Reducing Cable Bills

[dtr_angel]

nevermind!

 

[sherry7]

You mentioned Verizon...why don't you call them up and see if service is available in your area and what the price is? If you aren't locked into a contract with your current company, there is nothing to keep you from changing to a competitor.

 

[dtr_angel]

You mentioned Verizon...why don't you call them up and see if service is available in your area and what the price is? If you aren't locked into a contract with your current company, there is nothing to keep you from changing to a competitor.

what is holding us back is that it is not cable, it would be satellite for TV (I believe its Direct TV)

 

[irisesareblue]

It's very common in the cable/internet service situations for the first few months to be cheaper than latter dates in the contracts - it's how they "hook" you into using their service and you don't really realize how expensive it is until you're looking at the full price on a bill. It's sure to be in the contract. But sometimes we only hear what we want to hear at the time, unfortunately for us.

What my daugher did with Bell (Canadian provider) is called and threatened to cancel her service - Bell magically cancelled her and reconnected her right away so that she was then considered a "new subscriber". Don't know if this would work for you but you could try threatening them - talk to a supervisor if you can...good luck!

 

[Planogirl]

what is holding us back is that it is not cable, it would be satellite for TV (I believe its Direct TV)

It's not necessarily Direct TV, it could be Fios. I bet that you have other cable companies in your area.

 

[bonoriffic]

You need to be willing to quit. Call up and start the process to quit. Usually selecting the discontinue service phone menu option puts you through to people who have the ability to make you a deal to keep you. Going to the standard sales line may not have that authority. I know people who get promo rates for 6 months and call up the day the promo ends and ask to quit. They give them a promo rate to stay each time. I guess one of these days they will call the bluff and disconnect you, but it is unlikely.

 

[buckler]

First thing to do is find out how much it would cost for comparable service with Verizon. Then, call back Atlantic Broadband and ask for the "retentions department". They are the ones that will have some sort of power to help you. You can play a good cop/bad cop scenario. You are the "good cop" that likes Atlantic Broadband but your "bad cop" husband is insisting you switch to Verizon in order to save money (he's not on the phone...he's just taking the blame ). Tell them about Verizon's better rates. Ask them what they can do to help you out so you can stay with Atlantic Broadband because you really like them and don't want to leave.

Edited to add: you play the game of it's your husband that wants you to switch so you have an out if they don't offer you a better deal. You can say "I'll have to talk to him and see if I can convince him to stay" so you don't have to follow through on dropping their service on the spot.

 

[irisesareblue]

First thing to do is find out how much it would cost for comparable service with Verizon. Then, call back Atlantic Broadband and ask for the "retentions department". They are the ones that will have some sort of power to help you. You can play a good cop/bad cop scenario. You are the "good cop" that likes Atlantic Broadband but your "bad cop" husband is insisting you switch to Verizon in order to save money (he's not on the phone...he's just taking the blame ). Tell them about Verizon's better rates. Ask them what they can do to help you out so you can stay with Atlantic Broadband because you really like them and don't want to leave.

Edited to add: you play the game of it's your husband that wants you to switch so you have an out if they don't offer you a better deal. You can say "I'll have to talk to him and see if I can convince him to stay" so you don't have to follow through on dropping their service on the spot.

Buckler you're brilliant!!!!

 

[Blue.Fairy2]

what is holding us back is that it is not cable, it would be satellite for TV (I believe its Direct TV)

and what is wrong with satellite tv?

We have had Dish or DTV for years now and we actually have a horrible view of the Satellite because of the positioning of our home and obstacles in the path. We get excellent reception even with these obstacles. We hardly ever lose our TV due to weather conditions if that is your worry. We did have some interference a week ago when it snowed, brushed the snow off the dish and all was good even in a total white out situation outside.

We have DTV now because after being with DISH for over 10 years they would not upgrade our equipment when we wanted to upgrade to HD for free so they could have cared less to keep a good customer so we said CYA!

When DTV came out they ran all new cables upgraded our equipment and installed a new dish all FREE. In fact I think we made money because they were offering a deal at the time to switch.

Our contract is up and when we want new equipment again, if they will not work with us, then we will say goodbye and switch again.

We now have a new option in town, just within the last year, fiber optic tv and internet offered by our electric company (unlike other places in the US we only have ONE electric company here). As soon as they run the lines on our block I will be calling DTV for a better rate.

 

[wdwfan16]

Cancel and go without cable or go with Verizon.

