going back to cable...for now

[aboz]

A TW rep came to my house yesterday. He originally offered me Roadrunner service for 19.95/mo for a year. Then we got talking for the TV service, he offered me all the channels for $58/mo for 2 years guaranteed price. That includes 4 boxes which are no charge per outlet fee, I will have an HD box,PVR, and 2 regular boxes. this price is more that half of what I am paying D*. Also they will pay for my D* termination fee. After 2 years are up who knows who will be better.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

You got to love offers like that.

Let us know how you like it

 

[Craig Henrikson]

TW is VERY agressive in trying to get customers off satellite. Big bonus to CSR's who get you to switch. I have basically given up on my 811 - far too many "Searching for satellite" messages, and OTA is problematic at best. Some of this is due to local trees, but I have few problems with my FTA dish mounted next to the Superdish.

The SA 8000HD is a pretty good box, with a few updates in the works. I really like nice solid reception.

Craig

 

[Stargazer]

I dont know of too many people that would not take an offer like that.

 

[GaryPen]

You'd be crazy not to.

 

[hasher9092]

I too got an offer from TW that would cost me $39.95 per month (includidng free installation) for their digital package of 200+ channels, plus $5.00 per month for each of their premium movie packages. I am currentlly on Dish but I'm considering a switch. I can opt out of dish without any penalities. TW has a HD DVR that sounds nice and it will cost me $9.95 per month. Probably not as good a deal as the one they offered you, but still very tempting.

 

[Stargazer]

Sounds like cable has got their act together in many areas, or just hoping to get you a discount for a while then jack the rates back up like I have heard. I have had people tell me lately how people they know and even themselves (that got their satellite system somewhere else) saw a sudden rise in their bill after getting it for $29.99 a month and I told them that their programming credits must have ended and they acted like Dish should not have raised the rates so much all of a sudden. They will think the same if not worse of cable when they jack the rates up, but its good for now, whoever has the best deal right now is what most people care about.

 

[aboz]

our lineup

here is the lineup (1024x768 jpg)

 

[Stargazer]

Looks pretty impressive to me. I see that they offer more movie channels than Dish Network or DirecTv does. It also looks as if they offer just as many if not more basic channels than what Dish/Direct do as well. To get four boxes with Dish or Direct you would have to pay $15 in additional outlet fees and a $5 DVR fee if you do not sign up for AEP/thie highest package Direct has (and someone rented the dual tuner boxes from Dish which would still net you a $5 additional outlet fee and a $5 DVR fee).

If someone wanted all the channels with four boxes with Dish/Direct you would have to pay as much as $90-100 to get them. I bet you do not have to have a credit card and have a credit check run on you to get the deal either like Dish/Direct require.

 

[marko]

Amazing you get all 4 boxes for free. Time Warner offered a deal good deal like that, I took it and had it for like 1 month, but needed a PVR box, which would of cost an extra $15 a month (already had an HD box) Stayed with E* after that point.

Only thing is you will definitely have sticker shock after 2 years are up. But enjoy it while it lasts.

 

[Stargazer]

By the time the two years are up you would probably be able to get a special promotion to sign back up with satellite even as a previous subscriber or sign up with the other satellite service to get the new subscriber promotion. Reminds me of people who switched phone companies everytime one of them gave them a good deal to switch. This is the reason why some companies do not like giving a previous customer a new customer promotion every so many years, but now are starting to give them deals if they stay a customer. Dish Network is going to start offering existing customers a deal to swap out or add up to two receivers per year if they stay a Dish Network customer (you will only get to lease them).

 

[Fishbait]

BUT, basic cable channels are NOT DIGITAL!

 

[022266]

He said he was getting 4 boxes for the TV's ...
Basic Cable doesn't require a box, but digital does...

Basic cable now is 15-18 channels
expanded basic goes up to 77 channels
and then digital goes above and beyond

I think its a sweet deal, I would get it in writing though...

 

[Van]

Sounds like cable has got their act together in many areas, or just hoping to get you a discount for a while then jack the rates back up like I have heard. I have had people tell me lately how people they know and even themselves (that got their satellite system somewhere else) saw a sudden rise in their bill after getting it for $29.99 a month and I told them that their programming credits must have ended and they acted like Dish should not have raised the rates so much all of a sudden. They will think the same if not worse of cable when they jack the rates up, but its good for now, whoever has the best deal right now is what most people care about.

Being an employee of Dish network I can tell you that the only price increase that would come after an account has been active for a period of time would come from the 3 month free hbo and cinemax promotion. Its explained to the customer by the sales person, by the follow up calls also that the first 3 months are free of hbo and cinemax and at the end of 3 months they will get be charged for the 2 packages unless they call to have them removed. The only other time that there is any price increase takes place on every february 1st each year and generaly runs on the average of $1 - $2, not all packages experience a price increase and this was the first year that I know of where there was a $3 increase.

 

[Stargazer]

When I mentioned a rate hike I was talking about cable as they may offer the customer a particular price for a certain period of months, maybe even a year or two. In regards to the $29.99 a month offer I told the people that complained about their rates going up that they got credit on their bill for an x amount of months (probably something around $10) and then it went to the regular amount that it was supposed to be. They acted like it was Dish Network that done it but I said that DirecTv is the one that had the $29.99 deal for 6 months then would raise it to $39.99 after they received all of their credits. Not getting the programming credits anymore in addition to $1-3 increase both make the customers think that their bills went way up (no matter what you tell them - in some cases). If they think that cable jacks the rates up after the end of the promotion then it would be no different with satellite.

Most people do understand that they are only getting the credits for a limited amount of time but some do not understand and like to turn things around to where no matter what you say it is a bad thing even if you made your point.

 

[022266]

I agree with you stargazer, they really don't listen ... just like when they freak out when D* asks for the $50 advance billing... "What do you mean $50? I wasn't told about that! " .... ugh!

 

[Stargazer]

Sometimes I wonder if customers are getting confused by the different promotions going on or if a retailer, CSR, etc. may have misled them or did not tell the customer the promotion correctly so I guess it could go both ways.

I think a lot of it has to do with forgetting what promotion they signed up for in the beginning and be alarmed once their bill goes up or something.