Bundling... Costing more not too!

[TheHaitian]

So in my quest to cut our expenses I call my cable company and tried to get ride of my phone and just keep basic cable + Internet.

To remove the phone that is is costing me $19.99, I am going to have to pay $25 more for cable and Internet.

Because I bundle I get a credit every month of $25 on my bill making the phone basically free!

I did get ride of DVR at $20/month (I am going to miss that thing)! But with On Demand I get to watch most shows I miss anyway!

[Deleted]

Have you tried just using an antenna?  I get 15 HD channels with an old $15 Radio Shack antenna.  Then I have a Tivo that I pay $10/month for.  On screen guide, interface to Netflix and Amazon Prime and all the other stuff, plus the DVR.   People that come over think I have satellite TV!

[souldoubt]

Every year the promotional offer I get from TWC expires and they try raising my rates.  I call and tell them I want to cancel my service or am thinking about going with Direct TV and end up getting whatever promotional rate they have at the time.  Don't call telling them you want to remove part of your service tell them you're going with another provider who is offering you a much cheaper package.  

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

We have to play the "we're going to cancel" game with Cox every year too.  Drives me batty but we don't have a lot of choices around here for TV.  I refuse to do satellite and Century Link hasn't gotten around to offering Prism in my area yet which annoys the hell out of me b/c they have good promo deals.

I need to look into whether or not they still offer their $19.95 for 5 years internet plus phone.  If they do it'd end up being cheaper than bundling with Cox.

[midjd]

We had a similar deal... finally I removed 2/3rds of the bundle (kept internet) and the price did go down.

If you're going to be watching a lot of shows On Demand anyway, you really may want to look into using Netflix/Hulu/Prime... I can only think of a couple of shows DH and I watch that aren't on there for free, and you can purchase new seasons of just about everything on cable (minus HBO). We don't watch live sports so that was a non-issue.

We cut our cable in January and since have bought the new seasons of Walking Dead, Better Call Saul, etc. through Amazon Prime. We've probably spent $100 to purchase individual shows vs the $900 we'd have spent on cable by now.

(And I've read about a billion posts on here saying the same thing and always thought "yeah, yeah..." but seriously -- you probably won't miss it!)

[yogiii]

Same problem.  I called in January to cancel cable and have just internet.  They offered me basic cable with free HBO/on demand for a year bundled with internet.  It was something dumb like $2/month more, so I took it.  I'll be calling again in a few months to try and cancel cable again. 

[Deleted]

Sept 9, 2015 10:28:16 GMT -5 midjd said:

We had a similar deal... finally I removed 2/3rds of the bundle (kept internet) and the price did go down.

If you're going to be watching a lot of shows On Demand anyway, you really may want to look into using Netflix/Hulu/Prime... I can only think of a couple of shows DH and I watch that aren't on there for free, and you can purchase new seasons of just about everything on cable (minus HBO). We don't watch live sports so that was a non-issue.

We cut our cable in January and since have bought the new seasons of Walking Dead, Better Call Saul, etc. through Amazon Prime. We've probably spent $100 to purchase individual shows vs the $900 we'd have spent on cable by now.

(And I've read about a billion posts on here saying the same thing and always thought "yeah, yeah..." but seriously -- you probably won't miss it!)

Even if you do watch a lot of sports (I don't).  I've heard Sling TV is awesome for that.   I haven't had cable or satellite for 8 years and still watch WAY more tv than I should.  Between Netflix and Amazon and what is on the DVR from network TV there is more to watch than I even have time for.

[TheHaitian]

Sept 9, 2015 10:35:42 GMT -5 yogiii said:

Same problem.  I called in January to cancel cable and have just internet.  They offered me basic cable with free HBO/on demand for a year bundled with internet.  It was something dumb like $2/month more, so I took it.  I'll be calling again in a few months to try and cancel cable again. 

Ok going to call now...

[Cookies Galore]

I've never had cable that I paid for, been Internet only for what seems like forever (had cable for a little bit as a kid and it was standard in the dorms in college). We have Amazon Prime and use a friend's Netflix account. We watch Prime/Netflix on our Roku and watch other Roku channels. I don't care if I'm a season behind on some things.
We watch broadcast networks on our TV for free.

[andi9899]

Sept 9, 2015 10:00:39 GMT -5 souldoubt said:

Every year the promotional offer I get from TWC expires and they try raising my rates.  I call and tell them I want to cancel my service or am thinking about going with Direct TV and end up getting whatever promotional rate they have at the time.  Don't call telling them you want to remove part of your service tell them you're going with another provider who is offering you a much cheaper package.  

I do that once a year also. Last time I got a bunch of movie channels too that I didn't ask for and a cheaper bill. If I knew for a fact that all my shows were on Hulu or Netflix the same day, I'd get rid of TWC all together and just get Google fiber for Internet.

[Deleted]

We unbundled our cable TV.  I really hated cable providers hardware and channel selection and it was expensive. It was cheaper to bundle internet and phone through the cable provider and get Dish network with a DVR for TV.  I watch a good bit of TV, so I am not sure I would save money by cutting the cord.  I could get the broadcast stuff, but we also watch a lot of basic cable stuff. 

[emma1420]

Sept 9, 2015 10:00:11 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Have you tried just using an antenna?  I get 15 HD channels with an old $15 Radio Shack antenna.  Then I have a Tivo that I pay $10/month for.  On screen guide, interface to Netflix and Amazon Prime and all the other stuff, plus the DVR.   People that come over think I have satellite TV!

I use an antenna as well.  I pay for internet access and pay for a Hulu and Netflix subscription.  My choices were $125 for cable and internet or $70 for internet.  With Hulu and Netflix figured in it costs me about $90 a month, but it's still a good $25 cheaper than having cable.

