Charter is absolutely horrible in every single way. I have many long and tortuous customer service tales I could tell but it would take me days to type them all. The latest insult, however, really takes the cake: Last week I purchased a $1000 HDTV set and afterward found out that my local Charter service center has no HD DVRs!

After I hooked up my new TV I called Charter tech support (in Phillipines?) and they told me that to receive HD programming I had to physically drive to the Charter service center 20 miles from my home to swap out my non-HD DVR for an HD DVR unless I wanted to pay a $40 service call fee (even though I have Charter inside wire repair that I pay extra for every month). I decided to make the drive and when I got there I was told that they had no HD DVRs.

Well, I got pretty upset about making the drive for nothing and the clerk said she would try to find me one; that there might be a customer return somewhere (like out on a truck). She made numerous phone calls to who knows what people and after nearly an hour some guy came in from the back room with a Scientific Atlanta HD8300 DVR. I brought it home and hooked it up and immedately "DISK TROUBLE Recording and Playback Not Available" displayed on my TV screen. So now in addition to not getting HD programming I no longer had the DVR function I am totally addicted to. I called tech support and told them my story and they set up a trouble call.

When the guy came out on the trouble call (not a Charter employee, BTW, but an outsourced contractor) he said that Charter no longer even used the Scientific Atlanta HD8300 but instead used something called a Moxie; however, if you didn't already have one you weren't gonna get one because they didn't have any in stock and apparently with the whole bankruptcy thing they are unable to purchase new inventory. He did replace the faulty HD DVR with a working non-HD DVR (which is what I started out with, LOL) so at least I got my DVR functionality back.

There is no other cable company where I live (Charter has the monopoly) so now I will have to switch to satellite in order to see HD television programming. I find this whole situation absolutely insane. Charter SUX!