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Former Time Warner Cable and Bright House customers, listen up. A veteran Charter Communications customer who cut cable’s cord for good a few months ago reports Charter’s hard-line on extending retention deals to customers threatening to leave lasts only until you turn in your equipment and cancel your service.
DSL Reports reader mmainprize from Houghton Lake, Mich. wrote he dumped his $180/mo Charter Gold TV with Phone package for good after realizing just how much Charter was gouging him for service.
“I just went through my bills, and remember when internet was only $49 in mid-2015 before increasing to $52 in late 2015,” he writes. “So at the now current price of $65 you can see just how much it has gone up.”
When he called to tell them he was canceling service, they briefly tried to keep him as a customer by cutting back on his cable package for a lower price.
“Double play, Flex pack, you pick 20 channels, etc. At first the offer was internet and basic cable for $90 a month, then $74 a month for internet and “limited basic” (an unadvertised package of local channels, public access, educational and government channels, plus home shopping). I canceled all but internet.”
Within days the phone calls and letters started coming advertising discounts Charter wouldn’t dream of offering when he was still a TV customer.
“I get a call every day now (it is harassment) offering the same prices or lower than what I was offered when canceling,” he writes.
The first offer is $80 for a double play package of TV and internet service. But if you turn them down, they eventually pitch a triple play offer of $89 a month with TV, phone, and internet with free HD and DVD service (equipment extra).
The enticing offer on their website, promoting $29 a month for internet, $29 for TV, and $29 for phone service is available only to new customers. Existing Charter, Bright House, and Time Warner Cable customers cannot get those prices. You must pay more.
Those canceling service qualify as a new customer after a 30 day timeout period. Or skip that and sign up as a new customer under the name of another household member. If you are married, your spouse’s maiden name will suffice.
One thing is certain. Charter’s takeover of Time Warner Cable and Bright House is very unlikely to save most customers any money. Almost 90% of Time Warner Cable customers received discounts from a bundled service package or a retention deal. When those packages expire, your bill will skyrocket. This is exactly what Stop the Cap! told regulators in our opposition to the merger. Since 2008, we have shared one sage piece of advice with readers:
When a cable company comes calling promising you a great new deal, watch your wallet and run!
That’s bright. By the time I give them their equipment I’ll already have Dish installed.
Yes, my total bill increased with Spectrum. I can’t wait to drop them like a bad habit when Google Fiber finishes their installation. 🙂
Since switching to Google Fiber, I get at least two pieces of mail from Spectrum a month offering me great deals. It’s not cheap mail, either. They try to find a new gimmick every month. Credit sized plastic “exclusive savings” card, personalised offers, glossy flyers. It’s usually the same $29.99 per service deal if I bundle all three. Some of the pieces contain blatant lies that are probably true in other markets. “The fastest starting speeds available – no other provider comes close”, for example. Well, Google’s starting speed is 100/100 which actually beats their 100/10 or 100/5 or whatever… Read more »
I’m super annoyed that I can’t pick the 45 or fewer channel packages with Comcast.
I was actually going to consider going on a 10+ or 45+ channel package after my internet only promo was up, but now they don’t offer them. Obviously Spectrum’s playing similar games.
(EDIT: And possibly they’re going to hike up the Internet AGAIN…looks like they’re wanting to add at least $15 to it in the near future…on top of the new 1TB bandwidth caps that cost $50 to remove.)
Time Warner/ Spectrum would shut off my service , kept billing me ,, I called to ask why and they said they wouldn’t stop billing me the full monthly amount until I returned their equipment. I had none of their equipment and they knew that. I spent 3 calls and much bickering back and forth before the dirty ******** on the other end agreed to stop billing me. Spectrum is actually more evil than Time Warner. Our elected federal officials gave this by allowing the merger. Congress has made the bribery of themselves into a legal activity, by passing laws… Read more »
I cut my phone and TV and kept the internet today Was paying $169. for cable , tv & internet When it was brighthouse it was 147. Got tired of the increases and said screw you Im on a fixed income and the more they took the less I had to eat I wish more people would do this and let Spectrum know we are the ones paying your salary and without us you get nothin
I am in a pickle right now. I didn’t think anything could be worse than Time Warner Cable and then Spectrum took over. The service is pitiful. Constant tv going out, and the 100 internet speed is slowed to dial-up crawl at night – though they claim they’re not doing it. Calling them is a waste of time. They just reset my modem and I’m still at a crawl. I just got my latest bill after my ‘promotion’ pricing (a joke) ran out. It’s more than my car payment!!! I have the basic tier one, internet, and phone – which… Read more »
When they took over Time warner they jacked my bill up because my promotional period with Time warner was over. They didn’t even send me a notice. When I called they didn’t try to save me as a customer even though I told them I would go to another company. I told them I am a new customer to Spectrum so I should get a new service plan. They denied me that. I then told them that I will just cancel and have my son start service in his name. They told me that I can’t do that and I… Read more »
If you want to cancel for a month to get a better deal and you want to keep your old phone number, you can sign up with places like Our Old Number who will hold your number for a small fee. Personally, I think I am going to get rid of Spectrum’s phone and cable and just stick with the internet since I can get tv with my Roku device, which includes lots of shows and 24 hour news programs. Unfortunately, there is no Verizon for residential customers in my area so I have no choice but to deal with… Read more »