I recently received a letter from Time Warner Cable in which the cable monopoly advised that “We’re pleased to extend you additional savings.” What is the value of those savings? Turns out, my bill is increasing by $15.99.
What the letter should state is that they are refusing to honor the original promised rate of $141.11 and they are hiking my rates prior to the expiration of my promotional offer on September 9. They have decided instead to revoke my promotion 6 months early.
I am not standing down and letting the company do this to me. I have promptly called Time Warner Cable in order to cancel my services. As you may have guessed, the company is unable to correct the situation without removing some services from my account. To partially offset the adjustment, TWC is “graciously” offering to provide a whopping $6 off of the standard rate.
The Stepping Stone Promotion was then offered to me, which was even more expensive than the increased rate disclosed in the letter. This “offer” was extended to me while calling the cancellations department.
The tactics of increasing the rates of long term customers by Time Warner Cable is nothing new. After all, all cable monopolies employ this tactic.
However, promising one rate and then changing it to a higher rate amounts to a bait and switch tactic, which is illegal. But what are the other options?
The easiest and best option is to cancel service entirely and just get internet from the cheapest service provider. Streaming content through Netflix is cheap, even with the expected price increase once they hammer out bandwidth agreements with major internet providers.
My conundrum is my sports addition. I have to see the games on ESPN and other channels (NFL RedZone). So I will be making the switch to AT&T UVerse so that I can take advantage of lower rates and get a longer promotional rate. Time Warner will come crawling back in about a month with the best offer ever, at which point I will let them know where they can insert that offer.
If only Google Fiber was here. It may be coming to our region in coming years according to a recent announcement, but that could be years away. Until then, I am being held hostage by my unreasonable cable monopoly.
Long is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.A. in Industrial Relations. He subsequently received his Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Duke University. His Certificate in Financial Planning was issued by Florida State University.
Long has achieved the Accredited Credit Counselor and Accredited Financial Counselor certifications through the Association for Financial Counseling, Planning and Education. Long originally achieved the Certified Credit Counselor designation through the National Institute for Financial Education.
In addition to years of nonprofit leadership, Long has been an innovator in the field of volunteer tax return preparation programs. He assists volunteer associations and nonprofit organizations who seek to integrate credit counseling and asset-building programs with free personal income tax preparation. His approach to using free credit reports as both an incentive and a screening tool for placement into asset-building programs has been shared with members of the National Community Tax Coalition, the EITC-Carolinas Initiative of MDC, Inc. and nonprofit groups across the Carolinas.
Long assists members of our armed forces in the Carolinas, Iowa, Rhode Island, Georgia and Germany with financial readiness. Please support our Soldiers, Marines, Airmen and Sailors!
Favorite quote:
"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."
Thomas Jefferson
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I’m happy to report that after careful consideration I am dropping Time Warner Cable. After noticing some dismal internet speeds, I confirmed the poor service with a 3809 kbps speed test reading. I felt no reason to call, since a quick check of my calendar shows that my rates are set for a major hike.
I ordered AT&T U-verse as a replacement which will provide me with many more channels and a $35 lower price. Don’t fret TWC, I’ll likely be shopping around again prior to August 8, 2015 when my AT&T promotion runs out. Google Fiber please come to Apex!
After my 6th (sixth) attempt to cancel TWC (the first was in person where all equipment was turned in), I was assured that my latest bill of $275.11 (which included charges for future service and late fees) was a mistake and would be fixed. For the record, any customer who cancels service CAN also cancel their phone in person. Apparently many representatives use the phone porting excuse to artificially boost their customer save %. I still do not have resolution but I have been assured that proper resolution will be made by the time my next bill arrives.
It should be noted that I was able to fully prepare a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission today well before TWC was able to address my concern. Due to the incomplete nature of the resolution, I submitted the complaint and will now await final resolution.
While no reasonable consumer would ever put themselves in this situation again, I will probably return in a year once my Uverse promotional rate runs out. There really is no alternative unless Google fiber comes to my door to save the day. However if I can convince my wife to pull the plug on cable permanently (I can watch sports via antenna and ESPN3 through chromecast), then I will be rid of this dinosaur duopoly once and for all.
A corporate representative promised that all charges would be reversed and that I would receive a zero bill. A week later I received a revised bill showing the $275.11 bill replaced with a $105.88 bill. After all of the escalation, TWC still cannot honor their promises.
It should be noted that the $105.88 bill reflects TWC’s regret of losing me as a customer. This (still false) statement was printed on September 11. A subsequent letter printed on September 12 advises me that my promotional rate is expiring in October and that they are pleased to provide me with another special rate ($150.46 monthly). I am currently enjoying a far greater selection of channels, including a couple dozen premium movie channels for much less than I was paying on TWC. It really begs the question how executives like Robert D Marcus could be on the receiving end of an $80 million golden parachute given the gross incompetence at every level (top down) of the company.