Cable TV billing practices

Recently canceled my subscription with a cable TV provider. I paid for a full month as they request even though I would only be a subscriber for a partial month. I was expecting a refund and when I saw how much it was, I was a little mystified. I had used 15 days of the month so I was expecting about half of what I paid. I complained and was told that they use a 30 day billing cycle. They then bill you for the next month and calculate your final bill based on both months. If you disconnected in a month that has 31 days, you will lose a day of credit due to the 30 day billing cycle. Numerous complaints to them did not get any results.

In my case my billing cycle was from the 11th to the 10th. I disconnected on 5/26 so I should have gotten credit for 5/26-7/10 which is 46 days, but was only given credit for 45 days. It is not a lot of money, but there are 7 months in the year that have 31 days. Not sure what they do with February and with the other 4 months this cycle has no effect.

This creative accounting is a huge windfall to them as 1,000’s of people are affected every year. If you call way in advance to try and get a final bill they will not do that and want you to inform them within 2 days of your disconnect.

There is also some creative accounting when it comes to their daily rate calculations that do not seem to jive with the 30 day billing cycle. That also works in their favor. I have had this same experience with 2 different cable companies.

I have filed a complaint with the FTC and am waiting to see if they will pursue it.

All the problems listed and more are the reason I no longer have cable or satellite TV. Given, I still have internet, but it is much cheaper and less of a headache than cable or satellite. Any show I want can be watched on a plethora of other options for cheap or free (Netflix, Hulu or Youtube). Cable and Satellite TV is an absolute ripoff.

Doing the math, you could spend upwards of $1,500/year on TV!!! Having a Netflix and Hulu subscription costs around $250 a year…and you most likely will have internet access to use these options already. I MAYBE get 3-4 hours a week to watch television. I cannot justify spending $8/hr to watch TV. I would rather go to my local bar and buy 2 beers/hr and watch their free TV…

404 ERROR wrote:

Doing the math, you could spend upwards of $1,500/year on TV!!!

Pfffft. I was spending $1700 per year with direct tv without HBO, showtime, etc.

Of course they offered me huge discounts when I cancelled, but I told the if they weren’t offering me the best price as a regular customer, how can I trust they’re offering me the best price now?

If it weren’t for FSN, I’d cut the cable today.

biggill wrote:

If it weren’t for FSN, I’d cut the cable today.

I’m the same way and it drives me nuts. I hate giving up so much money to DirecTV every month but when I’m not busy I have to watch my Wild and Twins games, plus I have to get the Vikings and I wouldn’t want to miss out on college football weekens.

Only if you could pick what stations you want and that would effect your price. Only channels I want are Discovery, History, FSN, ESPN and local channels.

KP wrote:

Only channels I want are Discovery, History, FSN, ESPN and local channels.

X2, but might I add natgeo too.

all you need… 4,5,9,11,205,212,247,265,269,276,277,278,282,610,668.

I have a AAA rant coming if they don’t come through. Seems like big corporations are trying to screw you every way they can. I think they figured out in this day and age customer satisfaction doesn’t matter anymore. Even in the internet age.

biggill wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Merican Eagle wrote:</div>

If it weren’t for FSN, I’d cut the cable today.

Check out the Sony PlayStation Vue App. $35 a month through an Amazon Firetv stick. Get FSN and most of the mainstream cable channels.

big_g wrote:

all you need… 4,5,9,11,205,212,247,265,269,276,277,278,282,610,668.

I know every one of those. The only one of those I really needed is 668. And based on another reply here, I may be closer to cutting the cable than I thought.

EW6 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>biggill wrote:</div>

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Merican Eagle wrote:</div>

If it weren’t for FSN, I’d cut the cable today.

Check out the Sony PlayStation Vue App. $35 a month through an Amazon Firetv stick. Get FSN and most of the mainstream cable channels.

I did a quick search on this but couldn’t find any info on Fox Sports North. I should really say that I want to watch Wild games live.

I was hoping you weren’t getting it for the Twins.

I was reading in the paper today Ryan’s band aid for the Minnesota embarrassment, is to send Arcia packing, send Dean down & bring Milone up. I’m beginning to think Terry’s biggest ability is running a double A team.

Really.. no 269 (ALONE) ? Live a little man !

big_g wrote:

Really.. no 269 (ALONE) ? Live a little man !

I only say that because all their best shows are avail streaming. Vikings, Curse of Oak Island.

gotchya

I wish everything in my life was going so smoothly that I was upset about being billed an extra day on months with 31 days in them on my cable bill. Wow to have that as an issue in my life would be great. No health issues with a loved one. Plenty of money in the bank, My gosh be thankful for what you have.

In Rochester MN the PlayStation Vue App gets FSN live with the core slim package. Wild, Twins, and fishing shows just like over the airwaves. You can do a free 7 day trial.

