Blue Ridge Cable Technologies, Inc

*** ***’s complaint is that she has just had issues without any detailsOur records indicate that she was having an issue with the audio with her digital converters and a pop up on the TV screenShe was installed in September of with our phone, cable and internet serviceShe scheduled
a trouble call in October for an audio problem on one of her two digital converters which needed to be rebooted and was working correctly after the technician leftShe then had another trouble call in November for an audio problem which was found to be the wiring was not hooked up properly behind the TVThere was also a message that would appear on her screen for a second and then disappear very intermittently which was a software problem within the digital converter that was a known issue which the manufacturer CISCO was working onIn December she had a third service call for intermittent loss of picture on both her sets and we installed a new converterShe was disconnected for non-pay in January of this year because she has never made a payment for any of her services from the time she was installed in September until she was disconnected in JanuaryWe understand that if she had an issue with her cable TV we would work with her on some amount of credit that is fair but she also had our phone and internet service that she has never had a problem with, and the cable TV had no issues for the majority of the time she had our serviceCurrently she owes us for three months of cable, Internet and phone service plus the equipment she has never returnedThis equipment includes two digital cable converters, one of which is a DVR, a wireless modem router and an EMTA which is a phone modem
She was given a $21,credit for the problems with her cable service but we would be happy to discuss an additional credit for her cable service that would be fair but she would need to pay for her internet and phone service for those three months and return our equipment
Thank you
*** ***

*** *** Is not the name listed on the account at *** *** **in Hawley PAThe name on the account is *** *** which we believe is his daughterHis complaint is that he is not getting the speed that he is paying for in the evening hoursWe have been to this residence on 1/5,
1/20, 1/30, and 3/of this year, all after 5pm and up to 8pm and have never seen a problem with the internet speedHe has a wireless router which allows multiple people to use the internet at the same time and he watches Russian television which he says buffers frequentlyThere are numerous reasons why his internet could be slow which include the sight that he is going to too watch Russian TV, multiple users on the wireless router streaming video, a problem with our network or very heavy use at the same time in the fiber node that feeds his houseWe have checked and tested our network and the modem in his house and most recently found an issue with his personal wireless routerThe fiber node that *** *** is off of also provides internet service to 70+ other customer which none have complained of internet speed problemsWe are reaching out to *** *** and are going to be doing test off that node after 8pm on different nights to see if there could be some type of intermittent problem but we believe if there was we would be receiving more complaints in that area
Please let us know if you need additional information
Thanks you
Jeff C***
Dir of Operations
Blue Ridge Communications

I’m not sure what she means when she states that she rejects
our response because she was not given the details of who made the actual software
changesIf Blue Ridge had decided to take that function away to force
customers to get our DVR service we would have removed that function from all our converter's software*** does software upgrades on a regular basis that
have many changes that do not affect what the customers sees and we were
unaware of the loss of this function at the time of this upgrade and if we know
of customer affecting changes we do try to notify our customersIn her
response she has already exchanged her converter with one that has the older
software and can once again set her converter to turn on and change to the
channel that she wants to record without being thereAt this point I’m not
sure what her desired outcome is

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Regards,
*** ***

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]
 Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: although the tech explained to me that with the upgrade the function to program the automatic channel change was no longer in use because of the software change, I was not told it was through [redacted] or [redacted]. Furthermore, it would have been to Blue Ridge Cable's advantage to let its customers know the upgrade was coming and not just spring it on them. Customers have a right to know what it going on. I have since returned the [redacted] box and retained the Scientific Atlantic box which I had previously. I feel no loss for not having the HD. I still think that Blue Ridge Cable will experience customer loss to satellite dishes because they have to little regard for their customers.
Regards,
[redacted]

We left the manager’s number back in March and recently a couple of weeks ago to call if they have any issues and have reached out to them numerous times but they have not returned our calls. We will work with them at their convenience to correct any issues but they need to call Tom Freeman who is the manager in their area for us to be able to work on any problems they have. I will have Tom Freeman call the Hill's again and the number to reach him is ###-###-####.
Jeff C[redacted].

