Tell Us: How Is Your Cable Service Post-Sandy?

George Mulligan November 16, 2012 at 10:18 am

My power was restored on Sunday morning November 4th. At that time my cable TV service provided by Cablevision came on as well. However, my phone and internet service provided by Verizon was not working. I tried calling Verizon Sunday afternoon and waited almost fifty minutes without talking to a human being. So my daughter who lives upstate requested Verizon service via the web site. On Wednesday November 7th a nice Verizon employee showed up at 10:00 AM, He replaced two parts in the basement and had me back to normal in fifteen minutes. Overall I was very lucky. My only complaint was the inability to speak to a person in the Verizon service department after hanging on the phone for nearly one hour.

MJM November 16, 2012 at 12:41 pm

Cablevision - virtually no tv/phone/internet service problems at all since the power came back on. Didn't even need to call them. Thanks, Cablevision!

Dawn Andrew November 16, 2012 at 03:56 pm

Our power came back the day of the snow storm and our FIOS worked. The wet snow built up and knocked the Verizon line down. I called on Thursday and was lucky enough to get a person live asap.In the past I have waited a while for a live person. She said that due to the high volume, a repair person could not get to my house until the following Tuesday. To my surprise, on Sunday morning, Verizon workers showed up at my house and put up a new wire. They were from upstate and said the volume was too much for local workers so out of area workers were brought in. After being without power for so long, being without cable was not horrible, but we were happy to get it back sooner than expected.

Sue November 16, 2012 at 07:55 pm

great service once our power was restored.

jonathan winant November 16, 2012 at 10:53 pm

Cablevision had just as many screw ups with customer service as did LIPA> At one point I was informed that our section off of Main Street was serviced. I asked if we needed a technician to come out. I finally found out the information was totally inncorrect and our area was not serviced. As Cablevision explained the inability of LIPA to adequately keep them informed of the progress of repairs made if very hard for Cable service to be restored in a timely manner.
The best thing is that Cablevision was offering rebates for the outages and they never once denied that they would do so. Only problem with Cablevision was that they offered inncorrect and false information on countless occassions even their own personnel agreed that what I was told never should have been offered.

Nassau Taxpayer November 16, 2012 at 11:13 pm

Is Verizon waiving subscription fees for days when service was not delivered?

George Mulligan November 16, 2012 at 11:37 pm

I sure hope so. I was down from 10/29 until 11/7. That should add up to a refund in the range of $50.00 to $60.00. That's enough for a dinner out in Port depending on which restaurant you select.

George Mulligan November 16, 2012 at 11:42 pm

Who is your carrier? Cablevison or Verizon? or other?

donna November 17, 2012 at 12:25 pm

I too was frustrated by Cablevision's incompetence. When our power was restored, we sent Cablevison a detailed email explaining that a tree on our curb fell over, pulling up and cutting cable wires. We knew, as did our neighbors, exactly what was causing a large neighborhood cable outage. For the next three days, Cablevsion sent its workers to our neighborhood. Not one was aware of the tree that had uprooted cable wires and not one was qualified to fix the problem. It was not until the fourth day that Cablevision sent a qualified technician to fix the problem. I do not fault Cablevision for having to wait for the repair, but I do fault them for not understanding the problem despite a plethora of emails explaining the problem and for the inability to get someone from Cable on the phone.

Blue Heron November 17, 2012 at 12:58 pm

I was out for about a week. Cablevision couldn't do any repairs until the frame of the neighborhood was back up and running. You have to call to get your credit for the time they were out.
I've been waiting to move from Cablevision to Verizon due to Newsday's most recent teacher-bashing article, published several Sundays ago - another attack on our hardworking, dedicated and finest teachers in the U.S. Due to Sandy, Verizon canceled my appointment (the Saturday following Sandy) to Saturday, the 17th of November (today). I received a call this past week, to let me know that they were again canceling installation and I had a number to call for a new appointment. The earliest appointment is December 26 (and I accepted it, albeit feeling grumpy about it). I guess this is due to the extent of damage and/or and lack of workers. Despite Verizon confirming that Fios is up and running in my neighborhood, there aren't technicians available to do an install. On a scale of 1-10, this is probably a negative 2. I think of those who've lost some, most or everything, including their loved ones. Fios is on tap. Cablevision will get canned and James Dolan's teacher bashing has still caused this customer to continue to wait to say a not so fond farewell to Cablevision.

David Pridgen November 24, 2012 at 01:53 am

My FiOS internet/tv/phone was working through the entire time. I had a generator, so was able to power the Verizon equipment in the basement. Never lost tv, phone or internet, although power was down for 5 days.

Nassau Taxpayer November 24, 2012 at 03:16 am

That's interesting, as Verizon copper POTS circuits didn't fare so well.