Cablevision Claims They Are Not Lying Liars, But Mysteries Remain [Update]

Cablevision responded to our post chastising their attempt to force customer to upgrade to digital service by pointing to an unrelated FCC mandate. Cablevision admits that there is no connection between their unilateral business decision to cut channels and the FCC-mandated transition to digital television, but their statement leaves several questions unanswered. Read Cablevision's statement and our response, after the jump.

Cablevision writes:

"There is no direct connection between the digital transition of broadcast television stations that will occur across the nation in early 2009 and Cablevision's decision to transition away from the duplicate analog feeds of a certain number of channels that we already carry in digital format.

Unfortunately, Cablevision goes on to say:

Neither our customer service training, nor our customer communications, link the two in any way."

As for Cablevision's training, we spoke with four customer service representatives and each one said the same thing. These weren't rogue agents conjuring up their own unsupportable explanations. Two CSRS put us on hold to consult their materials, came back, and repeated their assertions.

When we asked the agents to tell us who instructed them to mention the FCC, they expressly stated that they were following Cablevision's training. We strongly suspect that if we (or you) called back, we would again receive the exact same answer. Could all the agents have made the same mistake, and lied about their training? Absolutely, but Occam's Razor seems to shred any suggestion of a coincidence.

Cablevision admits that their agents repeatedly provided incorrect information. Two questions remain: Are they now lying about their training; and, how will the FCC admonish Cablevision for their deceptive and predatory behavior?

PREVIOUSLY: Cablevision Blatantly Lies To Subscribers As The FCC Twiddles Its Thumbs
Cablevision Uses Digital TV Transition To Upsell Basic Cable

The Lion King Sent All This Stuff To A Hospitalized Reader [Above And Beyond]

Drew write:

Hey guys!

I really enjoy your site and always love to see articles about companies going the extra mile. I thought y'all would enjoy this.

Background: I'm 24 and in law school. I was cruising through life when about a month ago I was diagnosed with cancer (pre-b cell acute lymphoblastic lymphoma). This has definitely put a kink in things but the outlook looks good!

For Valentine's Day this year, I bought tickets for Laura Beth (the girlfriend) and I to go to The Lion King when it came to Atlanta in April. On the day of the show, April 5th, I had been on chemo for three days and there was no way I was going to make the show. I tell her to take one of her girlfriends and they love the show, of course (it is pretty spectacular). On the way out Laura Beth stops by the show's management office to see if they have anything special that they could give her to bring me in the hospital. She tells her story about how her boyfriend bought the tickets for Valentines Day but now has cancer and is in the hospital and missed the show to these three girls who were described as "young and just married." They said they didn't have anything on hand but promised Laura Beth they would do something special.

Fast forward to this morning when DHL pulls up with a package. Inside is a Lion King coffee mug, sippy cup, t-shirt and note from someone at the production company. Pretty cool, huh?

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