Techniques to secure a lower bill for TV/Internet?

[PaperclipGod]

I'm located in western MA, and my provider is Charter.

Total bill is $173.66, itemized as follows:

$121.99 for "Charter Cable Services" -
[*]"Digital Home Package" at $65.99, which includes "Basic Cable, Expanded Basic Cable, Digital Receiver, Interactive Services, On Screen Guide and Pay-Per-View"
[*]"Additional Standard Digital" at $5.00, which includes "Receiver, Interactive Services, On Screen Guide, and Pay-Per-View"
What's up with this extra $5 for stuff that's already listed in the "Digital Home Package"?
[*]"HD Equipment Upgrade" at $5.00
[*]"HD Equipment Upgrade" at $5.00
No idea what these two are for... additional cable boxes, maybe? I've got a total of 4
[*]"HD Ultra View" at $5.00
WTF?
[*]"Charter Premium Package" at $36.00 which includes "Showtime, Movie Channel, HBO, Cinemax, STARZ, and Encore"
How's this compare to what the rest of you are paying for "premium" channels?


$49.99 for "Charter Internet Services" -
[*]"High Speed Internet" at $44.99 which includes 5Mbps Service
[*]"High Speed Internet Plus Upgrade" at $5.00 which bumps me to 10Mbps
Isn't it just great how it only costs $5 more to double my speed?! *grumble*...

Plus there's $1.68 in "Adjustments, Taxes, and Fees"

So... any advice, other than dumping a bunch of the premium channels? Can you use the same techniques for cell phone plans with these guys? i.e., "I'm switching if you can't give me a better deal"?

 

[spidey07]

Dump the premium channels and return all the HD receivers (set top box).

I have the maximum as you have an pay about 120 a month.

 

[dbk]

Do you get HD channels OTA? If then, drop the cable and keep the internet.

 

[xanis]

Dump the Premium Package. Do you really need it? You could probably find whatever shows you'd miss online somewhere.

 

[DaveSimmons]

rabbit ears

 

[SagaLore]

Techniques to secure a lower bill for TV/Internet?

Yea, cancel it.

 

[KoolDrew]

Originally posted by: Xanis
Dump the Premium Package. Do you really need it? You could probably find whatever shows you'd miss online somewhere.

 

[meltdown75]

holy shit are you ever getting raped 0_0

 

[dullard]

You are seriously paying $2000 a year for that crap?

Dump the premium package. $36 a month would buy a lot of rented movies. My local grocery store STILL has 48 cent rentals, or go with netflix, or just pick one channel that you actually use the most.

Dump the HD equipment upgrades. Do you really NEED HD in all rooms? Probably not. Get HD for your main TV and screw the rest.

Go for rabbit ears. Yes, you'll miss it for a month or two. But you'll quickly find better things to do that don't cost $2000 a year. You still get to see quite a few channels. I ditched mine and I haven't missed it much at all. I do like the cash I'm saving each month though.

Find low speed internet. You really don't NEED the fastest, you just think you do.

 

[brtspears2]

Call them up. Pretend you want to setup a date to cancel service. See if they offer you a promotional rate. Most likely they will do a fixed price for 6-12 months. I tried to cancel Charter internet, it dropped from 53.99/mo to 19.99/mo for 6 months, and you can bluff them every few months you want to cancel.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Originally posted by: KoolDrew

Originally posted by: Xanis
Dump the Premium Package. Do you really need it? You could probably find whatever shows you'd miss online somewhere.

Get netflix, and watch online for stuff Hulu.com doesn't have.

You can find almost any show online somewhere. What you can't you can buy the season DVD's when they come out for what you pay in cable TV....

 

[darkxshade]

Geez how much TV do you watch? At the very least, I'd cancel the premium package and just subscribe to HBO.

 

[mugs]

Are those premium channels really worth $36 a month to you? I think they're probably not if you're complaining about your cable bill.

Do you need a box on each TV? You can still get the analog channels without a box (and digital clear QAM channels if your TVs have QAM tuners). Most of the more popular channels are still analog (at least with Comcast). Do you need an HD receiver for each HDTV? You can get the networks and PBS in HD without a cable box as long as your TV has a QAM tuner.

 

[jamesbond007]

Hah! $174/mo for all that crap? No wonder you're so obsessed with keeping your TRIPLE REDUNDANT POWER SUPPLY! :laugh: You can't frickin' afford a new one that's not from 1997.

Back when I lived without a roommate that doesn't work for the local cable company (so we now get every channel, internet, phone, PPV channels, pr0n channels...at no cost) I refused to pay more than $100/mo for internet and cable. After my promotional rates were gone, I quit cable and paid ~$60/mo for the premium internet package.

