Help with cable bill!!

[michellejed]

I have AT&T U-Verse and it includes phone and internet along with 300 channel line up.


It started out at $160 and in the 2 years I have had it every month is different and always higher!!

This passed month was over $250!!

I was told last year when i called to complain that I would have a fixed rate for 12 months but that has not happened.

If I change company (there is one other available) it will cost me over $200 in instillation fees and the other alternative is Dish or some thing like that and NOBODY I know has liked and kept the dish thing!

Any suggestions?

 

[mrsklamc]

Can you handle cancelling cable for awhile? We did and they send us special offers ALL the time.

 

[brymolmom]

Do a search - there are a lot of threads here on the Budget board about getting rid of cable altogether.

We did it 3 years ago - Spent abut $600 in 'start up fees' for our new setup (an antenna, a PC with Windows media connected to TV, wireless keyboard and mouse, 2 cards for the PC to use for 'DVR'-ing 2 shows at a time).

Took about 6 - 8 months to recoup our losses. Now all we pay is $8 Netflix a month.

LOVE IT!!!

Oh but the only way this will definitely not work for you is if you are HUGE sports fans and need all the sports channels - no good way to accomplish this. Although we do get Sunday and Monday football on regular stations for free.

 

[tvguy]

I guess different areas have different rates, but the most expensive ATT package I can find costs half what you are paying.

 

[wiigirl]

I guess different areas have different rates, but the most expensive ATT package I can find costs half what you are paying.

We have ATT Uverse and its $120 and we get 400 channels plus internet. (Kansas City)

I would call and say you are cancelling....ask to speak to a supervisor and tell them why. I bet they will cut you a deal.

When you call I would do the math on how much its increased and fluctuated from what they originally told you. If you say their mistake cost you $100s or $1000s (potentially) it helps your argument.

Good luck!

 

[michellejed]

I have a home based business taking care of the elderly and they like to watch all kinds of things including college sports and Smithsonian and these I can only get on the 300 plan or higher. I have 5 TV hook ups and that is $35 each month for the box and remotes.

Would be nice to have a cable company that lets you pick what channels you want and not get stuck with over 200 I don't want!

I have called in the past and get the "new" price but by the second month it is up again. I admit I have let it go with thoughts I will get it taken care of but get caught up in life and don't think about until the next bill is due!

So doing without won't work, calling every month is frustrating

Thanks all for the tips so far

 

[tvguy]

. I have 5 TV hook ups and that is $35 each month for the box and remotes.

$35 times 5? Or $35 for all 5 together? I pay $5 a month per outlet.

 

[melissac]

We love Direct TV. We live in the country and have no cable but we just bought a cottage that has charter cable. I tired to switch to Direct TV but to many trees and I can say Cable is a lot more expensive.

 

[timmac]

Would be nice to have a cable company that lets you pick what channels you want and not get stuck with over 200 I don't want!

Not really. You wouldn't be paying much less most likely.

This is a frequently mentioned comment, but usually a bit short-sighted. If cable companies allowed each customer to pay a la carte for individual channels, it's not as though you'd get each channel for a buck. The link below explains a bit more about it (I'm sure there are also other articles that explain the same concept, this is just one I found quick.)

http://www.slate.com/articles/busin...rte_cable_bill_is_bad_deal_for_consumers.html

 

[gabriellewatson]

Our high cable bill was the reason we decided to go without it, plus we never really WATCHED tv because there was never ANYTHING on all of those 250+ channels. We only liked to watch the movie channels.

So now we do this...

We pay $30 per month for fast internet.
We invested $60 in a Roku player.
We pay $9 for Netflix.
We pay $9 for Hulu Plus.
We pay $40 a year for Amazon Prime Student; I am an enrolled grad student. It is normally $80 for the year. Regardless, that's $7 a month if you break it down.

So...for $48 a month, I get all the movies, tv shows, and other awesome things... Pandora on TV, heck yes!

I think it is great, and I don't know why I felt so attached to cable in the first place. It was such a great move on our part since we were paying about $200 per month for Cable/TV/Home Phone.

Right now we are paying $150 for our ATT cell phones, and we are about to switch to Virgin Mobile to save us some money. I think it will be $90 a month for our two lines.

What is that saying? Every dollar saved is another dollar for Disney

Also, we purchased 2 smart Blu-Ray players for our home on BF (black friday), so that we could also watch Netflix and movies in other rooms of the house