It is so frustrating trying to get cable TV

by life is to short 16 Replies latest jw friends

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  life is to short

  OK my husband and I finally decided to get cable TV, as we finally got a new TV after having our old one for over 15 years. Being it is a flat screen high def we thought we would get cable.

  I tried shopping around as all we want is the main networks such as NBC, CBS, ABC and PBS. We really do not watch that much TV as we watch DVD's for the most part plus everyone I know that has the 250 channels of cable only watch the major networks for the most part anyway. I knew that this one cable company offered a very limited service that would be what I wanted just under $20.00 a month.

  Oh my word when I called I was told that the only deals they had would wind up costing us $200.00 a month after the second year with cable phone and internet and I had to have a two year contract period. I kept asking for the limited cable and was told over and over to trust them as I would want all the channels. I kept telling them no I knew what I wanted. All the cable company's where I live were the same.

  Finally I was told yes they did have limited cable but they were sure I did not want it. I told them I was sure I did want it. Anyway the people I talked to I got their names and ext numbers but they when I tried to call them back was told that I could not speak to them but had to speak to the new person that was on the phone. I had to go through it all over again with the new person telling me that I did not know what I wanted that I really did want the 250 channels.

  I finally called corporate and said look I truly do know what I want, can you give it to me or I will just go through my computer and forget cable all together. They said OK and were really nice about everything apologized for my run around and followed through with all of it expect the modem box. I wanted to buy it instead of renting it. They told me to go to Best Buy and pick one up. When I went to Best Buy they gave me the box that I needed but a person from the cable company was there and she said the Best Buy's where I live do not see the modem boxes that would be compatible with the cable company. I asked how do I get a modem box and she said that she would have one sent out when they installed my cable.

  Then they called me the day before they were to install the cable and was told me that they could not get the modem box out in time, now they had, had a week to ship it 300 miles there is Fed ex and UPS it did not seem that hard to get it on time. I was told I would not be charged for the rent this month.

  Now I cannot not get a hold of anyone I was speaking to since the cable has been intalled I and just get their voice mail. I gave it a couple of days before I tried to call as she said she would call the Monday after the cable was installed to see how the cable was going and to see if I might want to bump up my cable to the 250 channels I told her I was sure I would be very happy with what I had and I did not think I would want to bump it up. She never called. I wanted a couple of days and called and left her a voice mail saying so what is up with the modem box. Finally she called and left a voice mail saying she was still checking on it with corporate. I waited a couple of more days and finally I got a hold of her today. She said she could not sell me everything I wanted. I was like what is everything I wanted. She listed off convert boxes and other things. I was like wow all I want is a modem box. She was like I thought you wanted all of this as you left it on my voice mail. I was totally blown away as all I have ever wanted was the modem box and that is all I have ever left on her voice mail.

  I am so frustrated, Best Buy says they have the modem blxes I need but the cable company says that it will not work that I need to get it from the next city over. I am not good with the new tech stuff and I just feel like I have been jerked around.

  I feel like I did when I tried to talk with the elders about things. They promised me the moon and they did nothing.

  Has anyone else been frustrated with dealing with big corporate company's. Sometimes it feels like you are talking to a JW you just get ran in circles and told you are saying things you never did.

  LITS
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  Satanus

  OMG. Totally crazy. I had something similar, although less. They told me they had some channels, the ones i REALLY wanted, when they didn't. I just canceled everything and went w another company that had it. Those types think that customers are stupid and can be bullied and told what they want. I don't accpet it, iether. Glad you stuck w what you wanted.

  S
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  laverite

  LITS -

  See!!!! This is what happens when you leave Jehovah's organization.
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  Snoozy

  I had arranged to have dish (through ATT) and when the guy gets here he is scratching his head and saying that there will be cables going across my floor to where the TV was. I said What?

  He couldn't figure out any other way to do it..

  The first time he came he needed a letter from the condo association telling him where to put the dish and what holes he could drill where.
  The second time I had the letter but he was scratching his head..said it couldn't be done..and left.
  The third time was when they said that about running the cable accross a major doorway in the hallway. And he said it was a big cable..2 of them!

  The Direct TV apparently hires lazy subcontractors to do their work. I called and complained while he was still here and all of a sudden he decides he can install it. Course again, I will have the cables going accross the doorway..(where I know I will trip over).

  So I tell him to get lost!

  After he leaves I am so mad..I had already been trying to move in for a week..but refused till my TV and computer was hooked up.

  Well, they got the Computer and phone hooked up but no cable!

  Long story short I ended up calling Charter. They was already a plug in for the hookup so it was simple..it's just that the Direct TV is what I wanted plus it was cheaper..I told them they better honor our price deal for the phone and computer because it was their fault I didn't get cable with them (ATT).

