Almega Cable

[mellinda Timblin]

FCC re: Cable Television Fact Sheet - Where To File Complaints Regarding Cable Service
You may call the Commission at !-888-225-5322

[Dan]

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?

Thomas Kurien owns this company, this guy is a scam artist, getting money from the government. On May 11, 2009 his company power was shut off for non payment of electric bills. He is from India, used to run UPS stores in New Jersey and is a part time evangelist. Guess he is a nondiscriminatory money grabber. He lists 45 employees and 6 million in sales. His office is in Bedford Texas, he was party to numersous lawsuits.

[Dan]

Almega has nothing to do with Charter bankruptcy. Rapid did not go out of business, they liquidated their assets. They did pay all the franchise fees. See attached link
http://www.lagrandeobserver.com/News/Business...

almega and Kurien have a lot of excuses. You should contact United Stated Department of Agriculture Rural Broadband Service to complain as Kurien is getting millions of dollars form the government

[Freida]

Stop paying your bills and call your State Attorney General and CALL and WRITE the Department of Justice in Washington D.C. and request an investigation be conducted into this company. This is a serious matter and it is Nation wide! Make the calls.
What you will find as soon as you cease paying your bills is that they will not take you to court because they do not want to be investigated. Ask yourself this...Do you know truthfully where your money is going? If they were a reputable company here in the U.S., then you would all (across the U.S.) have decent service. Again, this is a NATION WIDE problem, where not one of you are alone in your situation with Almega. Make the calls to your State Attorney General and the Department of Justice in Washington D.C.

[Txhillcat]

Band together, victims of Almega. File an on-line complaint with the FCC.

[Dan]

Just call the following at the USDA who are giving Kurien free money. They would like to hear about this guy and Almega:
please contact program staff, Long Chen and Janet Malaki at [e-mail]
Broadband Division, Telecommunications Program

[Amanda]

ALMEGA IS OPERATED BY COMPLETE MORONS!! Do not use them, whatever you do. We are considering writing a letter to our local papers encouraging patrons to cancel their service with Almega. They are full of lies and empty promises as everyone else has mentioned. My husband and I just compiled a list of the issues we have had with them since our install date, and there is something EVERY MONTH! No joke, between emails and phone calls. Companies like this should not be allowed to operate. I suggest everyone report them to the Better Business Bureau and the FCC. They need to know.

[Txhillcat]

I have now filed formal complaints with the Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission, Better Business Bureau, my states' Attorney General. I have emailed a desperate plea to Fox News to check out this scam against rural Americans. Don't take this lying down, folks. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

[mellinda Timblin]

We in northern Arkansas are in this fight too. I have called their offices every day for the last 3 weeks to try and get service. Each day they get another Indian to lie to me. John, Charles, Mitch and Debra have all reassured me that, " we will be having a technician in your town at the beginning of the week." I own and operate a small resort and they are costing me my livelihood.
Today I called asking if I could start up service and then gave my zip code. I was first told that Al;mega did not provide service to my area and then told that Almega did provide service but it would be at least a week until it could be started.
The cable belonging to Almega is lying in the drainage ditches alongside the roads all over our county and Almega has not paid franchise fees to the franchise holder.

[SHADY COVE OR]

SHADY COVE OR:
Almega is a corrupt company. There is not enough room for me to list everything I have been through with them.
Internet out since December 16 2008.
After about 20 phone calls, the "manager" Craig Thomas (an alias to be certain) finally admitted that they unhooked the internet on our road & the one next to us...and that they would repair "next tuesday or wednesday" This is a phrase that I have heard since January...and today marks 5 months & 10 days without internet. They still charge for it though. I refused to pay my bill & they cam out a few months back & disconnected me....They can not find that I was disonnected but I have the friendly door hanger from them.I have complained to BBB & am over doing all the calls to this BOGUS company. I am beyond bullistic about this group of LIARS & CROOKS. Calling them is like being transferred to a TWILIGHT ZONE in INDIA...and then talking to nearly non- english speaking "cutomer service" all the while doing an ABBOTT & COSTELLO shtik, Who's on First?
So....what shall we do as a GROUP?

[SHADY COVE OR]

I just wanted to add that what I meant when I was disconnected, it was my cable. They have apparently not paid the fees & we lost quite a few channels....so between that & lack of internet I did not pay my bill...and it ISN'T like I was not in communication with them..we have called 2 - 3 times a week for months asking for it to be fixed.

