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As far as cellphone I use Total wireless which is owned by Net10 (also owns Straightalk and Tracphone) but only uses Verizon towers. I am on autopay which charges my credit card $35/month for unlimited. Granted, I don't live on my phone and only use about 500mb of data every month. But I love that service.
You're right about speed. There's no reason to have 100mbs d/l speed. I'm looking at Earthlink right now. For some reason I thought the service was terminated since the takeover.
I have two phones on Total, America Movil is the overlord boss. Net10, ST, Tracfone etc are all sub corps. Not that it matters. Once you understand how to use the customer service it's not bad, but getting started can be scary for newbies. Facebook reps are a lot better, I hear they are US based but not sure.
Wrong. I work in banking. You do have support when bill pay is in error. You do not lose any recourse, my bank works on your behalf to correct the error, even if it was your mistake. No one has access to your account. A subcontractor for the bank transfers your money, the company has zero access. It's done electronically. Bill pay is the safest way to pay your bills. Credit cards are safe also, and you can earn reward points.
Your bank may be different. I can only assume it's a small, local bank, definitely not a monster mega bank. Either way you obviously haven't been in the banking field long. Paying by credit card is the absolute safest way because if an error on their part is made no money is taken from the customer, only the credit card company. Also, you lose recourse when the company, such as crooked Spectrum, has stated in the mice type as such.
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Originally Posted by CalicoskiesNC
In regards to mice type, if you set the bill pay every month by typing in the amount due how could you pay not enough, unless that's your intention? Makes zero sense.
You haven't dealt with finances long, have you? It makes perfect sense. The problem is some [actually, most] Americans live paycheck to paycheck and don't have an abundance of cash sitting in their checking account. People make mistakes. Maybe they're short on funds this month and the daycare is demanding payment or they have to buy groceries to put dinner on the table. Either way regardless of the situation they might have withdrawn to much from their checking account without realizing ACH will also withdraw the same day for automatic bill pay. What's going to happen when ACH advises Spectrum that Johnny Q. Customer has insufficient funds even though Mr. Customer promised to pay at said time every month? Hmmm....that cable bill just cost $35 more that month.
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There’s a larger problem here, of course: The rules on drafting accounts are set up for the benefit of business with zero consumer protections.
I have two phones on Total, America Movil is the overlord boss. Net10, ST, Tracfone etc are all sub corps. Not that it matters. Once you understand how to use the customer service it's not bad, but getting started can be scary for newbies. Facebook reps are a lot better, I hear they are US based but not sure.
Cool. I didn't know that. I've only had to use customer service once shortly after I signed up with Straight Talk back in 2010. I must say it was an aggravation. I've only used them once since only to sign up for Total. I used my brain and instead of trying to transfer over to Total from Straightalk since they're basically the same company I just signed up as a new customer for Total and ported my number. I was done in 10 minutes. I will say I've also learned to fix most problems simply pull the battery without turning off the phone. If that doesn't fix it a master reset always does. Only thing that sucks about that is it always takes a hour to get everything back the way it was.
Cool. I didn't know that. I've only had to use customer service once shortly after I signed up with Straight Talk back in 2010. I must say it was an aggravation. I've only used them once since only to sign up for Total. I used my brain and instead of trying to transfer over to Total from Straightalk since they're basically the same company I just signed up as a new customer for Total and ported my number. I was done in 10 minutes. I will say I've also learned to fix most problems simply pull the battery without turning off the phone. If that doesn't fix it a master reset always does. Only thing that sucks about that is it always takes a hour to get everything back the way it was.
That's interesting that it takes so long to reset, it should be instant if everything is set up correctly on their back end.
When we "ported" from Net10 to Total it was a mess, actually my phone worked perfectly my wife's would not get data and texts were going to her old phone (we have been with Verizon forever, all ports prior to this have been done within 5 mins going from VZ -> Net10 (VZ side) -> Total so I as worried. They gave us new APN settings but they didn't work. Someone over on Howard Forums gave me one that did the trick.
Then after the 30 day period her phone didn't auto renew, and she calls me frantically saying her cell doesn't work, I'm freaking out. I know enough about the structure of the company (have been with Net10 since I think 2010) and found a rep that knew exactly what they were doing. It stemmed from purchasing the 2-line/$60 plan card but having her phone under a different listing on the Total web site. I knew it looked wrong when we signed up. That was also what messed up her data on her phone too. It sorted itself out but I can pretty much bet most people accustomed to walking into Best Buy or a corp branded store would go nuts trying to deal with it, even if it saves hundreds of $$ a year (in our case our first year at Net10 saved roughly $600 back then!). It's closer now but what gets you is the taxes on postpaid.
^It only takes an hour or so because I have to go through the settings, turn off auto download, turn off location, etc., download the few apps I have, blah, blah. There's no issues on their end. Phone works as soon as it restarts. But I'll tell you this the phone acts brand new when I do a master reset. No lag ever.
Apparently I don't know what Earthlink is. I've always thought it was simply a rebranded Roadrunner but from what I'm reading this does not appear to be true. Is it a rebranded Uverse? Is it cable or dsl?
If someone chooses to set a bill pay and not pay their bill in full and is charged a fee for that, how is it the fault of a bank's bill pay service? You have gotten so far into the weeds I am done with this thread. We are talking about cable tv and internet, both far less important than food or daycare so if one's budget is that tight I would advise to cancel Spectrum. I did not say to set up auto draft, I said go into bill pay and set your payment each month, if you don't have funds then don't set a payment, you will endure a late fee from Spectrum but not an NSF. I have been in banking for 26 yrs.
Well we are seniors and mostly stream. Broadcast TV is aimed at those under 35 years old. I talked to Spectrum and it looks like our internet only rate will be about $185 a month when promotion runs out. Washington allowed this so maybe we will get a Social Security increase to cover it. Anyone know what's happening with Google Fiber on Cary?
Usually my social security increase is just enough to pay for the increase in my Medicare. My state retirement increase this year after taxes was 11 cents. I'm tired of increases without increase in service.
I'm returning 2 boxes this week to Spectrum - via mail on their dollar. I'm disabled, use a wheelchair and TV, Internet is my "entertainment". I also have a phone by my bed, and 2 handsets so I don't have to carry my old, and slow cell phone around or rush to try to answer it. Spectrum has increased 3 times this year for me. The only thing they have going for it is their repair service is free - and it is needed often for the TV service.
TWC/Spectrum wanted to raise my monthly bill by $20/month. They would only budge a few dollars from the new price. I just switched to DirectTV and AT&T Internet through Costco. Monthly bill drops by $40/month, plus $200 Costco card and $50 Visa (AT&T). I do lose some Internet speed (50Mb -> 25Mb), as that is the most I can get from AT&T, but it should be fine for me. I was streaming NetFlix back when TWC was only offering 1Mb service.
TWC/Spectrum wanted to raise my monthly bill by $20/month. They would only budge a few dollars from the new price. I just switched to DirectTV and AT&T Internet through Costco. Monthly bill drops by $40/month, plus $200 Costco card and $50 Visa (AT&T). I do lose some Internet speed (50Mb -> 25Mb), as that is the most I can get from AT&T, but it should be fine for me. I was streaming NetFlix back when TWC was only offering 1Mb service.
Thanks for tip on Costco. I assume that requires a 2 yr contract. I dropped DirecTV a couple years ago because they would not upgrade my 10 yr old slow receiver. Hopefully they have modernized since then.
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