Almega Cable

[Tony Yonkman]

Anyone else having trouble with Almega Cable? Our cable has been out 2 months and talking to their "service" reps has accomplished nothing... promises but no repair...

From internet blogs... looks like lots of other communities are having trouble with this company.

Anyone know who controls the franchise decision on this outfit?

[Janet M Athena OREGON]

Oh yes --- lots of problems here in Athena Oregon ... channels cut off ... no access any more to ABC channel yet it continues in their scheduled listings ... and obvious attempts by a couple talking heads on one channel to get us all to go to DISH network and blaming snafu with channels on others .... totally fraudulent in my book .... I have faxed them, written them, and others have phoned and phoned with no satisfaction .. my next step will be to the Commision in charge of utilities/TV franchises in Oregon and to governor's office .....

[L Clarke Gamaliel AR]

Our problems with Almega have been ongoing for almost 6 weeks, Tech support provides work orders, but no one ever shows up to repair the problem. Follow up calls requesting a status only lead to more frustration. Almega is good at delivering excuses, empty promises to resolve the problem, and shaky apologies. The supervisors are always out and scheduled to return in 30 minutes, no one returns your calls and the cable bills keeps coming whether you have service or not!! It’s time to escalate complaints beyond Almega Cable Company.

[Mad at Almega]

Good luck to anyone with Almega services. Our town, Wink,TX, was without cable foe 11 days. I know that's not as long as some of you but we barely have 600 people in our town and tgere is nothing here to do. I would call, chat live and e-mail these jerks everyday and got nothing but lies everyday. When the cable came back on, we had lost 10 channels and since then, we have lost 2 more. Whats even worse, alot of the channels left are very fuzzy. I have posted more on their other page out of Bedford, TX. Go there post as well and maybe something will become of this company, like shut down and refund all moneys. Good-luck again as I have said because Dish Network is being installed in my house.

[Ex employee]

The Owner of Almega,Thomas not sure what his last name is now because he has been know to change it.All he is after is living off the Government with Grants and Loans.He doesn't care if you the customer has cable or not.

[dan]

they shut down the local cable system in my town over a year ago. I have tried to get them to give me some information so that I might be able to make a bit on buying the system. they don't return phone calls to people that are trying to buy something from them. this thomas guy was so evasive it make me glad that they don't have the service in our town.

I feel sorrow for you folks. All I can say is that dish network looks good for awhile but they too have let their customer service go to heck. they raise their prices once you get out of you contract and have nowhere to go to.

Looks like reading a book is looking pretty good.

[Wink Texas]

I have researched alot on this company and finally found the owners full name. Some site doesn't have it listed or just a first name. It's Thomas Kurien or so that's what 2 sites said. The first name is on alot of the sites that matches this but I'm not betting that this is the real name considering what I have read about this company from different states that have problems with them. Good luck to everyone that is still dealinf with this company because I'm finally through with the JERKS!!!!!!!

[Pomeroy Wash]

We have not had service here since almega took over our cable system . We have been without several channels since Dec. 2008. When we call they always say " we are sorry but the problem will be fixed in a couple of days". They do not return calls and seem to have no qualms about telling you a lie time after time. I can't understand how they are allowed to operate with such poor business practices. A lot of people here are going to Direct TV.

[TWub]

Almega customer service gave me a credit last month for loss of several channels. We use to watch Discovery & TLC all the time. Almega obviously isn't paying fees for Discover, TLC & Animal planet since they are not broadcasting those channels, yet they continue to charge us for services they are not providing. When I pointed that out to customer service they gave me a credit last month and I was told that I would receive a reduced bill on future billings until they could provide those channels again. I just received the current bill for this month and guess what, they decided to recharge me for the credit they gave me.
If anyone out there is considering service for cable or internet save yourself the stress of dealing with Almega.
This will be the last month Almega provides service to our area since they said another company is taking over the service in our area. So in the past year since we have moved here our cable has gone from Rapid Cable to Almega and next month is will go to JNN.

[Linda]

I was finally successful at talking to Monica in the billing department about our loss of channels. I told her we do not expect to pay full price. She took $18 off the bill. Now I wonder if it will be rebilled next month. Anything is possible. I did send a complaint to the Oregon Attorney General and have the paperwork to fill out for a complaint to the FCC.

[bill]

Over six months of complaints.

I suggest everyone send a complaint to their state's attorney general - most have a customer complaint division.

Almega is unresponsive, dare I say liars?

Citys are not paid franchise fees and subscribers pay for channels they no longer receive and when subscribers complain (if anyone answers at all) company reps say things will be taken care of - but they never are.

Stay away!!

