Cable modem replacing slickness

My Internet service is the Road Runner service as provided by the San Diego franchise of Time Warner Cable. Recently the cable modem I had received at the start of service has been acting up - randomly going offline for long periods. Not seeing anything on the Roadrunner help web site or on the Road Runner forum at Broadband Reports that indicated any kind of network problems occurring in San Diego, I finally made up my mind last night that the problem had to be the modem itself.

I had previously seen comments on the Broadband Reports forum that Time Warner Cable franchises do allow Road Runner customers to bring malfunctioning modems into their offices for replacement, so I decided to do that this morning. The local office is reasonably close to where I work, so I drove to the office from work mid-morning.

The exchange process could not have been simpler. I walked into the customer service lobby, and had to wait just a few minutes to speak to one of the reps. I put the bad modem on the counter, said it was malfunctioning and I wanted to replace it. The rep said OK, brought up my account on her computer and went through procedures on the computer to deactivate that specific modem and then to activate the replacement on the local Road Runner network. She then had me sign a form to acknowledge the exchange, and I walked out with the replacement in hand, which is now connected and working perfectly as I type up this post.

The big surprise in the process is that the rep gave me the full package of hardware they provide when someone starts service: in addition to the modem, I also got a new power supply, a new ethernet cable, and a new USB cable! I had assumed I would simply get the replacement modem, so being given the full package was a very nice surprise. The power supply and ethernet cable I have been using since I started on Road Runner are still working fine, so I'll just put these new ones in storage for possible future needs.

So, the entire process to replace the bad modem was a good experience. If this new modem eventually starts to misbehave, I will definitely not hesitate at that time to hustle it into the local Time Warner Cable office as early as possible for another replacement exchange.