Cable/internet/phone pricing is such a misleading ripoff!@!

[lostnfound]

Simple wants: High-speed Internet and the Daily Show, and a few cartoons on weekend mornings. I also used to enjoy 3 Cspan channels, but no longer: Time Warner Cable pushed 2 of them into the digital zone.

Just got an offer for their 'Triple Play' deal -- "$99 per month for 6 months" -- digital cable, digital phone, roadrunner internet.

The microscopic print says that the '$99 pricing is achieved with discounted bundled pricing and a $10 per month rebate". Might lead you to think that the price would go up to $109 (plus fees and taxes, of course) after 6 months.

If so, you'd be wrong. It goes up to $135 per month. AND there's a $100 installation charge for the phone and some kind of $20 setup fee.

[Poppyseedman]

1. Where you been???

Cable/internet/phone pricing is almost a regressive tax on information

[Tace]

2. Complete Scam

Sucker!

[lostnfound]

12. Do you have any alternative suggestions?

I am tired of supporting this company.

[Lex]

3. I still pay much less now with bundled TWC cable/digital phone/broadband

than when I had a regular phone (local and long-distance bills), separate broadband (dsl) and cable tv.

It was great to say bye-bye to Verizon long-distance and dsl. And I can make as many long-distance calls as I want to every month and not worry about the bill going up.

All of it is a rip-off, but I pay much less now than I was before.

[Robert Oak]

4. welcome to corporate special interests

the US is way behind in getting broadband into the home
and these evil corporate interests are the reason.
There is a new technology, WiMax that could cover entire cities with broadband access, easily run by the state, free basically and
the cable/telecom/Internet companies are trying like hell to supress that idea.

Consumer protection in America is someting from a by-gone era I think.

[leftofthedial]

13. plus, in another generation our infrastructure will be so backward

that we will be relegated to third-world ghetto status

the Chinese will be outosurcing cheap labor to us.

[Robert Oak]

14. starting to happen

because our wages, worker rights and other issues are going down, in some areas they are.

"Race to the Bottom" all the way.

India BTW was allowed to buy a major communications network backbone recently.

[lostnfound]

17. Yes, cable/telecom successfully passed laws against WiMax, haven't they?

They were trying to do that at the federal level and in each state.

[zalinda]

5. On top of that

when the cable goes out, and it's done that 5 times in the last 2 months, you can't call the company to complain. If I had the package, I'd have to walk down the street to find a pay phone to call them and tell them everything's out. Or, I could buy a cell phone, as a back up, to call Time Warner when my cable's out. No thanks, besides, I have my long distance with my 800 number that is really cheap. I just turned my sister on to it, and she was amazed at the first bill.

zalinda

[peacetalksforall]

7. Who do yo have the 800 number with?

[zalinda]

18. I have my 800 with PowerNet Global

Let's see on the last bill 342.3 minutes cost me $28.14, with all the fees and taxes the bill came to $36.23. If you decide to join, you can call 1-866-329-7280, and give my account number AT10176341, I might be able to get another penny per minute off my billing.

BTW, I have the long distance on my other phone too, that isn't an 800 number. And my sister doesn't have an 800 at all, just their long distance service.

zalinda

[localroger]

6. I will never give up my landline phone

Nor my DSL internet connection. It may not be as fast as a cable modem, but it's been very reliable, and I don't have to have basic cable to get the internet.

Oh, when I went back to check on my house in Mandeville last week, the phone was working even though the power was out. And a nearby neighbor who has power says that DSL is working too.

My understanding is that the phone system was designed from the ground up to be *extremely* reliable, and my experience has confirmed this through several natural disasters (though none so extreme as Katrina). Cable companies simply do not have that kind of infrastructure or experience.

[Lex]

10. My landline phone was not very reliable and Verizon sucks anyway.

I find my digital phone to be extremely reliable and between that and my cell phone, I never worry that I won't have phone coverage.

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. That's a great deal!

I am paying $130 a month for cable and internet.

[lostnfound]

11. Oh my. That's ridiculous.

but I don't think it's a great deal. I think that these services have no competition and they have purely opportunity pricing.

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. Actually they do have competition

in my area. Both the cable and the internet service. And I have several choices for phone service.

When the competing cable firm started serving our neighborhood, Time Warner cut my monthly rate in half and offered all kinds of discounts. For full cable and internet access, I paid only $65 a month. And I got free pay per view movies for a year. Then eventually my rates creeped back up. But even now, Time Warner's rates are the lowest and the service is the best.

[tridim]

9. My parents get a hell of a deal on their combo pack

but that's because they have competing cable companies where they live. Here, it's Comcrap or nothing.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

16. I feel yer pain.............

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=4011478