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 ptrowskiGot Helix?Premium
join:2005-03-14
Putnam, CT
kudos:4 | It can't hurt to ask... You have the right to ask, they have the right to say no. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Mark won. | |
 coldmoonPremium
join:2002-02-04
Broadway, NC
 ·Windstream
| It is a useless tactic when there is only a choice between the service you get, dialup, or SAT. We definitely need more choices and competition in rural areas...
--
Returnil - 21st Century body armor for your PC | |
me1212
join:2008-11-20
Pleasant Hill, MO | " We definitely need more choices and competition in rural areas..."
I agree, however, rural should be changed to all. | |
| reply to coldmoon
I have a choice between century tel and cox century tel sucks really bad. | |
| reply to me1212
said by me1212:" We definitely need more choices and competition in rural areas..." I agree, however, rural should be changed to all. I second that notion. | | |
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| reply to jchambers28
That won't work here in SW Ohio. TW's only competition is DSL from Cincinnati Bell, which TOPS out a 4-5Mb down/768 kb/up. They DARE you to cancel. | |
Reviews:
 ·RoadRunner Cable
 ·ViaTalk
| reply to ptrowski
I think we called and complained about the price about a year or so ago. They agreed to lower internet to down to $29.95 for six months. Actually said to call back in six months to get another 6 month extension on that. Well we have never called back, but then they have never moved it back to $45 either.
Why do I feel like my next bill will be higher all the sudden? | |
 sivranBack to Opera againPremium
join:2003-09-15
Arlington, TX
kudos:1 | reply to ChrisDG74
I'd switch to that. I'd gladly sacrifice 2-3 megabits down for a boost to 768kbits up. | |
| Ouch, must be bad in Arlington. Having to upgrade to get to 768 up. 
TWC has the same upload speed here as the phone company, but double the download speed for the same price. So, they are not too worried about people cancelling. They know they will be back. | |
| reply to ptrowski
said by ptrowski:You have the right to ask, they have the right to say no. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Mark won. Very well put. | |
| reply to ChrisDG74
said by ChrisDG74 :
That won't work here in SW Ohio. TW's only competition is DSL from Cincinnati Bell, which TOPS out a 4-5Mb down/768 kb/up. They DARE you to cancel.
There's one thing you have in your favor. Cicinnati Bell's 4-5mb down is more reliable than TW's 10-20.
That's the bargaining chip you have. I use it in my favor. You can too, I'm sure. | |
| reply to ChrisDG74
said by ChrisDG74 :Ouch, must be bad in Arlington. Having to upgrade to get to 768 up. TWC has the same upload speed here as the phone company, but double the download speed for the same price. So, they are not too worried about people cancelling. They know they will be back. Not when their service is unreliable. Which is better? Advertising "UP TO" 100TB per second and getting 5-10MB consistently, or accurately stating 3-6mb and getting 3-6mb consistently?
Im at teh point I dont care if they did offer "up to" a petabyte down, but, if i still only get 5-10 mb, what difference does it make what the "Up to" speed is? (And, yeah, I know, Im overly exaggerating things, but, seriously, why not tell people they are offering speeds "Up to" a gigabyte? I mean, THEY cant control matters if you only get 5-10mb. But, "Hey, at least we offer you speeds up to..."
Whatever. | |
| reply to ptrowski
said by ptrowski:You have the right to ask, they have the right to say no. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Mark won. Not with this. TW actually has people who go around visiting people to see how they can lower their cable costs! I had that dept. manager come to my apt. last year!
I called up TW and asked them, "What can you do to lower my bill?" The lady said she could knock it down a few bucks, and then put me in touch with an adjuster and they bumped up my speed (supposedly) and gave me the rate as the lower speed, guaranteed for a whole year.
Remember that guy I said who came to my door? He said, when it comes time to take you off the promotional rate, tell them you're going to leave. They'll keep you at your rate.
I had another lady tell me she did that, and TW has continually renewed her same rate for over 5 years now, for the digital phone service.
If one knows how to play the game, they will win just about everytime. If you get nowhere, give up for that time, and call back again. Or, better yet, actually cancel. They'll ask what they can do to keep you. Amazing the offers they can give you when you are actually asking to cancel. Cable, Internet, Phone, Cell Phone, it's all the same. Works like a charm. (If you dont like the offers, be ready to make the switch, tho). | |
| said by ImBatman:If one knows how to play the game, they will win just about everytime. If you get nowhere, give up for that time, and call back again. Or, better yet, actually cancel. Hmm, I don't know that its this simple, I have heard about how these decisions are made and it's not just a shot in the dark. Some of these people have a list of what to look out for, sometimes your marked in the computer as a repeat service dropper.