 

[PaperclipGod]

I actually don't watch much TV... mostly just browse through some of the science/history/culture channels for an hour every other night. Although, recently I've started watching "United States of Tara" (showtime, i think?) which is pretty entertaining.

But yeah, you guys are right, I should just dump all the premiums and the extra high-def cable boxes.

 

[PaperclipGod]

Originally posted by: jamesbond007
Hah! $174/mo for all that crap? No wonder you're so obsessed with keeping your TRIPLE REDUNDANT POWER SUPPLY! :laugh: You can't frickin' afford a new one that's not from 1997.

Back when I lived without a roommate that doesn't work for the local cable company (so we now get every channel, internet, phone, PPV channels, pr0n channels...at no cost) I refused to pay more than $100/mo for internet and cable. After my promotional rates were gone, I quit cable and paid ~$60/mo for the premium internet package.

ROFL, you hit the nail on the head, buddy.

Only prob with dumping everything is that the GF loves watching the Red Sox in HD. Of course, that channel is probably only part of some overpriced mega-package. :/

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: dbk
Do you get HD channels OTA? If then, drop the cable and keep the internet.

:thumbsup:

 

[PaperclipGod]

OTA = ?

Over the air?

If that's it, no.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: dbk
Do you get HD channels OTA? If then, drop the cable and keep the internet.

:thumbsup:

You can take 4 ESPN, Science channel HD, Discovery HD, Discovery Theater HD and food network HD from my cold dead hands.

 

[sswingle]

Christ, I get HD DVR and Premium turbo road runner whatever they call it for under $100. The premium channel's aren't really overpriced, but who needs all that crap? We got showtime for 3 months free and never watched it.

 

[LS8]

Originally posted by: PaperclipGod
I'm located in western MA, and my provider is Charter.

I have Charter as well. I have the 10 mbps Internet service which is $54.99/month and the midlevel TV service which is also, $54.99/month. My TV service isn't digital though, which is an extra $4.00/month.

So basically:
Internet - $54.99
TV - $54.99
Tax - $3.71
Franchise fee (whatever that is): 2.73
FCC User Fee: 0.07
---------------
Total: $116.49

I'm thinking of dropping the TV service though and dropping down to 5 mbps Internet which should save around $60.00/month. I pretty much just watch Hulu these days for TV shows.

 

[jamesbond007]

Are the Red Sox games available in standard-def? If so, I think your choice is clear...

I know our local cable company bundles the HD sports channels with some other premium lineups, which force HD sport-watching fanatics to bend over and assume the position to empty their wallets.

As others have said, if your GF can't tolerate SD sports, just get the minimum you need to acquire that service at your primary television.

 

[tefleming]

Originally posted by: jamesbond007


As others have said, if your GF can't tolerate SD sports, just get the minimum you need to acquire that service at your primary television.

Or invest the net of the $174 in beer to watch in HD at a bar.

Invest the net of the $174 in beer to offer your friend for letting you watch at his / her place.

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: PaperclipGod
I'm located in western MA, and my provider is Charter.

Total bill is $173.66, itemized as follows:

$121.99 for "Charter Cable Services" -
[*]"Digital Home Package" at $65.99, which includes "Basic Cable, Expanded Basic Cable, Digital Receiver, Interactive Services, On Screen Guide and Pay-Per-View"
[*]"Additional Standard Digital" at $5.00, which includes "Receiver, Interactive Services, On Screen Guide, and Pay-Per-View"
What's up with this extra $5 for stuff that's already listed in the "Digital Home Package"?
[*]"HD Equipment Upgrade" at $5.00
[*]"HD Equipment Upgrade" at $5.00
No idea what these two are for... additional cable boxes, maybe? I've got a total of 4
[*]"HD Ultra View" at $5.00
WTF?
[*]"Charter Premium Package" at $36.00 which includes "Showtime, Movie Channel, HBO, Cinemax, STARZ, and Encore"
How's this compare to what the rest of you are paying for "premium" channels?


$49.99 for "Charter Internet Services" -
[*]"High Speed Internet" at $44.99 which includes 5Mbps Service
[*]"High Speed Internet Plus Upgrade" at $5.00 which bumps me to 10Mbps
Isn't it just great how it only costs $5 more to double my speed?! *grumble*...

Plus there's $1.68 in "Adjustments, Taxes, and Fees"

So... any advice, other than dumping a bunch of the premium channels? Can you use the same techniques for cell phone plans with these guys? i.e., "I'm switching if you can't give me a better deal"?

Dish Network has a package like that, but I think it includes more channels for $120 or less per month. $45 for a 5mb connection is a bit high- 6.0 DSL runs $39 on average if you have a phone line and you're in range.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

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