Martin , a guy come to the door a couple weeks ago that was trying to get new clients to go with mediacom. We were so fed up with paying a little over $200 a month for tv, phone and internet because every couple months they would jack the price up a few bucks and by the years end or at the end of a couple years our bill was outrageous. This guy from Mediacom said he could get us in the introductory program for $110 a month with higher speed cable, carry the phone and visually better screen resolution with Mediacom and on the pc. We signed the introductory offer and it wasn’t a contract that your locked into and were able to cancel anytime. Its for two years and if the rates go up substanceualy after that its time to look for another carrier. We can save approximately 2300 bucks in two years, hell ya. If you look around maybe you can find a program that has an introductory offer, even if its for a year or two. Do some checking around and you may save a few bucks, like almost two grand. We did find out through the grapevine that the longer your with a company the more they think they can quietly charge you a little more every few months. Our bill was cut in almost half. Don’t settle for playing their game.

I move a lot so I am usually getting introductory deals if you want to call them that. Over $120/month for just cable TV and internet. I have experienced the reduced refund 4 times in the last 3 years. Arguing with these imbeciles is like trying to explain the theory of relativity to a 3 year old. It is not a lot of money, but I just do not like getting ripped off so I wrote this to inform others.

Last fall we cut the cord and haven’t looked back. We put an antenna on the roof to get the local ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox channels. Bought a Roku (a streaming device) that uses the internet. My parents have DirecTV so we are able to use their login info and get a whole bunch of different apps/channels. However, they are now close to cutting the cord, so we’ll have to find a different family member/friend to see if we can bum their login info off of. Thru their DirecTV we get WatchESPN and HBO for free (along with several others).

We pay $7.99 a month for Hulu and get a large number of current TV shows. My brother has a Netflix, so we use his from time to time when he’s not logged on, and he gets to use our Hulu when we’re not using it.

We made the switch to the Roku because we don’t watch much TV, however we now watch more TV than before because we have so much content on our hands with Hulu, Netflix, and even just YouTube. All for just $37.98 a month (internet and hulu).

There is also a service out there called SlingTV, which gives you about 20 streaming channels that are typical Cable Channels. ESPN, TBS, TNT, etc. for I believe $20/month. SlingTV runs a special, where you can buy a Roku from them for 50% off, if you prepay for 3 months of their service. The way I looked at it, I could either buy a Roku for $100. Or I could buy a Roku and 3 months of Sling for $110. We ended up cancelling the Sling after 3 months because we didn’t watch it much. But they are on a month to month contract with no cancellation fees or hidden costs. You can start up and/or quit whenever you want.

The only negative to all of this is what has been mentioned several times already, no Fox Sports North.

mnrabbit wrote:

so we’ll have to find a different family member/friend to see if we can bum their login info off of. Thru their DirecTV we get WatchESPN and HBO for free (along with several others).

Not really sure i would call this cutting the cord or use the word free. I get where you are going but the ethics say this isn’t right either.

John Luebker wrote:

Not really sure i would call this cutting the cord or use the word free. I get where you are going but the ethics say this isn’t right either.

I suppose you are right. It’s borrowing a streaming service that somebody isn’t using because they don’t have a need for it, but are paying for it because it comes with their cable. Most forms of cable/satellite/etc. come with subscriptions to some form of streaming apps or content. But since you have everything through your cables, there’s no point really to use their streaming versions as well unless you use them on your phone or tablet.

We are fed up with the prices as well. I need the internet access but have to figure something out otherwise.

You still need to find internet service in some way which usually means dealing with the cable company. Antenna TV is also not do able in some areas. A DVR is also nice and I cannot be tied to a contract so satellite is out.

mnrabbit,

Waht kind of antenna did you get and approx cost?

I wished everyone would cancel cable and satellite tv services. I boycott tv all together. I hardly ever watch it. Maybe 2 hours or less per month and that’s usually Nova on PBS and MN DOT aviation weather. Not only is TV mind numbing and dumb but sports are becoming more evidently rigged than ever.

1) Why in the ‘ell should I have to pay to watch commercials? Do you people realize how much you pay per month per commercial? Break it down sometime and get back to me.

2) TV sucks and distorts your mind. There hasn’t been a good t.v. show on for years (other than fishing which I catch on the net)

3) Liberal media want you to be nothing but a sheep to their evil demise of the Nation. DON’T PAY FOR IT OR BUY INTO IT !!!!!!!!!

4) DO something with your kids, your wife, spouse, dog or any relative or friend for that matter. Why waste your life away sitting in front of a stupid box?

Enjoy the day as there may not be a tomorrow.

super_do wrote:

mnrabbit,

Waht kind of antenna did you get and approx cost?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/antennas-direct-clearstream-4v-antenna-black-silver/6761173.p?id=1219238019916&skuId=6761173

This is the one that I bought and it works well for us. You living in St. Michael, I’d guess would be able to get all the channels you need with it as well. I was a little worried about the durability of it because some pieces are plastic, since it sits on our roof and is completely unprotected from winds from the west and south. However, after one full winter and a wind storm 2 weeks ago that ripped off lots of shingles on our roof, it has held up completely fine.

Radio Shack has one model that I looked at that is a few hundred dollars, and several feet tall. We could have pulled in a lot more channels with that one if we wanted. However we get ABC, NBC, FOX out of the cities, and CBS and FOX out of Mankato (25 miles south). Good enough for us.