Question To Ask Your Phone, Internet & TV Provider ...

Naturally

Naturally

Well-known Member
Location
Corner of Walk 'n Don't Walk
Question: Do you prorate charges ?? [It may vary by state. Dunno]

On Dec 4th, I received installation of Fiber phone & Internet service (Brightspeed). On the afternoon of the 4th I made a trip to town to turn in my old Cable phone & Internet service providers equipment (Spectrum) and terminate my former account.

Come to find out, my final Spectrum bill was the total of one month of phone & Internet service ... $102.98.

Billing for these type services are always for the month ahead. Bills are paid in advance of service each month. And the current Spectrum billing cycle was for service covering Dec 2nd to Jan 3rd or something.

On the 4th when I canceled my Spectrum account I explained that obviously I wasn't going to use the service for the month the bill covered.

I was told that Spectrum does not prorate charges. So although I'd only had Spectrum for 2days of the current billing cycle (Dec 2nd to the morning of Dec 4th) ... I still owed for the full month of December because they don't prorate charges.

That's some greedy bastages folks. I am on the hook to Spectrum for $102.98 for services I will not use and charged to an account that has been canceled/closed. I verified all this returning home from the local brick & mortar Spectrum store and speaking with Spectrum corporate on the phone.

I have now GIVEN Spectrum $102.98 for nothing. Gave it to them for nothing at all. Zip, nada, nothing. May as well have tossed a Benjamin out the window going down the road.

MY ADVICE: If you are going to switch phone, Internet, TV providers ... do it at the end of a month. Do not wait and switch just after the first of the month when new monthly billing cycles occur.

DISCLAIMER: In years past, I think I remember that regular phone companies did prorate when I've moved and disconnected. To be on the safe side, always check.
 

I remember the same thing happening to me when we changed from Comcast/Xfinity to a satellite dish, 7-8 years ago. I argued with Comcast and refused to pay the bill, and had a huge fight with them, to no avail. As you said, once they have the money, they are not refunding it, whether you use it or not.
We changed over from satellite because it was expensive also, and now just have a regular antenna for the television, and only use it for local channels, mostly when there is bad weather we want to monitor on the TV.

I have google Fiber for low income and it costs me about $20 a month, and is everything we need for WiFi.
 

Happyflowerlady said:
I remember the same thing happening to me when we changed from Comcast/Xfinity to a satellite dish, 7-8 years ago. I argued with Comcast and refused to pay the bill, and had a huge fight with them, to no avail. As you said, once they have the money, they are not refunding it, whether you use it or not.
We changed over from satellite because it was expensive also, and now just have a regular antenna for the television, and only use it for local channels, mostly when there is bad weather we want to monitor on the TV.

I have google Fiber for low income and it costs me about $20 a month, and is everything we need for WiFi.
Click to expand...
You are lucky in Northern Alabama ... I'm in Lower Alabama in the Wiregrass area and only 25miles from the Florida line. I just checked and Google Fiber isn't available here. We're lucky to even have Fiber. Just became available to my neighborhood this year. We do have a Fiber choice though ... Brightspeed or C-Spire Fiber.

Brightspeed Fiber offered 3months free and is twice as fast as Spectrum cable and $20 a month cheaper after the first free 3months. I've read some horror stories about Brightspeed and have my fingers crossed. The installation went without a hiccup on the morning of the 4th.

HOWEVER, I was initially scheduled for Brightspeed installation on the 3rd but the tech didn't show or call and I heard nothing from Brightspeed. I was blown off and ignored apparently. I called Brightspeed the night of the 3rd, dissappointed and frustrated and strongly prepared to cancel installation, but they promised a tech for the following morning, the 4th. The installation tech showed up just after 8 A.M. on the 4th as promised. It was my way or highway at that point and he installed where I wanted and configured exactly as I wanted.

Yes Brightspeed Fiber is faster and cheaper than Spectrum cable but here are some observations ...

- Brightspeed does not have an email server. Spectrum does. Now with Brightspeed, I've switched all my email accounts to gmail.

- When speaking with Brightspeed over the phone, I THINK I was speaking with folks in the Philippines. AND the installation tech that showed up to install Brightspeed Fiber spoke with a strong accent. He said he was originally from Haiti. Every time I've spoken with Spectrum, it was with someone located right here in the good ole USA. So Spectrum is MUCH more U.S. oriented than Brightspeed.

- Brightspeed does not have a storefront or office here locally. I THINK there MIGHT be an office in the next town over. The largest town in the area. Spectrum has a store here locally.

- Don't think Brightspeed offers any TV packages. TV service is a big part of Spectrum cable. Spectrum also offers cell service. But I don't subscribe to any TV packages anyway.

