Cost of Cable

[harry chickpea]

Dish has cheaper satellite tv packages than Directv, FWIW.

We aren't in a good OTA reception area, or I'd dump them. Netflix and Facets have become our main sources of programming.

[cloven]

Originally Posted by nuala

Worked for cable/phone/internet company, yes, that's how the bait/hook works. The dirty secret that is not known to a *normal* customer is that if you call to object to the new price or ask for help with the monthly amount, the underlying message to the receiver is that you are not going to cancel, so you are just politely told that this is a business practice, sorry. If you however call to cancel, you are going to be handled by a special dept throwing at you special pricing because it's better for them to have a customer paying $15 a month than nothing. (Not all companies have this policy, especially not in monopoly areas).

Sad but true !
Cheaper Cable, Internet Bills Are Just One Annoying Call Away | Moneyland | TIME.com
Quote from article:
"If you have never threatened to cancel your phone, pay TV, or Internet service, chances are you’re paying too much. Why must providers force customers to go to such lengths in order to feel like they’re not getting ripped off?"

Had to threaten to cancel (my phone/ISP), after promotional discount expired (and price soared)-the provider gave me a better deal (than full price), but still at higher cost than the initial rate.
Intellectually, financially, I can understand why businesses care far more about enticing/satisfying new customers, yet it still seems rather foolhardy (short-term view) to routinely alienate & disappoint the existing (long-time) customer base.
If a company treats new customers well, over time, they may become "old" customers (which then seems to equate to no longer "valued" by that company).

[NJBest]

I find Comcast reasonably priced and good experience overall. I've had a few hiccups here or there... but nothing that wasn't resolved (besides video quality).

[brianjb]

Originally Posted by njkate

the rental fee of almost $7.00 a month, for us that means another $28.00 a month as we use 4 tv's!!!! Okay $28.00 a month doesn't sound like much but multiply all the households that will now be forced to rent a box!!!

I'm going to look into Direct TV the only other option I have and see what the cost will be.

For what it's worth, directv makes you pay for each box also

[fleck]

Originally Posted by Embarrassed123

...there are no other choices but going to rabbit ears and no internet.

What a crock!!!!!

There are choices and let them know specifically what cheaper network you may be going to if they don't reduce your rate. Speak to a manager. Internet Access Cost - CostHowMuch.com gives some various options, that might go beyond cable. You might be better off changing anyway. That's the problem when the incentive for keeping prices low is removed.

There may be other ways of keeping prices low independent of you current carrier, like paying annually, and getting the new provider to waive their installation charges.

[skinsguy37]

I have found that you have to negotiate with these satellite and cable companies about like you would buying a car just to avoid getting gouged. And, you can’t take their advertisements at face value either. DirecTV advertised over $500 of savings to customers who were moving – NFL Sunday Ticket Free, Whole Home DVR free, no charge to move – just pack up your satellite boxes and we’ll take care of the rest! Wrong!

They charged me over $125 moving fee and the excuse was “it costs us about $500 to send a tech out to set up customers.” Then, how do you explain no initial set up or installation fees for new customers then? So then, I asked, “Well, do I get the NFL Sunday Ticket free?” The sales lady said I didn’t qualify because I got it free when I signed up with DirecTV a year ago. Then I asked, what about this whole home DVR? She wound up giving me the second DirecTV box free, but it’s not a DVR and she did not give me the Whole Home DVR service free for moving. So, not only did I have to spend $125 just to move, but I got no promotions at all, except for a tiny second box free that doesn’t even record channels. So, basically they did nothing for me and even charged me more because I was moving. I called back later and complained, but never had any luck with getting the $125 removed, but they did give me NFL Sunday Ticket free – or at least I think they did. I am going to check to make sure that’s true. Needless to say, my negotiation skills are pretty poor, but I’m trying to learn. I can go on and on!

Another situation I had with the move, was that when I had DirecTV at my house in Virginia, I was able to get both North Carolina and Virginia local channels with my service. When I moved to North Carolina, just about 45 minutes across the border, I lost the Virginia local channels. So, when I called and complained about that, they gave me this song and dance about how it’s illegal for them to give me local channels for another state when the state I was in had local channels. I asked the smarty pants as to why I got both state’s channels in VA, and he couldn’t give me an answer.
Of course, I figured out that with a roof top antenna, I CAN receive VA locals at the new house, so I asked him how I can integrate the OTA channels in with my DirecTV so I can DVR them – and he said it’s impossible to do. Of course, I found in the DirecTV forums, that not only is it possible, but that there is a box that works with your antenna that plugs into the DirecTV box via USB, that seamlessly integrates the OTA channels in with the channel guide of DirecTV. The box is a AM21 – costs about $70.

When Comcast took over Adelphia, my bill went up from $112 a month (cable+internet) to $155. I canceled the TV and kept the internet – but Comcast said they had to charge me an extra $10 a month because I wasn’t a TV subscriber any longer. I thought that was ridiculous, but being that I’m a poor negotiator, I kept the price. Eventually, for the speeds that I had, the price was actually pretty good – others were paying much more for less speed, so I didn’t pursue that as much.

Anyway, sorry to ramble on and complain.

[luvnyc]

I just got off the cable tit and I'm happy to not be paying such a high bill anymore, but I still have internet service which the cost is reasonable. As I was telling the cable company I wanted to end my tv and phone service they offered me a discounted package. I wish I would have called earlier to lessen my bill before I decided to cut it off, I could have been paying much less for at least a year!

Cable was entirely too high + my criminal neighbors were stealing it from me and also leeching off my internet service, jerks!

Now I can only get about 3 channels so I might eventually have to get the very basic cable connection just to see my local channels but I refuse to pay for cable as long as either me or these jerks live here. I'm learning to entertain myself in other ways.

[plwhit]

Originally Posted by luvnyc

Cable was entirely too high + my criminal neighbors were stealing it from me and also leeching off my internet service, jerks!

Interesting, did they tap into your coax? Did you have your wireless gear passworded?

[luvnyc]

Originally Posted by plwhit

Interesting, did they tap into your coax? Did you have your wireless gear passworded?

Due to me trying to connect my two computers via itunes I unknowingly opened up ports which allowed them into my network. This arse is very knowledgeable in knowing how to get in one's system even with a WEP/WPA password! This is also around the time my Norton's security lapsed before I realized so this was a great time for them to do this. Once I got Norton's back up I thought all was well but I mistaken.

Apparently he has some sort of equipment that enabled him to get info from my system by being on my network. I had to learn not to broadcast my SSID, change passwords etc. in order for this jerk to not get free internet anymore. As the Geek squad tech that came out said this person has to be more knowledgeable in computer systems than the average person.

I hate living in the hood.

[jm31828]

I would recommend dumping cable for one of the satellite companies. Where I lived before I had Time Warner and their pricing constantly went up, and where I live now I had Comcast, with the same problem. I switched to Dish Network 3 years ago and love it- more channels at a lower price than Comcast could offer, and in those 3 years my pricing has only gone up once (a very small bump, I think $2 per month). Everything about them is better than Comcast was- better DVR, more channels, better picture quality. The only down side is I am still stuck with Comcast for internet, as there were no other providers that were any cheaper. I did call and told them that their internet was too expensive and I was going to cancel, so they offered me their "lite" cable internet at a price that was about $10 per month cheaper, so I took that deal.