Help me drop CABLE!! to lazy to search.

[kaytieeldr]

I went on and on about what has happened to customer service and appreciating loyal customers. They rather give promotions to new customers and nothing to somebody who has supported them for years. Told her, look at Sears, JC Penny's. Woolworth, Kmart….etc……they are all going under because they lost contact with their loyal customers. Anyway. She really showed me how unimportant I was as a customer when she asked If I wanted her to send me to the cancellation department.
As a supervisor, I thought that was tacky and not a smart move to just let a customer leave.

Shagley is right. You should have let yourself be transferred to the cancellation department. But what did you want her to do? It looks like you rantex to customer service (despite having gotten the new customer rates when you were a new customer). You proabably left her no choice. Customer service couldn't help you apparently.

Comparing Charter to those retailers doesn't seem like a valid comparison. They're not going out of business any time soon. But it seems like expecting Charter to lower their prices for everyone would be like expecting those stores to offer everything on sale every day. A business can't operate at a loss and stay in business.

 

[MillauFr]

If you keep CABLE INTERNET, there is no need to buy an antenna. Simply plug the cable from the wall into the back of your TV (make sure if it is a flat screen it has a built in tuner although 99% of new tvs do) and do an "over the air" search. You will get ALL LOCAL channels (including HD quality) for FREE!!

I have Comcast Internet and that doesn't work. They scramble all of the channels and you need a set top box to get anything.

 

[Son of Gadsden]

After yesterday, we are finally one receiver away from getting rid of cable/satellite.

We've been Hulu and Netflix subscribers for a few years, and it's to the point now that it's all we use. We thought about Amazon Prime, but it doesn't seem nearly as cost effective. Maybe one day we'll try it. Hulu gets all all the shows we want, and Netflix gets us quite a few movies. We also use several free network apps like CW. These get us all the shows for these networks for free. We don't use Roku, but instead get all these programs through Xbox Live and Wii. Xbox also has "Xbox Video" which gets us the latest movies before they come out on DVD/Blue Ray, and for a better price, straight to our living room without having to leave the house. Plus, there are movies that come out for free every now and then. So, all of that: about $16 per month, plus any movies we decide to buy from Xbox Video (not many).

We also invested in a Mohu antenna, which has exceeded my expectations. It gets us 27 local channels for free. The antenna ran me about $60 on ebay for the highest powered one with an amplifier. Laid it on the entertainment center and got 27 channels in better quality than our HD directv receivers put out. Had a few glitches on a couple channels, so command stripped it to the wall and it cleared all those up. When we get a storm, the signal gets a bit sketchy sometimes, but it gets us what we want to see. As I said before, we don't really use TV broadcasts anymore. Free mobile TV guides are available for your local area as well via TitanTV. Another good thing about antennas my wife has found: she's addicted to a lot of TV shows...some of which get overridden by live sports and other special events. With the antenna, there are multiple broadcasts for each channel, and she never has that issue. Vampire diaries is not playing because of the Olympics? That's cool, change from channel 5 to 5.1. Downside? You need an antenna for each room. However, at $60 a piece, they pay for themselves as each month passes by.

Some of you might have an issue with cutting cable for the reasons I did: What about NFL!? What about <insert other live broadcasts>?! Well, I still get all channels I would have gotten to view NFL. Plus, since I live on the VA/NC border, I now get MORE games than I did before, because I pick up not only Redskins games but Panthers as well. I'm also addicted to Supercross/Motocross. I found that I can't catch those live, but I can watch them on youtube as soon as they are over, which I can live with. If the worst comes to worst and storms are going to make me miss a game, I can always subscribe to a local cable company for network channels that does not enter me in a contract for a few months, then get rid of it when the NFL season is over.

I cancelled two of my three receivers Friday. This drops me $12 ($6 per TV) off my bill. I also dropped the protection plan, which knocks another $7.99 off the bill. These changes are just lowering my bill as I prepare to ween off of it. The cancellation fees from DTV can be kind of ridiculous so I'm just taking my time.

So, for me, it's a combination of a digital antenna, youtube, Hulu Plus, and Netflix...with possible assist from local cable company at certain times of the year. I also connect my Xbox to my Windows 7 computer, which gets me access to any video files I have, straight to my TV. This makes things even better. My brother in law has a better setup as far as computer to TV connections. I may eventually move to something more like that, but for now I have to focus on getting rid of the last DVR receiver!