It doesn't mean they will tell you that but they may, instead, call you on it but not offering you much of a deal at all and if you were to say, well its worked in the past; in this economy, their ailing too so I doubt it will work that great in the future.
What if you were getting suddenly overcharged by your new carrier & your competitor said, sorry, can't do it; now your stuck, now your losing for all you gained. I also fear this approach may lead to a blacklisting process where you may get turned away when you really need the deal. It may even get shared with your competitors, the listing may get managed by an independent company all carriers will watch. For those here who may be saying, quiet, your telling them how to watch out for people just looking for a good break, trust me, these approaches are already well known; all it takes is all the competitors tired of being played against each other.
My point here, yes it may work now but abusing it could yield dire consequences for all, lets hope it doesn't, lets hope i'm wrong. Meantime, i'm not going to look a gift-horse in the mouth, i'll take the break I get with 1 provider and be greatful for it. | |
| It's a game of chicken then. Who blinks first. Who needs who more?
For me, they need me far more than i need them. Sure some things matter more than others. But, one thing I know, it costs them a lot of money to get and keep one customer; unlike, say a store or bank where people come in, they come out. That's why they charge us the huge money to break contracts. So, if they lose money each time someone leaves, they would rather deal than lose.
Now, there is such a thing as companies firing people, too. Sprint was taking lots of heat for firing their clients a few years ago. Sadly, a lot of it was their own fault. But, a lot was their employees jerking the company around. What happened as I recall is employees were selling employee discount codes over the internet. The company was ok with this, as it built up their network. The problem came when these people were calling customer service too often, which ended up costing the company far more than the $10 a month they were getting. The issue for many was the billing. Sprint was billing incorrectly, and the clients had to call on a regular basis to get things straightened out.
At this point, Im so fed up with Time Waner/Road Runner and their capping speeds (thats the only explanation I have as to why I have suddenly dropped from 20mb down and 2mb up to under 6mb down, consstently, after TW had a change of heart on capping bandwidth). Im at the point where I'd rather get 6mb consistently and reliably from verizon than "up to" 20mb inconsistently and unreliably from TW. Esp. if that is going to be cheaper at Verizon.
They may not like being pitted against each other, but, thats the price of doing business. Let's face reality, offer a great service, and people will pay for it. Offer a crappy service, and people will pay for it-- but, not with money. With regret. That's how I feel with Vonage. At one point I felt I would return if ever things changed to where the service would actually work. After they lied to me, in so many ways, there is no way in Hell i would EVER return to them. (And yes, that is reality; not a statement made on a whim, out of anger. I will do without rather than use them. It's diffcult, but, not impossible).
Along those same lines, one thing to also keep in mind is the service. Is it really worth the savings? There is the chance they may not be willing to play ball. So, if by chance they aren't, are you sure you really want to switch? I may try the competitive angle against them, but, for as much as I loathe the Road Runner service, I do like the phone service. So, there is a chance I might threaten to return to Vonage; but, there is no way in hell i am going to switch, to save even $50 a month. And when I move, I will make sure AT&T is not the only available option for wireless or landline service.
said by techygeek:said by ImBatman:If one knows how to play the game, they will win just about everytime. If you get nowhere, give up for that time, and call back again. Or, better yet, actually cancel. Hmm, I don't know that its this simple, I have heard about how these decisions are made and it's not just a shot in the dark. Some of these people have a list of what to look out for, sometimes your marked in the computer as a repeat service dropper. It doesn't mean they will tell you that but they may, instead, call you on it but not offering you much of a deal at all and if you were to say, well its worked in the past; in this economy, their ailing too so I doubt it will work that great in the future. What if you were getting suddenly overcharged by your new carrier & your competitor said, sorry, can't do it; now your stuck, now your losing for all you gained. I also fear this approach may lead to a blacklisting process where you may get turned away when you really need the deal. It may even get shared with your competitors, the listing may get managed by an independent company all carriers will watch. For those here who may be saying, quiet, your telling them how to watch out for people just looking for a good break, trust me, these approaches are already well known; all it takes is all the competitors tired of being played against each other. My point here, yes it may work now but abusing it could yield dire consequences for all, lets hope it doesn't, lets hope i'm wrong. Meantime, i'm not going to look a gift-horse in the mouth, i'll take the break I get with 1 provider and be greatful for it. | |
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