Locals tired of Time Warner

Time Warner Cable, Costa Mesa’s major provider of cable, Internet and phone services, will be the subject of intense scrutiny sometime next month, when residents will air their grievances with the company during a City Council meeting.

City officials were encouraged to take a closer look at Time Warner after many residents complained about the cable company’s service.

Some residents, like Lloyd McDaniel decided not to wait and took their business elsewhere. McDaniel, a retired computer expert himself, has been making the case against the telecom giant for months. He eventually switched phone companies and to satellite TV last November when Time Warner servicemen placed what he said was the final straw on his back.

“They started to leave, and I noticed my home security system wasn’t working,” he said. “I said, ‘Well, you aren’t getting out of here until I’m sure my home security works,’ and they said, ‘Well, it’s not our problem.’”

As it turns out, McDaniel claimed, it was their problem — a tech team from his security company said they had crossed the home’s wires, causing the system to malfunction. After months of frustration, McDaniel said he’d had enough.

“Time Warner had to fork over $270 for the service call, and I said, ‘You know, if you don’t have enough information to know how to repair the box on the outside, and don’t know how to work with existing customers who have security systems, you’re not sophisticated enough to care for all this stuff,” he said.

Costa Mesa’s cable plan, developed in the 1980s, has always allowed residents to switch providers, City Manager Allan Roeder said.

While satellite options are available — at the cost of local networks and some channels — don’t expect a second cable company to swoop in and pose any serious competition to Time Warner any time soon.