re: I use to be a cord cutter (for a week)

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Well this thread has made me completely reconsider chord cutting.

All I want to do is watch ESPN, stream Netflix/HBO, watch the occasional HGTV/Food show (doesn’t have to be live) and catch the local news.

This seems tailor made for streaming but the hassle to do the above plus the likely buffering during live sports has me really second guessing.

I pay $190 for cable/Internet now so the $90 DirectTV offer for cable/internet will still result in a $2,400 in savings over the two years.

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If you will be making this decision based only on value/price, then you should probably just go with the DirecTV offer for $90, assuming that's what you'll actually be paying.

For myself (and I think many others), price was a strong consideration, but another huge factor is I got tired of supporting companies that don't treat their customers with respect. I got tired of negotiating, tired of having to "lock in" promotional pricing, tired of the fees that they never tell you about, etc.

I can't tell you how much it pisses me off that these companies are only now starting to offer services at decent prices, and "waiving" a lot of their bullshite fees (how many years did I pay a DVR equipment fee PLUS a DVR service fee? too many). Also, the data caps on their internet service. There is absolutely no technical or cost related reason for these data caps. It is strictly an anti-competitive (read: anti-consumer) policy, and it needs to end. I refuse to support a cable company that caps its service as long as I have a choice. And companies like AT&T/DirecTV so graciously uncap their internet if you also buy TV service... well then the cap obviously isn't much of an issue anymore, is it? This goes back to treating customers with respect. Personally, I find it insulting that they play these games with people.


As you may have noticed, anger factors heavily into my decisions.

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SilverStallion

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Are you selling a roku for $25 or nah?

Nope I dropped it off on the corner of Gardere and Burbank

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Side question but does anyone know how to get out of a 12 month contract with ATT Uverse without paying them?

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TV or internet?

If TV, Uverse was widely thought to be nearing extinction earlier this year. That may have changed or may not, I'm not certain. As part of that, they're pushing DTV and DTV Now to existing Uverse customers aggressively, or at least they were over the summer.

If they're still incentivized to get people off Uverse, try seeing if you can switch to DTV Now without a contract and then drop that?

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Probably because the money saved is not worth the convenience lost.

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If you cord cut properly there is no convenience lost

My ISP already charges me way more than this same service would cost from other providers if we had the choice. Im not paying another 100+ for basic tv.

I get everything i need and more at a fraction of the price. Only reason i still use Vue is bc my wife likes to use it.

My ISP just raised my cap from 750GB to 900GB which is still shite but i guess they have had enough people complain about their bullshite.

I pay $105 a month for 200 down with a cap. I don't need 200 down but Cable one will only give you a higher cap if you pay for speed you don't need.

I pay $45 every six months for an IPTV service that gets me every game in every major sport. Channels from US, UK and across Europe. Including every ppv fight out there.


$39 for Vue( basically just for the wife). If my ISP didnt have such low caps we would get the top of the line Vue and only get the 100 down package thats $50 a month but has a 300GB data cap.

We have a prime subscription for that comes with streaming .

Netflix 4K package $10 a month.

Still much cheaper than paying and extra 100+ a month for a basic arse cable package. Renting boxes and other fees.

We have two smart tvs, a fire tv and a fire stick. That cuts out all the bullshite

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With Vue raising prices, im very tempted to pick up Cox again. theyve been sending me little cards to get TV at a similar price + free internet upgrade

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They raised the price on one package that wasn't available to everyone. Mine isn't going up

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Then the rep said it will be $85 plus the $7.99 service fee per month. I about went off because the online deal specifically said no extra fees. After about 5 minutes on hold while he "investigated" the problem, he came back and said he clicked a wrong button. So you begin to wonder, how many millions of dollars have these assholes made from "clicking the wrong button" and the consumer didn't catch it.

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Yep, funny how these little "accidents" always, without fail, result in the consumer being charged more than expected rather than less, huh? If there are so many buttons to press to arrive at a price, surely once in a while someone will press one that gives the customer a break, huh? Nope.

Like I said, tired of the games. Now I feel like ranting some more.



Nearly every industry has to deal with various taxes and fees and "regulatory burdens", but they don't itemize all that shite when they give you a price. It's all baked in, the cost of doing business. The only thing that should get tacked on at checkout is sales tax, and the only reason I find that acceptable is because it generally varies by location. So why do we as consumers (or, hell, the government for that matter) allow these companies to advertise prices that do not include all of the random fees that they come up with? If your product does not function as advertised without the additional fees, then advertise the price inclusive of fees. Don't we have laws about this? Oh, right, the cable companies write the laws that pertain to them.

Honest to god, AT&T could offer me TV+internet for ten fricking dollars and I wouldn't take it.

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Honest to god, AT&T could offer me TV+internet for ten fricking dollars and I wouldn't take it.

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Im with you on that. I loathe AT&shite

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If your product does not function as advertised without the additional fees, then advertise the price inclusive of fees.

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This is what pisses me off the most as well. They can offer you $90/month for interent and cable, but even without the taxes and additional fees, it's impossible to watch television with them without adding some type of reciever or card that will costs added dollars.
$90/month? great. 5 tvs? make that $130/month. oh you wanted HD in 2017, make that $140/month. oh you wanted DVR too, make that $150/month. in two years the price will be $250/month and you'll have to call and fake cancel on them to get new pricing. Just irritating, and i don't know how people continue to put up with the aggravation of it.

I honestly don't care that i'm saving money cutting the cord. I do it out of principle b/c cable companies are crocks of shite. It's as if there business model is to continue to add things to your bill hoping you just don't give a shite that your bill went up. They know people will call and bitch about it, and they'll correct it, but they also know that a bunch of people won't care, and they'll make more money b/c of those people.

I will say, in AT&TO/DirecTV's defense, the new prices they are advertising online reflect all of the included fees. It was only when I had to call because that there was a problem with my order that the dumbass added the 7.99 fee on.

The reason I had to call is because I have AT&TO wireless that I am cancelling next month. I didn't want my TV and internet price to be contingent on keeping wireless, so I clicked the box that said I did not have wireless service. When I placed the order, it apparently had an address conflict since I was already in the system and it kicked my order back.

The good news is they gave me a $200 gift card instead of the $50 dollar one advertised online.

Haha, I don't blame you at all. I'm the same way with Comcast.

And I don't even think they are doing it to say sorry, I think they are being forced to by cord cutters wanting transparent pricing. Comcast still won't do it. I had a buddy tell me he could get a cheaper deal with Comcast until he saw the $50 a month in extra fees