Thursday, October 29, 2009
Time Warner Cable will close its call center in Waco, eliminating 45 local jobs.
Spokeswoman Stacy Schmitt confirmed that the company is merging all call-center operations in Central Texas into one Austin facility, eliminating centers in Waco and San Marcos.
Local employees will be given the option of relocating to Austin or accepting a severance package.
“This was just a business decision that had to be made. There is increased competition out there, and we have to do everything we can to remain competitive,” Schmitt said, adding that having one call center to serve Time Warner’s Central Texas division saves money on equipment and training.
Time Warner Cable announced the merger Friday and will make the change at year’s end.
The Austin-based division employs about 1,600 people and serves customers in Austin, San Marcos, Waco, Temple, Killeen and Fredericksburg. Waco’s division merged with the Austin division in 2006.
A total of 194 people work for Time Warner in Waco, including installers, marketing employees, workers who accept payments at the front counter at 225 Factory Drive and call-center employees.
Only the 45 call-center employees will be affected by this consolidation. After Jan. 1, people calling for service or installation will be talking to someone in Austin.
“This is not going to impact the customer,” Schmitt said. “A person calling the Waco center right now could be talking to someone in Austin. Our system is designed to send folks to Austin if Waco gets overloaded.”
Grande Communications, Time Warner’s chief competitor locally, does not have a call center in Waco.
“We have one in Austin and one in San Marcos,” said Matt Rohre, Grande’s general manager in Waco. He added that the move by Time Warner “is all part of the regionialization of that Austin division.”
He, like Schmitt, said having one or only a couple of call centers is more efficient.
Grande Communications, which is based in San Marcos, serves that city and the communities of Midland, Odessa, Corpus Christi, Austin, San Antonio, Waco and areas of North Dallas and Houston.
It employs about 700 people systemwide and 65 in Waco.
mcopeland@wacotrib.com
757-5736
Comments
By 1234
Oct 31, 2009 8:59 PM | Link to this
good
By Tino
Oct 30, 2009 7:19 PM | Link to this
Good(!) that means my sweetheart wiil move to austin with me and we'll be able to watch our stars together...see you soon babe
By Tino
Oct 30, 2009 7:17 PM | Link to this
Good(!) that means my sweetheart wiil move to austin with me and we'll be able to watch our stars together...see you soon babe
By Tino
Oct 30, 2009 7:14 PM | Link to this
Good(!) that means my sweetheart wiil move to austin with me and we'll be able to watch our stars together...see you soon babe
By FREE AT LAST
Oct 30, 2009 4:21 PM | Link to this
I currently work for TWC and I am very excited about leaving. Over the years it has been very stressful listening to those who have nothing to do all day but sit on the phone and complain about the company. Some of you commented about the long hold times. Why do you think that is? I'll tell you. It's because you people call for the stupidest things. For example, if ONE channel is out, find something else watch. It's not going to kill you if that ONE channel is temporarily missing. I promise it will eventually come back. Also, please stop calling us when you want to know what channel a program is on. Find out for your self. If you have digital cable, press GUIDE. IF you have standard cable, scroll through until you find it. This is just 2 issues out of many that we have with you. TWC is obviously not that bad because YOU remain a customer. We're not making you stay with us! I don't have a problem with the company, but I do have a problem with their customers and at the close of business on December 17th, I'm running out of there and will NEVER give another thought to YOU IGNORANT TWC CUSTOMERS!!
By bad golfer
Oct 30, 2009 11:06 AM | Link to this
When Johnny Mankin was President of the Waco/Temple/Killeen markets for TWC, there wasn`t a better corporate citizen in this area. They were the standard all business should have graded themselves. Once he retired they started dismanteling this region and shifting it to Austin. I understand business decissions, but not at the expense of service to your customers. Now TWC is one of the worst excuses for a service business in American. Not only it is common to have long periods of interrupted service, which you are told on your blank tv screen to call long distance to Austin for service, to sound issues, picture reception breaking up and chanels being unavailable. If you try and call TWC, the norm is 45-60 minutes on hold waiting to try and talk to someone. It`s as if they want to discourage you from trying to contact them. In my opinion we haven`t had a call center in Waco for years anyway. It`s really sad to loose what was once a very good local company.
By May
Oct 30, 2009 9:54 AM | Link to this
It is really sad to see some of the comments that are being posted here about the Waco Call Center's closing. I have yet to see any compassion for the employees who have lost their jobs. These employees have families that will be impacted by this. The choice for the Waco Call Center to close has nothing to do with President Obama. Just as an FYI, the employees of the Time Warner Call Center in Waco are valued and highly trained professionals. I pray that each of them find new successes and may God Bless them all!
By May
Oct 30, 2009 9:53 AM | Link to this
It is really sad to see some of the comments that are being posted here about the Waco Call Center's closing. I have yet to see any compassion for the employees who have lost their jobs. These employees have families that will be impacted by this. The choice for the Waco Call Center to close has nothing to do with President Obama. Just as an FYI, the employees of the Time Warner Call Center in Waco are valued and highly trained professionals. I pray that each of them find new successes and may God Bless them all!
By Rusty
Oct 30, 2009 1:47 AM | Link to this
Did I miss something? Austin is still in the U.S., right? I mean we jokingly call it the Peoples Republic of Austin, but in reality it still is part of Texas, I think.
By eye in the sky
Oct 29, 2009 4:02 PM | Link to this
Right on Hungry Jack. With the so called big announcement of that Baylor research facility, I thought companies were supposed to start lining up to come to Waco. If that didn't do it, surely I thought the Austin flats would. Yeah right. The people who are saying you will cancel your time warner cable, if you do it because they are closing up shop who are you going to go to? Grande. Their call center is not here either. No way Waco can compete with Austin. The way I see it, all the bad decisions made by the powers that be in Waco are gonna start catching up with Waco. I say the next business to close up shop in Waco will be that new bakery on I35, or Bird Kultgen Ford....I will add that good help is hard to find in Waco. Maybe it starts during the formative high school years. I know with most of the people I interact with in Waco and the surrounding areas, many have sorry work ethics, bad manners, bad grammar, and are just plain lazy. Bad customer service covers this entire area.
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