Called cable company, again...

[mombottoo]

On Monday I spoke with a rep from the cable company and she gave me a $20.00 discount...which I was happy with until I realized even with the discount I would be paying $16.89 more per month than I was last year.

So, today I called again and got another discount . Now, we will be paying $9.00 + tax less than we were paying last year now that sounds more like a discount to me!!!

[shoiji]

I always pay to keep on top of things. Good to hear everything worked out.

[hmcart]

I called ours yesterday. I am certain the ;ady thought I was crazy. Every time she would ask how a service was working Id say oh can you save me money on that? lol

[bunnys]

I am here to offer to all who are considering the option of CANCELLING CABLE!

I took a 2% pay cut 2 years ago. At that point I didn't want to go into debt to pay my bills so I decided to cancel cable.

Within a week I was totally over the loss. As I didn't have the digital compatible TV's, I thought I would go out and get boxes but when I when I saw they were $40 each that seemed silly for my 10-year-old TV's so I thought I'd just go without until I could get a TV on sale.

I was so surprised that I didn't miss TV at all that I currently have no plans to go back.

It's amazing how much free TV there is on the internet and how easy it is to get free or very cheap rentals of DVD's.

If you're currently paying top buck for cable and are always complaining about the cost (and constantly flipping through the channels bc there's "nothing on") I would suggest you consider cancelling once your contract is up. Believe me, if you miss it too much, they'll always have you back and offer you a great deal in the bargain. I'm gettting offers all the time.

[mombottoo]

We went without tv literally for over a year once and without cable for 2 years another time. Now, it would cost me just as much to not have cable as it does to have it. Internet service alone would be $72.95 per month (not including tax, modem fee, etc) and then there is telephone service on top of that.

I don't mind paying for the services, however, I do mind feeling like they are trying to take advantage. Irks me when they offer "new" customers really great deals and try to charge me $50 + more a month for the same services . Which is why every year in January I call them (repeatedly if need be) until they get my rate down to that of a new customer .

We did take advantage of the government offer for the digital boxes. So we did get 2 boxes for absolutely nothing (found them on sale so the $40 card covered the cost) but, we have since given those boxes away to people we know who cannot afford to pay for television service.

[bunnys]

You are totally right. I pay $70-something just for the damn internet. I know I could go to Verizon and get a wireless card and save like $10-15 per month and just haven't bothered to.

I also know if I spent another $5. for the service and like $10 or $15 per month for taxes and fees and signed a two year contract I could have Internet, phone and TV. But then I'd have to buy a TV.

This is how you're supposed to work it. In my town we have 2 main cable companies, FIOS (Verizon) and Comcast. They are always doing some kind of two year (or sometimes 1 year) deal if you sign a contract. I think the way the people who play the system work is that they take the deal from one company for the time required and when that contract is up if they won't negotiate they move on over to the other company and keep switching back and forth bc by doing so they are always a "new" customer.

Right now, I think I don't want to get cable mostly on principle. But I really should go over to the Verizon store and look at one of those wireless cards. That would save $15. per month...

[mombottoo]

Wow! You have to sign a contract for Comcast? I've never had to sign any type of a contract. Their specials run generally either with a one year or two year lock in so far as price goes for me...which is why I have to call & harass them every January .

Comcasts best deal right now for a Triple play is $99.99 in our area + taxes, etc. That's not bad for tv/internet/phone service.

[ama]

We actually quit cable, we had comcast and basic cable with internet we were paying $130. Dropped cable, internet is $30. Huluplus and Netflix we pay $15 a month and could not be happier. Plenty of entertainment for $45!~

[skybluepink79]

be carefull with the wireless cards most of them cap off at 5gb per month or less unless you want to 80.00 a month. if you use it to stream shows or movies you will go over very quickly

[hnybny91]

I am actually taking my cable box back on Monday and just going to the bare basic cable (like $25 a month.) I was thinking about getting a digital antennae but I wondered if those work alright. I would also have to get the converter box and another antennae for the TV in my bedroom because I absolutely CAN NOT get to sleep without the TV on. All of that would cost approx. $140 I guess and I do not want to spend the money if all I get is fuzzy crap. I live in the Phoenix metro area. Anyone live out this way that has an antennae?