[LeAnn]

Almega bought out Rapid Cable in our area in December - no notice, no warning, just a new name on the bill. Since then, service has gone from okay to pathetic. Most of the time, we are missing 20% of our channnels and the rest are fuzzy - sometimes they are all missing. Calls to service sometimes result in temporary improvement but usually we just get empty promises that it will be fixed "soon".
I'm thinking that Almega tends to operate in areas where they have no competition other than satellite. This must be the reason they are still in business.
We have lots of trees on our property, which interfere with satellite reception. This is why we switched back to cable. At this point, I am so disgusted that I'm looking into clearing a few trees so we can go back to satellite.

[Chris]

I too am upset with Almega they received $2,446,344 from the USDA grant program in 2008 alone. Please contact your state rep's and complain, contact your power and other utility companies. They have to put there service on pole and they usually have an agreement. Here in Northern California they had lines come down and failed to reattachment and have just left it. Their service is crap and they are getting our tax dollars to do this. I am sure a few well written letters from all of us to the USDA might get the funding revoked. I can only HOPE!

[Victor]

Our problem is the same as others. Channels dropping from service, nothing happens when you call Almega. This has been going on since Dec.2008 when "Almega" took over Rapid Cable in our town of 2200 pop. Our City Council is looking into the possibility of getting a different co. for cable. I am planning to file a complaint with the TX. Attorney General Office and the USDA. Out of 40 basic channels we have 10 sometimes 12 that you can't get. That ammounts to 25% of the channels I'm paying for but not being able to watch, to me that is theft of services.

[Gles AlvinTX]

I live in Brazoria County and outside of city limits of Alvin which is serviced by Comcast Cable.
Late last year 2008 Rapid Cable which was our service provider was bought out by Almega Cable.
Problems began with the excuse that the electric company was not providing electricity to the lines due to Rapid Cable not paying the bill.
For the past three weeks we have experienced intermittent cable. I have phoned every day asking for assistance. Gee how many excuses can you give customers cause I have heard them all...very politely mind you but all BS.
To date it appears that there are too few technicians in the field to cover the territory.
I requested that one be pulled to service my area and was told no! I then asked for a refund since we pay in advance for service but was told that would no be possible until service was re-established.
Does anyone know their FCC number and a phone number that can be called to complain? We are absolutely being ripped off and lied to.

[Jon]

I live in Rural MO, I was switched to Almega in November, 2008 from Rapid Cable. They Provide horrible service. Now 25% of my channels are out! As noted above several times, I keep reporting the problems to them, they keep promising to fix it, yet nothing happens. I have reported them to the FCC, Attorney General and the Better Business Bureau. I would encourage all of you to do the same. There are no other cable providers available to me. I would switch to Satellite but I don't want to give them the satisifaction without getting them into real trouble. Let's all band together to run this horrible business out of our nation!

[Macs]

It was my understanding that Rapid went under & had not been paying franchise fees anyway. Glad to see them go, it was hell to ever get them on the phone & even then I may as well been talking to my dog. I don't like having my calls answered my someone over seas, but they do answer the phone. And they have credited my bill for the loss of Discovery, TLC & Animal Planet for nearly 3 months. I don't think they knew what kind of mess Rapid left behind though & I would not be surprised if it brings them down in the end.

[Michael]

A lot of people are having issues with Almega Cable. They are caught in a bankruptcy related dispute with Charter Cable and right now it doesnt appear that it will be fixed anytime soon. Almega in my town actually went out completely, luckily the company i work for sells directv and i switched.

We could help you switch too, if you wanted.

Tony Yonkman wrote:

Anyone else having trouble with Almega Cable? Our cable has been out 2 months and talking to their "service" reps has accomplished nothing... promises but no repair...
From internet blogs... looks like lots of other communities are having trouble with this company.
Anyone know who controls the franchise decision on this outfit?

[JDrake]

My service went out about 4/13/09 and haven't recieved any cooperation from ALMEGA, only empty promises. As fsr as I know mine is still out as I haven't checked in a day or two. I drug out my Rabbit Ears and purchased a converter and am doing real well with that. I did inform the Co. that I wouldn't be paying the bill they just sent me and I also asked for a refund of unused time which I probably won't ever collect.

Tony Yonkman wrote:

Anyone else having trouble with Almega Cable? Our cable has been out 2 months and talking to their "service" reps has accomplished nothing... promises but no repair...
From internet blogs... looks like lots of other communities are having trouble with this company.
Anyone know who controls the franchise decision on this outfit?

[M Johnson]

like the rest of ya'll since almega took over our cable service, the past three months we average maybe one week a month with cable...still being charged for a full months bill, whenever we call all we get is they had a equipment failure, and no credit to our bill...we live outside of austin texas..was even told they had to get a technician out of california, come on give us a break..we cant get dish or satelite because of being surrounded by trees..this is like paying for a full tank of gas, and only getting 1/4 tank...will not be paying for something i cant watch