Time Warner Rates Going up AGAIN??? (Charlotte: to buy, live, costs)

[chicagocubs]

Here is a nice memo found in my bill today:

Due to continued rising costs...blah, blah, blah..

There is a whole grid of services....showing previous costs to new costs. The average increase is $3.00 each service...some lower, some higher.

Now if someone could bring a lower cost alternative to them to Charlotte...I KNOW that they would make a killing!!!

(They are now even charging a monthly fee for the REMOTE!!) ya gotta be kidding me!!!!!!!!!!

almost makes me want to go back to Direct TV

[sundrop]

so glad that we do not have cable.

[Tober138]

No matter where in the country I have lived, people always complain about the rates of the local cable company, regardless of who it is. Unfortunately, like pretty much everything else these days - costs for services are increasing. What can you do?

[dep8477]

I just have their broadcast cable for $12/mo and the Road Runner Lite for $24.95, although I think that increased not that long ago. I also read the other day that Time Warner is having trouble reaching a deal with Fox and might not offer Fox programming anymore.

[lusochic]

I always find that if I call & threaten to cancel, they usually reduce my rate, sometimes even lower than I was originally paying.
ADT did that recently after sending me a notice that my $35/month was being increased to $38, they reduce it to $26.. Now how does that not make one feel completely ripped off?!

[chicagocubs]

I've done that several times over the last year, they don't care. And, why should they? They have a monopoly here....

[lumbollo]

Originally Posted by Tober138

.. What can you do?

I disconnected mine and put up Dish Network. That was 10 years ago.

[fishinabarrel]

You'd all would be surprised how little you would miss cable. We switched to DirectV and that was a huge improvement. Then we switched to nothing, just over the air broadcasts, Hulu and netflix and I am so much happier for it.

Our kids do this thing called reading now too. What a great atlernative!

[ryan112ryan]

Here is what I recommend.... Cancel cable and never look back!

Instead do this:

• Get cable internet (if you don't have it already)
• Get netflix account for $16 a month
• Buy a Roku - $100 one time purchase, with no fees
• USe Hulu and other online TV network sites (ABC, CBS, FOX)

There is a TON of stuff to watch. It also means that I don't idle in front of the TV when there isn't anything on.

I did this several years ago and never looked back, I save $100 a month and used the money saved to buy a 50" plasma that has a VGA input so I can hook my extra laptop.

I keep the laptop on my coffee table and watch online tv shows through my laptop or through the Roku. Then I have DVDs coming in the mail all the time.

If I don't have time to watch the DVD I copy it to my laptop with a program called DVD decrypter (free) and play it on the TV later with VLC media player (free)

http://davidburden.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/roku_streaming1.jpg (broken link)

[dep8477]

What exactly is Roku? A device that you hook up your laptop so you can watch shows from it on the TV?