So angry, cable company completely lied to me!

[buzz2400]

I would recommend calling their 800 number and speaking with someone there. Every time my "special pricing" goes up, I call them up and they help me with getting the price down again, especially since I am a very long time customer. I also have read that you call them up and tell them you want to get rid of the cable and they switch you to another department that will try and find a way to keep you (with prices). I find that when you go in person, you do not really get the help you need.

 

[timmac]

I just wanted to say a cable company can not be a monopoly. They do not stop other companies from coming and building plant. If anyone stops it, it is usually the Township/Boro in which you live. To have cable is a choice not a necessity. If you need the internet you always have the option to go to the library. Pretty sure most libraries have internet now. There you go new monthly bill = $0.

It's already been pointed out that this is a bit short sighted, but wanted to add that nowadays, for a great many things, not having internet is about as isolating as not having a phone was 20 years ago. And, similarly, I wouldn't suggest to anyone that they simply get rid of their home phone and use the pay phone on the street corner whenever they need to make a call.

 

[Starbrite]

If it's Comcast or similar, you will have to add on taxes and other fees that they don't put in as the package price. They can't charge you them as part of the package price, because the money doesn't go to them, it goes to the various government agencies.

For example, I pay $159.99 for the big package: all movie channels, tv channels, HD, highest internet, home phone,DVR etc.
Plus:
9.95 for DS's cable box.
7.00 in modem fees (for the phone)
3.45 Service protecton Plan
1.03 in regulatory fees (phone)
.42 state sales tax (phone)
.07 county sales tax (phone)
1.66 local communications service tax (phone)
.60 FL communciations service tax (phone)
.50 911 fees (phone)
.55 sales tax (cable)
11.41 state communcations service tax (cable)
8.11 local communciation service tax (cable)
.08 Federal communcations commission fee (cable)

That all adds up. An extra 34.88 a month.

THIS ^^^^



Plus, companies bill for those services a month in advance. It's called prorating.
For example, if your bill cycle runs on the 1st of every month. And you signed up for the new service on Feb 15th. Your first bill will be higher than normal because you are paying for Feb 15th thru April 1st. MORE than 1 month.

Call and see if this is what happened, or wait until next month when you have a "regular" bill and see how it compares.

 

[JB2K]

Perhaps we'll go back to cable some day (especially if FiOS comes to our area - thanks for mentioning that @kim929, never heard of it before!), but overall we like the change so far. plus, NetFlix just struck a deal with Disney to get all Disney movies streaming by 2016...so just 3 more years to wait on that.

Don't count on (Verizon) FiOS coming to the Buckeye State. Ever.

Verizon has pretty much rolled-out FiOS to the same markets where they offer local landline service (since a key component of FiOS is Verizon's traditional telephone service, which is offered from VA up the east coast to MA, which includes DIS hotspots such as PA, and NY/NJ).

A more likely option would be AT&T U-verse (since AT&T is the local telco for most of Ohio) -- the technology is similar to FiOS -- just a different phone company for a different part of the country.

For those of you having issues with your local cable company (talking traditional operators such as Comcast, TWC, etc.), you might want to check with someone in your local (city) government, as those companies get franchise agreements by your town to operate in your town.

 

[BadgerGirl84]

I'd get rid of the cable TV if it's bothering you so much to think about what you are getting charged for it.

I used to think I couldn't "live" without Cable to watch TLC, Bravo, Food Network, etc. We cut it a while back and it was a great decision.

We have a good antenna for local TV (although we barely watch it) and we have a Roku with a Netflix streaming subscription. While I guess it would be fun to watch some of my "old shows" on TLC and Bravo, I don't really miss them that much because I'm always in the middle of a good series on Netflix. Watched the entire Mad Men series, Walking Dead, we are part way through Breaking Bad, we watched Once Upon a Time and now I'm also watching Parenthood.

The only time we have really missed cable is when there was a local football game on NFL network or ESPN.

 

[BelleBeautyandtheBeast]

THIS ^^^^



Plus, companies bill for those services a month in advance. It's called prorating.
For example, if your bill cycle runs on the 1st of every month. And you signed up for the new service on Feb 15th. Your first bill will be higher than normal because you are paying for Feb 15th thru April 1st. MORE than 1 month.

Call and see if this is what happened, or wait until next month when you have a "regular" bill and see how it compares.

That was my first thought, the first bill after changes can be wacky.

I would call back, or go in person if you are more comfortable with that, and ask for a detailed explanation of what your monthly bill should be vs what it is.

Hope it all works out.

 

[mrsklamc]

I'd get rid of the cable TV if it's bothering you so much to think about what you are getting charged for it.

I used to think I couldn't "live" without Cable to watch TLC, Bravo, Food Network, etc. We cut it a while back and it was a great decision.

