Spectrum "Choice" Retention Package? Anyone?
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I have the choice package. I got it a couple of days ago when I tried to cancel my cable and phone It came with all the free local channels hbo and my choice of 10 channels it cost about an extra 20 bucks And HBO go works just fine for me.
I went in to the local Charter Spectrum office today and this is what I was given. The offer includes "Spectrum Basic" from the channel lineup and choose 10 from the following 50 Networks: Disney XD, FreeForm, Disney, Disney Jr., Cartoon Network, Nick, Animal Planet, Discovery, History, TLC, TV Land, Weather Channel, MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, HLN, Travel Channel, Food, HGTV, Nat Geo, SYFY, Bravo, ID, A&E, VH1, MTV, MTV2 BET, CMT, GSN, TBS, OWN, Spike, Comedy Channel, TCM, Lifetime, Oxygen, TruTV, E!, TNT, FX, Hallmark, AMC, USA, FXX, Hallmark Movie, ESPN, ESPN2, Fox Sports 1 NFL Network. Plus HBO free for 12 months.
Did they say you MUST take your local channels, which they charge more for? I'd go for this deal at the $19.95 price, but I have a Tivo with and outside antenna, and solid reception of all my locals. I'm not interested in getting locals through this deal and paying more. I don't suppose they have an online dvr either?
I'm going to be switching to the Charter Spectrum Choice Package. In the phone call I had with them last week, they said that the cost would be $29.99 a month, in which I would get the local channels plus 10 channels of my choice from the following list:
A&E
AMC
Animal Planet
BET
Bravo
Cartoon Network
CMT
CNN
Comedy Central
Discovery
Disney
Disney Jr
Disney XD
E!
ESPN
ESPN2
Food Network
Fox News
Fox Sports1
Freeform
FX
FXX
Game Show Network
Hallmark
Halmark Movie & Mystery
HGTV
History
HLN
ID
Lifetime
MSNBC
MTV
MTV2
National Geographic
NFL Network
Nick
Own
Oxygen
Spike
Syfy
TBS
TCM
TLC
TNT
Travel Channel
TruTV
Tvland
USA
VH1
Weather Channel
I'm going to be doing this in the next week or so. If what they say is untrue, I'll let you all know.
A&E
AMC
Animal Planet
BET
Bravo
Cartoon Network
CMT
CNN
Comedy Central
Discovery
Disney
Disney Jr
Disney XD
E!
ESPN
ESPN2
Food Network
Fox News
Fox Sports1
Freeform
FX
FXX
Game Show Network
Hallmark
Halmark Movie & Mystery
HGTV
History
HLN
ID
Lifetime
MSNBC
MTV
MTV2
National Geographic
NFL Network
Nick
Own
Oxygen
Spike
Syfy
TBS
TCM
TLC
TNT
Travel Channel
TruTV
Tvland
USA
VH1
Weather Channel
I'm going to be doing this in the next week or so. If what they say is untrue, I'll let you all know.
I have found so far on my lower numbered channels like Travel channel and the History channel those are west coast feeds while my higher numbered channels are east coast feeds on those channels which I like.
I really have not checked the other channels because I don't watch them that much.
P.S. My lower channel HGTV is that way also.
The only claim that you need to be entirely suspicious of is the monthly price. Fees almost always add to the total and the dollar amount of those fees (and the variety of fees) is getting pretty substantial.
Regarding fees, don't let them fool you. "Regulatory Fees" are typically fees that they are "allowed" to charge rather than "required" to charge. Only franchise fees (and 911 fees if you have phone service) are gubmint mandated. With some cable providers, you may be paying $$ in "cost recovery fees" that are allowed but by no means mandated.
As pointed out earlier, if they're breaking out the local channels, sports fees and other miscellaneous assessments that used to be part of the deal, they're misleading you about their base package pricing.
