Do cord-cutters pay more everywhere?

[foxfirev5]

DW just went through several calls involving a few hours to get a 2 year contract with Comcast that should be about what we paid this year. Who know's. I was the jerk in the background saying drop it all at both houses.

 

[Dimsumkid]

We were fine with Comcast internet @ $19.99 (3Mbps), but the price went up to $39.99 after 1yr. For $10 more, we got 25Mbps speed and HBO/Showtime TV and $5+/mo fees too. Don't really care for the TV since we have good OTA signals, but we pay no home phone using Obihai VOIP and no cell bills using Ringplus 1000/cell,1000/text and 500/data for 3 seperate cell phones. We threatened to cancel Comcast and did cancel and they still didn't care. We had to call back to sign up for the plan we're on now. Only comp in my town is AT&T at 0.5Mbps for $37/mo, so it's really a monopoly as they're not upgrading the phone internet any time soon.

 

[Marita40]

I wrote a post a few months ago about getting a bait and switch from Centurylink for a "triple play" with cable, landline, and internet. After hours and hours on the phone to every possible layer of the company's (so-called) customer service I got no satisfaction. I'm still steamed about it but had to eventually give up for my own mental health. I did manage to get the cost down significantly, however, from the first bill I had received (although still not equal to the "bait" cost I had been promised earlier). Centurylink has been a nightmare to deal with; DirectTV far less so. Comcast, which I've had in the past, was terrible too. All bad.

 

[Mulligan]

I call and complain and usually get $20 knocked off. Last year didnt work, but this year I got $25 for combining my ATT dsl with my satellite bill. Comprehensive package except up to the HBOs, etc. $145 a month for both with 4 tv, and the dvr I waste $10 on and never use...


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[Al in Ohio]

For years I renogotiated my phone and cable contracts until I realized I did't need either. Cut the cable!

Cell phones, $30 monthly intetnet and app streaming all your fav channels is the new wave.

Jump out of the buggy and buy a model T.


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[Al in Ohio]

For years I renogotiated my phone and cable contracts until I realized I did't need either. Cut the cable!

Cell phones, $30 monthly internet and app streaming all your fav channels is the new wave.

Jump out of the buggy and buy a model T.


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[Mulligan]

For years I renogotiated my phone and cable contracts until I realized I did't need either. Cut the cable!

Cell phones, $30 monthly internet and app streaming all your fav channels is the new wave.

Jump out of the buggy and buy a model T.


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I may B.M.C about my bill but I am staying in "the buggy". Viewing experience way better and due to sports I am tethered to it. In all honesty it by far is my cheapest entertainment value money I spend a month. What burns my butt isn't the price, its the pricing mechanism. The "loyalty discount" goes to new subscribers not the long time subscribers.


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[Sunset]

.....What burns my butt isn't the price, its the pricing mechanism. The "loyalty discount" goes to new subscribers not the long time subscribers......

Yep that bugs me too, and the companies wonder why their churn rate is so high.
We just switched to WOW at $25/mo for 12 months, then it goes to $35 for another yr, then goes to normal rate (about $50).

I'll be switching in 2 yrs since there is no benefit to being loyal.

 

[bUU]

All paths lead to the same place. There is no way to permanently gain an advantage over the average except through work, continual unending work. Subscription video entertainment is worth a certain amount. By hook or crook providers will eventually get practically everyone on to the track toward paying that amount. Those who keep up to date with the latest dodge will benefit, until that dodge is woven into the pricing model and they'll have to work to find and learn the new dodge. There may always be a marginal advantage in playing suppliers off each other, yet there will always be that question in the back of one's mind whether it is worth the work, year after year. Those who feel it is will get that marginal advantage in price at the expense of a marginal expenditure of time and effort. Fair is fair.

 

[misshathaway]

Yes. 3 months in and finding that retirement involves a surprising amount of work.

