Time Warner Cable Joins The Rate Hike Season Festivities

[HardOCP News]

If you are a Time Warner Cable subscriber, it looks like your broadband / cable bill will be going up in January. You shouldn't feel too bad about the rate hike though, everyone else seems to be jacking up their rates next year too. Happy New Year!!!

Not to be outdone by Dish, DirecTV, and AT&T U-Verse, Time Warner Cable is also reaching out to inform them that they'll soon be enjoying rate hikes in the new year. DSLReports.com reader rchandra writes in to note that they received this notice stating that Time Warner Cable will be bumping the cost of TV channel packages, premium movie channels, broadband services, and device rental charges and fees.

 

[bomni]

Meanwhile hourly employees endure minimal to no raises while executives enjoy their bonuses & padded severance packages.

 

[canmanone]

and they wonder why people are cutting cords with cable provider. comcast im sure will follow..

 

[Darunion]

Glad I bought my own modem years ago. When they first started charging for that I took mine back to the TW office and there was a huge box with modems just thrown in it.

 

[bomni]

Glad I bought my own modem years ago. When they first started charging for that I took mine back to the TW office and there was a huge box with modems just thrown in it.

Likewise, I was not happy with the way Comcast employees were handing their DVRs. Same story with a big box and they're just "tossed in". yuck.

 

[Koolthulu]

I got a letter from TWC about 2 weeks ago talking about rates going up, but since I was such a great customer it was "only" going up $15 a month. Called the next day and canceled my TV service. If I had an alternative for internet I'd go with it.

 

[collegeboy69us]

I locked my rate with time warner for another 8 months I think at this point

I pay 46/month for 120Mbit -- there's AT&T i could go to, but they are seriously 100X worse. Guessing I won't be able to talk to retentions department and bluff my way to keeping the same price.

Too bad -- I've been VERY happy with Time Warner the past 3 years at my house.

 

[The Cobra]

This is what a "Competition" looks like.

 

[Johnx64]

So they switch us to needing digital cable boxes in any room you want cable tv and give us 2 year free rentals on them only to up the rental fee when the 2 years is over... They also just bumped me from 150mbps/10mbps to 200/15 for "free" I'm guessing this is also a way to charge extra for bandwidth rarely used.

 

[ccmfreak2]

OK, so, as a TWC customer I own my modem, and I don't have their tv service. Looks like I'm making it out of this hike unscathed.

 

[nightanole]

OK, so, as a TWC customer I own my modem, and I don't have their tv service. Looks like I'm making it out of this hike unscathed.

There is a fixed amount they can raise the "cable" bill each year. Each year you will get a letter in the mail saying its "only" going up this much, and it really should be much higher so you should be thanking them for eating some of the hike. The amount raised is the legal limit the monopoly is allowed to raise it.

And guess what, this isnt affected by "internet". So you should have noticed by now your internet bill never goes up by 5-7% each year for "some reason". The only way they can raise "internet" is with fees, you should have noticed that your "internet" box rental has gone from $3 to $10 in less than 4 years.

Its even funnier here. We have time warners phone. Normally if you give them their box back, you dont have to pay the rental fee since you are using your box. Well if you have the phone, you have to buy your box, and all they do is turn off the internet section of the phone/modem. So you save the $7.50 a month in rental, but you still have their box...

 

[nutzo]

They also just bumped me from 150mbps/10mbps to 200/15 for "free" I'm guessing this is also a way to charge extra for bandwidth rarely used.

Cox seems to do this every year or so.
They make a big deal about a "free" increase in speed, but then 6 month later, they raise the price.
And they make it almost impossible to save by choosing a slower speed by making the next slower speed so slow as to be unusable. (50mbit or 3mbit)

My rate is locked in till the spring, but I'm sure I'll have to go through the dance of threatening to cancel once again to get them to drop the price. Not how they should be treating long term customers.

 

[steakman1971]

I recently canceled basic service and bought my own modem. The modem I bought is better than what I was leasing - it will be paid for in about 7 months.
When I was canceling the cable, the TWC guy was like "it's only $15 a month, are you sure? It's not much money." Maybe not, but it adds up.
I'm getting a DLNA HD Homerun device this week. I can watch live TV via Roku and AppleTV. Plus, with the right software, you can DVR your shows. You can even get a version of HD Homerun that supports a cable card - get rid of your cable box PVR.

I've actually been happy with TWC. I get fast, reliable service. Been using them for a few years. My only alternative where I live is Cincinnati Bell. I've tried them in the past and had lots of problems - different bill amounts each month, non-consistent speeds. No thanks.

