Take away email service and customers aren’t going to be happy – especially if the problem lasts for a week, let alone hours or even minutes, But a week?

An irate reader writes:

“A bunch of North Carolinians, including many in the Triangle have been without road runner email since last Wednesday. It is slowly starting to get better but this has been an extraordinary outage. You guys should get to the bottom of this with Time Warner. What was their problem?”

Make that “IS.” It’s not over.

Other people called WRAL and complained. Our “5 on Your Side” team responded and aired a report Tuesday evening.

“While we’ve taken several measures to resolve this issue, we’ve been unable to permanently fix the issue at this time,” a spokesperson told 5 On Your Side.

Facing the threat of increased competition for high-speed Internet and cable TV customers, the last thing Time Warner Cable needed was a service problem. But it’s got one – a major email “issue” – and this is a black eye that isn’t healing quickly. 

“The company sent an email to customers Tuesday, apologizing for the inconvenience and is asking customers for continued patience,” 5 on Your Side reported.

WRAL had been hearing from readers about the issue on June 11, however, a day before TWC acknowledges the problem began.

What in the heck happened?

TWC’s Explanation

A detailed response sent to WRAL by spokesperson Scott Pryzwansky provides insight into the scale of the problem:

“We have identified an issue with our email system that is affecting about 10% of active Road Runner email users. We are working around the clock to resolve this issue and to provide all of our customers the reliable service they’ve come to expect from TWC. We apologize to our customers and appreciate their continued patience as we work to resolve this issue.

“There’s an issue with a database that is used by our email servers. As a result, about 10% of actively used Road Runner email accounts are affected.

“This issue first was identified on Wednesday (June 11). While we’ve taken several measures to resolve this issue, we’ve been unable to permanently fix the issue at this time.

“We are working to resolve this issue as soon as possible. Delivering reliable service is our top priority and we have been working around the clock to address this. We don’t have a resolution date at this time but continue to make this a top priority. “

TWC acknowledges that the customers affected have “experienced instability” such as delays or “an inability to send/receive emails.”

Customers who use email other than Road Runner “are not impacted by this issue.” 

Competition Increasing

Meanwhile, TWC in the Triangle faces the potential threat of high-speed service coming from Google Fiber. North Carolina-based RST Fiber is testing service in Wake Forest – and promises to offer cable TV content ala carte rather than traditional cable menus. Then there is the fact that AT&T is ramping up its U-verse service to fiber in the Triangle, including a new market: Durham.

And not to be forgotten is the proposed merger with Comcast. How will that all shake out?

Challenging days, indeed.