  Well little by little ATT kept raising the price (with so called taxes and fees) till it was rediculous..I finally switched everything over to Charter. I feel I got a good deal.

  Now whenever they call wanting me to switch to ATT..I let them have it...

  BTW..ATT contracts independant workers to install their Direct TV..

  I told them there were sending the laziest workers they had out and hoped they weren't all like that..ATT didn't like that. I wonder if they went with someone else after that?

  I even tried to show the guy how to lay the wires for Dish following the baseboard but they were too lazy to go out of their way..

  After all that, I still think yours is a worse horror story than mine...

  Snoozy...
• 

  jamiebowers

  Look up your state's attorney general website and check what agency governs cable companies. Once you file a complaint, you'll get your modem and whatever else you want.
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  life is to short

  Thanks snozzy and Jamie

  Snozzy your story about running the cable accrose the floor sounds like what I have been dealing with. It is so frustrating. They limit the cable companies where I live so you have only two really to choose from and the one will not budge on the two year contract so they are out. It is truly frustating.

  Jamie you are right about the states attorney general. I am going this weekend to Best Buy as the cable company is supposed to have a person I can speak to there in person instead of this stupid phone tag and if that does not work than Monday I am calling the attorney general. It is just so stupid that you have to go through so much to get what you want.

  Thanks for your addvice.

  LITS
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  GLTirebiter

  If this is how they treat you as a prospective customer, just wait until you sign the two-year contract. The quality of service isn't likely to improve. I gave up the cable and bought the digital converter to get the local channels. I can buy a couple of new-release DVDs every month with the money I don't spend on cable.
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  WTWizard

  Time to lay down the ultimatum. One more screw-up of any kind, and you will dump cable altogether and simply use your broadband to get TV. You watch mostly DVDs anyways--you don't need 8 billion channels of all the same lamestream media anyways--I don't even bother believing anything I see on CNN, CNBC, or any of the other channels. You take their investment advice, you will take a bath. You believe the political scams they put up, you will not get the whole truth about why there are rolling blackouts or why gas is $4 or 5 a gallon. They refuse to tell about the fact that, if priced in gold or silver, food and energy prices have been stable to declining--putting out fake shortages to justify that the dollar is actually at fault. Watch the scientific channels, you see mostly shows about we are destroying the planet and need austerity measures to save the world.

  You are much better off going online. You can get the truth online, if you dig past the lamestream sources. For instance, they say the dollar is healthy--why did gold go to $1350 an ounce from $275, and silver to $30 from $4? So, they say that silver is in a "shoulder"--heading for a "head and shoulders" top with $26 being the second top. They also claim a double top at around $30-31 an ounce for silver--anyone in the lamestream media will be eating those words when silver hits, at minimum, $85 an ounce and possibly as much as $500 or more ("$500 silver" is even a good term for your search engine). And yes, you can get the weather channel (and other sources of weather) online.
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  wannabefree

  LITS - You said you got an new flat screen and wanted high def ...

  I may be wrong ... but ... were I am located, basic cable gets you nothing in high def, the cable co. makes you upgrade to get high def. If you aren't in the middle of nowhere, (I assume you aren't since there is a Best Buy near you), you should be able to pick up NBC, CBS, FOX, ABC, PBS, over the air for free in high def, you just need one of the new antennas.
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  life is to short

  wannabefree

  You are right that you can get just an atenna but the problem is the single that the high def sends where I live goes in and out. So you could be watching the new and then the single goes wacky and you have to jump up and move it or sometimes even the whole chanle you are watching goes away for a week or more then comes back, I do not get but it has something to do with the way the high def is, cable gets rid of the problem. All I wanted was the $20.00 a month service but right now I think the atenna or the internet is what I might go back to and just suffer through the rest.

  I just hate being decived and what I feel is lied to. I am not the only one who is having this happen with the cable company, I was talking to a lady I work with and she said that the cable company did the same thing to her. She asked for the limited cable also and was told that she had to pay $40 a month that was as low as they went, she had that for about two years when by mistake the someone from the company told her about the $20.00 a month one. She was so mad as she had paid all that money for the two years getting more then she wanted.

  It all so reminds me of the Watchtower. They tell us what they think we want to hear then once they get us the switch the deal. Or they tell us what we know we heard was not true and that we misunderstood it or they they say we wanted it all along and we even asked for it. Then we start to wonder where in the world did they get that from and maybe you did ask for it and you just do not remember and and you just feel like you are the one who is crazy.

  Thanks for you suggestions

  LITS