$%#@ Time Warner Cable!!

[coasternuts]

Okay.  They raise the bills at random.  So I called and threaten to go to DirectTV.  They give me $96/mo.  (Digital/Broadband).  A buddy of mine gets $76.  Same deal.  Same town.  Same provider. 

Fine,  so I pay my bill for 6 months as that was the deal.   It goes to $106.  I feel like complaining again, because buddy is now paying $96.  Instead I just pay it.  Next month.  $108.  I'm pissed but do not feel like being on the phone for two hours.  This month.  $111.   

Three increases in three months.  What the $#!@??

Anyone else have similar trials and tribulations and other than cutting them off, what do you do?  Just threaten to leave every  six months?

[SirPeale]

Nope.  I did away with TV some years ago.  I have one, but only watch DVDs on it.  If there are TV shows I want to watch, I download them.

[coasternuts]

I envy you.

Wife, and kids of 2 and 4, TV is a must.

Downloading?....hmmmm... bit torrent? Or something else?

[DaveMMR]

Nope.  I did away with TV some years ago.  I have one, but only watch DVDs on it.  If there are TV shows I want to watch, I download them.

My girlfriend is like that.  Never really watched TV as a child, doesn't watch it at all nowadays and refuses to let it be a babysitter when she has kids.  Oddly enough, she saw me playing Pole Position and starting singing the theme song to the old "Pole Position" 80s cartoon - so I'm imagining the little she saw of TV as a child was obscure arcade game related Saturday Morning entertainment.

TV is tanking in quality as of late and with the ability to download shows it's hardly worth paying for cable. 

P.S. - I used to have Time Warner until I moved into Cablevision territority.  As much as I know you hate them right now, TW is a whole lot better with the digital cable than Cablevision.  Time Warner's menus actually respond right away and it never crashes compared to the weekly reboot Cablevision's box requires. 

[Daniel270]

I watched my share of TV growing up... usually toons ranging from classic Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour, Rocky & Bullwinkle and Smurfs to Transformers, Thundercats and a few others from that era...

Also was glued to MTV's Real World/Road Rules shows, Gilligans Island, In The Heat Of The Night, You Can't Do That On Television (through the 80's), Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres and such....

Today's TV has NOTHING on the days of classic TV and the "reality" shows that are on now are rather stupid and lame...  only time the TV is actually used as one is when weather gets bad and I need to see what's going on.  Otherwise, it's DVDs and older VHS movies and game consoles...

[DrewKaree]

My buddy has a wife and 2 small kids, about the same ages, and his kids don't watch TV.  He borrows videos from the library and has a select collection they've purchased for the kids to watch any time.  Cable television isn't required, and at the very least, the amount of your bill suggests something far more than basic cable.  That decision is yours alone.

All that being said, the problem is that your threats are empty.  You stated that your buddy paid $20 less to start, and you just ate that cost for three months, and each time they upped your bill, you ate it yet again.  I haven't had cable for several months, and CONSTANTLY get barraged with snail mail telling me of their latest greatest deal they want to offer me if only I come back to them. 

If you want your bill to go down, more folks like you have to tell the cable company to shove it, and actually follow through on their thus-far-hollow threats.  If they had any worries that they were losing business to threats like that, they'd be working with you.  You GOTTA call their bluff or you're gonna keep getting hit with this stuff....at the very least, I'd be calling to ask "why the *#$@ does my bill keep going up each and every month".

[Stingray]

I have to say that I have no complaints about DirecTV. Go ahead and dump your cable and switch.

-S

[HaRuMaN]

I have to say that I have no complaints about DirecTV. Go ahead and dump your cable and switch.

-S

Same here...  Never any outages, and the bill is always the same.  Plus, you can add or subtract programming online without having to talk to an annoying sales type person.

[Stingray]

Plus, you can add or subtract programming online without having to talk to an annoying sales type person.

That's a great feature. I change my premium movie channel package fairly often. It's great that you can get online, change your programming, and it takes effect as soon as you click the submit button.

-S

[SirPeale]

Wife, and kids of 2 and 4, TV is a must.

Why's that again?  I've got three kids, and wife.

Downloading?....hmmmm... bit torrent? Or something else?

Yes.

[SirPoonga]

Today's TV has NOTHING on the days of classic TV and the "reality" shows that are on now are rather stupid and lame...

[missioncontrol]

I have to say that I have no complaints about DirecTV. Go ahead and dump your cable and switch.

-S

what he said..........

I've had Direct TV for the last 5 years and I am very happy with it............

[shmokes]

Today's TV has NOTHING on the days of classic TV and the "reality" shows that are on now are rather stupid and lame... 

TV isn't going down in quality.  We've got Desperate Housewives, Six Feet Under, Simpsons, X-files, The Sopranos, The West Wing, Sex and the City, The Daily Show, Deadwood, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Southpark, Seinfeld, Xena: Warrior Princess  ,  Futurama, Frasier, 24, ...etc.   You are just getting old.  This always happens.  When your list of "good" tv shows was on TV your parents were thinking back to the good old days of Perry Mason and Happy Days and Leave it to Beaver. 

Don't get me wrong, TV pretty much sucks compared to most other forms of entertainment, but if anything TV has gotten better (thanks largely to HBO who consistently pushes boundries).   

Trust me, oldtimer, in 10-20 years your kids are going to talk about the sucky state of television and lament the loss of quality shows like the ones I've listed above. 

[Daniel270]

TV isn't going down in quality.

[AmericanDemon]

Heh.  Well I guess I may as well out myself......  I am a cable technician.  It took a while for me to own up to it.....  but hey man.  I got the perks.  free digital cable with all pay channels.  $8.00 a month for high speed internet.  1/2 price PPV and On Demand Movies and Events.  Yeah tell me how much I suck. 

[coasternuts]

Hook me up!! 

Well, I called.  They said they prorate the bill on a monthly basis since my promotional time was expiring and that my bill has stabilized now after 3 months.   Ha!!  I threatened to cancel and she scheduled for a guy to come out.  Crap!

Truth be told.  I still watch Comedy Central, Boomerang, Discovery, and DIY.  So I guess I'll continue paying it. 

I suck at negotiating.  Thanks for letting me vent.