You Guys Suck (No, Not YOU GUYS. I Mean My Cable Company)

After I got home yesterday I sent off some hate mail to my cable company. My cable company, by the way, is DirecPath, formerly Mediaworks. Their site can be found here. They claim to be the three-time winner of the “Cable Operator of the Year” Award, though I can’t help but wonder if they created the award themselves, like a man buying a “World’s Greatest Dad” mug for himself. If any of you out there are currently using their “services,” you have my sympathy, and if you’re about to movie into a complex that is “served” by them, my only suggestion is “Don’t.”


When I began using your service over a year ago my Internet connection had a downstream speed of about 1 Mbps and an upstream speed of about 240-250 Kbps. It was not exactly the fastest connection, but it was at least acceptable.
This remained the case until about a month ago, at which point my speed dropped to a range of 212-253 Kbps.
When I first called in to complain about slow speeds, the immediate response I received was “We only offer 1 Mbps.”
When I went on to explain that I was getting considerably less than 1 megabit, the response changed to “We only offer 256 Kbps.”
Technical support informed me that my account was “set” at 256K and that I would need to have my account changed. This was despite the fact that I’m still paying the same amount that I’ve paid right from the start, most of which time I was receiving speeds of 1 Mbps. The technical support person stated that it was not possible for me to have ever received that sort of speed with the way my account was set, basically saying that either A. I’m mistaken about the speeds I was receiving, indicating that I’m not savvy enough to notice a more than 75% decrease in speed or that B. I’m lying about having ever received higher speeds.
When I spoke to someone in customer service and asked how it was that, with no accompanying decrease in price, my account was set to a lower level of service I was told that the top speed offered has always been 256 Kbps, again, implying that I’m mistaken or lying about my previous speeds.
I work in the Network Operation Center of a major ISP, and have worked in technical support for DSL and cable Internet services – I know the difference between 1 Mbps and 256 Kbps; I am not lying when I say that I had previously been receiving 1 Mbps, nor am I mistaken, so the claim that the speed offered has “always” been 256 Kbps is patently false.Clearly the level of service I receive has been changed dramatically and without notice (or even an acknowledgment on your part that it has changed, as the response I receive is that it’s “always” been that way, even though when I initially mention that my problem is related to speed I’m informed that you offer 1 Mbps) with no corresponding change to the amount I am paying for said service.
A technician was supposed to be dispatched to my residence to discuss my concerns about my Internet service on 5/30. No one ever stopped by
My current speed, per Broadband Reports, is 238 Kbps down, 242 Kbps up.
In the 21st Century this barely qualifies as broadband, and is certainly not a level of service that is appropriate for the amount of money I’m paying per month, particularly when I had been receiving speeds more than four times faster for the same price.
To say that I am frustrated would be putting it mildly. This is clearly an unacceptable situation. I am paying far too much money per month to receive less than a quarter of the speed I had been receiving for more than a year, and the speeds I am currently receiving barely qualify as broadband.
They certainly don’t match up to the claims of being “blazingly fast” or 30 times faster than 28.8 dial-up that are listed on your Web site. I’m not certain why you base your speed comparisons to a 28.8 modem, given that 56 Kbps modems have been the standard for nearly a decade, though that’s neither here nor there.
I have previously sent in a complaint about this (as well as a complaint about my TV service, which has been at least partially addressed) and did not receive a response. The response I receive upon calling is neither consistent nor helpful.
Please respond to this communication. Given that I can get DSL service at three times my current speed for less than half the cost, I will likely make the switch unless I receive an acceptable response.

Thank you,

Jon Maki