TWC basic cable and local affiliate HD question

[jennyno7]

Hi all,

My parents have TWC basic cable package without a cable box and just purchased an HDTV. My father mentioned the local affiliate HD channels said something like "Weak signal" when he tried to set up the television. I told him to call the company and ask them to look at the lines outside of the house or to test the signal strength. TWC is telling them that they have to have a digital box in order to receive CBS, NBC, PBS, and ABC in HD even though these are the local affiliates.  
I'm wondering if you guys can tell me if TWC is telling them an accurate statement or just trying to get them to upgrade. My grandmother lives in the same area and has an HDTV, no cable box, and says she gets those channels in HD.

Thanks for the info, I'm trying to make sure my folks aren't overcharged for something they don't need. I don't live in WI anymore so I can't troubleshoot the  issue in person to help them out and in my state I get basic cable without a box, have an HDTV and can receive those channels just fine in HD. Thanks again.

[Xizer]

Time Warner Cable is flat out lying to them. The affiliate networks like ABC, CBS, NBC are all ClearQAM channels. Any TV with a built-in ClearQAM tuner should be able to receive them just fine (read: any HDTV made in the past several years).

I'd still advise on upgrading to digital cable since they have an HDTV, however. Standard definition analog cable is going to look like absolute crap on their TV so aside from NBC/CBS/ABC etc all their cable channels are going to be unwatchable.

[Tivoman44]

Xizer is right on every account.  My parents bought an LCD Toshiba in 2009 or 2010. They do not have a cable box, the TV does not have a cable card slot, all they have is a coax coming from the wall connected to the TV.  I know for a fact that they get the local OTA channels in both analog format and digital HD format (no antenna is connected).  If TWC keeps giving them a hard time, it may be possible to purchase an antenna that allows you to also hook the cable coax to it so you can do both cable/ant.  Like Xizer said though, only OTA channels would come in in HD, so it may be worth it to upgrade to digital cable with their box.

In the meantime when calling TWC, DO NOT call 800-627-2288, that goes to the regular customer service and they don't know anything, call 866-892-0019, that 866 number goes to an account specialist/customer retention line, they are much more knowledgeable.  

When I got cable TV back in Oct, I first called that 800 #, the guy argued with me saying how I won't get any HD channels with a cable card and tuning adaptor, in which to quote Loadstar "that guy was so full of crap his eyes were turning brown", the rep of course screwed up my order and the tech showed up with their box,then I called that 866 # and the guy straightened it all out.

Don't let TWC lie to us, I am not the biggest fan of the FCC, but the FCC does good things.

Sorry for the long winded answer, just trying to make people aware of choices.

[ArgMeMatey]

My father mentioned the local affiliate HD channels said something like "Weak signal" when he tried to set up the television.

I would advise making sure that when he is scanning, that he is scanning both for NTSC cable and QAM cable.  These are called different things by different manufacturers, and for example my Samsung handles it differently from my LG.  Both, however, receive the major locals on QAM.  (But not 55.2, 3 and 49.1, 4)

Also, Time Warner-Southeast Wisconsin's December, 2010 disclosures and rate sheets finally say that the locals are offered in Clear QAM, so any call center hacks can be pointed in that direction.  Your parents should have received those in the mail.  

Assuming your dad can read he's at least one step ahead of most of the call center people with whom I've discussed Clear QAM.  The call center folks probably get a full ride for free so they couldn't care less about Clear QAM, and since TW makes a lot more on the up-sell, they have no incentive to set their people straight.  (At least until some uppity customer can figure out the right agency with which to file a complaint!)

Sorry to be so crass, but my older neighbor had a similar issue last year with Basic ... I set up her TV for her, she was getting the Clear QAM channels, then something went wrong.  I think it was when they shuffled a bunch of RF assignments for Clear QAM.  Anyway, she didn't want to bother me, so she called Time Warner and they told her she couldn't get those channels ... even sent a tech out to check it out and tell her that.  Dopes.  She finally checked with me and it took me all of five minutes to get it back in order.  I find it deplorable that institutional idiocy can be a path to higher profits.

[jennyno7]

I had a feeling there was some hooey being flung around by TW.  I've passed on the information to my father and will keep you updated!  Thanks for all the responses, you guys have been really helpful.

[jennyno7]

Just an update:
I sent my dad the information and he called TWC...he read the disclosure statement to the customer retention person and the guy said my dad was "mistaken" and was reading it wrong.
Then he hung up and reconnected the cables, making sure they were nice and tight, and rescanned for the channels. Voila! The HD channels show up perfectly now.

Thanks to Time Warner Cable (not) for all of their help.
Dad says thanks to all of you for helping him set up his television and navigate the bs from TWC.
Happy Holidays!

[ArgMeMatey]

Thanks for posting back.  Good to hear it's resolved.

Also just FYI, Time Warner does occasionally re-shuffle the RF channel assignments for Clear QAM channels, and in the past they have not provided advance notice of that.  So if channels disappear in the future, the first step is to re-scan.