- Brightspeed is twice as fast and cheaper but more bare bones as far as compared to services and amenities offered with Spectrum.
 
I think that just having a fiber connection will be a lot better, even if it is not as good of service as we have here in Huntsville with the Google Fiber, @Naturally . Back when we had comcast cable and WiFi , it was always going out in bad weather, or a branch came down on the cable lines, or something.
We have had the Google Fiber for almost 2 years now, and never had it go out even once, unless we totally lost power in town.

Before GF, I had AT&T, and their WiFi was much better than comcast, too, and they had the special pricing for seniors, so I had that basic plan, and it was still plenty for us for our WiFi needs.
 
Brightspeed 1 Gig service, speed test from my computer this morning ...

17100127442.png
 
Naturally said:
Brightspeed 1 Gig service, speed test from my computer this morning ...

17100127442.png
Click to expand...
Damn, that's fast! I'm getting about 42 & 43 Mbps. My location in the house probably affects my WiFi speed, though.

Comcast is the only broadband provider in my area, so I'm kind of stuck. Still, it's fast enough for what I do, which is mostly just streaming movies and reading stuff on the Web.
 
HermitHogan said:
Damn, that's fast! I'm getting about 42 & 43 Mbps. My location in the house probably affects my WiFi speed, though.

Comcast is the only broadband provider in my area, so I'm kind of stuck. Still, it's fast enough for what I do, which is mostly just streaming movies and reading stuff on the Web.
Click to expand...
My desktop computer is Ethernet hard wired to my router. While still fast, I get no where near that speed over WiFi on my laptop for example.
 
MACKTEXAS said:
I just did a test and only got 30.8 download and 4.71 upload. It's a rural community that doesn't offer better.
Click to expand...
If the device demands aren't high on a LAN and there aren't numerous users in a household, 25Mbps is sufficient to stream even high definition videos. There was a time when a 25Mbps Bonded DSL plan from the local Telco here was all that was available for Internet. I did just fine with it.

Really the only problem I ever had was with the modem the Telco provided. The Telco modem was very sensitive to thunderstorms, even distant ones, and I would lose connectivity. Bought a 3rd party DSL modem to replace Telco's modem and fixed that problem. There were still losses of connectivity from time to time for various reasons, maybe once or twice a year. Cable was faster and more reliable. Only been a day and half with fiber, so time will tell. So far so very good. 1 Gig Brightspeed Fiber Internet, $59 a month. First 3mos free.
 
HermitHogan said:
If I was building a new house, I'd wire it up for ethernet in every room (except for maybe the bathrooms). But what we have is good enough.

@Naturally, do you play games online or do something that requires all that bandwidth?
Click to expand...
No games at all. I don't have any TV subscriptions but do stream movies and shows on the two ROKU TVs I have. I also stream Internet radio from around the world on my SONOS sound system, all day every day for background noise. Outside of college football, I only watch TV late at night just before going to bed or while in bed, but the constant streaming music is "a must have". None of that requires more than 25Mbps service though.

There is no valid reason why I need that much bandwidth just for myself here. It's WAY overkill. But every other ISP choice is MUCH slower AND more expensive. So not only is Fiber a valid financial consideration, it happens to be faster. Just the nature of the beast. When I click on something, everything on the page loads ... "right now".

EDIT: When I called Spectrum to cancel cable Internet service after the Fiber install, the account retention guy said that Spectrum was just getting into Fiber service and if available in my area, he could offer 1 Gig service for about $80 a month ... That still $20 more a month than I pay for Brightspeed 1 Gig fiber.
 
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I think your phone company is a "white collar criminal." We tend to think of criminals as some sort of pervert, low life or con artist. However, the white collar criminals hiding behind businesses are the worst kind. They rip you off and try to take you for your last penny if they can help it.
 
Naturally said:
MY ADVICE: If you are going to switch phone, Internet, TV providers ... do it at the end of a month. Do not wait and switch just after the first of the month when new monthly billing cycles occur.
Click to expand...
Except do it at the end of the billing period, not the month, depending on how you’re billed.
 
Naturally said:
Question: Do you prorate charges ?? [It may vary by state. Dunno]

On Dec 4th, I received installation of Fiber phone & Internet service (Brightspeed). On the afternoon of the 4th I made a trip to town to turn in my old Cable phone & Internet service providers equipment (Spectrum) and terminate my former account.

Come to find out, my final Spectrum bill was the total of one month of phone & Internet service ... $102.98.

Billing for these type services are always for the month ahead. Bills are paid in advance of service each month. And the current Spectrum billing cycle was for service covering Dec 2nd to Jan 3rd or something.

On the 4th when I canceled my Spectrum account I explained that obviously I wasn't going to use the service for the month the bill covered.

