Screwing people over is now the law of the land

[mnhtnbb]

With credit to MOMFUDSKI for so succinctly identifying that business practice in another thread.

Damn! I have been thinking about cutting the cable cord for some time now. My Spectrum TV bill has gotten completely out of hand and I don't even have top tier service.

Well, dropping Disney/ABC/ESPN, etc suddenly on the opening weekend of college football season did it for me. And the nerve of Spectrum to suggest we--the customers --should contact Disney to complain? WTF? Spectrum is already non competitive due to all their extra charges. So I sat down yesterday and figured out I could save $100/ month by dumping Spectrum TV and signing up with YouTube TV for the same channels and add-ons. Successfully installed it on both my TV's and played with it awhile to see how much I'd need to learn to watch what I want. It will take me some time to get used to it.

Spectrum, of course, will only let you cancel by phone. Huh. Apparently, a gazillion other people were doing the same thing yesterday. It took me five phone calls, waiting for almost two hours total, before I finally got connected to someone who could actually process canceling service. And that was only because when I called at 4:30 am today, I was told they wouldn't have staff to take a cancellation order until 7 am. Finally, the 7 am call connected.

But, guess what? Spectrum does NOT prorate a final bill. If they did, I would be getting about $100. back for what I've already paid for the next two weeks in my billing period. There it is, though, in the fine print of their policies. No credit for services cancelled.

Jerks. I can't wait for Google Fiber to come to my community so I can switch to them for Internet service. I'll try to remember the no prorating policy when it comes time so I won't be paying two companies for the same period of service, especially when the service has just been reduced to less than expected while I'm expected to complain to some other company about it.

A$$holes.

[Wounded Bear]

1. It's been somewhat of a National pastime for a while now...

[mnhtnbb]

2. True. Spectrum changed the no prorating

policy in 2019.

[SharonAnn]

44. There's a name for this. "Rentier capitalism". Monopolies, oligarchs, state control can all contri

"Rentier capitalism describes a system where individuals and businesses with market power are able extract rent from everybody else including those employed at an hourly wage. The rent aspect includes an unwillingness to return some of these profits to the government to help provide public services.
Jul 13, 2023"

"What is the difference between capitalism and rentier capitalism?
Rentier capitalism is often contrasted with productive capitalism, in which income is derived from the creation of goods and services. In a rentier capitalist system, the owners of assets are able to extract rent from those who use those assets.Jul 13, 2023

"Rentier capitalism describes the economic practice of gaining large profits without contributing to society.[1][2][3] A rentier is someone who earns income from capital without working. This is generally done through ownership of assets that generate yield (cash generated by assets), such as rental properties, shares in dividend paying companies, or bonds that pay interest.[4]

Modern economists agree that the power dynamics of the rentier-tenant relationship are oppressive,[5][6] but capitalist theories such as the natural "euthanasia of the rentier" famously put forth by John Maynard Keynes have been abandoned in light of the increase in rent-seeking behavior seen over the past century.[7][8][9] Economist Guy Standing expects that a revolt against rentier capitalism has to come from the precariat, as the proletariat is too wedded to forms of social democracy to lead a revolt.[10] "

PRECARIAT (Wikipedia) - In sociology and economics, the precariat (/prɪˈkɛəriət/) is a neologism for a social class formed by people suffering from precarity, which means existing without predictability or security, affecting material or psychological welfare. The term is a portmanteau merging precarious with proletariat.[1]

Unlike the proletariat class of industrial workers in the 20th century who lacked their own means of production and hence sold their labor to live, members of the precariat are only partially involved in labor and must undertake extensive unremunerated activities that are essential if they are to retain access to jobs and to decent earnings. Classic examples of such unpaid activities include continually having to search for work (including preparing for and attending job interviews), as well as being expected to be perpetually responsive to calls for "gig" work (yet without being paid an actual wage for being "on call&quot .

The hallmark of the precariat class is the condition of lack of job security, including intermittent employment or underemployment and the resultant precarious existence.[2] The emergence of this class has been ascribed to the entrenchment of neoliberal capitalism.[3][4] "

[BComplex]

50. Das Kapital foretold all of this.

It should be required reading in this country.

[Wounded Bear]

54. Yeah, a lot of what's been developing resembles feudalism...nt

[NowISeetheLight]

3. DirectTV

I took DirectTV last year because I wanted the NFL package with all the games. It was a two year deal. Last month my bill jumped $80. I reviewed it and sure enough some special I had was only twelve months.