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]
 Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: The don't explain why I need to continue to pay for the service. I agreed to paying for the box until it is returned, but why should I pay 5.95 for the  service if I don't want it? It's a vacation home and I don't know when I can get there to return the box. That's why I agreed to continue paying for the box, which I understand. The additional 5.95 for the additional service is ridiculous if they can tell we're not in the home watching TV.
Regards,
[redacted]

As stated in our response to **. [redacted] the reason we took [redacted], a NBC affiliate off the channel line-up in that area was to try and control our cable programming cost where we could. We were carrying two NBC channels to give our customers a choice in that area mainly for news and weather but...

the majority of the programming was the same. Programming rates have been increasing dramatically over the past couple years and there used to be a discounted rate for the out of market network channels until this year for NBC. Most people don’t realize that cable companies have to pay the networks for their programming because if the customer has an antenna on their roof they would get the networks for free. We pay the network channels per subscriber and NBC increased their rates again this year and eliminated the discount for out-of market programming. Our cost for all programming keeps increasing and we had to make a decision to either raise the rates even higher to cover costs or remove some of the duplicated channels. As far as which NBC we could remove we are required by the FCC to carry the in-market channel which in this case is [redacted] out of New York which is solely decided by the FCC. We understand that **. [redacted] does not consider where he lives to be in the New York DMA but that is what the FCC has designated as his local NBC channel. He also stated that there was no notification to subscribers of taking off this channel. We notified everyone affected by the change in their previous bill, and if they had a digital converter they should have received a message notification that if they clicked on stated the change in their channel line-up.

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]
 Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:Mr. L[redacted] states someone called and spoke to me on June 30 when they found the error.  This is not true as I wasn't even made aware of the error until much later.  In fact I made a payment on July 24th at which time I paid $60 which is amount their representative told me was past due amount needed to restore internet.  If it was in fact posted on my bill in June shouldn't they have seen it on their computer and included that in my past due amount?  As for not being able to produce two payment receipts all these months after the fact, this is because while my wife got a receipt when she made the payment, I was in a hurry and since the gentleman at the counter had looked up my acct. by my phone number and then assured me my service had been restored after posting the payment, I never anticipated the need for a receipt and went on my way.   Again back to my statement that a dishonest employee could have in fact pocketed the money therefore not writing or giving me a receipt.  Mr. L[redacted] failed to elaborate on this question and also didn't respond to my statement that I felt if according to their service agreement customers can only dispute their payment history for 60 days, the same should remain in effect when the situation is reversed in the customer's favor.  Since they made the error and took so long to make me aware of it, I feel the burden of proof should be on them to prove the payments weren't made rather than the other way around.  
Regards,
[redacted]

[redacted]’s complaint is that she is being over
charged and not credited money due her when she canceled her cable service and
upgraded her internet service. The ledger can seem confusing because of the
downgrades and upgrades of services at the same time and that we bill at the
beginning...

of the service period and not at the end. There are also equipment
credits given when the equipment is returned which makes the ledger harder to understand.
[redacted]’s bill before she made changes in Aug of this
year was $162.87 per month which she changed to have just internet on Aug 6th.
She paid $162.87 on July 8th which paid for her cable and internet
through Aug 6th. On Aug 6th her monthly bill went to
$57.95 for our G-10 internet service only. Since her payment on July 8th
our records indicate that she has made a $100.90 payment in October and a
$59.95 payment in November and her internet service is now paid up through
December 6th.  She has paid
$160.85 since her July 8th payment for four months of internet
service at a cost of $57.95 a month and was given a $50.00 credit for the
deposit she had left on the DVR converter back in August for a total of $210.85
for four months of service.
I think the confusion comes in because [redacted]’s feels
she should only have to pay the difference between the G5 and G10 internet
service for the month of August but she never made any payments for her internet
service for the month August and would owe $57.95 for that month. We do not
believe we owe her a credit and that the bill is correct. If she has made payments
that I have not noted please let me know and I will follow up with our billing
department. Thank you.

**. [redacted]’s complaint is that she was being charged for [redacted]/[redacted] and en Español channels she did not subscribe to and states she did not order these channels.  She is also stating her bill went up to over $200.
On April 19th, [redacted]/[redacted] was purchased through **. [redacted]’s digital...

