Charter Communications

[OhMari]

I received a letter in the mail yesterday with rate changes.
My internet is going up $5.00. It is now $40.
I have the basic digital cable channels and it is going up $5.00
I rent my modem which is $3.00 and is going up $2.00-I'm on my 3rd modem so I came out ahead with renting, but I am going to go and buy a modem this week, so that will be a $5.00 savings each month.

I don't have any premium Tier channels, but they are lowering the price $2.00.

It irks me, because I am paying $128 now for internet and cable.
Last week, the mail was flooded with fliers from Charter, with incentives to get Charter for $89 and you basically get the same thing I have right now. But you have to be a new subscriber, and Charter will lock in that rate for 2 years, because they understand how hard the economy is right now. So, me, being the loyal customer, gets hit with price increases during this hard economic times. I told my dh we should cancel and live without everything for a month. He said he probably could doit and so could I, I barely watch tv. But he didn't know if I could live without the internet-that is true.

I did call Charter last nite and got someone on the phone right away, which is surprising. The best she could do, is give me a faster internet connection, 2 movie channels for the same price I am paying now, but only for 6 months. In 6 months in would increase to $165. I told her no.

Ok, vent over for the day.

[Schachteles]

Charter sucks on that. I was livid because a few months ago I got a letter from them talking about the change in economic times and how more and more people are struggling, so if we are struggling, to contact them so they can work something out for us. And then not more then a week or so later they jacked up my rates...it is stupid. We pay like $160 for internet and cable (which includes premium channels, a HD box and a DVR box). It is getting out of control. I was thinking about seeing if I can get a better rate if we add a home phone.

I get sick of having to call them every few months to renegotiagate my rates. Wish we had other options.

[Dani C]

We changed from Charter to AT&T. Their U-Verse has been much better than the Charter digital we had, also you actually get the digital channels in all rooms (as all have the same receivers) rather than just the one room. It lets you record 4 shows at once from the receiver and play them back on any TV in the house, etc.

We left Charter as they said alot but never upheld any of it. If you opt to stick with Charter, I would advise you to get everything in writing from them, they will not honor what they tell you otherwise.

[sylvenmaid]

I also kept getting the run around from them on the phone. I went into my local office and I finally got a package deal for $99/mo plus tax for all 3 services including internet, phone and cable. I dropped our DVR and the extra channels which is saving me $40/mo. I will add them back once dh gets his hours back since I really miss them. I also got it locked in for 24 months and I definitely got it in writing. You might try going in the office and seeing if they work out a deal with you. They are usually more willing to keep your business.

[DisneyNutMic]

Call and threaten to cut it off because you can't pay it. My mom did it and they dropped her bill by about 1/2.

[HeatherC]

They did that to us at the end of August. They tried to raise our bill by $100 a month!!! I called up and ranted and raved and told them I wanted the $99 deal. They said it was for new customers only. So I said fine. Cancel everything and then tomorrow I'll call and be a new customer. So...they gave me the $99 rate for a year.

Don't give up. Call back and raise _ell. They are horrible.

I wish we had some more competition, but we don't.

Good luck to you!

[extremesoccermom]

I also have heard the best way to get the deals is to call and ask to cancel your service. They are the ones allowed to make deals to keep you.

[JB2K]

I'm not only a former Charter subscriber, but I also live in their corporate hometown...

Even though they are "local" to me, my advice is if you have other TV/Internet options available to you (namely, AT&T U-verse, or the similar Verizon FiOS), I would drop Charter like a bad habit!

By the way, everyone does know Charter is in bankruptcy...don't they?

[semo233]

I have said this many, many times:

I HATE, HATE, HATE CHARTER!!!!!!!

I do not want to go to a satellite and somehow, we don't have any other cable choices. As soon as U-Verse is available, I'm outa there!!!