Then I read they had lost the NFL package to YouTubeTV. They'd had it since 1994 or something. I called to ask about canceling. There was a penalty but I did some calculations and figured I could cancel, get YouTubeTV, and the NFL package, and still be ahead.

So I called DirectTV and told them I'd like to cancel. By the end of the call I'd cut my bill about 70%. The contract was eliminated and I went month to month. I also went to YouTubeTV and subscribed Ala Carte to the NFL package. I figured I saved about $700 over the year.

I've found when dealing with stuff like this that having a plan and all the data BEFORE you call is key. I do the same every year with SiriusXM. I call about a month before my deal ends and it jumps to $25 a month or whatever, ask to cancel, and they give it to me for $7 a month. I actually have these calls marked on my Google Calendar so I don't forget.

[lastlib]

13. The difference between DirecTV and a $20 hooker?

The hooker will eventually stop screwing you--DirecTV never will.

[IA8IT]

40. Best DirecTV review. Dumped a year ago squeaked by with slow Century-Link DSL

This spring new Phone Co. 250MB up and down fiber to my country house thanks to rural connection subsidies. No buffering HD video streaming at a fraction of the cost.

DirecTV was best choice in the country but so expensive

Century-Link DSL very expensive 5MB on a good day buffering at times made streaming impossible and random no service at all. Zero Stars

[lastlib]

51. I'm currently stuck with Centurylink DSL, and I can only DREAM about 5MB......

Most of the time, I'm very lucky if I get 1MB. It's pathetic, and I tell them about it at every opportunity. Yeah, for what I'm paying, it's a MASSIVE RIP-OFF!

I'd like to dump them and maybe get Verizon's home internet service, but it'd mean changing my e-mail address in so many places, I'd never get them all straightened out.

[mnhtnbb]

18. Every time Spectrum has raised my

price in the last four years I have called to complain and threatened to cancel them. Didn't bother them in the slightest. No new deal available. I finally got over my inertia and not wanting to lose my DVR library of classic movies I'd recorded over the years and canceled Spectrum.

I'm feeling quite pleased with myself this morning.

[moonshinegnomie]

29. thats the way to do it

and as far as a library of classic movies almost any classic movie is available for streaming somewhere.

[RoadRunner]

4. It's been that way for a great long time

I read a book maybe fifty years ago called "The Screwing of the Average Man" and it laid out all the ways we get taken advantage of every single day. A real eye opener. I share your frustration.

[RainCaster]

5. I've had problems with DirecTV

After 6 months of crap signal, I found I could get a streaming service that has everything I care about - local TV, pro baseball and football, hgtv...
it was half the price. After a call to the "customer loyalty" team, my bill went from 200 to 125 dollars. Fortunately, we have a fast internet connection so that is possible for us.

[3Hotdogs]

6. Sirius Xmas - it was probably 10 years ago that I paid

Around $300 for a lifetime subscription. I have to pay $75 to transfer it when I buy a new car.

I figure I’m about $1k ahead.

[moonshinegnomie]

12. every year i have to call sirius

i pay 60/year on a "promotional rate". after the year it jumps to over $20/month. i have a reminder set so 2 weeks before the promotional period ends i call them to cancel. i tell them either they give me the $60 rate or cancel,their choice. they always give the me 60/year rate.

[Native]

43. We never pay more than $5 a month.

A few years back I called to cancel, and they asked what it's worth to me. I said $5 a month and they said OK. Every year we have the same conversation, and I get it for the same price.

[IA8IT]

55. OK now I'm pissed... was told when home receiver died lifetime went with it.

using a portable now with docking stations in house and two cars. Live alone so it works for me.

Damn I'm pissed. Only break I've had was waived transfer fees when their shitty receivers cooked themselves two different times

[CrispyQ]

7. Corporations are too big. Losing one customer has no impact on them.

Also, when you treat your employees like crap how do you think they're going to treat your customers? I think it was Richard Branson who said, "Your customers aren't the most important people in your business, your employees are because they're the ones dealing with your customers." Today, & for a very long time now, employees are just a necessary evil & expense, not an asset, like they should be.

