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Stop the Cap! reader Gabe, a Time Warner Cable customer, recently decided to upgrade his service to Charter’s fastest internet plan in his area — Ultra/100Mbps. That upgrade stopped dead in its tracks when Charter Communications informed him there is a mandatory $200 “activation” fee for customers selecting 100Mbps service.
We learned this upgrade fee is not new for Charter Communications’ existing customers. First implemented in 2012, Charter Communications claims the activation fee is set at a level commensurate with the value of having premium speed service.
“Ultra is a premium service which results in higher incremental network investments, equipment costs, and other operating expenses,” Charter Communications wrote in 2012. “In an effort to maintain reasonable monthly recurring service fees, we have implemented a higher installation fee for Ultra customers.”
We’ve taken a look to see if this fee can be waived and we found no instance where customers can avoid it. However, customers signing up for business service, which costs about the same as residential service, can subscribe to 100Mbps and face a $99 installation fee instead of $200 in most areas.
I’m glad Rome NY got the TWC 300 Maxx before the buyout was approved. Doesn’t bode well for when NY is no longer “grandfathered” under the old TWC agreements though.
Lucky you! We got the screw job here in Rochester. We have a slow phone company so we don’t have any other option.
“There is no consumer demand for faster internet”
If you’re in NY, you can submit a claim for a refund with David, Inc.–50% of claims get refunded: http://bit.ly/2cSmmE9
That is horrible. I just upgraded from 50mb/s to 100mb/s in September through the website and wasn’t charged a fee. It just worked instantly. However I had time warner not Charter in LA before it turned into Spectrum.