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Cable and satellite TV providers are ringing in the new year with an unwelcomed gift: higher cable bills.
Comcast, for instance, says customer bills will rise 2.2 percent, on average, in 2018. AT&T is raising DirecTV's prices by up to $8 a month in mid-January. Smaller providers are planning increases, too.
Over the past decade, prices for TV service have risen almost twice as fast as inflation, according to an analysis of government data. Data provider S&P Global Market Intelligence says customers' cable and satellite TV bills have soared 53 percent since 2007, to $100.98 in 2017.
Annual rate hikes are as guaranteed as death and taxes. But you can push back and trim your bill.
What are you gonna do instead, read?
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Why Cable Bills Are Rising Again and What Can You Do
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Power tends to corrupt, absolute power corrupts absolutely.
-- Lord Acton
(Score: 4, Informative) by AthanasiusKircher on Saturday January 06 2018, @03:08AM (1 child)
Even if you return the box, they may still try to charge you for it. Be sure to keep documentation of everything; cable companies often have the worst customer service ever.
I once called a cable company before moving between states, and they told me to keep my cable modem and take it with me to my new location rather than returning it. When I arrived, I was told it wasn't compatible in the new place, so they gave me a different one and took the old one back (the guy who did the install from the company, that is). Month later I get a bill for almost $400 -- $200 for the modem and a $200 fee for lost equipment.
Even with a receipt from the cable install guy that he took the old equipment, I couldn't get anywhere after a half dozen calls to customer service. The bill eventually rose to about $500 with late fees.
It took the intervention of the BBB and two state agencies to finally get the bill resolved.
Since then, I have never rented equipment from a cable company again. Which means I'll never subscribe to cable again (which would require a box).. And I buy my own modems.
(Score: 3, Informative) by JoeMerchant on Saturday January 06 2018, @04:39AM
Comcast tried a nasty one on us a year ago - they jacked our internet rates, but offered a "bundle" with cable TV and internet for less than internet alone - for a 12 month introductory period - I bit, they handed me a box, I never plugged it in, after 12 months they jacked our rates again, we changed plans back to internet only, but... they started billing for the box they had handed me - now that we're not even getting the service at all... so, visit in person to the Comcast retail location to wait 30 minutes so I can get a receipt for returning it.
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