Why is cable so darn expensive?

[DaDude]

* Call them every couple months to change your plan, they have deals and offers for cheaper service all the time, usually you can double your internet speeds or add double the amount of channels for the same price or even less.

I don’t have a plan. What you see on my first post is what I pay.

* Call and complain about things like the box/remote rental fees, reps have the authorization to give you up to $100 in credits/reductions with no manager approval (meaning they'll happily do it to get you off the phone).

I don’t see how that’s going to work. I’m renting the box, so there has to be some fee. So if I complain, they'll give me some sort of discount?

* Call and threaten to cancel/switch to another provider, this is usually good for a price reductions up to 6 months and/or credits.

Nah, I hate to do that because if they say, “yeah, go ahead,” then I’m screwed because my only other option is RCN and they charge 20% and I heard they have tons of problems with their service sometimes.

* Most locations should be switching out standard digital boxes for HD boxes at no extra charge.

I just did that last week. I swapped my digital box for an HD one. It sucks. They have very little HD channels and sometimes a couple of them don’t work.

[+Troll Subscriber¹]

I live in an apartment. Satellite dishes are strictly forbidden.

I know I just posted this in another thread, but if you live in the US - the FCC laws require apartments to allow you to have a satellite dish.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) passed rules in 1996 regarding the

installation of satellite dishes for residents of apartments, condos, town homes or

covenant-controlled communities managed by a Homeowners Association.

The FCC ruled that a resident has the right to have a satellite dish that is less than one

meter (39.37 inches) in diameter. The dish may be installed within the renter's or owner's

exclusive area, such as inside a balcony, yard or patio. However, the landlord or the

Homeowners Association can enforce restrictions on common areas, such as the exterior

of the building or the roof.

The FCC ruling also covers unreasonable installation or maintenance costs as well as

unreasonable delays in dish installation, maintenance or use. This means that a landlord

or Homeowners Association cannot ask you to pay unreasonable extra costs or create

undue delays for you to use or install a satellite dish, nor can they prevent you from

installing a dish within the guidelines.

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

If you really want TV, get basic cable. It's the way to go.

[Spartan Erik]

Ditch it all, get ATT DSL (3 megabits per second) for $25 USD/month.

You can download all your cable shows online..