 

[Golden sunsets]

This worked for me once, not the second time. Maybe the second guy only claimed to be a retention specialist.

+1. After my second less than successful experience with the retention specialist, I looked around our home and decided that we could forego the full range of programming on one of our four TV's and brought the box back to a Time Warner. They asked why I was returning it and when I responded "to decrease my bill", the customer rep went into overdrive to see what else she could do and reduced my monthly triple play bill from $235 to $175. (Includes 4TV's with full line up, DVR, and 2 premium channels). My Mom had a similar experience just going into the local office and asking them to reduce her bill. She now pays about $115 for triple play, one TV, with DVR and the full line up but no premiums. My Aunt who lives next door to Mom pays over $200 for the same service and has decided to use Mom's approach. So my take away is "show up in person".

 

[Lsbcal]

Yes being on the bleeding edge of "getting the best deal" is work. If one steps back and just accepts a certain amount of inefficiency then I think it is easier. I too get annoyed with the costs of communications technology. But I'm trying to let go of being quite so annoyed at not getting the best deal.

Full disclosure: My current near term projects are to dump the local paper and cut out the landline. So I'm no saint on this kind of topic.

 

[travelover]

.......... So my take away is "show up in person".

I think it helps if you have a suitcase in one hand.

 

[W2R]

I may B.M.C about my bill but I am staying in "the buggy". Viewing experience way better and due to sports I am tethered to it.

Usually your posts are extremely sensible, but this is one I just can't relate to. You could still see lots of sports OTA, although maybe not the exact same games you want to watch. We get lots of sports, including just about all Saints games, OTA.

So really it's NOT watching sports that has you tied to that big cable bill - - it's watching a few particular games instead of other games that you could see OTA at the same time. And that would be only on the (probably very few) occasions when your game is not OTA.

Bear in mind that I'm not a team sports fan, so maybe I just don't "get it" but to me, that is just not worth well over $100/month. If I was a sports fan, I'd probably either watch a different game (hey, it's all sports!), or else I'd go order a $6 sandwich at a sports bar and watch the game there on the rare occasions when I couldn't get the game at home.

 

[easysurfer]

There are different levels of sports viewing. Some need to watch all the games at all times. Fantasy football?

For me, I have a favorite team that I follow. Football still has every game OTA. Baseball, a lot of the games are not OTA, but for me the trade off of not watching each but instead listening to the game on the radio is worth saving the $$ on cable bills. Plus, I got buy with Sling TV during the playoffs.

 

[Cobra9777]

I pay $74/mo for 50/50 internet from Verizon FiOS, which includes the broadcast TV tier (all local OTA channels plus maybe a dozen others). That's the no-contract, non-teaser rate and includes all taxes/fees. The new-customer, teaser rate for same service is $50/mo plus tax.

Home phone is free using Obi plus Google Voice. We subscribe to Netflix for $8/mo. Also use Kodi for other streaming sources and for EPG and DVR capability. Two smartphones on Ting average about $35/mo. Total is $117/mo.

We also have Charter Cable available. Their best internet offering is $39/mo for 30/5. I've thought about switching between FiOS and Charter so that I always get the teaser rate, which would save about $25/mo on average. But Charter does not offer a broadcast tier TV service, so I'd need to mount an antenna on the roof. We are 35-40 miles from broadcast towers.

Also, I had Charter before FiOS and bandwidth was highly variable depending on time of day and there were frequent outages. From reviews I've read recently, that hasn't improved much over the years. FiOS is rock solid. So for now, I'm not a "switcher," but I would never rule it out.

 

[BLS53]

Usually your posts are extremely sensible, but this is one I just can't relate to. You could still see lots of sports OTA, although maybe not the exact same games you want to watch. We get lots of sports, including just about all Saints games, OTA.

So really it's NOT watching sports that has you tied to that big cable bill - - it's watching a few particular games instead of other games that you could see OTA at the same time. And that would be only on the (probably very few) occasions when your game is not OTA.