I also am working on my internet bill. I have local cable internet, which I am happy with quality wise. However, the bill is a bit high at $69.99. Wanted to try Verizon FiOS, but it's not available in my area, nor is Comcast. CenturyLink is not fast enough for me. So I might be stuck with a high internet bill, but that's not something I'm willing to compromise with.

 

[Nayan]

If you keep CABLE INTERNET, there is no need to buy an antenna. Simply plug the cable from the wall into the back of your TV (make sure if it is a flat screen it has a built in tuner although 99% of new tvs do) and do an "over the air" search. You will get ALL LOCAL channels (including HD quality) for FREE!!

ALL companies are now scrambling their signals, even locals as the FCC has now allowed them to do so. This is exactly the reason why .

 

[Tinkerdreams]

Dropped cable 4 years ago and don't miss it. I have a ROKU for the means of streaming Netflix, Huluplus and Amazon. Plus have an OTA antenna for local stations. The only issue is, you don't have access to current shows playing on stations such as AMC, A&E, TNT, etc.

What I just discovered a couple of weeks ago is a website for streaming current season cable shows (couchtuner) - these also include shows such as Homeland and Game of Thrones. This is done through your computer or tablet. The shows are posted the next day - similar to Huluplus.

Since I have an Ipad, I went and purchased an Apple TV. The Ipad has Airplay that works through AppleTV. I simply pull up the show and enable Airplay and it displays on the television. It's very cool!!

 

[djbleach]

Well AFTER going shopping for HDTV antenna ($49 originally 69 from BJ's) and a $39 streaming box.
Came home ready to cancel, called, straight to retention and BAM.
Bill back down to $114 + tax. Plus ShowTime, plus a new "free", no monthly equipment fee Docix3 modem(they will be moving to 60mbps in the fall)

The lady told me to just always go to retention. That's how they are trained, to keep a customer. Not like the other 2 that only speak 1 language. (this is the package, etc. etc.)
She also understood everything I brought up and agreed it didn't need to go down like that.
Only difference between today and yesterday was I was 100% ready and had the equipment to tell them to stick it.
Even stopped by the local office this morning before I went shopping and they couldn't do anything.
Such a sad way to do business. It reminds me of Jamaica, Haggle, Haggle,Haggle….

 

[jessica52877]

First off, go to TV Fool (yes I know you're lazy, but ) and put in your address to see what channels you can get with an antenna and if it has to be mounted outside (digital is not like the old analog days, you either get it or you don't). Also keep in mind that since you are 'bundled' with cable and internet sometimes the cost of internet can jump way up if you cancel your cable part of it. Amazon is okay but I find the selection lacking. I hardly stream anything but I do have a 3 disc plan with Netflix and have so many things on my queue it's not funny, plus you get them sooner that way.

While I admit that I don't know much about how digital vs broadcast really works I do know that it mattered for us where our antenna was placed. We purchased one for the roof and DH originally hooked it on where our old dish was, we got ABC and another channel. A few that tried to come in but just couldn't get a strong enough signal. He eventually moved it to the highest point on our roof and we now get all the major networks except NBC and several other little channels. Overall I think we get 16 total (2 spanish).

Actually, call back and let them send you to the cancellation department. That is the department where they can do the wheeling and dealing to lower your bill in order to keep you as a customer. At Comcast, they call it the "Retention" department, but it is the same thing. I just went through this last weekend to get my bill lowered, but we were ready to actually cancel in case they were not willing to lower our bill.

Edited to add - before you do that, make a list of your "must have" channels that you would really like to keep. That is one of the questions they asked me so they could come up with a cheaper package for me. HBO might be the channel that would make your package cost more. At least with Comcast, that would be a "premium" channel.

I was going to say the same thing.

I know people have tried to tell me ways I can downgrade, but I am not willing to give up many of the things I now have. Before everyone tells me what a lazy loser I am for watching so much tv, I am homebound in a wheelchair and spend most of the day alone, so I have pretty much given up all the things I loved before. Shopping and traveling are things I can no longer enjoy like I use to, so I am not willing to make the sacrifice to giving up my tv too!

If it is what you enjoy then so be it. We shouldn't judge others. I am sorry though that you are unable to enjoy the same things as you did in the past.