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Oddly enough, TimeWarner (Spectrum) is giving me an overall discount on my bill ... in exchange for having TV service. What I mean is, my final bill for Intern

Oddly enough, TimeWarner (Spectrum) is giving me an overall discount on my bill ... in exchange for having TV service. What I mean is, my final bill for Internet+TV is _less_ than just Internet. I don't even watch TV. I threw the installation kit in a box and haven't ever set it up. Seemed to me they were doing it to inflate subscriber numbers.

scarface74 10y ago
If TW is anything like Comcast, the bill is only lower until you start adding fees. I have six TVs. 5 additional cable boxes would be $50. Plus the "HD Technology Fee" - $10. Plus the sports access, network access, and various other fees, we would pay about $80 a month just in fees. That's more than we pay for Netflix, Sling, CBS All Access and Hulu. We also have Amazon Prime.
- ganoushoreilly 10y ago
  I'm with you but technically it's not apples to apples. With 5 TV set top boxes you can watch on 5 tv's different content. Each of the streaming services you listed have login limitations so to get 5x streams you are paying double to triple service fees.
  - syshum 10y ago
    The Streaming services charge by Concurrent streams Cable TV is fixed. I have 4 TV's in my home, only watch 1 at a time, rarely 2 may be one at any given time. So I would have to pay for a 2 concurrent stream account. With cable I would have to pay for 4 Boxes 24/7 just for the option of watching TV on them. I remember the days where you paid for Service to the home, not service per device. then the FCC gave the cable companies a special exemption to allow them to start Encrypting the signal that is when they started to screw people over on the Box fees. I cant wait for the day the Electric Company can charge be by the outlet, and then start charging me more based on the type of appliance I plug into said outlet
    - rtehfm 10y ago
      >> then the FCC gave the cable companies a special exemption to allow them to start Encrypting the signal that is when they started to screw people over on the Box fees Admittedly, I don't mind this because it has drastically improved service availability and quality in my area by stopping people from stealing cable.
      - scarface74 10y ago
        Would it matter anyway if it is all digital?
  - scarface74 10y ago
    We only have three people in the house. So all three of us could watch live tv simultaneously with Sling. Hulu gives us errors once in a blue moon if we try to stream from multiple TVs, but for the most part, it hasn't been a problem. It's also not usually a problem with Netflix or Amazon Video. But all this is a moot point if you don't have unlimited data. You might not end up saving.
- ganoushoreilly 10y ago
  I'm with you but technically it's not apples to apples. With 5 TV set top boxes you can watch on 5 tv's different content. Each of the streaming services you listed have login limitations so to get 5x streams you are paying double to triple service fees.
- emidln 10y ago
  If someone is throwing the install kit for TV service into some box for later returning, I doubt they are telling TW "Yeah, I have 5 TVs, all of which are HD. Sure, I'd like to pay an extra $100/month for something I have no intention of watching."
  - scarface74 10y ago
    Once you get one set top box that is capable of HD, they charge you the "HD Technology Fee".
    - skinnymuch 10y ago
      Then say you have no hd tv. So, no hd fee. Am I missing something?
      - scarface74 10y ago
        Then you don't get an HD capable settop box. So you watch everything in SD?
        deleted 10y ago
        [deleted]
        emidln 10y ago
        If you're not connecting the settop box, why do you care if it's SD?
- fpgaminer 10y ago
  Nope, it's lower all-in. When it happened, about a year ago, the final bill was $10 cheaper. Today it's a bit less, I think $5; they shifted a couple values around.
syshum 10y ago
That is because they massively overcharge for unbundled Internet Service, you will pay for Cable TV, even if you do not want want it This throws back to the Phone Companies and DSL where you had to buy a bundled POTS line to get DSL.
- Pigo 10y ago
  Having recently bought a home, the worst part was moving to an area where I had to give up the fiber connection I had through Cincinnati Bell and going back to Time Warner. I thought I'd kicked them out of my life for good, was paying much less for an incredible speed and the reps were super nice.
yardie 10y ago
Be careful with that and watch your bill carefully. I signed up for internet service recently. The TV bundle wasn't that much more expensive. I read the fine print and they were going to tack an additional $16/mo in fees for the television; $8 going to sport channels. Now I pay exactly $29/mo of internet, nothing more.
- fpgaminer 10y ago
  Yup, I check the bill every month. Our final bill before all this was $70/mo for internet (100/20). After the deal it was $60/mo for Internet+TV. That's final bill; that's the amount we pay on our credit card. I didn't do anything special. I don't even complain to TimeWarner about anything (a friend of mine gets discounts by calling and complaining about internet speeds). They offered the deal when I went in to drop off their cable modem, cause I had bought my own (and yes, the deal is $10 cheaper even taking into account removing the modem lease). The only thing I can think of as to why I got "special treatment" is that I've never, ever had cable TV on my account with TimeWarner, and always told them no when they nagged me with random phone calls. So maybe they offer this deal to customer who they know will never subscribe, because having the subscription is worth the $10/mo to them.

