Time Warner rant (increase prices)

[Muushka]

We have TWC for TV, phone and internet. We understood when we signed up that it was an introductory rate of $93 a month including taxes. Bargain

2 years later we get a notice that it will go up. OK, understandable. It goes up to $129 a month including taxes.

Then about a month later they let us know that unless we buy the modem, they will charge an additional $5 a month. So we buy the modem.

Then about 2 months after that they have another price increase. Sitting down?

$205 a month (including taxes).

So I call and speak with customer retention. She knocks it down to $143 a month.

I would drop these people so fast they wouldn't know what hit them. But, alas, my husband loves his sports. So no can drop.

Anyone else experience a huge price increase in their TWC?

Now I am shopping around. AT&T U Verse maybe. Does anyone know how they are?

 

[kmann31]

I threaten to drop each time we get a rate increase and then they always change our rate to get the current promotion that they are giving to new customers. If for some reason the rep doesn't give you the rate just end the conversation and call right back to speak to someone else!

 

[thedonduck]

I agree... we have Brighthouse (it is TWC in FL) and they just upped our price. So we called said we were leaving and wanted to have someone come out. Surprisingly they gave us a better deal than what we were paying originally and they upped our internet speed.

 

[mindyd]

I worked for them and 99 percent of the time if you have the triple play and call and say you are going to get rid of phone or internet they will offer you a better rate on the triple play or say you are going to cancel all together.

 

[noahdove]

I only have phone and internet with them and last week when I called to see if I could add TV, yes I could, however, it would cost nearly$89...what??? I thought they would do bundling...nope...that is what the cost will be...

 

[wallawallakids]

YES. So I cancelled our TV. That was about 5 months ago. I am moving in two weeks and they tried to charge me a $49 transfer fee for my internet and phone. I am already paying $98 a month for those. I called around and found a company for less and called back TW and told them I was done and to cancel my service. They kept asking what they could do to keep me and I played hard ball. Telling them that I didn't want their service. He finally waived the $49 fee and dropped my bill down to $65 a month for 12 months. I will hang on because it is a good deal but after 12 months, I have no problem switching if they raise it again (which they will). We are also paying that modem charge. We didn't have that fee until a few months ago. They drive me crazy.

 

[RachaelA]

We pay less than what they were trying to charge you for cable, internet (fastest speed), phone, 2 DVRs, an extra cable box and the $5 extra channel bundle AND we have the signature home package which is more than the regular rates (the DVRs/cable all are connected so you can watch DVRed stuff on all TVs).

Holy moly, I can't believe they tried to charge you over $200!

Unfortunately, we can't switch to anyone other than the satellite providers because nothing is offered in our area. Plus (I don't know if they still don't or not) very few providers had the new Disney Junior channel so that alone was worth dealing with time warner when I had a cranky teething toddler!

 

[queenbetsey]

sounds like verizon out here in california. they keep bumping it up every two months or so, the ast increase was 4 more dollars a month for "sports access" or something like that called them and told them that we do not watch sports . wish we had att uverse out here

 

[Muushka]

I have experience playing the game. I played it with DirecTv and got some great deals for more than a year. But when they promised that my bill would be a certain amount and it went back up, I dumped them for TWC.

I detest playing the games. I would not have minded paying $129. But that increase was ridiculous (to $203).
It makes me not want to do business with them.
I am gathering info now, seeing how much U Verse will be. Once armed, I will return. I think $143 a month is too much.
I would dump the TV part altogether, but I can't (husband and NASCAR and Iron Chef).
We don't need the phone. All we need is the internet (thank goodness for Netflix!).

 

[cmhand30]

Sorry to hear that happened.
I soo cannot wait to leave the TWC area. I will never get them again. Our year with them has been a mess. I much rather deal with Direct TV.

 

[OklahomaTourist]

If you want to reclaim some of the hard-earned cash the cable companies are constantly taking, take a look at how much your paying for the phone service component, and see if you'd like to take that down to almost nothing if you have a good Internet service.

I shaved about $35/month off my phone bill by moving my home phone service from the cable provider to Google Voice, and buying a ~$40 OBIHAN OBI100 VOIP telephone box. Plug one end of the OBI into your router, and the other into a regular home phone, configure it (which may take some steps), and once its done, you can reclaim at least part of your money with a home phone service that costs you *nothing* except the expense of an e911 provider, which costs me $0.80/month.

The steps involved amount to porting your landline number to a temporary cell phone number, and then over to Google Voice, then configuring the Obi to use Google Voice as a VOIP provider. Once that's done, plug the telephone jack of the Obi into a home wall jack, disconnect your existing external service, and voila!!!

I did this about a month ago and I'm angry at myself for not having done it a looong time ago.

If anyone's interested, I'll be glad to post detail instructions on how I made the transition. It works fabulously and the call quality is stellar.