[617Blue]

8. I just don't play the game anymore. Not buying shit.

[Joinfortmill]

25. Beginning this year I have basic internet $45 mo for next 2 years and two paid streaming services

Acorn and Hulu, which I share with another family member. It works for me because I don't watch sports, which seems the big draw for most folks. I watch a lot of Youtube videos free on every subject imaginable, get MSNBC shows streamed about an hour after their original showing, and get tons of free movies. So, far it's working for me. Plus, I access tons of free streaming services and I also listen to free version of TuneIn radio which prodcasts live MSNBC, etc. when it's breaking news time.

[Skittles]

58. same

so glad I am not addicted to that sports crap

[pecosbob]

9. Predatory corporations has become the norm

Wells Fargo is a pretty good example.

[usonian]

10. Undeterred by a billion dollar fine.

Back at it!

[moonshinegnomie]

31. WF should be shut down

and there's an easy way to do it. charge the company with a criminal violation. not civil,criminal. find the corporation guilty of a felony.
that pretyt much means the end of the bank. as a criminal company they will be pretty much barred from trading and securities . plus most major corporations wont do business with a company found guilty of a felony especially a fraud related one. its pretyt hard to explain to shareholders why you choose business with a financial company guilty of criminal fraud

none of this agreeing to pay a fine without admitting guilt. fine them guilt and shut them down. as an added bonus if you do this once to a big bank the rest of them will quit a lot of their nonsense. they wont want to risk the same thing being done to them.

[GreenWave]

11. The bastards steal our government, put their puppets in power

and screw us over every which way.

[lastlib]

14. And if we complain? They force us to go to arbitration.....

...with an arbiter of THEIR choice!

Sounds fair to me, sure, uh-huh, yeah, no problem here.....

[moonshinegnomie]

15. companies like cbale providors and cell phone companies rely on inertia

they figure most people while they bitch and moan wont change over a few bucks a month. and for the most part they are right. they make it a PITA to actually cancel too.

i used to call my cable provider every year to cancel if they didnt offer me a new promotional rate. one year they tried to give me hard time saying that they had already given me the discount for several years. so i told them i wanted a new plan
$0 a month forever. I cut the cord. best decision I made. they is nothing on cable that i consider must have that i cant find elsewhere, and this way im not subsidizing fox news. my bill went from almost 200/month to less than 100 and i have more things I actually want to watch then before.

current subscriptions
netflix $20
hulu and disney $20/month combined (no ads)
paramount plus and showtime $12/month no ads
apple tv+ $7/month
total roughly $60/month and no ads.

plus there are a lot of networks i get for free using a roku or apple tv box

[mnhtnbb]

20. Inertia, yes. See my post #18.

[Ms. Toad]

47. Paramount+ is not worth a dime.

I had a free subscription, included in my 3-month trial of Walmart+.

It stopped playing on my fire tablet (where I use it most). Then it stoped playing on my Android phone.

After a couple of weeks of intermittent functionality I reported it to them. Their response: It's a known error. We're elevating it and working on it. That was July 19. Six status updates later (we're working on it, thank you for your patience) and a month and a half later I cancelled at the end of the free trial. Two weeks earlier, in response to a status update I warned them I was coming to the end of my free trial and I was not likely to pay for a service they couldn't deliver. A day after I cancelled - another status update. Identical to all of the earlier ones.

We pay $10 for Netflix and the annual Amazon Prime fee (which gets us Prime Videos). Beyond that it is whatever comes over the air. We lost most everything over the air in the great digital migration (we're too far from most stations for our antenna to pick up much), so mostly we don't watch TV. Never had a cable subscription, and I doubt I'll decide to pay for one at this stage in my life.

[moonshinegnomie]

48. i have it for star trek

[Ms. Toad]

49. Doesn't do me any good to have it for star trek (or anything else)

if I can't play it.

It plays the introductory commercial quite well, then the timer spins like crazy, then pops up the error message. Over and over again. It started on my Fire tablet intermittently. Then it expanded to my Android phone - and became continuous on both devices.

[rainy]

16. I love youtubetv

Great channels and easy to navigate

[Tarc]

19. Now up to what, $75 a month?

It's no different from cable, now.

[mnhtnbb]

22. No, I'm saving $100/mo

with switching to YouTube TV from Spectrum. Basic plan plus Entertainment package (Max, Showtime and Starz)

[House of Roberts]

17. I just started with a Sling college football special

for $199 for five months. It has ESPN and SEC network which is all I needed. $40 a month and I also get F1 which I was missing part of this year.