Bear in mind that I'm not a team sports fan, so maybe I just don't "get it" but to me, that is just not worth well over $100/month. If I was a sports fan, I'd probably either watch a different game (hey, it's all sports!), or else I'd go order a $6 sandwich at a sports bar and watch the game there on the rare occasions when I couldn't get the game at home.

Major professional and collegiate team sports are greatly reduced on OTA networks, from what was available a decade or two ago. About the only serious fans that can survive without cable, are those who follow an in-market NFL team. The NFL has contracts with the OTA networks to show these games, and the bulk of games are OTA , with only Monday and Thursday night games on cable channels.

If one is a MLB, NBA, or NHL fan, your choice of OTA games is quite limited. MLB plays games 7 days/nights a week from April to October, and the only OTA games are the single weekly FOX telecasts on Saturday. The NBA and NHL limit their OTA telecasts to the weekend as well. NCAA football and basketball are also similar in that respect.

To the serious fan of any of these sports, other than the NFL, watching a reasonable amount of games is impossible without a cable subscription.

I know very few sports fans that randomly accept any telecast of anything that carries the definition of being a sport. When you get beyond the major team sports, individual tastes are fragmented, and just because a "sport" happens to be on an OTA channel, it doesn't mean a "fan" wants to watch it.

 

[Mulligan]

Usually your posts are extremely sensible, but this is one I just can't relate to. You could still see lots of sports OTA, although maybe not the exact same games you want to watch. We get lots of sports, including just about all Saints games, OTA.

So really it's NOT watching sports that has you tied to that big cable bill - - it's watching a few particular games instead of other games that you could see OTA at the same time. And that would be only on the (probably very few) occasions when your game is not OTA.

Bear in mind that I'm not a team sports fan, so maybe I just don't "get it" but to me, that is just not worth well over $100/month. If I was a sports fan, I'd probably either watch a different game (hey, it's all sports!), or else I'd go order a $6 sandwich at a sports bar and watch the game there on the rare occasions when I couldn't get the game at home.

You give me too much credit... My posts probably arent sensible often either! Seriously though, I didnt give full explanation...Its a sports thing... One of my entertaining interests I have is to make season long gambling bets. So I enjoy watching the teams I have the bets on. This year it has been Texans and Panthers in NFL. These games can only be watched through Direct TV as they have exclusive rights to all regular season games out of market which I cannot see locally. Plus I have 2 big bets on NHL season point totals so I follow Colorado and Dallas. You have to buy NHL package for this. I could get NHL package online, but then couldnt watch my local team the STL Blues because you need to purchase Fox Sports Midwest package.
These all cant be bought collectively online.
Actually buying all this is way cheaper and more enjoyable to me now than being a season ticket holder which I was... 70 in screen HD, and big chair way better experience than hassle of going to the game.
To be honest, if I didn't like sports, I would probably still complain and buy cable anyways. I don't want to deal with dumb gadgets, different remotes, Internet buffering, etc. I don't like change...but I do like to complain!


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[Mulligan]

BTW, W2R, the reason you probably don't understand this sports thing is because its usually a guy thing that starts at youth...things you probably didn't do such as throw lawn darts at each other, roman candle fire fights, bb gun wars and such. Then over time it just mellows out to lazier testosterone fueled endeavors such as gambling on sports.


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[jjquantz]

BTW, W2R, the reason you probably don't understand this sports thing is because its usually a guy thing that starts at youth...things you probably didn't do such as throw lawn darts at each other, roman candle fire fights, bb gun wars and such. Then over time it just mellows out to lazier testosterone fueled endeavors such as gambling on sports.


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I find this comment hilarious and definitely off the mark! When I was a kid I did ALL of the stupid things that you listed, was a gigantic sports fan and played high school baseball and football. DW did none of those things. Now, DW is a HUGE sports fan, especially her Cubs and NFL football. I will sometimes watch a bit of a game with her if I'm feeling lazy, but I have ABSOLUTELY no interest in college or professional sports anymore.

