So I finally broke down and bought my first “Video on Demand” movie last night from Astound cable. It was so cool, I would have to say it was like I was watching the DVD. I ordered a pizza, and I could just pause the movie to go pay the delivery guy.
Astound also has DVR capabilities, like TiVo. I don’t think the software on for the DVR part is as complicated as TiVo, but it works. You can search by actor or anything, just channel, date, title. I have run into a few glitches, but a hard reset of the box gets things running again.
As far as internet, I don’t know, I have heard from many people who have Astound that their internet goes down a lot. The only time mine has stopped working, I first got an email from Astound telling me when and why, at least 3 days in advance.
Charter on the other hand, the internet was down pretty much 3 times a week, and my cable modem needed replacing. When I called to get a new one, they said “Come pick one up”. I said “Come bring me one, I didn’t break it, It is just defective”. I heard when you bring a defective cable modem back to Charter they just put it back in the rotation without even fixing it, so six months down the road some schmuck will get a bad cable modem. How nice is that?
As for the cable, Charter didn’t have DVR or VOD. When I called to cancel, that is why I told them I was canceling. The guy (from some call center eight states away) was like “But we might have that in the next year, please stay!!”. Sorry, get with the times please. And once I think about it, Astound’s digital cable navigation system is like light years ahead of Charter’s.
I am also pretty sure Astound customer service is local, which is cool too.
Charter should focus more on local than big picture. They will end up falling into the same pit as many companies before them. Astound can deliver the same services, plus more, and deliver them better. Before I switched I was a devout Charter guy, now I would have to say Astound all the way. Oh, and BTW – It is cheaper!!
Steve Novoselac's Blog 