converter in her home at 2:07PM.  In her complaint she states she did not call to question this increase of her monthly bill even though she had noticed the increase on her statement. 
On July 20th, there was another purchase made through her digital converter for the en Español tier of service at 1:23PM.  This purchase was again received through the digital converter in **. [redacted]’s home. 
[redacted] contacted Blue Ridge on August 17th, to inquire about the charges on her account.  The customer service representative explained that purchases had been made from the customer’s remote control. The customer service representative removed [redacted]/[redacted] and the en Español tier of service per the customer’s request and credited her account in full for the services she said she had not order. The customer service rep did explain to **. [redacted] that the only way these services could have been ordered through the digital converter was by someone pressing the buttons on the remote control of the digital converter to confirm the order multiple times.   
**. [redacted] also stated that her bill went up to over $200.00 which was correct for the month of August. **. [redacted] had been on a 12 month promotion that just ended which included our HD Digital Basic Plus cable package, two digital video recorders, our high speed internet service, and [redacted]/[redacted] and the en Española tier was still on her account. Once [redacted]/[redacted] and the Española tier was removed her new rate went to $187.55. At the time a customer signs up for a promotion they are told what the new rate will be when the promotion ends and at that time they would decide if they would like to keep or drop any of the services within that promotion. 
Please let me know if you have any further questions.
 
Sincerely,
 
Jeff C[redacted]

January 25, 2017 Dear [redacted], [redacted]’s complaint is that she called into Blue Ridge on 1/13/17 to check the balance on her account because she stated she had not received a billing statement.  She described she was informed by the representative that no payment was due...

until February 16, 2017.  She then checked her account online a few days later and it showed there was a past due balance.  When [redacted] called to check the account balance on 1/13/17, wrong account information was given to her.  Because of this, it caused her account to become past due and also a late fee to be added.  On 1/25/17, a supervisor spoke the [redacted] to advise her that a mistake had been made and credit in the amount of $125.30 would be applied to the account for the misinformation.  According to the account notes, [redacted] is satisfied with the credit amount.  If you have any further questions, please let me know. Sincerely,Jeff L[redacted]Blue Ridge Communications

Dear Revdex.com,
 
             [redacted]’s complaint is that she wanted to downgrade her HD Digital Plus service with us to our analog Basic Plus level of service and we would not disconnect her digital service unless she returned...

the digital converter that is currently connected in her home.
 
We did discontinue her HD Digital Plus service and downgraded her to our Gateway Digital service for $5.95 per month opposed to her HD Digital Plus service which was $19.95 per month. The $5.95 is the charge for the converter being connected and receives the Basic plus channels, the music channels and has access to PPV and Video-on-Demand. The only other option would be to disconnect her service at the pole but she also has our phone service which would also need to be disconnected to stop the billing. The $4.00 charge she mentioned was for the HD service equipment which we were able to turn off but unfortunately we have no way of disconnecting our converter inside her home.
 
Please let me know if you have any further questions.
 
Sincerely,
 
Jeff C[redacted]
Director of operations
Blue Ridge Communications

[redacted] complaint is that Blue Ridge’s internet prices are too high, we have a monopoly in our area and that we refuse to raise our speeds to industry standards.
 
We feel our internet pricing is very competitive within the industry. The [redacted] price he quoted for his son’s...

25Mbps level of service must be a promotional rate because per their website that level of service is $66.95 per month. He also stated that he believes were somehow able to keep companies like [redacted] out of our areas which we have no control over and currently compete with numerous internet providers in many of our areas which include [redacted] and [redacted]. These companies may not provide service where he lives but he would need to talk to those companies for the reasons why they don't serve his area. As far as his claim that we don’t keep up with industry standards we continually upgrade our internet platform which includes [redacted] 3 offering speed packages from 1.5Mbps to 100Mbps with many levels of service in between so a customer can customize their internet service to their needs. Over 99% of our internet customers do not have, or have a need for our 100Mbps internet level of service and have 15Mbps or less.
 
Please let me know you if you need any additional information.
 
Sincerely,
 
Jeff C[redacted]
Director of Operations
Blue Ridge Communications
[redacted]@pencor.com

[redacted]’s complaint is that the HD converter she had lost
the function of being able to change channels on a timer so she could record
shows on her personal DVD recorder without being there, and that we changed
that function because of, “absolute greed” to force her to get our...

