Stupid Scientific Atlanta

[ComputerWizKid]

I "had" (Well still have but its dead now) a Scientific Atalanta 4250HDC (Cable Card Mode, Non DVRl) and it fried itself and Charter Communications says I broke it and wants $400 to get me a "new" working one. I knew the box ran hot so I put it in the top on my equipment rack with nothing covering the vent holes. How in the world do they get away with charging $400 for another used one is beyond me (I could get a never used brand new for $100 on eBay) Anyway my question what could of caused this? I looked through the holes (There is a lot of them so you could basically see the guts of it) and it looks like the power supply board fried well I don't have an extra $400 so now charter is probably going to shut down all of services. and I can't get another provider Does anyone have any ideas on how to convince Charter I did not destroy their equipment? And how can Scientific Atalanta get away with building such a hot running POS box (It gets hot enough that you can't even keep your hand on it and its not even a DVR so no HDD
Thanks and sorry for the long rant but I am pissed

 

[Modelworks]

Don't deal with your local office.
Contact corporate and explain the situation.

Corporate Communications
12405 Powerscourt Drive
St. Louis, MO 63131
Phone: (314) 965-0555

General Inquiries
Charter Communications Receptionist
12405 Powerscourt Drive
St. Louis, MO 63131
Phone: (314) 965-0555

 

[ComputerWizKid]

I called the local office again and they said the first call phone Tech was being unreasonable so they are sending a tech on Tuesday to give me another box ( I said exactly what happened) All I have to pay is the stupid $30 Truck roll fee.

 

[Tegeril]

I would have turned it around on the new person, explaining that you expect free service as compensation for the bad customer service you received. What if you hadn't been as persistent and hadn't called back?

 

[bruceb]

Why can't you bring the bad box to the local Charter store or service center ? ?
You don't need to pay a tech to come to the home for something you can swap yourself.
I know for Cablevision, when I went to HD service, it was just go to the office, provide the
account info and was handed my 3 boxes complete with the access cards. Easy to install
in about 10 mins each. Then a few minutes to set up some set specific options.

 

[ComputerWizKid]

OK everything is back to normal Charter even waived the $30 fee because it was their equipment that broke (Hence they had to send a tech out but on their dime) What should I do with the old box? I asked the tech what they were going to do with it and he let me keep it

 

[Modelworks]

Originally posted by: ComputerWizKid
OK everything is back to normal Charter even waived the $30 fee because it was their equipment that broke (Hence they had to send a tech out but on their dime) What should I do with the old box? I asked the tech what they were going to do with it and he let me keep it

Don't dispose of it unless you get written proof that Charter no longer wants it.
I would take it to the office and get a receipt for it.
Cable companies are notorious for popping up even years later with charges for things like that.

 

[ComputerWizKid]

Yeah charter does not want that box back. They said with the damage the box sustained they said just throw it out.
W00T free cable card for me (Anything I could do with it?) The Cable Card looks like a PC Card for a laptop. are there any tuners out there for a PC that takes a cable card? The card is in good condition but the label peeled off from the heat of the box anyway the label says "Scientific Atalanta MultiStream CableCard"

 

[bruceb]

You can try that card in your new box and if you still get the channels, then all you need is another box or a cable card tv set to use it with.
But they may have disabled the old card when the new box was provided as it came with it's own new card.