[nikiz628]

We also do the "I am cancelling my service" call once a year. We ALWAYS land a cheaper deal for the next 12 months doing that. H has it in his phone calendar, so he knows when the calls need to be  made for each service every year. Totally worth a few minutes of our time to save big $$.

[justme]

My cable provider never bought into the cheaper package, even when I did tell them ok I'm canceling. Unfortunately the competitor was a clusterfuck. I'm back with 78 for phone and cable (it's the same cost as without phone but I got free install so I have a phone for a year).

I'm debating between a TiVo or hulu for the shows I can't catch on my antenna. Leaning towards hulu. If I add sling tv I'll be looking at saving only around 20 or so a month, but that's better than nothing.

[yogiii]

I can't get anything with an antenna at my house so if I do really get a better deal on internet only next time, I'll probably have to add Netflix.  I've already been through a lot of Prime stuff!

[sarcasticgirl]

I am fairly certain my husband would divorce me if I tried to cancel cable. He *needs* the sports channels, which makes us have to have a more expensive package. With the new cable company we were at least able to get cable/internet down from $200 to $150. we lost some channels but were still able to retain his oh so precious sports channels. 

[justme]

Sept 10, 2015 11:52:19 GMT -5 sarcasticgirl said:

I am fairly certain my husband would divorce me if I tried to cancel cable. He *needs* the sports channels, which makes us have to have a more expensive package. With the new cable company we were at least able to get cable/internet down from $200 to $150. we lost some channels but were still able to retain his oh so precious sports channels. 

Sling tv has a sports package. For 25 you'd get several espn channels and some other sports ones.

[sarcasticgirl]

Sept 10, 2015 12:02:39 GMT -5 justme said:

Sept 10, 2015 11:52:19 GMT -5 sarcasticgirl said:

I am fairly certain my husband would divorce me if I tried to cancel cable. He *needs* the sports channels, which makes us have to have a more expensive package. With the new cable company we were at least able to get cable/internet down from $200 to $150. we lost some channels but were still able to retain his oh so precious sports channels. 

Sling tv has a sports package. For 25 you'd get several espn channels and some other sports ones.

still missing the "Crucial" channels including big ten network and whatever that station is that broadcasts all the cubs games.  

[The Captain]

Sept 10, 2015 12:52:19 GMT -5 sarcasticgirl said:

Sept 10, 2015 12:02:39 GMT -5 justme said:

Sling tv has a sports package. For 25 you'd get several espn channels and some other sports ones.

still missing the "Crucial" channels including big ten network and whatever that station is that broadcasts all the cubs games.  

I feel your pain.  Seriously - we could probably ditch TV but then I'd have to get a lock on my bedroom door cause DH or DD would strangle me in my sleep.

[wvugurl26]

I must be a guy. Live sports are necessary. We have lots of sports channels because the landlord finds the tennis channel to be essential. My boyfriend bought Sunday Ticket so I can see the Cowboys.

[sarcasticgirl]

Sept 10, 2015 13:15:55 GMT -5 The Captain said:

Sept 10, 2015 12:52:19 GMT -5 sarcasticgirl said:

still missing the "Crucial" channels including big ten network and whatever that station is that broadcasts all the cubs games.  

I feel your pain.  Seriously - we could probably ditch TV but then I'd have to get a lock on my bedroom door cause DH or DD would strangle me in my sleep.

A couple of years ago- DH got laid off and we ditched cable. We kept Netflix and Hulu. Football season was over but OMG I almost killed DH. He whined like a Damn baby CONSTANTLY!!!! Never mind that he watched tv with his tablet in front of his face reading THE ENTIRE internet! A month and a half with no cable and the first thing I did when he got his job offer was call the cable company.
If it had gone on longer, I may have divorced him!

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using proboards

[andi9899]

Sept 10, 2015 13:26:45 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

I must be a guy. Live sports are necessary. We have lots of sports channels because the landlord finds the tennis channel to be essential. My boyfriend bought Sunday Ticket so I can see the Cowboys.

Wait. Boyfriend? When did that happen? I wanna know all about it. I miss things not being on the other board anymore. You can PM me if you want.

[Deleted]

Cut cable two years ago and with ITunes, Netflix, HBO and over the air stations have not missed it at all. I get my football over the air and had to buy the MLB package anyway because my team isn't local. When my MLB team is in town and the games are blacked out I head to the pub and talk smack to the locals. I only save about $20/a month over a cable package but I want the bundling era gone so I will never go back.

[8 Bit WWBG]

They are smart, they know what people want.  With mobile plans being what they are, few people really need phones.  People still prioritize TV, but internet is absolutely essential.  I only have internet through my cable provider.

They are getting good too, as they've figured out people threaten but won't likely cancel.  The last time I told my cable provider I was considering FiOs, they had a bunch of talking points ready about what I was going to get -- lower speeds, locked into a contract...

[Deleted]

I just went through this process, I got rid of 2 receivers and the landline and bitched and whined and got the bill down to $118 from $187. I am still going to get the internet working on my tvs and get ready to go cableless.

[TheOtherMe]

I "need" sports and the only way I get the network I want is with Dish.  I had multi-sports for volleyball and basketball season and then get rid of it.

I did call and see how to make the internet/phone less expensive.  I thought the phone was costing me $10 and that was the bundle discount.  Turns out they now longer give a bundle discount and the phone is up to $25, so it is now gone.  I was able to get a higher speed of internet and still save $20 per month. 

I have Verizon and never come close to using 1 gb of data.  I changed to the 1 gb plan and saved money there also.

I will be like my parents and need my sports as long as I live!  Until the conference I want is offered so I can cut the Dish, I have to have Dish.