed! Satelite may have had issues with signal loss years ago, but that is basically a myth nowadays. I had Directv for a couple of years and just like the poster above, only had a handful of disturbances, none lasting more than a few seconds.

Ive had TWC since August due to having too many trees in my yard and the experience has been less than adequate, to say the least. The DVR is crap and the signal on several stations has been poor. For a while, I could not even watch fox news(no big loss) due to poor reception.

I will give TWC credit for showing improvement in recent months. They have done a much better job at adding HD channels and the reception issues have not been too bad. Also, I have not had any issues with customer service so far.

But I am still pissed that they won't obey court orders and provide MASN(Mid Atlantic Sports Network). Im an avid Baltimore Oriole fan and this is the first season I have not been able to watch any games thanks to the jerks over at TWC.

If you go with TWC, I am sure things will be alright, but If I had my choice, Id take Directv over TWC any day.

Yes, yes, yes, and yes. After a few bad experiences with TWC (bad DVRs, bad customer service, bad pricing packages (IMO)), I switched to DirecTV last year. It's been fantastic.

If you want HD...DirecTV has the more HD channels...I believe, slightly more than Dish. They always get a bigger bump in the HD channel offering since the Regional Sports Networks they offer are in HD. DirecTV is the better choice for sports...with their Sportspack (all Regional Sports Networks) and NFL Sunday Ticket. I think I've only had to watch a couple hockey games in standard def last season (with NHL Center Ice). Plus, the interactive sports guides (Sportsmix, Scoreboards) are pretty impressive.

DirecTV has actually been cheaper for me than TWC...not by an extraordinary amount...probably saving around $12/mo (was $25/mo for the first year, but my special promo ran out).

Signal loss does happen, yes. In the midst of a severe thunderstorm (ya know, when there's "red" coverage on top of your area on the radar), it will go out for a minute or two (the most was 5 minutes). And for the most part, that's been just the HD feed. If I lose signal on an HD channel, I just switch to the SD channel for a little while.

The real downside I notice was the coverage of severe weather on News 14 (which is strictly TWC). When there are storms around...I usually have to rely on the Internet since WRAL, WTVD, or WNCN don't always break away to a special weather report.

Dish, DirecTV, or AT&T would be the ones I'd consider over TWC.

[Charlton Dude]

OP as you can see, people are admitting there are reception issues with satellite. For further information in your decision making process, take a look at other complaints in the attached link. Having regularly occurring outages, for whatever time frame, is unacceptable.


Consumer complaints about DirecTV