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County phone, Internet outages ongoing [The Star, Shelby, N.C. :: ](Star (Shelby, NC) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Aug. 20--For three days John Reid's business, Shelby Music Center on Lafayette Street, was crippled by intermittent phone and Internet service. After two days of on-again, off-again service reported by dozens of county residents, a spokesman for Time Warner Cable said service in Shelby was restored on Tuesday. But Reid's phone and Internet didn't start working until Wednesday afternoon around 3 p.m. Time Warner Cable is the predominant cable and Internet provider in the county. Nationwide, TWC is the 2nd largest cable provider behind Comcast. Earlier this year, news broke that Comcast planned to purchase TWC in a $45 billion deal. 'It's very upsetting' Some customers received a message that Shelby Music Center's phone had been disconnected, Reid said. While he waited for the phone and Internet to be fixed, Reid kept calling Time Warner Cable and got the same automated response. "Yes, we are having technical difficulty in your area and it should be on within the hour," Reid said, reciting the recording. "It's very upsetting." At one point he stayed on the phone until he talked to an actual customer service representative. "I finally got in touch with somebody yesterday and I told them, 'This doesn't sound like a lot of money to you, but it is to me,'" Reid said. Resorting to dial-up Across town at Medical Arts Pharmacy on Grover Street, Manager Steve Knapp said they were having to resort to slow, old-fashioned dial-up service to process insurance for customers. And accepting credit or debit cards was risky. "The service goes in and out and we never know when we are going to be able to process a credit card or debit card," Knapp said. "We are also having problems checking on orders." Knapp posted a sign on the door to alert customers that Time Warner internet was down and only cash and checks would be accepted for payment. He also called several times a day to Time Warner and also heard a recording. The recording said technicians were working on the problem. On Wednesday, Knapp was working on an Internet order that was due at 2 p.m. "I was in the middle of doing the order and it froze up," he said. "It will be delayed." Extensive outage 'frustrating' Time Warner Cable customer Jim Sansing of Shelby first reported the Time Warner Cable problem to The Star Tuesday morning. He was also without service on Wednesday. "Apparently Time Warner was overly optimistic," he said. "We are going into the fourth day. It's one thing to have an outage down a road because a cable is cut, but to have an extensive outage like this that is going on and on is frustrating. Scott Pryzwansky, Time Warner Cable director of public relations, wouldn't say how many customers in the Shelby area were affected by the outage. "A technical issue resurfaced this morning as some customers are experiencing intermittent issues with some of their services," Pryzwansky said in an email to The Star at 4:41 p.m. Wednesday. "We have every appropriate resource engaged to permanently solve the problem, and we apologize for the inconvenience." Comments on Facebook After some people reported their Time Warner Cable Internet and Phone service were restored on Wednesday at 2 p.m., The Star's Facebook fans were still having problems. Here's a sampling of their responses. Want to be part of the conversation? Find 'The Shelby Star' on Facebook and click like. My office is still down -- no phone and no Internet. Annette Mimi Fain My service was out this morning and came back on at about 10:15 or so. I was supposed to call someone this morning to make sure they were up and their service was out also. Had to use cell phones. Gail Wright Mine has been off more today then the past two days. It is incredibly frustrating. Ann Nicole Jones Mine is still out. And, my sister in Huntersville is out too. Angela Cherkis Mine is still out. They keep saying two hours. I wonder what their definition of two hours is because it's not the same as mine. Freddy Wall Ours has been in and out for two days near Grover. Stephanie Lee Weddle I called last night the rep said my service was fine on the incoming side. I was sitting and watching my i Pad wifi go in and out. Ronnie Watkins Mine is still out, and I need my school work done. Melissa Sisk It's hurting businesses county-wide and tax collections. Martin Cj Mongiello I just got a direct message from them on Twitter saying they are working with the server manufacturer. No ETA when it will be completed. Freddy Wall ___ (c)2014 The Star (Shelby, N.C.) Visit The Star (Shelby, N.C.) at www.shelbystar.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |