Michael (Willner)’s Insight
Insight Communications CEO Michael Willner recently launched a new blog discussing his company’s take on telecom policy. In the time the blog has been up, he has tackled issues from cable investment in wireless technology to customer service, and from a la carte to network management.
Yesterday’s post, titled Confessions of a Network Manager (Part I) takes a look at the consumer friendly reasons for network management practices. It’s a good read, and like much of his writing is a candid look at why operators manage their networks, why that’s good for you, and even a frank discussion of why companies would not want to talk openly about specific practices.
Network management is not your enemy — it is your friend, even if you’re a P2P enthusiast. Without network management, everyone’s online experience would melt down to a completely useless exercise. It would reduce the Internet to a chaotic free-for-all as if you built a 10-lane superhighway and didn’t have any traffic laws in place to keep the traffic moving.
The fact is, network management is absolutely necessary throughout the Internet, from the ISP’s all the way through to backbone providers. It happens everywhere on the Internet. And it’s a good thing that it does.
Bandwidth, throughout the Internet, is a shared asset. Accordingly, we all have to learn to live with one other as good neighbors. You don’t go to Joe’s Barbecue, an all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant, and proceed to eat all the food. The goodies are affordable because they are offered under law of averages and a shared economic model. If my brother-in-law, Norman, and a few of his buddies showed up every night, Joe would either have to raise the price for everyone or start charging by the pound.
I guess, to some extent, we created this debate ourselves. Many of us, myself included, didn’t really want to talk about how we managed our networks to keep the traffic flowing smoothly. We simply did it. Frankly, I believed that if we were totally transparent about it, certain people would figure out ways to defeat the rules of the road, making our management practices harder and more intrusive than we were wanting them to be.
Much of his writing is similarly inviting and personal. If you’re not reading it, you should take a look.
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July 22nd, 2008 at 11:04 am
How do I tell an amazing and interesting Insight story to Michael Willner? I have had so many issues and today after 6 months found (because of one man taking the time) All of the problems I have had stemmed from not actually having Broadband Service. Insight has sent so many people to his house for the last six months that I have certainly not been a customer that you have made money on. However the effort has been continuosly made. There have been many “subs” that have not been able to figure it out, but a man named Steve Brown who has a boss name Curtis Fawver was able to. I know that you hear all to often complaints so I thought I would take a minute and tell you of the dedicated and sincere employees that I have met at Insight.
Alice Tasman
Tasman Industries
August 11th, 2008 at 11:50 am
Michael,
fist I’ll be amazed if you read and reply to this.
Why do Insight business customers pay a $100approx premium over home users for what I see as inferior service. Inferior in the fact that I called 502-357-4400 and was able to speak with a tech support rep within a minute but when I was transferred to business tech support I had to wait over 20 minutes to talk to someone.
Where is that extra $100 per month going since I can assume it isn’t going to pay for extra business tech support staff.
If it is to pay for expedited onsite service calls then I’d like to take my chances and get a regular cable modem account for my business, a small fraction of that $100 premium would cover a backup DSL account-my business would have an instant backup connection and we’d save about $65 per month-a decent little chunk off or our monthly overhead.
Mike
September 10th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Good afternoon Michael,
I need some help, I am a new customer to Insight Communication since August 16, 2008 (Phone, HD Cable, and Intenet). On our installation day the Tech had issues getting the installation complete and additional support members came to assist. The Techs left our home and my wife went to use the internet and it did not work, she had to call customer service and after about 30 minutes they final got the system to work. I arrived home that evening and found that we were not getting HD Channels as we had ordered. I call customer service again waiting to talk to somebody. Finally the Customer Service Rep told me that they see I ordered the HD Receiver but did not know I wanted the HD Channels. I do not understand the logic behind that but it was fixed that evening. On September 5th (less than four weeks later) we would change the channel on the television and then get a message that stated “Channel should be available shortly” I contacted customer service and was put through to Kentucky, they tried several ideas then said they would need to schedule a appointment for a tech to come out (four days later). They also instructed me to contact our local office because they could only do so much. I contacted the local office on Tuesday evening and they scheduled a tech to come out between 8:00am to 10:00am the next day. We arranged for my wife to stay home, at 10:45am there was still nobody so we called the local office and we were told they made a mistake on the scheduling and would have to try for the next day. Is this how we treat customers at Insight. I asked to speak to a Manager and was told there was no reason because they could not do anything the customer service assistant could not do, I demanded to talk to a Manager and was told I would need to leave my number and they would phone me back, so far nothing so I am writing this in the hopes somebody can help. I have had to contact Customer Service (So they are called) each week I have had Insight Service, three weeks later, same result no cable television, like customer support it tells me “Should be available shortly”. Again, please help.
New Customer for now.
October 14th, 2008 at 9:10 am
[...] 14, 2008 · No Comments Michael Willner, CEO of Insight Communications, was recently interviewed by CableFax Daily’s editor, Amy Maclean on the shape of the cable [...]
November 20th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
There has come winter
It became cold and cloudy!
Mood very bad
Depression Begins
November 20th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Depression Depression Depression aaaaaaaa
HEEEEELP
I hate winter! I want summer!
December 12th, 2008 at 3:41 am
your techs are nothing but thieves i gave all of your junk equipment back and i even talked to one of your reps when the tech called it in but i got sent to collections and u are ruining my credit i think u enjoying screwing over the little guy insight is the worst cable company i have ever dealt with trust me dont ever cancel your cable and give a tech the cable box or modem because they will either steal it or lose it on purpose thats just what they do
December 12th, 2008 at 3:43 am
i will get dish network before i ever deal with pure thieves like insight again
December 12th, 2008 at 3:48 am
i wish more than anything michael willner would contact me but he wont because he knows what kind of company he runs
February 16th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
I wish I had Insight back! Insight was chased out of my part of Indiana, and the great Comcastic machine took over. For the people who have complained about Insight, come north to the Indianapolis area and treat yourself to the “Comcastic” experience. I can promise you that you will beg on your knees to have Insight back. I still have Insight equipment running in my house that Comcast wants to replace with their stuff. They can have it, after they pull it from my cold, dead fingers (which they are currently trying to do). If you truly want to be screwed, come deal with Comcast. Most of my neighbors who were Insight customers jumped ship to SAT or U-Verse the moment they got their first Comcast bill, and experienced their version of “customer service”. Come back Insight! Come buy back your old Indiana territory!!!!
May 20th, 2009 at 9:59 am
Michael,
On your ads for Insight Cable you say that if we, the customers, have a problem, Insight will fix it. Well, I think that is a lie. Insight here in Louisville, KY is absolutely pathetic. I am having to have a sixth repair to my cable service. Same problem that every time I waste half the day waiting, is declared fixed but then never really is. This will be the sixth service call in less than ten months. Given the amount of money I spend on digital cable and the lousy and rude service given by Insight service reps, I have decided to dump Insight and head to my local satellite retailer and sign up. Obviously the service technicians in Louisville, KY cannot fix the product they sell.
May 20th, 2009 at 10:33 am
Jeff –
Sorry for the trouble. I have passed your comment on to the customer service folks at Insight. I know it can be frustrating if things don’t work the way you expect them to.
July 27th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
I to have experienced the lovely rude customer service reps in the Louisville ky area, im in southern indiana. I have had problems with my phone and internet services for more than a year..mmmm seems the “profesional” techs cant seem to …or want to fix. Well, today i cancelled my service with insight, good riddence..at&t may be a little more expensive.. but hey it worked every day ..all day.. unlike insight..Michael Willner give me a call but do it before july 31, the cancel date of my service..if you can get through since i still have the unreliable insight phone service
August 15th, 2009 at 12:59 am
I paid my bill, 200 dollars of it, late in the afternoon on Wednesday 08-12-09 using my online banking account at the 5th3rd bank. The bank has it posted to my account as being paid to insight on Thursday 08-13-09. This should not have caused you to interrupt my services. But, you did, you cut it off at aprox 11:30 pm on Friday nite the 14th. It is now aprox 1:50 am and it is still not back on. Will you be turning it on this weekend? I hope you are not going to charge me any fees for the interruption, Its of no fault of my own, I paid the 200 dollars of the bill.
I even called insight last week to inform them that it was going to be late. I ask for an extension and it was granted. This alone was suppose to keep it from getting cut off. You could have made a courtesy call and ask me about it. I was courteous enough to pay as I said I would. Direct TV is looking real good to me and my family right now. I have been an insight customer for a long time and I am really not liking this treatment at all. We are all having financial hardships right now. But, I am trying to keep up with my meager budget. Now, Insight has made me look like a fool to my loved ones.
Please, turn my service back on.
Cheryl A King
August 15th, 2009 at 6:00 am
Cheryl –
Sorry you’re having trouble. Since we’re just the association that represents cable companies, we’re unable to directly address customer service issues on their behalf. We can, however, try to help you get resolution. If you’re still experiencing a service interruption this morning, please let us know and we can connect you with someone at Insight.
September 3rd, 2009 at 4:51 pm
I recently had a problem with one of my DVR units which required an Insight service repair. I was told that the cable service was working and the problem was with the television. Seemed logical to me. After buying a replacement TV I have found that I had the same problem that I had from the beginning. I was told that a technician would be here to work on my problem between 2:30 PM and 5:30 PM today. It is almost 6:00 PM and no one has shown up. This now gives me two (2) days that I have taken half-days of vacation in order to be here and no one even showed up. With this said, I have lost a total of one (1) full day of vacation as well as a purchased television that I don’t have any use for whatsoever. I cannot take it back as the wall-mount that came with the television had to be painted which means it is not suitable for Best Buy’s return policy. I assume you get alot of feedback that may or may not be valid. However; in my case, I can tell you that Insight has performed miserably and I am the one that is out alot of time as well as alot of money. There is no excuse for this especailly since I told your people how important the appointment was regarding my work schedule. Insight has told me they adjusted my bill but as I told the initial customer service rep, I am very fortunate that money is not the issue here. To be reimbursed approx $20 is a joke. I would just as soon have you give a donation to a charity that needs $20. I needed Insight to do what they told me they would do and obviously this didn’t happen. I will not take off from work again but I ‘WILL’ switch to AT & T as soon as they turn on the switch. THANK YOU for your time.
September 6th, 2009 at 8:18 am
After reading so of the stories on this page I can only say ditto to the last few. I have enjoyed my internet account with insight but your service is terrible! I have several properties around the city of Louisville, KY most in the westend of the city. You guys treat those customers like crap. You come in and run lines across the floor instead of trying to hide the lines and running them alone the floor. You drill holes in siding, but do not repair. I have a elderly friend that was without a phone for several days. I would never get phone service with you all. Please work on you service. Every customer should be important. We keep Insight in business. Be the best in customer service. If you can’t do something tell the people and come when you say you are going to come.
Thank you
January 5th, 2010 at 11:16 am
Please send me your home mailing address so that I may annoy the shit out of you by mailing you non-recyclable postcards and letters every day to try to convince you to purchase a service you are in no way interested in purchasing. Because that is what your company does to me, sometimes several pieces of crap a day. I’ve called and asked nicely to have my address removed from your mailing list, and yet, it just keeps coming. Perhaps I’ll save up every piece I get for a year, multiply that by the approximate number of homes in this area that do not use your service, and then post the estimated number of trees you are killing and the amount of landfill space you are taking up for just a single year on your unimaginiative and poorly designed mailings. Please, pretend my house doesn’t exist. I don’t watch television. I plan on living here for at least another 15 years and there is no way in hell I am ever going to sign up for your service in that time. Stop wasting your time. Perhaps if you invest all that money you are wasting on mass mailings into customer support you’ll keep more of your current customers and gain new ones through word-of-mouth. That’s the was successful companies do things.
February 25th, 2010 at 1:37 am
It’s 11:35 pm on Feb. 24, 2010, and I have dry tears in my eyes. I am okay at the moment because the last rep that I spoken to was actually nice to me. He was the 6TH person that I had spoken to since slightly after 8:00 pm tonight. My whole purpose for calling into customer service today was to pay my phone bill that was due last week. I had expected to pay roughly $120 for my bill this month, until Michelle(loumnurray) from Insight’s customer service told me that my bill was $318.55. I was Shocked!!!!! So I then asked Michelle why my bill was so HIGH. That’s when the “BITCH-ASS-NESS” for no reason came out of her. This is Insight’s customer service at its finest. Instead of Michelle first showing concern for me she automatically became defensive and told me in a very condescending (nasty) tone that my bill was that high because I only pay the minimum due. In other words, if my bill was $80 and it was due on the 14TH of every month then I would only pay I guess…maybe $40???? If she would have gotten her wording together then she would have seen by looking at my account that I ALWAYS PAY MY BALANCE IN FULL, AND IF MY BILL IS PAST DUE THEN I PAY THE FULL BALANCE. I HAVE BEEN PAYING MY BILL THE SAME WAY SINCE 2004. Another thing that she would have NOTICED if she had looked at my account is that regardless if I received a bill statement via the mail…I ALWAYS CALL INTO PAY MY BILL. I WOULD ONLY TALKED TO A REP FROM INSIGHT BECAUSE MY STATEMENTS WOULD NEVER MAKE SENSE AND I WOULD HAVE TO CALL IN ANYWAY TO GET MY BILL ADJUSTED OR RESOLVED. I just got to a point were calling in seemed to be better and I would always double check to make sure I didn’t owe for anything that I couldn’t see that maybe they could. Michelle was a BITCH to me and refused to give me the benefit of the doubt that just maybe I wasn’t aware of a past due bill that apparently was due back in Sept. of 2009. I tried to tell her that I had transferred my services to my new apartment and that I had spoken to numerous of representatives from customer services; I had spoken to more than one agents from the department that transferred my services who told me that I didn’t owe anything; to getting sent to the retention department and adding on new services and receiving a credit, but not at any giving moment was I told that I owed a bill…let alone a past due bill. Therefore, if Michelle would have taken the time to see that I am not her common billing issue but a person with a real concern then I would have been just upset and not mad. Since me and her were going nowhere I asked her to send me to Retention, and instead she gets her supervisor. My situation only gets worst from that point on. Her supervisor Kevin (loukdumas) should lose his job. I never been treated like I wasn’t important before and I am sure that I have probably been around longer than him having a job at Insight. He was the first person to tell me about the past due bill that I am aware of today. My problem with him was that he never tried to listen to my concerns, or understand where I was coming from. He would tried to talk over me, he was rude and when I finally told him that I didn’t want to continue to talk to him that at the point he became very bitter towards me and instead of trying to solve the problem he created a bigger one. So when I asked him to send me to retention he sent me back into queue to customer services all over again just to spike me….and then added notes to my account that the my bill was legit and other negative comments that is far from the truth. So after calling back in I talked to another rep and she is slow, and didn’t get anything that I was trying to tell her but I eventually got to her supervisor Steven(louslauyan) who basically told me that even though I have been with Insight since 2004…I was not a valuable customer, that we could talk in circles all night at this point, but he wasn’t going to do anything for me. He told me that regardless of my personal situation with Insight that they send me a statement in the mail and as Dual responsibility on my part that I am responsible for my bill…like DUH….and that I could not hold the individuals (reps) at customer service responsible for my bill because it’s a legit bill that no one seem to have caught sense Sept. 2009 because Insights Reps are always right and I must pay for their mistakes..Laugh in my face…because Insight is allowed to screw me over… This man was HIGHLY TRAINED IN BEING AN ASSHOLE….BECAUSE THAT WAS EXACTLY HOW HE CAME ACROSS TO ME….He said that Insight DON’T have the MANPOWER to deal with somebody like me. My whole argument with him was that I never had an outstanding past due bill with Insight. I told him that I always pay my bill with a rep…And that I was shocked that since Sept. 2009 nobody has told me that I had a past due bill when you can look at my history to see that I would have never let that happen. I also, told him that somebody from the transferring department or retention would have caught it…and later on another supervisor even confirm that retention would have never added anything to my account IF I HAD A PASt DUE BILL. Steve was beyond ridiculous to work with and he belittled me like I wasn’t even a human being. At the end of the night all I want was a credit towards my account. I wanted someone from Insight to take into consideration that maybe if wasn’t me but the reps who maybe need more coaching and training. I want someone to see that I wasn’t aware of a past due bill and just give me the benefit of the doubt. After all I have had many people tell me that I didn’t owe anything but my regular bill. I want someone to educate me on what really happened, and how my past due bill could carry over to late feb.2010 and not have one person catch it until today when I planned on paying a normal bill as usual. At this point it is the principle of the situation that every customer’s situation is not the same and that I am a value customer who should be treated like one. Matt is the only person that got it. He understood my situation and treated me like I was someone and that my issue did exist. But my head is killing me and I have been at this for hours….. I also called into their corporate office to complain and I hoped that these conversations were recorded to see how rude these people were to me. I just can’t justify paying a $300 bill when Insights rep aren’t doing their part in telling me what I owe, and going through hell just to prove to people that I never knew this bill existed because I was told every time what was owed and then I would pay that amount giving to me each and every time since 2004. Someone from Insight please resolve my issue??? A loyal customer since 2004……