 

[causticspill]

The yearly rate hike was why I dumped Cramcast TV so very long ago. I was only on basic basic basic TV because I find cable TV almost useless and I was ignorant/too lazy to look into an antenna, but when I couldn't draw any correlation between better service/more features/more channels with the annual $2-$3 monthly pricing increase I said goodbye and bought a Mohu leaf. I had already bought my own modem so I sold that on CL and switched from cable internet to DSL.

If these service providers could point to any concrete reason where the consumer benefited from a yearly price increase this might be tolerable (really, you can't come up with anything more detailed than "better experience"?). Otherwise, you are just paying more for the same service and the "privilege" to be served.

I'm lucky I have choices were I live, including the use of an antenna. Sucks for those who don't.

 

[Uvaman]

Yep.. We need more regulation. Regulate the fact that we need at least three options for internet service anywhere in the country. Or regulate price like power companies.

 

[Sp33dFr33k]

Not sure why this is news. Companies raise rates as quickly as they can while still maintaining poor customer service and service. Many customers have no other options.

Those who cut the cord can look forward to higher internet service fees, usage limits and higher fees for streaming services.

Comcast has raised our rates at least once a year for a very long time, occasionally it'll be twice a year. I'm locked into a 2 year contract at a low rate so hopefully the future rate hikes won't affect me too much.

 

[nutzo]

If these service providers could point to any concrete reason where the consumer benefited from a yearly price increase this might be tolerable (really, you can't come up with anything more detailed than "better experience"?). Otherwise, you are just paying more for the same service and the "privilege" to be served.

They usually point to "more channels".
But the reality it's just more foreign language channels, more pay per view, more garbage reality TV channels, and more channels you can pay extra for.

I'd like to go to just basic cable (since I can't receive anything with an antenna), and just add a few channels, but that's not an option.

If it was just me, I'd drop cable completely, but the wife wouldn't be happy if she missed her shows

 

[Sp33dFr33k]

If it was just me, I'd drop cable completely, but the wife wouldn't be happy if she missed her shows

I'm in the same boat, wife "needs" certain channels and a DVR. I'd be perfectly fine with just local stations in HD.

 

[Uvaman]

I'm in the same boat, wife "needs" certain channels and a DVR. I'd be perfectly fine with just local stations in HD.

That 'need' goes away after a while.. Like a drug.

 

[EndlessRed]

Don't you love how the political pundits were spinning the rate hike as a "good" thing for savers? So far I only see interest rates rise for debt, and not a single fuck was given for savings accounts. People forget it's still at the discretion of the bank to raise rates; since they're all colluding, none of them are raising rates for savers. Thus, once again, the average joe got screwed.

 

[Injuis]

So over the past five years both TWC and Comcast stock has nearly tripled, with increases in profit margins year over year and they continue to raise prices. There's competition and then there's this greedy shit.

 

[Deleted member 184142]

This is what a "Competition" looks like.

No.

This is what a captured regulatory body looks like.

 

[ccmfreak2]

There is a fixed amount they can raise the "cable" bill each year. Each year you will get a letter in the mail saying its "only" going up this much, and it really should be much higher so you should be thanking them for eating some of the hike. The amount raised is the legal limit the monopoly is allowed to raise it.

We switched to them just over a year ago. Our promotional period just ended, causing the expected $10 price hike, but beyond that, no strange rate hikes thus far.

And guess what, this isnt affected by "internet". So you should have noticed by now your internet bill never goes up by 5-7% each year for "some reason". The only way they can raise "internet" is with fees, you should have noticed that your "internet" box rental has gone from $3 to $10 in less than 4 years.

Nope, I haven't noticed this, because it isn't happening to me. As already stated, I own my modem. So there is no rental fee. I bought my TWC-Approved modem through Amazon before ever signing up. As for the "Internet" itself - right now there's legislation to prevent taxes and fees from being applied at this level through the Internet Tax Freedom Act.

Its even funnier here. We have time warners phone. Normally if you give them their box back, you dont have to pay the rental fee since you are using your box. Well if you have the phone, you have to buy your box, and all they do is turn off the internet section of the phone/modem. So you save the $7.50 a month in rental, but you still have their box...

You must be out in a rural area to need TWC phone. I don't know anyone actually paying for/using TWC phone. I use TWC for Internet exclusively. Once again, the whole box rental thing doesn't apply.

 

[dr.kevin]

competition my ass.
this is collusion.

my area has ATT and TWC competing. Rather than holding prices steady, they just tell each other to hike prices without adding value.