Spectrum Store — Local services in Santa Monica

I was very excited in getting the new intelligent home system. The idea that this could all be bundled into one bill with my cable and telephone was very exciting. I thought Time Warner was just fantastic and as I owned stock in this company I thought it was a very smart move. I now realize that poor quality equipment and customer service who does not know know anything about this system will kill this new idea. I don't believe such a smart, large company could actually not properly inform the customer service or sales people of the intelligent system so they can be properly informed.

problem with system

..unfortunately, the camera resolution which I repeated was told was a very clear picture was not accurate. I had specifically and clearly asked that the pictures from camera be acceptable resolution of 1080i which the police have indicated can only arrest someone with this resolution. I had gone to the service center as well as spent approximately 1 hour on the phone to get details of this system but I was only informed it had a clear resolution. I had explained that I need to see the front yard and have the photos recorded so I can see if anything is being taken.

In fact:

The camera can only be set for 5 minutes at a time to take a photo. it is not a motion detector so it does not only record when someone enters the property. It only records 500 photos and then you have to remove the photos manually yourself. You have to go through all the photos as it is not motion detector it takes photos at intervals of 5 minutes or adjusted to either ten minutes etc. You cannot view the photos and delete them at the same time. The screen on a regular laptop will only show half of the photo when you are viewing the photos to delete.

Secondly, the cameras need to be within range of the router for them to be able to work. If they are too far they will not work. I am getting the impression this is better for an indoor camera with a limited range. As for taking photos at night..they are dark and impossible to see for more than 10 feet. I am shocked at the bad quality of this item..and even more surprised that no other option is offered. I would think that if this company wanted to make money they would have the light bulbs and they would offer a variety of cameras as well as a variety of features. As far as I am concerned this seems like a half baked idea that will not take off the ground unless someone at Time Warner gets their act together.

Light Bulb

You are directed to go to Best Buys to buy the light bulb. Problem is that Best Buys needs 5-7 days to get the light bulb in stock. difficult to plan out when Time Warner tells you it is available at Best Buys. Causing more delays..and the set up person from Time Warner would...

Time Warner is an awful, terrible company. A tech came out to install my service and when he was done he called in my check to pay for the first month's service. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, then my service gets turned off. I call up and apparently the tech transposed the routing and account number so the charge never went through. Fine, I gave them the correct information and thought that everything would be taken care of. Nope, boom, $30 late payment fee plus $5 for paying my bill by speaking with another human over the phone. Instead of calling, I used the chat function so they couldn't possibly charge me $5 for speaking to a human. After arguing with the chat tech and threatening to cancel my service, I got the $30 back. To get the $5, I had to again threaten to cancel my service. Now, surly, everything was taken care of, right? Nope. I could no longer pay my bill online because there had been a "charge back" on my account...wtf. OK, chat with someone and they tell me that I have no choice but to go into the freaking branch and pay in person. I again threaten to cancel my service but the chat tech has limited permissions so they can't do anything, but what they can do is escalate my problem and have someone call me...get this...within 3 to 5 business days. OMG. I say fine. I call up this morning, get to the billing people who are clearly a call center in India and they keep insisting that I pay my bill now with them over the phone and that they promise it won't cost me $5. I tell them flat out, "No, I don't believe you, transfer me to the internet billing department." I get transferred, and then get disconnected. Ugg, fine. I call back, go through the same thing with another call center rep who keeps insisting that they won't charge me $5 to pay my bill now over the phone. Finally get transferred to the internet billing department to a lady who was so incredibly rude but did finally unlock my account and let me pay online.

Worst. Company. Ever. Please, google, bring...

Had to run in to to get a new router as ours no longer worked. The store employees were all congregating by the register together when I walked in, and acted like I was interrupting water cooler talk time. I looked at them and stated why I was there. An employee came forward and offered to assist me. Although helpful, he also felt it was more important to be on his phone pretty much the entire time he was helping me. I wasn't sure if his phone was for work or not, and at one point he literally paused whatever he was doing at the register to reply to a text. Turns out his phone wasn't for work either. Wasn't too engaging with me, nor did he ask if I had questions or if I needed anything else. Just handed me the router and said I was all done. Didn't realize Spectrum moved from Stewart St and opened a retail store, but I will say it's the most inconvenient location for clients to go to especially if they are there to basically do the job of Spectrum. Why did I have to spend MY time, wasting my gas, finding parking for my car-- just to swap out a device of THEIRS that no longer works, for whatever reason I don't know. Not to mention that my router just stopped working mid day for no reason or fault of mine but if these devices are having issues, or not expected to last long there should be a better way to go about how to resolve it. Maybe send them out to customers ahead of time or make us aware that this will need to be switched out soon so one doesn't stop what they are doing during the day (aka working from home) and spend their entire lunch break running around in traffic to go to a store that is not exactly and in/out situation.

Perhaps a curb side or alleyway service allowing people like me who have limited time to be handling this swap out not be even more inconvenienced than they already are. They need a better...