I was told that Spectrum does not prorate charges. So although I'd only had Spectrum for 2days of the current billing cycle (Dec 2nd to the morning of Dec 4th) ... I still owed for the full month of December because they don't prorate charges.

That's some greedy bastages folks. I am on the hook to Spectrum for $102.98 for services I will not use and charged to an account that has been canceled/closed. I verified all this returning home from the local brick & mortar Spectrum store and speaking with Spectrum corporate on the phone.

I have now GIVEN Spectrum $102.98 for nothing. Gave it to them for nothing at all. Zip, nada, nothing. May as well have tossed a Benjamin out the window going down the road.

MY ADVICE: If you are going to switch phone, Internet, TV providers ... do it at the end of a month. Do not wait and switch just after the first of the month when new monthly billing cycles occur.

DISCLAIMER: In years past, I think I remember that regular phone companies did prorate when I've moved and disconnected. To be on the safe side, always check.
Click to expand...
I don't ask questions anymore. It only gets me into trouble. When my dad passed away (sorry if that offends anyone) l called his cellphone service (which will remain anonymous. I don't want to be sued by the #@$%@s.) The first rep said that because l wasn't on his account l would have to get a of power of attorney. I'm sure my dad would comply--if he could.. They sent his account to a debt collection agency, l called them up and explained the situation. The guy l talked was really nice and we talked about Hawaii and other things. The debt report was taken off their records. Companies should really train their people well before they set them lose on the public.
 
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Please share how you were able to negotiate internet with Verizon. I replaced my printer with an Epson. $2 was added to my monthly charge. Costs with Verizon are creeping up.
 
@Poppyseed...in dealing with V- cs..
they knowing we had Ll for many years...
And actually it was them that offered the discount...after I stated how the original price had increase twice...so I think...they thought...I ' might bolt'...so they offered the discount...which...of course...took.😉
 
We stopped using Cox cable because Internet & phone was costing $280.00 a month. Switched to T-Mobile with fixed rate for life of $50.00 a month for internet & fixed rate for life $70.00 a month for two cell phones with unlimited calling & texting. Netflix basic is paid for by T-Mobile we pay an extra $8.50 for 4k hd & no ads.

Our T V streaming speeds are great no buffering. No gaming on the computers.

Download Mbps
191.83
Upload Mbps
12.32

For basic streaming, a minimum upload speed of around 3 Mbps is generally recommended, but for higher quality streams like 1080p at 60fps, you'll likely need closer to 6-8 Mbps, and for 4K streaming, aim for 20 Mbps or higher depending on the platform and desired quality.
Key points to consider:
Resolution: Higher resolution videos require more upload speed.
Frame rate: Streaming at a higher frame rate (like 60fps) needs more bandwidth.
Platform requirements: Different streaming platforms may have specific upload speed recommendations.

But when we cancelled HULU to use Peacock we fell into that prepaid service rip off since we decided to change one day after the fee was charged. Not a big loss the fee was only like $18.99.
 
Only time I've had a service that was fixed rate for life was when I had Centurylinks bonded DSL @ 25Mbps and unlimited phone.
After taxes and all phone federal add on fees, monthly bill came out to about $95. Much better deal finally now with Brightspeed Fiber.

I think Brightspeed now handles all Centurylink Internet and no idea what DSL would run now ... and wouldn't go back to it anyway. Well, unless Fiber and Cable went away.
 
Knight said:
We stopped using Cox cable because Internet & phone was costing $280.00 a month. Switched to T-Mobile with fixed rate for life of $50.00 a month for internet & fixed rate for life $70.00 a month for two cell phones with unlimited calling & texting. Netflix basic is paid for by T-Mobile we pay an extra $8.50 for 4k hd & no ads.

Our T V streaming speeds are great no buffering. No gaming on the computers.

Download Mbps
191.83
Upload Mbps
12.32

For basic streaming, a minimum upload speed of around 3 Mbps is generally recommended, but for higher quality streams like 1080p at 60fps, you'll likely need closer to 6-8 Mbps, and for 4K streaming, aim for 20 Mbps or higher depending on the platform and desired quality.
Key points to consider:
Resolution: Higher resolution videos require more upload speed.
Frame rate: Streaming at a higher frame rate (like 60fps) needs more bandwidth.
Platform requirements: Different streaming platforms may have specific upload speed recommendations.

But when we cancelled HULU to use Peacock we fell into that prepaid service rip off since we decided to change one day after the fee was charged. Not a big loss the fee was only like $18.99.
Click to expand...
We use T-Mobile for our wireless but they don't provide broadband in my area yet. As soon as they do, I'm switching. I hate Comcast.
 

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