 

[Mulligan]

I find this comment hilarious and definitely off the mark! When I was a kid I did ALL of the stupid things that you listed, was a gigantic sports fan and played high school baseball and football. DW did none of those things. Now, DW is a HUGE sports fan, especially her Cubs and NFL football. I will sometimes watch a bit of a game with her if I'm feeling lazy, but I have ABSOLUTELY no interest in college or professional sports anymore.

JJ, if you are longing to recommit to watching a full game with interest, this tip will help you I guarantee.... Take a $1000 bucks and make a bet on the game... I guarantee you, you will be amazed at your sudden increased interest level.


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[Lsbcal]

JJ, if you are longing to recommit to watching a full game with interest, this tip will help you I guarantee.... Take a $1000 bucks and make a bet on the game... I guarantee you, you will be amazed at your sudden increased interest level.
...

That why I watch the stocks and bonds so avidly. And you can get those games for free at least 5 days a week. No cable bill.

 

[jjquantz]

JJ, if you are longing to recommit to watching a full game with interest, this tip will help you I guarantee.... Take a $1000 bucks and make a bet on the game... I guarantee you, you will be amazed at your sudden increased interest level.


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That's just it, Mulligan, there is no interest in watching a full game and I have never understood the allure of betting so that's a non-starter. My point is simply that the urge to watch sports went away sometime in my early 20's and I just don't see the point, anymore. No judgement intended, BTW... among my close family members, DW is an avid fan, DD1 really doesn't care, SIL#1 REALLY DOESN'T CARE, DD2 is an avid alma mater BB fan and Broncos fan and SIL#2 is regular sports bettor. We all get along famously.

Anyway, I'm going to consider starting a poll/thread around sports viewing habits, so as not to hijack this thread. I am very interested in hearing about how others viewing habits have changed over time and why.

 

[sengsational]

Those who keep up to date with the latest dodge will benefit, until that dodge is woven into the pricing model and they'll have to work to find and learn the new dodge.

Yep. I'd been switching between TimeWarner, AT&T, and Clear Wireless, but I've been stymied lately. I'm on TimeWarner at the moment, and my one year introductory pricing ran out. When I went to AT&T I realized not only would I need a new modem (DSL is gone, only Uverse is offered), they charge me $99 to connect (even though no one would come to my house...it's self setup). And Sprint bought Clear and raised the prices, so the Clear WiMax modem I bought is worthless to me.

The good news is that we've got Google Fiber digging up the neighborhood! Nothing better than more competition!

But I have tons of OTA programming available, have six tuners connected to DVR software (that I wrote myself), have the ability to find the occasional item on icefilms if it's not OTA, don't care about sports, have an Ooma voip phone system, Republic Wireless cell phone that gives you back money for unused data, so I'm getting plenty of service for a reasonable level of funding.

 

[W2R]

BTW, W2R, the reason you probably don't understand this sports thing is because its usually a guy thing that starts at youth...things you probably didn't do such [...]

That's probably true! It does seem to be a guy thing. (edited to add: Or not! After reading the other posts between that post and this one, maybe we do need that poll).

You give me too much credit... My posts probably arent sensible often either! Seriously though, I didnt give full explanation...Its a sports thing... One of my entertaining interests I have is to make season long gambling bets. So I enjoy watching the teams I have the bets on.
[...]
To be honest, if I didn't like sports, I would probably still complain and buy cable anyways. I don't want to deal with dumb gadgets, different remotes, Internet buffering, etc. I don't like change...but I do like to complain!

Yes, your posts ARE sensible! At least to me. Thanks for the explanation. That makes sense to me, too. I don't like change very much either; as you probably recall I told the forum that I was going to drop my cable TV and landline for what, about 5 years before I finally did? That's because I just couldn't deal with the change until I had thought about it for that long.