DVR
converter.
Our converters are manufactured by [redacted] and we use [redacted] for
the software that run our converters. Both these companies are used by many of
the largest cable companies in the country and they both continually upgrade
their products and software for the entire industry. [redacted] has done an upgrade
to their HD software to prepare for future upgrades which will allow customers
to have one HD-DVR converter in a home and be able to be access any other HD
non-DVR converter in the home to be able to record or watch any recorded
programs in any room with a converter and not have a need for multiple DVR’s in
a home. For this upgrade they removed the timer function within their software
which we had no input or control over. They are not upgrading the older
versions of software that the non-HD converters run on because these converters
are not be capable of accessing the HD-DVR to be able to use these functions. This
is why our Tech 2 support explained to her that our standard digital converters
still have that function but she would lose the HD.
We did not do this out of greed and actually. When the whole
house DVR solution is launched it will save customer’s money because they will
not need multiple DVR’s in their home to be able to watch recorded movies in
different rooms, and they will be able to start to watch a movie in one room
and finish the movie in another room. This change had nothing to do with Blue
Ridge and we have no input or control of software upgrades [redacted] does.

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]
 Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:We have called Blue Ridge at least 20 times since March, likely, it has been much more than that. In fact we have called 3-4 times in the last few days and spoke to Tom F[redacted] for probably the 5th time in the last two months. You continually responding to this complaint with fallacies is lame and insulting. Mr. C[redacted], you are either extremely incompetent or a pathological liar. We will be speaking to your supervisor and if this nonsense continues I will push this matter with every regulatory agency I can, speak to my attorney, and go to the media with this problem. You will not provide a crap signal then lie to cover yourself. I will not allow it.
[redacted]

Dear Revdex.com,
 
             [redacted]’s complaint is that she was charged an excess bandwidth charge once she went over her 250 GB limit for her residential service.
 
Our residential internet service has a 250GB bandwidth...

limit which is only measured between 5pm and 1am. Between 1:01am and 4:59pm our internet customers have unlimited bandwidth usage at no charge. If a customer exceeds their 250 GB limit between 5pm – 1pm they are charged $1.00 per GB over the 250GB between only those hours which 99.7% of our customers do not go over.
 
Because this is a shared bandwidth service we reserve the right to manage the bandwidth usage of our users so other customers are not adversely affected which is stated in our Internet Agreement that our customers sign at the time of installation. We notify our customers the first month they exceed the bandwidth limit and alert them that the next time they exceed the limit they will be charged $1.00 per GB for their excess bandwidth usage over the 250GB limit between the hours of 5pm – 1am. They are also instructed how to go to the PennTeleData website who is the company we use to provide our internet service to monitor their bandwidth usage. 250GB is a very large amount of data and is equivalent to downloading approximately 125 two hour digital movies and the large majority of our customer use well under half of the 250GB limit. This is a company policy which applies to all our internet customers and we do not have a separate policy for disconnected customers.
 
Please let me know if you have any further questions.
 
Sincerely,
 
Jeff C[redacted]
Director of operations
Blue Ridge Communications

August 31, 2016   Dear [redacted],   [redacted]’s complaint is that Blue Ridge Communications has a monopoly in the Bushkill, PA area with substandard internet service and outrageous prices.  He uses [redacted]’s pricing for comparison.  He reports that his high speed...

internet download speed on a good day is 30Mbps and upload speed is never been more than 3Mbps.  He subscribes to the highest internet package of 100Mbps/5Mbps.  [redacted] also states the Blue Ridge On-Demand system shows are not updated when new episodes air.    Blue Ridge Communications does not have a monopoly in Bushkill, PA.  Customers in the Pike County area can choose from service providers such as [redacted], [redacted], and [redacted].  We do not prohibit other cable companies from serving this area.  Any company can apply for a franchise and provide service to [redacted]’s area.   When comparing pricing for services, it is recommended that [redacted] review the non-promotional pricing.  Most service providers only advertise the promotional rates online.  An example of this is [redacted]’s cost and speed for one of their highest level of service.  [redacted] offers a service up to 150Mbps download, for $129.95 per month.  A standard installation fee of up to $500 may apply.  Blue Ridge offers free installation, Unleashed WiFi Hot Spots, and we offer free service calls.  Pricing for 100Mbps/5Mbps is as low as $109.95 per month with video service and up to $124.95 per month for high speed internet only. Blue Ridge feels all high speed internet offerings and pricing is very competitive to other service providers when you factor in all the benefits the customer receives.  Another concern of [redacted]’s is that he only receives download speeds up to 30Mbps.  On 8/22/16, a service technician was sent to [redacted]’s residence. It was discovered that the customer installed a cell phone booster to his home network.  At times, this booster can interfere with his upload and download speeds.  Therefore, he may not be able to receive speeds of more than 36Mbps.  On 8/30/16, we spoke with [redacted] by phone.  During this conversation, he tested his internet speed.  He confirmed he was receiving a download speed of 82Mbps.  Lastly, Blue Ridge’s Video On-Demand service currently includes over 8,000 titles to choose from.  The on demand uploads and availability are based upon contractual agreements with all content providers.  Other service providers may have content available for viewing that can and will be different from Blue Ridge Communications.  If [redacted] does have a question or concern about specific on demand content, customer service will be able to assist him.  Questions can be answered by calling ###-###-####.  If you have any further questions, please let me know. Sincerely, Jeff L[redacted] Blue Ridge Communications