We have a good antenna for local TV (although we barely watch it) and we have a Roku with a Netflix streaming subscription. While I guess it would be fun to watch some of my "old shows" on TLC and Bravo, I don't really miss them that much because I'm always in the middle of a good series on Netflix. Watched the entire Mad Men series, Walking Dead, we are part way through Breaking Bad, we watched Once Upon a Time and now I'm also watching Parenthood.

The only time we have really missed cable is when there was a local football game on NFL network or ESPN.

Sounds like OP needs internet. But it's really shocking how little you miss cable.

 

[disneymayz]

She said dh needs internet for work. The way most people work today I imagine it would be pretty unexceptable for him to stick to library days and hours- plus cost of getting to the library. People always forget the costs of "Free" For me gas getting to the library would be $3-$4 a pop- if I had to check in just once a day your "free" plan would cost somewhere around $20.00 a week. This may be a good idea for retiree's or recreational users who live relatively close to their library, but is pretty unrealistic for the rest of the world!

So the world relies on internet is what you are saying. I use the internet mainly to pay my bills. Since I have it I come on here, facebook, etc. but I could totally live without it. The Amish down the road do. The Amish down the road don't have a home.

I work for a cable company. More people are mad when they lose their internet than they are if they lose their TV service. What people for get is EVERYTHING goes up in price. You spoke about gas (yup that went up) and heck the ticket prices to go to Disney went up, every year. My health insurance went up yet again this year. My point is, it is not a necessity. IF it is needed for work then work should pay for it. Sometimes when people say they "need" it for work. They need it, so they can leave the office earlier. Not saying that this is the OP reason. Most companies that I have dealt with that required their employees to have internet at home, will pay for it. They will compensate in another way to make up for it.

I understand frustration on a bill when something was quoted and then you don't get it. I spent the last 3 months getting my cell phone bill corrected.

 

[mistysue]

I haven't had cable TV since I moved out of my parents' house. We have a roku and have watched things online if we really wanted to.

We have charter- the internet alone is now $55/month I was quoted $60/month combined for TV and internet, so it was a no brainer to upgrade and cancel Netflix... So the issue is it's really $90 combined, which becomes $115/month after taxes. Being quoted $60 and being sent a bill for $115 is just not cool.

I called and went back in and there is nothing I can do. So I either have internet for $55 or both for $115. I came home so we can debate what we actually want. I got really excited about letting the boys watch playhouse Disney and if I let DD watch things on TV, she doesn't try to watch youtube so it's easier to control what she is seeing. (it's only run to one TV, so I blocked things I don't like)

We can pay for it, I just don't feel like it so I'm sad and angry.

 

[disneymayz]

I haven't had cable TV since I moved out of my parents' house. We have a roku and have watched things online if we really wanted to.

We have charter- the internet alone is now $55/month I was quoted $60/month combined for TV and internet, so it was a no brainer to upgrade and cancel Netflix... So the issue is it's really $90 combined, which becomes $115/month after taxes. Being quoted $60 and being sent a bill for $115 is just not cool.

I called and went back in and there is nothing I can do. So I either have internet for $55 or both for $115. I came home so we can debate what we actually want. I got really excited about letting the boys watch playhouse Disney and if I let DD watch things on TV, she doesn't try to watch youtube so it's easier to control what she is seeing. (it's only run to one TV, so I blocked things I don't like)

We can pay for it, I just don't feel like it so I'm sad and angry.

I know that sometimes we offer the same kind of deal. But you have to get all 3 to get them at 30/each. If you have a home phone would it be worth switching it all over. Saying you are paying $30 for phone already and switch then you are now only paying 60 for the other 2.

 

[momof3ds]

Not true these days. My wife's job has her traveling 75% of the time. When she isn't traveling, she is working from home via the internet. Her work used to reimburse for internet but that stopped last year but she still needs it.

We use the internet for TV watching (dropped cable several months ago), school work and research, I communicate with my kids' teachers primarily via email, maintaining contact with family who don't live locally, and so on. I use it to look for recipes and to research issues (like car repair).

As far as going to the library. We tried that a few weeks ago. Our internet was spotty and the kids had papers to finish and needed to print up pictures. The line for the internet at the library was literally hours long.

Luckily, they were able to finish at home.

So the world relies on internet is what you are saying. I use the internet mainly to pay my bills. Since I have it I come on here, facebook, etc. but I could totally live without it. The Amish down the road do. The Amish down the road don't have a home.

I work for a cable company. More people are mad when they lose their internet than they are if they lose their TV service. What people for get is EVERYTHING goes up in price. You spoke about gas (yup that went up) and heck the ticket prices to go to Disney went up, every year. My health insurance went up yet again this year. My point is, it is not a necessity. IF it is needed for work then work should pay for it. Sometimes when people say they "need" it for work. They need it, so they can leave the office earlier. Not saying that this is the OP reason. Most companies that I have dealt with that required their employees to have internet at home, will pay for it. They will compensate in another way to make up for it.

I understand frustration on a bill when something was quoted and then you don't get it. I spent the last 3 months getting my cell phone bill corrected.