[hunter]

21. Since when is television a necessity? It's not like healthy food, clean water...

... comfortable housing, medicine, etc..

My wife and I quit cable a long time ago, years before we first subscribed to a streaming service. Bye, Comcast.

We later quit broadcast television too. That was more than ten years ago. Our television plays DVDs and streams movies and television series without commercials. That's all it does.

I've gone so long without advertising supported television I now find television commercials intolerable.

These days we usually subscribe to two or three streaming services at a time and budget less than $35 a month total for those.

If our streaming services ever become too annoying, too expensive, or start showing commercials then we'll quit them too.

I've noticed our adult children and their cousins don't pay any attention at all to traditional television. Like us, they don't have cable or satellite television. All they care about is their internet connections. Our children do a lot of work from home and require fast internet connections which is one of the reasons they live in cities where optical fiber internet is available. We get by with an unlimited DSL connection, which we'd have for work anyways so I don't consider that part of our television budget.

[Tarc]

23. Get yourself a good adblocker like uBlock Origin, then open your browser

enter in

"espn stream free"

there may be some false positives and adware, scam popups (that's what uBlock is for), but it won' take long to find a working site. If the media overlords are going to fight each other, then we'll simply take what we want from the table.

[mzmolly]

24. We recently switched to Quantum Fiber from Xfinity.

The first day we had the option to do so, I started the process.

I am so glad I never have to listen to the obnoxious fake typing from the fake xfinity representative while trying to get an actual representative, ever again. Now, when I call Quantum I actually speak to a person and one in the US at that!

We went with hulu for streaming and now have faster internet, phone and tv - while saving about $100 monthly.

[Captain Zero]

32. Cut the xfinity/comcast cable cord. Saving $143 a month.

I have a Sony Bravia Google TV that borders on AWESOME.
So I'm getting lots of stuff from that and Amazon Prime. ($139 a year)
My discounts and credits on Amazon Prime almost pay for that each year.

$17.00 hd antenna pulls in all my local channels clearer/sharper than cable.

What I'm missing:
Religious Channels - they all suck anyway
Shopping Channels - duh, I have Amazon Prime.

ESPN, ok, may have to go to a bar for a few games. Nothing wrong with that. It'll get me out.
-but I'm not a huge sports fan anyway, nothing I have to see.

MSNBC, this one hurts, but I use the laptop to pull it in from planetnews.com that combined with Youtube and I can catch a lot of Lawrence and some other clips.
Planetnews.com can be sketchy.

I do not understand why MSNBC is not available from any of these news feeds from Google, or Prime, or Pluto, what is up with that? They all have Faux, though. Go figure.

I'm considering the 10.99 sub to youtube music because I do bluetooth audio from the Bravia to a Yamaha Amp and into some wired speakers from that. Also looking at a preamp for audio in that path somewhere. Maybe between the amp and speakers?

[Stargazer99]

26. Comcast charges me $150 per month for basic TV

In 1990,s they charged $15 per month. My Basic has re-runs from the 1950's ( I've seen a lot of the old ones when a kid) and news stations . Where I live are lots of trees so Comcast is my only choice. Talk about being screwed

[FakeNoose]

33. My deal with Verizon Fios is about the same

But it includes basic cable TV channels, plus fast internet, plus landline phone all in the same package.

I've cut out all the channels that they charge extra for, no premium deals for HBO, etc. I cannot get them to remove Faux Noise and the ultra-conservative propaganda channels, and I HATE the fact that my monthly subscription supports them!

[moonshinegnomie]

34. cut the cord and stream.

[Maninacan]

27. Antenna TV

I have an Antenna for TV Madison and Milwaukee PBS mostly. Internet is a Verizon hot spot which is adequate for internet and road trips. A fiber optic cable runs down my road but there is no access to it. Girl friend really needs access to high speed internet for Art and business needs. To think that ATT ran a copper line to my house 500 feet of the road under ground 50 years ago for a minimal charge and now can't run fiber optic cable to my house without a government handout irks me.

[The Bopper]

28. Your argument

Is flawed. People forget, THE ONLY job Big business has today os this make the most profit. It’s not to supply a product, because the product is secondary. It’s literally just a matter of time before the other businesses revert to it too. Right now they are in the “steal the customer “ mode n which we temporarily have some relief.

[Cherokee100]

30. Its called

It's called 'Trumpism'. If he can't get away with lying , cheating, stealing, threatening people, etc:, we all can.

