cable company - GRR!

[mickeyluv'r]

My cable bill just went up this month, even though I have not changed anything. they now want to charge me for converters that were supposed to be free. That charge is not huge, but our bill is already a LOT higher than what they charge new customers, and they were supposed to be free. I don't even use that tv very much.

So I did an online chat thing, and they told me that they would remove the charges....but not until NEXT month.

That just sounds beyond fishy to me. They coudl not send me any kind of confirmation...they just want me to pay the current - higher - bill. Of course they do!

Has anyone has a similar experience? Or was I just fed a bunch of lies?

 

[mistysue]

I just posted about my cable a couple days ago too... I feel your pain.

Do you have a local storefront you can go into?
Sometimes it is harder for them to skip out on things when you are right there, looking them in the eyes. Usually, unless you just came off a promotion, they will let you get into the promotional deal they have currently. Sometimes you have to threaten to switch. That doesn't work here because they are the only provider, but they will often just give you the promo price if you ask.

 

[timmac]

The free adapters, which I'm assuming you mean the ones that allow you to watch channels 2...99, were legally required to be provided free of charge only until June 2012. Many cable companies still do so, but not all. Is it possible yours is no longer providing them for free?

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

I've had problems with Dish billing me incorrectly and after I contact them they never fix it until the following bill. It actually makes it very confusing for me to keep track of on the bills, though.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

The free adapters, which I'm assuming you mean the ones that allow you to watch channels 2...99, were legally required to be provided free of charge only until June 2012. Many cable companies still do so, but not all. Is it possible yours is no longer providing them for free?

Ah, yes. That's pretty crappy that they are allowed to switch.

Maybe I should just drop the second tv, we rarely use it. I there was something the cable company previously said about being grandfathered in...I don't recall exactly. I guess they changed their mind, and decided to try for a few extra $ instead.

We do have options here. Maybe it's time to switch, or at least think seriously about it. I'm sure a new contract would be a fraction of what I'm paying- at least for six months.

In the meantime, they say they can do nothing about the current month's bill- only make an adjustment on next month's bill, and that my only option is to pay the current bill- and wait to see ....I've never heard of anything like that. Either a company adjusts a bill or they do not. It sounds like they did not.

I'm just wondering if they are trying to trick me into agreeing to the new terms.

 

[timmac]

Ah, yes. That's pretty crappy. Maybe I should just drop it second tv, we rarely use it. thre was something about being grandfathered in...I don't recall exactly. Iguess they changed their mind.

We do have options here. Maybe it's time to switch, or at least think seriously about it.

In the meantime, they say they can do nothing about the current bill- only make an adjustment on next month's bill, and that my only option is to pay the current bill- and wait to see ....I've never heard of anything like that. Either a company adjusts a bill or they do not. It sounds like they did not.

I had a similar issue with a mobile phone company, where there was an error on their end, and the allegedly acknowledged it, and claimed a credit would be on my next bill. Which is all well and good, except that I was going to have to front an extra $90 for my current bill. Ultimately attempting to contact every executive level employee I could get info for resulted in a call back (within just hours) that corrected my bill immediately. I don't know whether the credit on next month's bill would have panned out or not, though I am willing to give benefit of the doubt.