Help...want to cut Comcast bill.

[karenbaco]

Just got fiber optic internet installed in our home through our Gas and Electric company. It's lightening fast! Our next thing will be to get Ooma and ditch telephone most of our cable with comcast. Right now we are in a bundle (internet,phone) with all the premium channels and a DVR and HD box. We pay $235 a month! Yikes!!! We barely watch tv anymore. I am hooked to my DVR so I could never give that up. I am hoping for suggestions on what would work best for our needs. We have Netflix and Prime. We have a Roku, Xbox and PS4. I was thinking about a Tivo instead of a DVR but I saw that there is still a monthly fee for that? We really enjoy food network, and history channel but we never watch live tv. Everything is recorded on the DVR. I considered the Digital Economy package $39.95 but they want us to pay an additional $19.95 for DVR and $9.95 for the HD channels plus $9.95 for the HD box. Can anyone offer us advice?

 

[LJSquishy]

I'd get rid of it altogether. After going without for a week or two, you won't even miss it.

If you really do want to continue getting those channels, $80 is still better than the $200 you were paying before, right? You'll just have to determine if those couple of channels you watch are worth that much to you. I enjoy watching HGTV but no way would I pay for it or any other specific channel. To others, it is worth it.

 

[karenbaco]

Yes definitely better than what we are paying but we also have to factor in the internet bill and phone bill. $80+ cable, $60 internet and $14 phone still saves us. Does anyone know what the Tivo charges are?

 

[powellrj]

I'll be honest and say we tried to downsize our cable a few years ago and found it was just too hard. I think alot of it is we are old and set in our ways. I couldn't get rid of my HBO and Showtime, and the channels I like are all 2nd tier stations and DH likes the Big Ten Network and Fox Sports.

I admire people that can do it. 2 of my 3 kids don't have cable and the other doesn't have the extras like we do.

 

[MillauFr]

I would cancel the cable. I didn't miss it all and saved a bunch. I didn't even bother installing an antenna or subscribe to any of the streaming services.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

We don't have cable TV, just comcast internet for $60 a month. In addition, we have commercial free hulu, netflix and prime. But I paid for prime even before it gave streaming, so I don't count that towards my monthly entertainment expenses. So total its about $85 a month. We find that this is more than enough to keep us entertained. And I really love not watching commercials anymore.

 

[AquaDame]

I guess rather than thinking of it as channels you need it might be helpful to know which shows it is you store on your DVR..? Are they shows you can get via Hulu or Netflix or one of the other streaming options..?

Edit: Seems like sling can be used with a Roku and has a 7 day free trial. Might be worth a call to them to see if that is included in the $20/mo subscription.

 

[Sadie22]

Wow! We have FIOS triple play with TV, phone, and internet for more than $100 less. We don't have the premium channels. There are enough free preview weekends when premium movies are shown that we have the DVR almost full of movies that we haven't watched yet. We also do not have multiple TVs with multiple boxes. You can call to ask for offers, but an online offer may be a better deal so be sure to check it out both ways. We also have flyers delivered in a weekly advertising package and have asked the cable company to meet or beat such deals.

 

[Stacy's a freak]

Play the game. Call Comcast and tell them that the bill is just too large for you to handle and that you are thinking of canceling altogether. If they are anything like Time Warner or DirecTV, they will transfer you to "retention" and will wheel and deal to keep your business. I called Time Warner once many years ago when I was single and couldn't justify the cost of cable. I truly called to cancel - was not playing any games. They offered to lower the cost and I gave in. I eventually canceled after the bill went up again and I really didn't miss it. After I got married and DH and I moved in together, we did this with his DirecTV and they were able to pare down the channels that we didn't watch anyway and lowered the bill. They may offer you a short-term discount or might scrutinize what you're getting to see if they can cut anything. All are better than nothing.

 

[3boymthr]

Play the game. Call Comcast and tell them that the bill is just too large for you to handle and that you are thinking of canceling altogether. If they are anything like Time Warner or DirecTV, they will transfer you to "retention" and will wheel and deal to keep your business. I called Time Warner once many years ago when I was single and couldn't justify the cost of cable. I truly called to cancel - was not playing any games. They offered to lower the cost and I gave in. I eventually canceled after the bill went up again and I really didn't miss it. After I got married and DH and I moved in together, we did this with his DirecTV and they were able to pare down the channels that we didn't watch anyway and lowered the bill. They may offer you a short-term discount or might scrutinize what you're getting to see if they can cut anything. All are better than nothing.

