I am currently without any television service. It may be a good thing.

My converter box blew up Thursday night after a storm we had. When I arrived home Friday afternoon and called my cable company, Charter Cable, who I have paid $133 a month to for the last 32 months. They informed me that the soonest they could schedule an appointment for me was Monday. I informed them that I would just like to cancel then. I figured hey I'm moving in a month or so anyway.  I also figured that as with most GOOD companies this would trigger some sort of response. The red and yellow lights flashing at Central Command at Charter Cable Headquarters signifying the potential loss of  a sucker customer who pays way too much for their service.

Instead I got no response other than "I'll transfer you." Followed by a perky "How can I help you?". I informed this person that I would like to cancel my service and she wanted to know why. I was more than a little irked so I simply told her "Piss Poor Service" without mentioning the 6 trips it took to set up my HD in the first place, with me having to explain to the first 5 nimrods what the HD should look like. The poor reception at times, usually only when you had recorded something to watch later because you really wanted to see it and when you played it back it was unwatchable. I figured I would just keep it short. Instead of an apology or some attempt to save my business I was asked "Why I had paid for my service a month in advance then?" I explained to her that I was stupid enough to believe that they would provide the service to me that I had paid for. I asked if I would get a refund and she said it would take four to six weeks after I returned their precious $428 box which was now serving as a giant paper weight mocking me. We went back a forth a few times with me attempting to use the paper weight as a hostage to exchange for my check. This was an unsuccessful tactic as she trumped me finally with the fact I could keep the box and they would charge me the $428 if I valued it so much.

So now we sit here with no ESPN, no Food Channel, no HBO and no other mindless drivel to occupy our spare time. I also don't feel like going through another painful installation with some other company to just have to cancel it in a month. So if I seem a little more intelligent and well read over the next month, I hope you'll understand.