We have cable tv (landlord won't put a direct tv dish on the building.. :cry: ). We susbscribe to the Optimum preferred package (usual channels plus HBO, Showtime etc.) at $63.50 a month. We also get the cable internet at $44.95 a month. The internet was originally $15 a month cheaper because we had cable tv service, recently they increased it so that we only save $5.
They have been inundating us with literature about their "IO" digital cable service. I have called them and asked about BBC America - they don't carry it. Therefore I really don't see any incentive to pay an extra $10 a month for digital cable when it won't give me any new channels of any value.
I don't want digital cable - I think it's a rip-off just for regular cable. The channels don't show anything worth watching and the movie channels have a horrible habit of flickering at irregular intervals during films. The cable company have been out several times but couldn't give a stuff about fixing it, suggesting we just switch to digital anyway.
So now I see, on our channel guide station, a little notice which says that from Aug 11th they will be taking away 2 of the movie channels that we currently pay for, making them only available if you get digital!!!
What kind of bullying is this?? Are they allowed to just remove chunks of a service we pay for?
Anyone else experiencing anything similar?
:evil:
I must admit that I was very glad to have digital as it seemed the only channels I watched happened to be digital ones, including BBCA.
We paid about $125 a month for digital plus all the movie channels (except the adult ones), and a 2MB cable internet service.
Rotten way to treat you though. Not even the old Cable & Wireless in the UK would treat you quite so badly.
Me not being a attorney you might have to check this out .
But as far as i recall there was a act pased by congress not 2 years ago that made the resticting of satalitte dishes on rented property illegal .ill look for a link but ibelieve unless the landlord PROVIDES alternative tv reception he cannot refuse to alow you to put up a satalitte dish unless of course in intreferes with ANOTHER persons property rights or it is a danger.
I can well understand the the landlord don't want a honking great dish drilled to the side of the building, but the alternative is to put the dish on a pole in the yard (so long as you'll still have a clear view of the southern sky and what not) that's what we did and you might want to ask the landlord if the is an acceptable alternative.
Me not being a attorney you might have to check this out .
But as far as i recall there was a act pased by congress not 2 years ago that made the resticting of satalitte dishes on rented property illegal .ill look for a link but ibelieve unless the landlord PROVIDES alternative tv reception he cannot refuse to alow you to put up a satalitte dish unless of course in intreferes with ANOTHER persons property rights or it is a danger.
Interesting.
But wouldn't the fact that the cables are installed to the property which can be used to get TV that way satisfy the alternative tv reception requirement?
Yes Stel, they are bullying you but as far as I'm aware it's legal and not uncommon. It's rather similar to the British government's original approach with the BBC to force everyone to go digital before the deadline they set for turning off analogue broadcasts.
$125/month is scary! We only have the very basic cable service now. which costs about $10 but gives us $10 discount on our internet connection. Beest is the only one who really watches anything these days and he doesn't turn on at a specific time to see a specific show. The children watch videos from the library once or twice a week and I veg on here instead. Don't know how long we'll get away with keeping the children from TV, but for now it's fantastic as it's easy to limit/track how long they watch and they don't pester for all the horrible crap advertised between kids shows. They have yet to really get sucked in by commercials aimed at kids and I am making the most of it as I know it can't last. Especially as Hebe goes to school in a few weeks.
Im not going to push the satellite dish issue too much with our landlord - it's just us and him living in the building which he owns and works out of. He is worried about water leaking through if we have a dish... will ask him again soon, now that we have more ammo for the argument against cablevision (who he hates) but I doubt he'll go for it ..
I am just disgusted that they can remove channels from our package like this. I want to get rid of cable all together until we get our own place and can get Direct TV, but him needs to be able to watch Star Trek.. roll
When we lived in Minnesota, we got digital cable tv from at&t and it was a promotional rate so it cost us about $21 a month and I got Fox Sports World which was pretty much all I was interested in.....although History and Discovery channels were a bonus. Anyway, we enjoyed that for a year or so then all of a sudden this letter arrives informing us that they are going to "improve" our service....which is just big corporation language for we're going to rip you off. They basically reduced the channels PLUS upped the price so if we wanted the same services we would have to pay $46 a month instead and we'd still get a few less channels!
Yeah right, I told them to take it away and I do miss my football but I refuse to pay that much a month for 300 channels when all I want is the one. evil
Only three posts to go Stel!
We get basic cable for about $19 per month. Supposedly it's $15 per month but there are all these stupid taxes that come on top of it. This is not expanded basic, regular basic as we cannot get ordinary over the air television because we live too close to the mountains. I do feel that this should be illegal. Whenever I see them whining about TV tax on the Amex site I'd like to give them a piece of my mind.
We went through a similar thing when we had digital cable that we eventually lost. I liked it for BBC America and hubby liked it for another channel. We didn't mind paying $45 per month for two channels but refused to pay $54 for two channels when they "improved" our service.
If Him wants Star Trek, that's on Sci-Fi. Should be included in the usual channel package (channel 45 in my part of the world)
Or spend the money and just buy the damn things on video...
P
I vote to get rid of the cable altogether and just spend the money on DVDs, but Him needs Channel 9 for Trekkie... and other channels for numbing of brain cells.
I am leaving it up to Him - I think he's going to suck it up and upgrade to Digital. I called the cable company yesterday and gave them an earful about their tactics, the guy didn't really know what to do after he'd gone through his "response speech" I had him stumped with my retorts. It didn't accomplish much except making me feel much better about the situation. I told them that as soon as I move house I will NEVER use their services again... (I'm sure he was devestated... lol )
Oh, how I long for Sky Digital.... UK Horizons....
(2 more posts left...!)
I keep saying I will ditch my digital cable but I haven't yet.
I remember when I first go it, it could get TechTV and Discovery Wings channels but in a channel change a year back, they took it away and I only got it for 3 months as a courtesy and was supposed to upgrade but never did.
Still pay about $45 plus taxes for their bronze package and watch hardly any TV. I will really miss the basketball when I get rid of it but then it might encourage me to go and watch the games live when I have the time I suppose.
Considering it is "digital" cable, the reception is terrible btw. Digital satellite seems to give much better picture.