Cutting the Cord

Ahhh, the love/hate relationship with cable TV.  The world’s best babysitter and yet the biggest ripoff around.  

I have never been more fed up with Time Warner Cable than I had been in the last few weeks.  Our service had been spotty, particularly with the phone.  First a lot of static on the line and then it went out completely.  Hours on the phone with the service center, disconnected twice.  One service call and a new modem later and we were back in business.  Except we weren't...within a week the phone went out again.  We were told we would be credited for the days our phone was out.  The bill was the same as usual when it arrived.

That got Ted and I thinking.  How much were we really using the cable?  Internet, yes...but TV and phone?  The kids were watching much more than we were and to be honest they were watching way too much.  When Ted and I did watch TV it was more often than not a broadcast channel. Truthfully, we seemed to be too busy to sit down and watch TV on a regular basis  We didn't own a DVR and didn't want one either.  If we didn't have time to watch the show the first time around chances were we wouldn't have time to watch it a second time around.  The home phone exists more as a safety thing that anything else.  With two small kids in the house we want the ability to call 911 quickly and easily.  Let's ignore the fact that they seem to know how to use our iPhones better than we do. We realized it was time to research alternatives.

At some point I decided to give Time Warner Cable a call to see what else was available from them.  Imagine my surprise when I went on their website (to look up the number to call) and found out, hey brand spanking new customers can get the Triple Play for a mere $79 a month PLUS a visa gift card for signing up.  But us poor souls who have been loyal customers for 10 plus years?  We pay over twice as much for the same service.  Grrrr...

So began my call to them where I explained to the agent that I was looking for options to lower my bill.  He was happy to help and knew he could come up with a great alternative!  A few simple questions, a brief hold and then…VIOLA!  A solution you’re going love for $155 a month!  Huh?  That’s what we pay now after taxes and fees, I’m assuming you’re “solution” is the price before those pesky little things.  And, call me crazy (many have) but when I tell you I want to lower my bill, I actually want to lower it.  Yes, he told me, but you get more value with this option.  He was adding the movie channels and a DVR!  I didn't want any of those options and I told him as such (see above paragraph on how we felt about the DVR).  I didn't even bother to ask him what the price would be after about 6 six months when whatever deal he was giving me would expire.  I could tell I was getting nowhere and my blood pressure was rising.  Rather than saying something I would really regret I hung up.

Infuriated at their lousy business practice, I put in a complaint to TWC.  Yeah, yeah, I knew it was meaningless but I had to do something.  My inner Frank Meagher was fuming (love ya Dad!).  It did make me feel better.  The next day I received a reply to my complaint.  Hmmm, maybe they are on their game I thought.  It was a form letter..."Please bear with us."  Bear with you??????  Excuse me?????  I don't need to bear with anything.

So we made the choice to ditch it.  Unfortunately, not everything because TWC has the monopoly in our area on reliable internet service.  But at least the cable and phone were going.  We decided to give Ooma a try for phone service.  You have to buy the modem up front but then the phone service costs practically nothing a month.  It arrived last Wednesday and we unhooked the cable phone modem to hook it up.  Ooops, that cut off EVERYTHING.  No phone, no internet, no cable.  All evening on the phone with TWC to determine that a tech would need to come out on Friday to fix it all.

Guess what happens when you go two days without cable.  You realize you don't need cable.  Hate to break to you TWC all you did was make the decision easier. We've got antennas hooked up. We're looking at on demand options through the internet and the XBox.  

I turned in the equipment yesterday.  There were a lot of other people in line holding equipment too.  The couple in front of me were cutting the cord too.  We talked about how freeing it felt.  And get this, here's the take home.  We're saving $120 a month.  One Hundred and Twenty Dollars.  I practically danced out of there.

Twenty four hours later?  We're just fine.  Yes, the kids are going through withdrawal but you know what? Their playing more.  And truthfully, anything they want to watch is still available to them on the computer. And here's another dirty little secret.  The picture on the broadcast channels?  It's clearer through the antenna than it ever was through cable.

Life goes on.