Thieves Strike Charter Communications, Disrupt Service

Police said equipment was stolen and phone and internet service was briefly disrupted for approximately 130 customers.

The following information was supplied by the Manchester Police Department. It does not indicate a conviction where an arrest was made. (Sign up here for the FREE Patch Newsletter, including Breaking News Alerts.) Detectives are investigating after police were called by Charter Communications for a report of communications equipment being stolen. The incident happened on Jan. 23 at the company offices in the 1600 block of Country Stone Drive in Manchester. Police said a large piece of communications equipment was stolen and phone and internet service was briefly disrupted for approximately 130 customers. The theft reportedly occurred from outside equipment containers. Manchester police report they do have a suspect who is a former sub …

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Protect Yourself: Secure Your Online Passwords

A recent security breach left more than 400,000 Yahoo! passwords exposed to the world. "Town and Country - Manchester Patch" rounds up the facts and offers tips and resources for making your online passwords more secure.

If you’re having trouble signing into Yahoo!, Twitter or Amazon, you might be one of hundreds of thousands of victims of a security breach announced last week by Yahoo. While Yahoo! announced Friday that it had resolved the issue, the company confirmed on Thursday that more than 400,000 usernames and passwords were stolen and posted in an online hacker forum. The breach may also extend to Gmail, AOL, Hotmail, Comcast, MSN, SBC Global, Verizon, BellSouth and Live.com users, according to the New York Times. The compromised server was likely “Yahoo! Voices,” formerly Associated Content, according to TrustedSec.com. The hacker group behind the breach is called D33DS Company. The group published 453,491 email addresses and passwords in the …

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Charter's Customer Service: What Customers Have to Say

"Patch" rounds up comments from Charter customers on the company's services and the quality of the customer service offered.

After we heard about Charter Communications' new ALL IN Customer Guarantee, a new customer satisfaction initiative the company launched, we hit our social media outlets to find out what real Charter customers in the St. Louis and St. Charles County areas think about the company and its services. (Read Previous Article: Charter's 'All In': Stepping Up Customer Service - What Do You Think?) Check out some of the comments Patch found from around the area. Add yours at the bottom of this article! UMatter2Charter Helps St. Louis County resident Lucas Jackson, who uses Charter’s cable and internet services, said he hasn’t had the best experiences with Charter’s customer service people, but that the new UMatter2Charter program has helped. “I have…

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Charter's 'All In': Stepping Up Customer Service - What Do You Think?

The company recently launched a bold new initiative aimed at keeping customers happy with a new customer satisfaction guarantee.

When I received an unexpected knock on my door from a Charter Communications representative earlier this week, I was pleasantly surprised. He wanted to know if I had been enjoying my services. When I said that all was well, the rep said that was all he needed. Since this was something that had never happened during the time I’ve been a customer (more than a decade), I reached out to Charter public relations representative, Jessica Hardecke, who told me that the visit was related to a new campaign the company recently rolled out. “The person that knocked on your door was likely one of our door-to-door sales reps,” Hardecke said. “One of their jobs while they’re out selling is to also make sure that current customers are happy with their …

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Gabrielle Biondo

11:04 am on Thursday, March 22, 2012

I've always gotten a person when I've called Charter, but I can tell you that I hear a lot if complaints about the actual service, so hopefully this means things are getting better!   more ›

Patch Political Potpourri

Wikipedia Revolt: MO Politicians Sound Off on Web Law

SOPA and PIPA legislation causes a stir in Missouri political circles.

For procrastinators, Wednesday was especially difficult. That’s because seemingly essential websites, such as Wikipedia, were blacked out to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act. The House bill, commonly known as SOPA, and the Senate legislation, known as PIPA, are attempts at curbing piracy of popular media, such as movies and music. But many opponents say the bills could have a much farther-reaching impact that could shut down sites, such as the aforementioned free online encyclopedia. Thus, Wednesday became the day where many sites opposed to the measures spoke out and urged people to contact lawmakers. For this writer, Wednesday’s protest meant a pause in searching for factoids about Pakistani independence or the …

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Cyber Monday Means Major Deals

"Patch" found the best Cyber Monday sales at national chain stores and local, independent businesses.

It's been a big week: Thanksgiving Thursday, Black Friday and now, Cyber Monday, when stores offer deals to online holiday shoppers.  We'll be updating this list as new Cyber Monday sales come out. If you see one we should mention, tweet it to @StLouisLindsay, tag it #cybermondaystl or email Lindsay.Toler@patch.com. St. Louis-based deals: Sales at national chains:  

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