 

[DawnM]

Yes, interenet is not a necessity. It is not on any rung of Maslowe's heirarchy of needs (although I haven't seen his 2013 edition! )

OP did not say she can't afford cable/internet, she is upset because she was told one thing on the phone and her reality is another thing.

 

[mrsklamc]

IF it is needed for work then work should pay for it. Sometimes when people say they "need" it for work. They need it, so they can leave the office earlier. Not saying that this is the OP reason. Most companies that I have dealt with that required their employees to have internet at home, will pay for it. They will compensate in another way to make up for it.

My DH's job requires internet, and does not pay for it. My FT time job does not require it, but my PT one does. None of them pay for it.

I don't really think there is an expectation that a company pay for it anymore if they require you to use it. It's like having a phone or reliable transportation to work.

 

[pocomom]

So the world relies on internet is what you are saying. I use the internet mainly to pay my bills. Since I have it I come on here, facebook, etc. but I could totally live without it. The Amish down the road do. The Amish down the road don't have a home.

I work for a cable company. More people are mad when they lose their internet than they are if they lose their TV service. What people for get is EVERYTHING goes up in price. You spoke about gas (yup that went up) and heck the ticket prices to go to Disney went up, every year. My health insurance went up yet again this year. My point is, it is not a necessity. IF it is needed for work then work should pay for it. Sometimes when people say they "need" it for work. They need it, so they can leave the office earlier. Not saying that this is the OP reason. Most companies that I have dealt with that required their employees to have internet at home, will pay for it. They will compensate in another way to make up for it.

I understand frustration on a bill when something was quoted and then you don't get it. I spent the last 3 months getting my cell phone bill corrected.

My dh needs it for work and he needs a cell for work and his company pays for neither...things are not what they used to be! I understand internet is not like say food- but many of us do need it for the jobs that pay for our food. Now tv cable I got rid of last month and I've never been happier. Hulu, netflix and amazon prime that I already had (for the "free" shipping)and we're missing nothing and it is A LOT LESS MONEY!

 

[tyniknate]

Verizon did exactly the same thing to us about a year and a half ago. Called us with a great "bundling" offer. Quoted us a price and we agreed to bundle our DTV, telephone and internet. When the bill came they were charging us for about 8 different "little" items that were add-ons (security feature $12, internet games $8, etc). The bill was $60 more than we were quoted. Every time I called to get those services removed I would document who I spoke with, date and time and get a confirmation number that these things would be deducted. Every month the same services were included on our bill. I would pay the total due (minus those services we hadn't agreed to pay for) and call again. After 7months of fighting with them I just canceled everything and told them I would be contacting an attorney if they continued to bill me for ANYTHING. Sure enough, I got a past due bill for all of the service rip-offs they had been charging me (nearly $600 with the late charges). I called a friend of mine who is an attorney, she wrote up a letter wih the dates and times and confirmations for the times I was told those things would be removed from my bill and werent' and sure enough Verizon went away quietly.

It was funny, I received a phone call saying "We miss you, please come back" offer about 3 months after this was all over. I just laughed and hung up.

Will never do business with verzon or DirecTV again. We have neither cable nor satellite and dont really miss it. My boys are actually finding better ways to spend their time than sitting in front of the TV.

Hope you are able to come to a solution to your situation.

 

[Kellykins1218]

Our schools require internet. All students grade 5-12 have laptops.(The younger grades have iPads that remain at school) Very few classes have textbooks anymore, they are all online.

 

[ReneeA]

Our schools require internet. All students grade 5-12 have laptops.(The younger grades have iPads that remain at school) Very few classes have textbooks anymore, they are all online.

Ours, too. They have phased out textbooks and require work to be done online - at least at the middle school level, and much of the upper elementary. My DH needs internet for work projects as well...he could do them at the job site, but it's so much easier and more convenient to work from home if he can. Not to mention, his employer isn't going to be happy if an opportunity comes through (say, on a weekend) and gets missed because DH wasn't keeping an eye on things.

That's what's great about progress...things change along with technology. I am way more upset about my internet being out than cable or phone, because it is so much more critical to our day to day routine.

 

[eyor44]

Call back and ask to speak to a supervisor if you can't go to your local office.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Mistysue, we have something in common! I hope you are able to get this resolved.

 

[mistysue]

I went back in again, spoke to the person who signed me up and she lowered the bill for the misunderstanding... not to where I want it, but just enough that if I cancel our netflix and hulu+ we are breaking even with just having internet.

DH's job is doing research so he uses the computer to do- he uses specific computation programs that you can't get on a library computer. Then he would use too much bandwidth connecting to remote computers and have to sit in the library for hours and hours (sometimes it is running a program for days) without anybody interrupting the computer. You need an internet connection for that. DD also has homework online and our library has very limited hours which overlap with the children's therapy appointments so we wouldn't be able to get there for her to use anyways.

I agree it's sad but when DH would be kicked out of his career field and DD would fail school for it, we do need internet.