I spoke to Ms. [redacted] and in looking into her concerns about being notified late about the overage charges she was correct and we have credited back the over charges in full.  She should receive the refund within three to four weeks and I will be in contact with her to make sure she received the refund.

January 14, 2016Dear [redacted],[redacted]’s complaint
is that Blue Ridge implemented data caps to rural customers since it is their
only choice for service.  He reports that
customer service is the worst he has encountered.  [redacted] also states that Blue Ridge
Communications...

is a cable monopoly in his neighborhood, and he has no other
choice for internet access via cable.  History: Our residential internet service has had bandwidth
allowances for over ten years. 
Originally, the bandwidth allowance was based on the level of service
and the average subscriber used less than 15GB per month.
In 2009, as bandwidth usage
grew, we measured bandwidth usage between the peak hours of 5pm - 1am and
raised the bandwidth allowance to 250GB for all levels of service. Less than 1%
of the customers were affected and they were charged $1.00 per GB over the
250GB.
Effective September 1, 2015,
we notified the bandwidth policy by measuring the usage levels continuously and
increasing the allowance by level of service for all customers, as follows:
               Speed                 Bandwidth Allowance 1.5mbps         150 GB
downstream 5mbps            300 GB
downstream 10mbps          400 GB
downstream15mbps          500 GB
downstream60mbps          600 GB
downstream100mbps        7000GB
downstream Customers who exceed the
monthly allowance are charged $10 for each additional 50 GB. Notice: We notified the customers of this change by bill message and
amendment to the Blue Ridge policies on our web page. Additionally, we email
customers if they reach 75% and 90% of their bandwidth allowance (Like
the wireless phone providers do). We
also provide a link to our bandwidth provider’s website where the
customer can monitor their bandwidth usage. For the first month of the new
program (September 2015), we did not impose any usage fees but alerted the
customer that we would begin doing so the
following month. Importantly, bandwidth usage is independently measured and
reported by a 3rd party. Reason: Many customers do not realize that we pay for bandwidth on a
usage basis. There is a vast discrepancy between the average and extreme user.
Currently, the average user consumes 67 GB per month (well below even the
lowest allowance) but we have seen extreme users consuming Terabytes of data.
We believe that it would be unfair to the average user to raise rates to pay
for the increased costs caused by the extreme users. We believe the bandwidth allowances
selected are fair (our estimates are less than 3% of subscribers will exceed a
data allowance) and that we give the extreme users notice and the opportunity
to monitor their usage to avoid unexpected spikes in their bill.  Customers sometimes confuse
the data allowances with prohibited blocking or throttling. Data allowances are
neither and have been permitted, if not encouraged, by regulatory policy. Data
allowances are the fairest method to allocate the variable cost of internet
service.   Customer Service:  There are times throughout the day when customers may
experience a longer than average wait time. 
Wait times will vary throughout the day. 
In order to provide the best possible customer service, our call center
is open 24 hours per day, 7 days per week by calling ###-###-####.  We also offer the ability to chat with a live
customer service agent via our website at www.brctv.com.  Chat is available to our customers from
8AM-11PM, 7 days per week.  A third
option is to email our customer service department by visiting our web page and
click on “Email A CSR”.   Blue Ridge Communications does not
have a monopoly in Northampton County.  Customers
in this area can choose from service providers such as [redacted], Dish
Network, and [redacted].  We do not prohibit
other cable companies from serving the Walnutport area.  Any company can apply for a franchise and
provide service.  Our service is
reliable, our internet is faster, we have free access to Unleashed WiFi Hot
Spots, we are a local company and we offer free service calls.  Our pricing is competitive when you factor in
all the benefits the customer receives.  
If you
have any further questions, please let me know.Sincerely, Jeff L[redacted] Blue Ridge Communications