Cutting cable to save $$$. Are you sure??? (tier, companies, money) - Economics - City-Data Forum

Grandpa Pipes · 01-31-2013, 01:55 PM

I've used these tactics for years to gain massive saving and service upgrades.

Worth the read........

I fought the cord, and the cord won | Macworld

Sally_Sparrow · 01-31-2013, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grandpa Pipes

I've used these tactics for years to gain massive saving and service upgrades.

Worth the read........

I fought the cord, and the cord won | Macworld

This was kind of what happened to us when we called to cancel our cable. Well, we didn't get any increase in channels, but it would have worked out to us paying pretty much the same for no cable (just internet) vs what we pay for cable and internet together, because of some bundle and/or special or whatever, I don't remember the details. We didn't save anything by calling but wouldn't have saved by dropping cable either. I remember it annoyed me because no one watches TV here. It's all Netflix or Amazon video on demand. But it's there still, the very very basic lineup.

I just want fast internet, and need to call them again to try and convince them to give me their current special for "new customers only" that is about half what we are paying right now. We tried last week but they said no. Time to talk to someone else I guess.

ukrkoz · 01-31-2013, 03:04 PM

If you want fast internet, and are with Comcast, and streaming a lot, get business class account. HAS NOT MONTHLY CAP ON IT. Otherwise, you capped at 200Gb. Little known fact. It's slightly more, about $15 difference, 12Mb down always checks at 20, and I do only internet streaming TV, with Full HD channels. Not a burp.
13 basic TV stations in metro area will pick off a nail stuck into your TV antenna terminal. I use, successfully, coat hanger on our flat screens here in Seattle office. 42 channels free.

charolastra00 · 01-31-2013, 03:13 PM

It's $5 more a month to have cable (including renting equipment from Verizon) despite all our finagling to get our cost down. In the end, it just made sense to get cable - split between 3 roommates, it's only $20 more a year each. Our communal TV came from Craigslist and I use rabbit ears in my bedroom (on the TV I bought from Target for $50 in 2006 - still going strong!).

We probably wouldn't have spent an extra $10 a month, but $5 is basically our collective change.

boxus · 01-31-2013, 03:22 PM

I get free cable with my condo, but I still pay for cable because the bundle is cheaper than just having internet.

bcr229 · 01-31-2013, 04:13 PM

I have my phone and internet service from the same provider (was Verizon, now Frontier) so dumping cable and DISH didn't affect my internet access. NetFlix rocks for movies and my daughter's cartoons, and we get news from the internet.

Grandpa Pipes · 01-31-2013, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sabride

This was kind of what happened to us when we called to cancel our cable. Well, we didn't get any increase in channels, but it would have worked out to us paying pretty much the same for no cable (just internet) vs what we pay for cable and internet together, because of some bundle and/or special or whatever, I don't remember the details. We didn't save anything by calling but wouldn't have saved by dropping cable either. I remember it annoyed me because no one watches TV here. It's all Netflix or Amazon video on demand. But it's there still, the very very basic lineup.

I just want fast internet, and need to call them again to try and convince them to give me their current special for "new customers only" that is about half what we are paying right now. We tried last week but they said no. Time to talk to someone else I guess.

I go though this every time my current contract is up. I play hard ball telling them (ask for the retention department) that I've got appointments with other providers and need their best offer or I'm gone. I tell them that I don't want to leave but need their help to stay by adjusting the deal so I can afford to stay.

One thing is.....don't come off like you're begging for a better deal. DEMAND a better deal or leave.

andywire · 01-31-2013, 05:42 PM

I ditched TV long ago. Been at least 4 years. It was the first thing I cut when I got laid off and went back to college. Even if I can find a decent deal like the ones folks are describing... It's a complete time vacuum!

My mom has a Netflix account which I can access anywhere. I live 300 miles away, but you can still log on under an established account anywhere. That's good for old programs. The movie selection is kinda weak, but when I want to kill time, it's there. Really though, if you look around on the internet, you can find just about any program you want. I never miss a new episode of the few programs I follow, and I can watch them any time I wish. Sure beats paying for cable, which confines you into specified time slots (unless you pay for Tevo). I can also access any news source I want any time of the day for free.

animalcrazy · 02-01-2013, 12:21 AM

We seem to go through the negotiating process with the retention department at least three times a year. I used to allow the bill to be automatically deducted from our checking account every month but I suspended that service. We've been promised a certain amount for our monthly bundle only to have the rate jacked up by sometimes 30 dollars a month before the yearly renewal for the package was up. We even called before the promotion expired and was told that our rate would be a certain amount only to find that it was jacked up again. If we had allowed the bill to be automatically deducted than that extra money would have been gone. After jumping up and down and getting a more reasonable rate I simply deduct the extra amount from the bill with the ID number of the person I spoke with. I don't understand why they need to keep playing games like this. There are so many other options and sooner or later their customers will leave. We had been with one cable company for 20 years until we finally tired of their games and ridiculous rate hikes. They wouldn't even negotiate so we walked. I think they're all a bunch of crooks.

EugeneOnegin · 02-01-2013, 02:02 AM

I'm sure. I ditched TV about two years ago. Tired of subsidizing Honey Boo Boo, Dancing With the Stars, and inane staged "reality" TV shows just so I can watch ~5 channels with decent programming. And on top of that, putting up with mind-numbingly stupid commercials every 10 minutes for products I'll never buy.

"The Learning Channel" turned into TLC and now airs exploitation shows about obese rednecks. The last time I turned on the "History" channel Larry the Cable Guy was on. Network TV dramas are painfully corny and full of comically bad writing, e.g. Revolution. Every episode is the same. Annoying protagonists who continually make stupid decisions that cause them to get captured, every single episode, before heroically breaking free by fighting off 10 bad guys at once with their majical martial arts skills. Apparently network writers are completely incapable of coming up with another plot device besides catch and release, or with bad guys who aren't caricatures. I don't even want to get started on Food Network. Paula Dean made a bacon hamburger with Krispy Kreme donuts as the buns.

On top of the dumbed down, lowest common denominator programming, the cable companies usually have terrible customer service and like to spring surprise fees onto people.