By Staff
Leada DeVaney, Hartselle Enquirer
Long wait times, troubles with billing and no local office – those are just some of the problems Hartselle residents said they have with Charter Cable.
Hartselle's City Council held a public hearing Tuesday night to discuss Charter's service and future in the area. The city is in the process of renegotiating its contract with Charter.
The top issue for most customers was the lack of a local service office in Hartselle.
"We'd like to see the office come back here so we can be a part of them and they can be a part of us," Rustic Lane resident Zeb Green said.
Charter closed its Hartselle office earlier in the year. Company officials said Tuesday night they have no plans to reopen the local office.
According to Christine Mosca, Government and Public Relations Manager for Charter, all customer service calls are handled out of Birmingham but technical help is local. She added payments can be made at any Western Union location. Western Union charges $1 per payment.
Mosca said Charter has revamped its call center and service policies to make up for the lack of the local office.
That's not enough for some people.
"It's a major inconvenience to drive to Decatur (to make a payment," Councilman Tom Chappell said. "A lot of people want to have someone they can talk to and not deal with someone over the phone."
The system also has a new North Alabama Operations Manager, Mike Akins. Akins said people can call his cell phone number, 256-810-3800, 24-hours a day for service needs.