I tried this with Comast and got nowhere. I'd been a subscriber for 19 years (there were no other options for the first 18.5 of those years). My bill was $250 and scheduled to go up another $20/mo in a couple of months (I'd already gotten the rate notice). They were truly unwilling to cut my bill. They were willing to temporarily add services to my bill (free DVR for all rooms and HBO and showtime and...) for a special introductory period (6 months) but then my bill would go up for the cost of these services - the increased cost $100. To buy into this special deal - a 2 year contract. ummm no. I called to decrease my bill not get a delayed increase. I had to switch to verizon to lower my bill - got it down to $125. Three months after I switched I got an offer to get the same services I'd had before for $80/mo plus a $300 visa GC.

 

[Narnia_girl]

OP, I can't wait til we are in your position. We've signed up for fiber and they are eventually coming to our neighborhood, but it could be awhile. Until then I'm stuck with Comcast. Last year we talked them into the introductory rate and they said it would go up in a year but just come back and ask for the lower rate again....well we did that and they refused.

I'm paying $120 now for internet and basic cable but, like you, we hardly watch any regular TV.

 

[ImDMous]

Just give it up, you won't miss it. We have Hulu and NetFlix, and Amazon Prime and there is plenty to watch. The difference is you have to sit down and say "I want to watch this" instead of sitting down and saying "what crap can I flip through that I wouldn't normally be interested in but I'll watch because nothing better is on".

 

[magik]

Yes definitely better than what we are paying but we also have to factor in the internet bill and phone bill. $80+ cable, $60 internet and $14 phone still saves us. Does anyone know what the Tivo charges are?

With tivo, you have the upfront cost of buying the box, and then either another upfront cost of buying lifetime service for that box (no monthly fee, just that one cost for the life of that particular tivo) or I believe $15 a month. If you plan to use a tivo with your cable instead of their dvr, you'd need to also rent a cablecard from your cable provider to put in your tivo. This can range anywhere from $1 a month to $6+ a month depending on your location and your provider.

 

[karenbaco]

Giving it up would be hard.....we look forward to watching the DVR shows at bedtime. I think downgrading is a good step 1.

 

[kj2mom]

Play the game. Call Comcast and tell them that the bill is just too large for you to handle and that you are thinking of canceling altogether. If they are anything like Time Warner or DirecTV, they will transfer you to "retention" and will wheel and deal to keep your business. I called Time Warner once many years ago when I was single and couldn't justify the cost of cable. I truly called to cancel - was not playing any games. They offered to lower the cost and I gave in. I eventually canceled after the bill went up again and I really didn't miss it. After I got married and DH and I moved in together, we did this with his DirecTV and they were able to pare down the channels that we didn't watch anyway and lowered the bill. They may offer you a short-term discount or might scrutinize what you're getting to see if they can cut anything. All are better than nothing.

I tried this with Comast and got nowhere. I'd been a subscriber for 19 years (there were no other options for the first 18.5 of those years). My bill was $250 and scheduled to go up another $20/mo in a couple of months (I'd already gotten the rate notice). They were truly unwilling to cut my bill. They were willing to temporarily add services to my bill (free DVR for all rooms and HBO and showtime and...) for a special introductory period (6 months) but then my bill would go up for the cost of these services - the increased cost $100. To buy into this special deal - a 2 year contract. ummm no. I called to decrease my bill not get a delayed increase. I had to switch to verizon to lower my bill - got it down to $125. Three months after I switched I got an offer to get the same services I'd had before for $80/mo plus a $300 visa GC.

I have been a Comcast customer for 19 years. This passed January a trip to Disney in July kind of fell in my lap (in laws offered their time share). I knew I had to change some things quickly in order to pay for everything else so I called Comcast. I wasn't playing a cancel game because I have no intention of leaving (my world revolves around sports) but I did say the bill had just gotten too high and I needed to try to figure something out. We went step by step through what I was getting and a lot of yes, I need that, yes, I definitely need that was coming out of my mouth. It turned out I had the best plan for me (which is good and bad I guess) but just when I thought hope was lost they tell me that can roll me back to the original price I was paying when I first became a customer in 1996. This saved me $70 a month which went immediately into the Disney fund each month.

 

[jesse8931]

I pay 70 a month for Internet and tv and I think that's too much.

I watch tv maybe 2 hours a week but spend 17 hours on the Internet a day.

For me to get the same speed internet would cost me 100 with out tv so I save 30 a month by having tv on it.

 

[ImDMous]

Giving it up would be hard.....we look forward to watching the DVR shows at bedtime. I think downgrading is a good step 1.

90% of the stuff we watch is on Hulu. I'm caught up to the current episode of everything the day after it airs. Hulu Plus is only $7.99 a month, you just have to do some research and figure out which streaming service carries your shows.