Paying $231.xx for cable bill every month is way too much
By Lena Kovadlo
@lovebuglena (52199)
Staten Island, New York
June 24, 2020 2:17pm CST
When my parents bought a new house and we moved I opened up our cable account under my name. Now that I am no longer living with them the account is still on my name. We didn't wanna deal with closing it and opening a new one on their name. And we never tried to change the owner of the account to them either.
My mom called the cable company (Spectrum) last week to try and lower the monthly bill. They are paying $231.xx a month for cable (which includes Internet and home phone). That is a lot of money. It actually was ten bucks lower pre-pandemic, but still that's too much to spend a month. She wasn't able to do anything though, since the account is not on her name. Only the account holder can make changes to the service. That makes sense, however, that's not good for us.
The only way they will talk to her about making changes to the account is if I give her permission. Not sure how I am supposed to do that when I can't be there when she calls them. I guess I have to call them myself and see what they can do. But I don't wanna agree to something that my mom will not be okay with. I would prefer it if she was the one that talked to them. Wonder if it is possible to do a three-way call.
13 people like this
14 responses
@TheHorse (238338)
• Walnut Creek, California
24 Jun 20
@lovebuglena Yeah, I've done that with Comcast a few ties. And then it creeps up....
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (52199)
• Staten Island, New York
24 Jun 20
With Spectrum, as is with others probably, they give you a promo rate and then little by little it goes up and then you are no longer receiving a discount. Two years or so pass and you are stuck with a huge bill.
2 people like this
@lovebuglena (52199)
• Staten Island, New York
24 Jun 20
There are people who have Spectrum, for example, who switch to Fios after the promo thing ends. And then they keep switching between one and the other regularly. Or they call their provider and say if they don't lower their bill they will switch to someone else and they end up with a lower bill.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (52199)
• Staten Island, New York
24 Jun 20
That would be really good.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (52199)
• Staten Island, New York
24 Jun 20
That would not be a problem if she was in the room with me.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (52199)
• Staten Island, New York
25 Jun 20
I can't believe they charge that much. Hubby and I pay in the $140s range but we only have TV & Internet (still at the promo rate), and free DVR (promo that is for 36 months only) and we have one cable box. My parents have two.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (52199)
• Staten Island, New York
25 Jun 20
Can you downgrade something?
1 person likes this
@dilleo (1077)
• Canada
26 Jun 20
@lovebuglena I think so, I am looking in to it, pretty soon. Good idea, though, much appreciated 
1 person likes this
@m_audrey6788 (58468)
• Germany
24 Jun 20
Oh yes. That`s really a lot of money. I hope you can talk it out with them about it soon 
@lovebuglena (52199)
• Staten Island, New York
24 Jun 20
Even though it is not just cable but also Internet and house phone that is still a lot of money. And they don't even have any premium channels.
1 person likes this
@louievill (28846)
• Philippines
24 Jun 20
I think what you're paying for is way too much. In our country cable TV is only a little less than 10 dollars/ month. I'm subscribed to another company that offers fiber optic internet connection + landline for only 40 dollars/ month.
If I were you I would have it cut first and let my mother apply for a new account and let her choose the plan she wants and if not dump them altogether and switch to a provider that offers a better deal.
@louievill (28846)
• Philippines
25 Jun 20
@lovebuglena over here it's illegal to just do that without notifying or giving a valid reason to consumers, seriously it could trigger a congressional or senate inquiry.
@lovebuglena (52199)
• Staten Island, New York
25 Jun 20
They all offer a better deal in the beginning but then gradually what you pay monthly goes up.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (52199)
• Staten Island, New York
25 Jun 20
@louievill When they give you a promo they tell you for how long the promo is.
1 person likes this
@gr8nana6 (6614)
• Conyers, Georgia
24 Jun 20
Yup cable is pretty high around here too, I pay 178 a month for cable the silver package with hbo and showtime, internet and home phone. Maybe you could do a three way calling with them and your mom, good luck....
@lovebuglena (52199)
• Staten Island, New York
24 Jun 20
$178 is not cheap either but way better than $231.
@lovebuglena (52199)
• Staten Island, New York
24 Jun 20
I'd go to her house and call them from there so she is with me but I'd have to take a bus to get to her and right now I do not take public transportation. Maybe I can ask her to come over my house and we will call together. But perhaps I should just call myself and see if it is even possible to lower the bill to begin with.
@lovebuglena (52199)
• Staten Island, New York
25 Jun 20
It is. I wonder why it went up by ten dollars.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (222624)
• United States
24 Jun 20
We pay $215 with Spectrum; and I think it's highway robbery. Call them and give them permission to talk to your mom.
@lovebuglena (52199)
• Staten Island, New York
25 Jun 20
@LindaOHio Even getting a cheaper rate for a little bit is good.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (52199)
• Staten Island, New York
25 Jun 20
Wow! Do you have TV, Internet and phone? Did you try to get them to lower your bill? The account my parents have is actually a Time Warner Cable account in terms of the package. I wonder if they can switch to one of the Spectrum packages and if that will be cheaper.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (222624)
• United States
25 Jun 20
@lovebuglena It's still expensive. What I did one time was call in and selected "cancel my account". Then they gave me a cheaper rate...but it doesn't last.
@Nakitakona (59987)
• Philippines
25 Jun 20
Wow! That's too much. I'm paying only $10 a month for our cable.
@lovebuglena (52199)
• Staten Island, New York
26 Jun 20
Wow! Is it just cable or other services?
1 person likes this
@Nakitakona (59987)
• Philippines
30 Jun 20
@lovebuglena it's cable for TV and another 10 USD for Netflix.
@lovebuglena (52199)
• Staten Island, New York
25 Jun 20
It definitely is too much money.
1 person likes this