[pat----pinson al]

Since almega took over charter costomers we have nothing but problems.we have called every week, sometimes twice a week for a month.I have wrote them a letter telling them I was not happy with their service. I called today June 09 2009 and they HUNG -UP on me.WHAT IS IT GONNA TAKE FOR THEM TO WAKE UP? I canot get local channels now.ALL I GET IS PROMISES THEY WILL SOLVE MY PROBLEM ---BUT WHEN?--

[john]

ask for kurien next time you call

[Arkansas problems]

I have been without cable since Jan 26th. Have called 20 times and it is always "next week". Can never get a "manager". I am contacting USDA and Dustin McDaniel, Attorney General about this. Let's not let these scam artist do this. This is "OUR COUNTRY" and "OUR TAXES" paying these ragheads.

[J Kline - Splendora TX]

Like everyone else, I have been steadily losing channels since last Dec. Also, many of the remaining channels were fuzzy or worse. Now, I have had NO channels for the past 3 months. Repeated calls have produced no results but they always have an excuse: "no technician in the area but we'll get one there in 3, 5, or 10 days (take your pick). "We've ordered parts and they will be here in ____ days (answer changes every day)."
Finally threatened to sue if they sent me another bill or reported me to the credit bureau for non-payment. What a disgusting excuse for a company. Unfortunately, in my area there are no alternatives and I don't want a dish. Please, folks, if you are EVER given an alternative, NEVER subscribe to Almega Cable!

[Almegafried]

A small victory! I just received a call from the PUC. They are sending a letter to Almega to notify them of violating the franchise agreement in my area. This is what i sent them, and who I sent it to!

From: Vance
Sent: Monday, July 27, 2009 11:53 PM
To: [e-mail]; [e-mail]; [e-mail]. us; [e-mail]. us; [e-mail]; [e-mail]; [e-mail].u s; [e-mail]
Subject: Almega Cable Complaints in Texas

Dear all,

Almega Cable is nothing more than a billing company that buys up antiquated cable infrastructure and bleeds every last cent possible out of the helpless customer base dangling at the end of the wire. Everyday brings a new problem to light as more channels are missing, degraded or linked to a converter box in some closet to deceive the customer into thinking they are receiving a local channel feed.
Numerous calls to the Almega help desk have resulted in no action taken. Almega promises to have a technician work on issues when they actually have no one supporting the service in the area. The Almega web site still offers new unsuspecting customers premium channels that do not exist and they are happy to take your money knowing this fact.

It's hard to believe the Texas Public Utility Commission has not taken action to stop this fraudulent activity.

This problem was highlighted by local channel Fox 7 in a news piece several months ago (2/2009).

7OYS Who Takes Cable Complaints

Does this consumer have any rights? Why has nothing been done to stop these cable pirates from robbing the low income communities all over the country who have no say in selecting a cable provider? Which one of you will step up to the plate and do something about this?
The PUC web site says that your program is "geared to ensuring that consumers are receiving the highest quality of service at fair, just and reasonable prices." Almega is delivering none of these. I want a choice! Please do something.

Best regards,
Vance

[Anonymous]

It appears that Almega Cable has gone out of business for good, I can't even find them on the BBB website.

[Almegafried]

I just checked the BBB.ORG website and see Almega Cable listed 3 times under different addresses. You might want to search again, When I filed a complaint with the local BBB, Almega did respond by offering a 7$ credit for missing channels. On the next bill they wanted the 7$ back stating I underpaid. I sure they told the BBB my dispute was resolved. I wrote the BBB and told them it was not.

375 Highway 96
Willow Creek, CA 955730000

4001 West Airport Freeway Suite 530
Bedford, TX 76021

P O BOX 599
BEDFORD, TX 76095

[Almegafried]

Called Almega Cable today and spoke to Jessica (who has a heavy Indian accent). They once again assured me that the technician "Mike" would be in the Austin area the week of 8/10 to fix the missing channels. We have lost an additional 2 channels bringing the total to -10. Jessica asked me to call back when the channels return and they will then determine if a credit is due. I told her, I was calling since January 2009 and they keep feeding me the same lie over and over. She claimed to be sitting in Bedford Texas but I know better, more like Bangalore India. Never give up!

[J Thompson]

Almega Cable has the worst service one can imagine. I live in Fayette, MS where there is no service at all. The payments are made on time and they never refuse to accept the payments. I've called them every day since June 17 and no repair has been made yet. Every time I call I'm told that they will be in Fayette but never show up. I don't hvae a single channel that can be viewed local or national, basic or premiun.