scarface74 10y ago

If TW is anything like Comcast, the bill is only lower until you start adding fees. I have six TVs. 5 additional cable boxes would be $50. Plus the "HD Technology Fee" - $10. Plus the sports access, network access, and various other fees, we would pay about $80 a month just in fees. That's more than we pay for Netflix, Sling, CBS All Access and Hulu. We also have Amazon Prime.

ganoushoreilly 10y ago
I'm with you but technically it's not apples to apples. With 5 TV set top boxes you can watch on 5 tv's different content. Each of the streaming services you listed have login limitations so to get 5x streams you are paying double to triple service fees.
- syshum 10y ago
  The Streaming services charge by Concurrent streams Cable TV is fixed. I have 4 TV's in my home, only watch 1 at a time, rarely 2 may be one at any given time. So I would have to pay for a 2 concurrent stream account. With cable I would have to pay for 4 Boxes 24/7 just for the option of watching TV on them. I remember the days where you paid for Service to the home, not service per device. then the FCC gave the cable companies a special exemption to allow them to start Encrypting the signal that is when they started to screw people over on the Box fees. I cant wait for the day the Electric Company can charge be by the outlet, and then start charging me more based on the type of appliance I plug into said outlet
  - rtehfm 10y ago
    >> then the FCC gave the cable companies a special exemption to allow them to start Encrypting the signal that is when they started to screw people over on the Box fees Admittedly, I don't mind this because it has drastically improved service availability and quality in my area by stopping people from stealing cable.
    - scarface74 10y ago
      Would it matter anyway if it is all digital?
- scarface74 10y ago
  We only have three people in the house. So all three of us could watch live tv simultaneously with Sling. Hulu gives us errors once in a blue moon if we try to stream from multiple TVs, but for the most part, it hasn't been a problem. It's also not usually a problem with Netflix or Amazon Video. But all this is a moot point if you don't have unlimited data. You might not end up saving.
ganoushoreilly 10y ago
I'm with you but technically it's not apples to apples. With 5 TV set top boxes you can watch on 5 tv's different content. Each of the streaming services you listed have login limitations so to get 5x streams you are paying double to triple service fees.
emidln 10y ago
If someone is throwing the install kit for TV service into some box for later returning, I doubt they are telling TW "Yeah, I have 5 TVs, all of which are HD. Sure, I'd like to pay an extra $100/month for something I have no intention of watching."
- scarface74 10y ago
  Once you get one set top box that is capable of HD, they charge you the "HD Technology Fee".
  - skinnymuch 10y ago
    Then say you have no hd tv. So, no hd fee. Am I missing something?
    - scarface74 10y ago
      Then you don't get an HD capable settop box. So you watch everything in SD?
      - deleted 10y ago
        [deleted]
      - emidln 10y ago
        If you're not connecting the settop box, why do you care if it's SD?
fpgaminer 10y ago
Nope, it's lower all-in. When it happened, about a year ago, the final bill was $10 cheaper. Today it's a bit less, I think $5; they shifted a couple values around.

syshum 10y ago

That is because they massively overcharge for unbundled Internet Service, you will pay for Cable TV, even if you do not want want it This throws back to the Phone Companies and DSL where you had to buy a bundled POTS line to get DSL.

Pigo 10y ago
Having recently bought a home, the worst part was moving to an area where I had to give up the fiber connection I had through Cincinnati Bell and going back to Time Warner. I thought I'd kicked them out of my life for good, was paying much less for an incredible speed and the reps were super nice.

yardie 10y ago

Be careful with that and watch your bill carefully. I signed up for internet service recently. The TV bundle wasn't that much more expensive. I read the fine print and they were going to tack an additional $16/mo in fees for the television; $8 going to sport channels. Now I pay exactly $29/mo of internet, nothing more.

fpgaminer 10y ago
Yup, I check the bill every month. Our final bill before all this was $70/mo for internet (100/20). After the deal it was $60/mo for Internet+TV. That's final bill; that's the amount we pay on our credit card. I didn't do anything special. I don't even complain to TimeWarner about anything (a friend of mine gets discounts by calling and complaining about internet speeds). They offered the deal when I went in to drop off their cable modem, cause I had bought my own (and yes, the deal is $10 cheaper even taking into account removing the modem lease). The only thing I can think of as to why I got "special treatment" is that I've never, ever had cable TV on my account with TimeWarner, and always told them no when they nagged me with random phone calls. So maybe they offer this deal to customer who they know will never subscribe, because having the subscription is worth the $10/mo to them.