[Swimalie]

Call them and tell them you will go to XYZ company if they can't work with you. I have Comcast (gag) and have to do this with them every Jan. So Every Jan I call and threaten and every Jan I get a better deal for the same price. I pay $150 a month for cable, internet and phone. Sadly, we have no other non-dial up choice where I live now but Verizon is laying cable. Soon, Comcast will have to compete and I love it!

But be prepared when you call with another company's name and possibly what you could get from them for the price.

[OhMari]

Originally Posted by HeatherC

They did that to us at the end of August. They tried to raise our bill by $100 a month!!! I called up and ranted and raved and told them I wanted the $99 deal. They said it was for new customers only. So I said fine. Cancel everything and then tomorrow I'll call and be a new customer. So...they gave me the $99 rate for a year.

Don't give up. Call back and raise _ell. They are horrible.

I wish we had some more competition, but we don't.

Good luck to you!

Thanks for the luck, the girl was so sweet on the phone, I couldn't get mean or tough. I was thinking of hanging up and calling back, but my cell phone needed to be recharged and I thought I would do it at work today, but I forgot. I did say though, it's crazy that they give new customers great deals, but sock the regular customers.

Originally Posted by Swimalie

Call them and tell them you will go to XYZ company if they can't work with you. I have Comcast (gag) and have to do this with them every Jan. So Every Jan I call and threaten and every Jan I get a better deal for the same price. I pay $150 a month for cable, internet and phone. Sadly, we have no other non-dial up choice where I live now but Verizon is laying cable. Soon, Comcast will have to compete and I love it!

But be prepared when you call with another company's name and possibly what you could get from them for the price.

We have a local office too, so I will try that, when I turn in my modem. Get this, we have a Charter call center in our town, when I call I always ask where the call center is, and I get Texas everytime.

Verizon landline phones, nickle and dimes the heck out of you too. That is the only landline service we can have. Everyone around us, drops Verizon and goes with Cellular plans.

I hate the monopolizing of cable. I can't believe the government hasn't stopped or broken up the system yet.

[ChrisinNJ]

Originally Posted by Swimalie

Call them and tell them you will go to XYZ company if they can't work with you. I have Comcast (gag) and have to do this with them every Jan. So Every Jan I call and threaten and every Jan I get a better deal for the same price. I pay $150 a month for cable, internet and phone. Sadly, we have no other non-dial up choice where I live now but Verizon is laying cable. Soon, Comcast will have to compete and I love it!

But be prepared when you call with another company's name and possibly what you could get from them for the price.

Good luck in January. Comcast raised my rates about $50.00 per month & wouldn't do anything for me even with me threatening to cancel & go to Fios. I am now a Fios customer.....

This is the first time they haven't offered me a rate w/in $5.00 of what I was paying.

[kaytieeldr]

Originally Posted by HeatherC

Don't give up. Call back and raise _ell. They are horrible.

Please don't. The person with whom you speak did not set the rates or the policies, and can only adjust pricing within company guidelines.

I mean, go ahead and call back. Just as with Disney reservations, or any customer service situation, there are people who are more willing or able to help than others. I know when I was laid off and called my cable company and explained my financial situation, I lucked into a very nice rep (in Texas) who was able to cut my price by over 50%. The person with whom I spoke just a day or two earlier "couldn't do anything" - well, except cut my service

[overlyspoiled4sure]

I'm sick of Charter too. Supposed to be a fast internet---NOT!! I'm so ready to punch out the computer I could scream.

Then when I call to add or change service, I get a runaround because service is in DH's name. Geeze!! So I asked for my name to be added. Wonder how long I have to wait because it's still not done!

We got the notice about pricing increases too. Maybe I can get DH to call & threaten to switch to AT&T...

[marie1203]

We have charter almost 2 years and we haven't had any problems with them. We pay $100 a month for our cable and internet. We have the highest speed internet because DH plays PS3 online. We also have HBO and Cinemax. Oh yeah and DVR. Maybe you can call them and try to get a promo price.