Finally, make sure you check your bill regularly to see that your monthly amount hasn't gone up substantially. Cable providers aren't always forthcoming about when their "specials" end and you start paying regular price (that can be as much as double the special price). Rest assured that somewhere in your contract there's a clause about automatically reverting to published pricing after a term.
The only real BS fee with Charter is the Broadcast surcharge. I don't know if you can really consider DVR and additional receiver fee's misleading. The one thing Charter does do though is eat the cost of all of the taxes and fees and fees on phone service. On internet and phone service I have zero fees. I pay MSRP minus the bundling discount, and not a penny more. I forgot how much I was paying extra under the old TWC plan in taxes and fees on voice. And as a side rant, what is it with the E911 fee. I am all for doing my part to contribute the the emergency infrastructure and the personnel who dedicate their lives making sure others are safe, but shouldn't the normal state and county taxes I pay on the phone service go to fund that? Sounds like double dipping to me.
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In my online account management, my Spectrum bills only go back to March, when I switched from TWC to SPP pricing, so I cannot verify. Unless it's different between land based phone services and cellular, on my Sprint bill, there is no mention of federal 911 charges. Just my crooked county, and the corrupt state on NY.
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I'm in my 2nd year with Charter Spectrum HDTV and cable internet and they offered me a discount for my 2nd year,it's not as good as the 1st year,but I will be saving $50. a month with my discount for HDTV and cable internet.
It kind of surprised me as I was ready to pay full price for my services because I am very happy with my services.
It kind of surprised me as I was ready to pay full price for my services because I am very happy with my services.
The 911 fees are local, not federal. They fund the 911 service and support other emergency services rather than it all coming out of a general fund.
This article is about wireless fees but most of them apply to all phone services:
8 Sneaky Charges Hiding on Your Cell Phone Bill
Like I said, double dipping. Where does the four and a half dollars I pay in county tax go to? Where does the four dollars in state tax I pay go to? Right in the pockets of the greedy pigs that run one of the worst counties in the state, and the pigs that run the second worst sate in the Union. That's where.
SPP pricing is so much easier and better than what we had to deal with the old Time Warner Cable
So you have both a local 911 fee and a state-wide 911 fee?
Some 911 centers are run as a joint venture while others subcontract with one of the jurisdictions to run the operation for all covered jurisdictions. As it turns out, there's almost always federal monies involved with operations of the 911 service.
Judging by my Sprint bill, I would say yes, both State and County 911 fees, on top of the normal State and County taxes. If the tax on gas is 'supposed to' go toward road maintenance, shouldn't the the tax on phone service go toward funding the emergency services communication infrastructure?
Since my work pays for my internet, I have to submit the bill to the accounting department to get an expense check. If I have a chance this week, I'll swing by and see if I can look in my file and get a copy of my cable bill prior to March to see what taxes and fees were associated with the phone service under Time Warner pricing.
Since my work pays for my internet, I have to submit the bill to the accounting department to get an expense check. If I have a chance this week, I'll swing by and see if I can look in my file and get a copy of my cable bill prior to March to see what taxes and fees were associated with the phone service under Time Warner pricing.
That's how it is supposed to work. In this case, infrastructure includes "manpower" and other operational costs. The system where I live is in the process of adding texting.
There's probably also some money in there to help the jurisdictions (and possibly the carriers) to "adapt" their systems to the 911 system.
The less "General Fund" dollars there are, the less "discretionary spending" we'll have (in theory). I recently saw where my local PD had administratively approved the purchase of two motorcycles for around $72,000.
Just signed up $26.31 with tax in Florida. This is streaming, you can add $11 and make it actual cable with a Dvr. I might go the Hdhomerun route and save a couple bucks.
An HDHomerun Prime isn't very much comparable with a DVR. I suppose some of that has to do with how many TVs you're trying to serve but I've yet to see a TV that has a built-in client and the DVR leaves a lot to be desired in addition to requiring the assistance of a media server.
Solutions based on tuners and media servers are rarely family friendly.