[ama]

On a side note, when my DH was laid off from his job Comcast cut our bill down to $70 a month when I told them it was either cut the bill or cut it off.

[cmu]

I had Comcast for basic cable and internet, I was paying close to $130 per month. I called them one day because I knew I was late on my bill and wanted to find out when it would be disconnected due to non payment and make payment arraingements if I wasn't going to have the $$ in time. Well...the lady I got on the phone gave me 5 different dissconnect dates and when I asked her which one it was she put me on hold and came back and told me that if I paid it by the following Friday I would be fine, I said "Great! I get paid Friday and will call that morning to pay it". Well when I got home the next day my cable and internet had been turned off, so I called Comcast and was told, "Yes Ma'am I see where you called yesterday about your bill and the representative you got gave you XX date to have your bill paid by but we cannot turn your services back on until we recievea full payment". Well I told her to go talk to her supervisor, she put me on hold and came back with the same lame exscuse even though she admited that the rep from the day before had given me false information... she said "I can't do anything about it" I said to her (I was rather ticked at this point) "I'll tell you what you can do with your services.... you can shove them up your a@@!".

The next day I switched my Internet service to CenturyLink for $30 per month and have no cable, I did buy an RCA version of the ROKU box for $40 and the kids use that to stream Netflix... I can honestly say I don't miss the cable, nor the extra $100 per month it was costing me!

Keep in mind, I HAVE to have my internet since I manage the customer custom website design department for Homes.com and I do a lot of work from home.

[mobaymom]

I used to do that when I lived stateside. Here, no such luck. LOLOL

CMU...good for you. Comcast sucks. I had them when I lived in S Florida....customer service is something they don't believe in.

My dd has them and had to wait over two weeks for them to come and fix their faulty box. And the best part???? They wanted to charge them a service charge!! Since when do cable companies charge for service calls?????

[mombottoo]

Wow, other than the annual rate hikes I have never had any issues with Comcast's service...well, other than the periodic blips in service either due to weather or something breaking.

Maybe their customer service depends upon where you live...here our customer service is great. Far as being charged for service calls if you purchase the service protection plan for $3.95 per month, nothing ever costs you anything whether it's inside your house or not. They don't charge if it is outside the house without the plan but, they do charge for inside house service if you don't have the plan. I was told they started the service protection plan because, so many people were trying to fix inside house issues themselves and then calling the cable company...and many times it would take forever for the cable tech to figure out WTH the people did.

I know Verizon also had service plan protection which at the time we had them was $2.95 per month....

[mobaymom]

Wow, other than the annual rate hikes I have never had any issues with Comcast's service...well, other than the periodic blips in service either due to weather or something breaking.

Maybe their customer service depends upon where you live...here our customer service is great. Far as being charged for service calls if you purchase the service protection plan for $3.95 per month, nothing ever costs you anything whether it's inside your house or not. They don't charge if it is outside the house without the plan but, they do charge for inside house service if you don't have the plan. I was told they started the service protection plan because, so many people were trying to fix inside house issues themselves and then calling the cable company...and many times it would take forever for the cable tech to figure out WTH the people did.

I know Verizon also had service plan protection which at the time we had them was $2.95 per month....

She rents the box and the modem....no need for a service charge.

I still have a home stateside that I have cable and internet in for my dd's who live in the home....when I was there about a month ago, the internet kept going out and I called and they did whatever they could do over the phone and said the modem is bad we will send someone out and there will be a charge of $29.99? something like that...I was like no, no there won't. I rent this from you, it's yours and you are responsible for fixing it. She was like..oh oh..umm..ok..I see...yeah, we'll take care of it.

I have a friend who works for Century Link and they've had guys come from Comcast to work for them. These guys said they try and get that fee from whoever they can....if you don't agrue it they will charge it.

I live on a tiny island and I have landline, cable and high speed internet and I pay less than $50 USD a month for it..I get over 100 channels. Amazing to me.