 

[Swimalie]

I agree that you need to call and tell them that you can get a better deal elsewhere and be ready to leave. I do that every year with Comcast. And every year I get my bill lowered. Good luck.

 

[mkel34]

When you call they know who provides service in your area. So, if you are going to speak w/ the retention group be prepared to say you've heard good things about satellite from your neighbors who have left them. I live in an area where we have one provider, Comcast and they don't bargain at all as they are aware there is no competition in my town, what really stinks in the town next to me has 3 providers(comcast, fios, and municipal) and they pay much less for the same services.

 

[crisi]

We just dropped it. We still have broadband and phones, but no cable TV signal into the house.

Comcast only wanted to give us a deal if we bundled. We have business class internet, so to bundle, we'd need to downgrade our conection.

 

[Purseval]

and what is wrong with satellite tv?

The crappy internet that goes with it.

We just dropped it. We still have broadband and phones, but no cable TV signal into the house.

They must have let you keep the internet because you have phone service also. If we dropped our cable they would drop our internet.
If we could find an internet connection as fast as we have now without tv we would drop the tv in a heartbeat. There isn't anything on
we watch that we couldn't download just as easily.

 

[mjkacmom]

I have had the bundle with verizon (fios) for years. When my contract is up, and I see the bill has increased, I call them and ask for the current promotion, and they always give me the current price, and credit me the difference from the last bill.

 

[WendyisDarling]

I played this game with Comcast last week. We have phone, internet and cable. Our bundle package promo expired and our bill increased by $17. I called and offered to extend my contract to continue the promo deal. This worked last time, but not now. I worked all the good customer angles and past offers. I talked to 3 different people. They were being very stubborn about not lowering the price. Told me if I wanted to lower the price I could go to a package w/ fewer channels.

I was really nice on the phone. As if it just dawned on me, I asked the rep to price out what it would cost if they took out the phone portion and mentioned that our service wasn't very good anyway (it isn't--several service calls and it still isn't very good, but cheap in the bundle). Then I quickly added, "actually, can you just tell me what it will cost to only have cable with you?" Oh, then lo and behold she found a deal! And wow! It offered exactly the same services we are getting now for the same price. I double checked, wanted to be sure we still had equipment covered, etc. Yep. Everything is the exact same.

I was proud of myself for sticking to my guns on this one because it really seemed like they were not going to budge.

Good luck.

 

[jodifla]

We just bundled and switched to U-Verse for phone, Internet and cable. So far, we are loving it.

We saved almost $70 a month, we now have DVRs so we can tape our favorite shows with a push of the button and watch when we want, unlimited long distance and much faster Internet service.

Oh, and Comcast was our new best friend once we told them we were leaving. We were called a half-dozen times with deals asking us to stay.

 

[crisi]

The crappy internet that goes with it.



They must have let you keep the internet because you have phone service also. If we dropped our cable they would drop our internet.
If we could find an internet connection as fast as we have now without tv we would drop the tv in a heartbeat. There isn't anything on
we watch that we couldn't download just as easily.

No, we don't have phone service with them. We have business class internet - we get our internet through a different division of Comcast than the home service division.

 

[peggster]

They must have let you keep the internet because you have phone service also. If we dropped our cable they would drop our internet. If we could find an internet connection as fast as we have now without tv we would drop the tv in a heartbeat. There isn't anything on
we watch that we couldn't download just as easily.

I don't know if it's an option in your area, but I have cable internet through Earthlink. I had a dialup account with Earthlink up until last summer, and needed something faster for online classes. I was able to get stand-alone cable internet (without cable TV service) for $41.95/month. Time Warner Cable provides the service and bills me for it, but I kept my Earthlink email address and didn't have to get cable TV service along with the cable internet. Might be worth looking into.

 

[ohlas]

Im so mean to directv i call them every time the current discount runs out. They just give it to me any where from $10-30 off normal price plus what ever free movie channel is out there hubby always loling at me about what free movie channel is it this time... 10 a month is 120 year we have had directv for over 10 years now that min of 1200.. that i didnt spend on directv.

Im about to do it to the phone company we pay 90 month and they have been advertizing 54.95 month forever price and it mades me mad. thats phone land line dsl lite and free us cont. longdistance.. how rude to charge your current customers almost twice and offer new customers a forever price..im thinking about cuting off the phone and having my husband pick up the phone to have service put in his name if they dont give it to me....