[luv2fly]

35. Same experience for me

Went in to the store and told them I wanted to end service in 5 days and I would return the modem on that fifth day. Was told I could not do that, only could do same day cancellation so five days later I walked in and cancelled. Then I was told it was apparently more than one week past the last billing date so I was informed no prorating. I could have screamed at the guy at the store but it isn't his policy so all I did was shake my head and let him know how ridiculous this policy is and I have been with them for over 20 years and expected more from the company - he just looked at me like "What am I gonna do?" Fuck 'em... never going back.

[mnhtnbb]

56. I was told by two different phone reps

That I couldn't be guaranteed the store would accept equipment turned in to them or, that it was ok to either turn equipment into the store or take to UPS store for return to Spectrum warehouse at their expense. This morning I took the equipment to a UPS store and the woman told me to be sure to keep my tracking receipt for six months! What?!? That must mean Spectrum has tried to screw someone even after equipment is received by them, claiming it wasn't!

[Ferrets are Cool]

36. I did the same thing to Directv in January and went with FUBO.

It saves me about 100 dollars a month with the same channels I was getting with DTV. My high speed internet service is 60 a month and the FUBO is 70 a month so that is still 100 less than DTV was charging me for the same thing.
We do have fiber in our neighborhood which is a blessing.

[Traildogbob]

37. All I want

Is all football and all music. No interest in the 40 Jesus channels or any GQP prop “News” bull shit.
But Direct will not allow such a package.
Glad to see there are lots of football fans here, thought I was alone.
I have to have Spectrum internet. Only thing here. And daily I get paper mail and Email with them begging me to go all in Spectrum for everything. Appreciate the warning. Direct has pissed me off plenty and sometime thought switching would be better.
You folks that just cut all lines to TV, much respect to you. But damn I gotta have football. How much more fun can ya have than watching Prime Time and his Buffaloes beat TCU?

[Warpy]

38. I haven';t turned the TV on for a year

and the last time I turned it on was just to make sure the damned thing survived the move and still worked.

The only service available at this apartment is Comcast, and no thanks in spades. In fact, when I had DirecTV (which I did like), I grew frustrated because sports and 24 hour news services seemed to be starving the other channels of decent content. I remember when A&E was arts and entertainment, not scripted shows featuring hillbillies I guess we were supposed to feel superior to. TCM has been shit ever since Manckewicz took it over and the other movie channels seemed to show nothing but mass market Hollywood stuff. The Science Channel stopped running good science and started to run bible garbage. Forget the History channel, no history there, just more inbreds running pawn shops and buying abandoned storage locker contents. I was ready to pull the plug and I did.

I suppose I'll stuff in the Fire Stick and stream stuff from Amazon. It's got to be better than cable/satellite.

[ShepKat]

39. dropped spectrum over a year ago, what a racket !

All we have is streaming on roku which gives you live stations for local news- there's enough there to entertain for years

[ZonkerHarris]

41. no credit for services cancelled sounds like a good class action lawsuit

[willamette]

42. Automatic credit card billing

is, I think, the one thing that feeds the inertia of cord-cutting. Depending on your frustration level, you can have your bank send out a replacement credit card. It is amazing how fast I heard from companies that were no longer being automatically paid (for unwanted services). Nowadays, I contact people who want automatic payments, and ask if there is a snail mail address to which I can send payments. I'm trying to winnow out those automatic ones. I've got it down to just insurance and several 501-3C 's.

[mnhtnbb]

57. I avoid automatic billing if possible.

Netflix and now YouTube TV will be my only automatic billing accounts. I expect to keep an eye on the YouTube one because they have a history of having substantially raised fees over time.

[DBoon]

45. forced arbitration means you can't leverage small claims court anymore

and a class action suit has a high barrier.

You can thank the Alito court for that one

[Native]

46. Our HOA renegotiated their bulk contract with Spectrum this year, and I now pay $15 a month for

everything - phone, cable & internet. And our HOA fees only went up by about $30 a quarter. When they stand to lose 800 homes, you can really get the price down!

[Kaleva]

52. Spectrum costs me less the $40 a month

For internet and home phone.. I get Prime because of my subscription to Amazon Prime

[H2O Man]

53. It has been

for 247 years or so.

[Emile]

59. DirecTV took away my CBS local channel July 1st and still charging

me for it while they are in negotiations. Predatory Capitalism