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7123
GrassCutter
join:2004-05-25
Lithia, FL

GrassCutter

Member

HBO price increase

Effective Jan. 17 HBO will go up by $1.00/month. For me this means I will be paying $16.99/month. Those who are covered by promotional terms will not change until their agreement matures.

bUU
join:2007-05-10
Kissimmee, FL

bUU

Member

"In this day and age, they're raising prices? Don't they know that...." Phftttahahahah... sorry I couldn't deliver that line with a straight face. I have to wonder how many subscribers will seriously demonize HBO for the price increase though.

Greg2600
join:2008-05-20
Belleville, NJ

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I get the larger package, but HBO has turned to utter garbage. The movie assortment stinks, PQ lousy, no OAR, and they're down to a scant # of watchable original series, none of which go longer than 13 episodes.

HD fan
@rr.com

HD fan to GrassCutter

Anon

to GrassCutter
does anyone have a copy of the letter/rates that they can post?

amarryat
Verizon FiOS
join:2005-05-02
Marshfield, MA

amarryat

Member

I already tore mine up, but it said that the movies package was going from 29.90 to 30.90 per month effective January.

birdfeedr
MVM
join:2001-08-11
Warwick, RI

birdfeedr to HD fan

MVM

to HD fan
Excerpts from the one that arrived today:

"with HBO and Cinemax, you get 26 channels, all available in HD" ... "On Demand, included FREE" ... "due to rising costs" ... "the rate for your HBO/Cinemax Package will be increasing from $21.99 to $22.99 a month, effective on January 17, 2010, or at the end of your promotional term".

I'd guess, from amarryat See Profile's post, so is the Movies package.

ggma1126
GGMA1126
Premium Member
join:2008-08-30
Claymont, DE

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I dropped HBO last month and now that I have a Roku with Netflix and my new panasonic blue ray player has viera cast with amazon online (roku also has access to amazon online) my next move is to drop the movie package altogether and while I only really liked the series on showtime I have decided I will wait for the dvd version and get from netflix when it comes out. with the 8.99 plan I will be saving money in the long run even if I buy a VOD movie once in a while.

SeattleMatt
Streaming Tech Director
Premium Member
join:2001-12-28
Seattle, WA

SeattleMatt

Premium Member

To add - I got my letter.

All Access Package (all the premiums) going from $35 to $36
chitchatjf
join:2008-07-13
Lawrence, MA

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I get the HBO/Cinemax/Movie package as PART of my bundle so $30 for me till at least July
scorp508
join:2003-04-24
Lakeville, MA

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I have the 3 for $30 and got a letter today saying it was going to $31. Honestly though, I keep thinking of dropping them all. The movie lineup is pretty horrible and between having that and a blockbuster account grandfathered into an old cheap price, I use blockbuster more.

amarryat
Verizon FiOS
join:2005-05-02
Marshfield, MA

amarryat

Member

said by scorp508:

I have the 3 for $30 and got a letter today saying it was going to $31. Honestly though, I keep thinking of dropping them all. The movie lineup is pretty horrible and between having that and a blockbuster account grandfathered into an old cheap price, I use blockbuster more.
I agree, and it's not Verizon's fault. It's just that there aren't any good movies! I can't remember the last time I watched a movie on HBO/Showtime/Cinemax/Starz/Encore/TMC/Sundance/IFC. A couple of HBO's series, and that's about it for me.
GrassCutter
join:2004-05-25
Lithia, FL

GrassCutter

Member

Yeah, if it weren't for Entorage and Curb, HBO would not be worth it. Now that both are out of season and with the price increase I may drop it. It seems that the less you subscribe to, the higher the percentage of your increase. It appears there was a decision to raise prices $1.00 across the board.

bUU
join:2007-05-10
Kissimmee, FL

bUU to amarryat

Member

to amarryat
Our experience is that we found about a dozen movies to record, over the first few days we had HBO and Cinemax.... and after that we could not find more than one per week, and I suspect next month, even one per week will be asking a lot. I'll be canning our free trial early -- probably by January 5 -- just to help preclude billing problems.

SeattleMatt
Streaming Tech Director
Premium Member
join:2001-12-28
Seattle, WA

SeattleMatt

Premium Member

Let's hear it for "competition and falling prices!"

matcarl
Premium Member
join:2007-03-09
Franklin Square, NY

matcarl

Premium Member

said by SeattleMatt:

Let's hear it for "competition and falling prices!"
Originally that's what everyone thought would happen, but I read an article that due to competition, everyone is adding more services to beat the other guy, and in doing so, the prices go up to pay for all the extras: Remote DVR, Widgets, Media Manager, etc, etc.
texastown
join:2008-04-25
Plano, TX

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Companies raise prices till the cancel rate exceeds the new revenue generated by their increases. Then a light goes off in their empty little heads that "maybe there really is a recession going on out there" and they back off.

Obviously FIOS is beamed to a higher earning demographic so they think they can still raise prices with little negative consequence. They will keep pushing till customers push back by cutting services.

As I've stated before, I think all their movie packages are grossly overpriced junk. Same movies, overall poor pic quality, etc.

I guess if you like the movie packages for some reason, you'll pay more, if not, just cancel till they realize that the right price is no more than $5.00 per month (at most) for the low quality product the movie packages have become.

slash
MVM
join:2001-03-01
Boston

slash to GrassCutter

MVM

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Does anyone actually pay for HBO?

I've had FIOS for a year and I keep getting 3 months free of HBO and Cinemax. When 3 months are up I call and renew the free 3 months. Have had both for a year now and it hasn't cost me anything.

matcarl
Premium Member
join:2007-03-09
Franklin Square, NY

matcarl

Premium Member

Wow, never heard of that scam. Billing will catch up to you eventually

birdfeedr
MVM
join:2001-08-11
Warwick, RI

birdfeedr

MVM

said by matcarl:

Wow, never heard of that scam. Billing will catch up to you eventually
Not so sure of that. CSR tacked on the HBO/Cinemax for free 3 months in September (even though I had said no, don't). Ok, I finally found it would not be charged to me, but I called on November 15th and said cancel.

Ok, they did, they said. Except when I noticed it was still live on Thansgiving, I called again to find out what happened.

Both times I called to cancel, they offered to extend it another 3 months free. I insisted it be cancelled, and it was, but on December 1st. I think there's a numbers game afoot. Who is scamming who?

The only reason to worry about billing is if they charge you for something you didn't ask for. Pretty common lately. If you're getting what they're offering, that's their problem.

And yes, I *am* watching my billing.

bUU
join:2007-05-10
Kissimmee, FL

bUU to matcarl

Member

to matcarl
Interesting... all all the advertising, and all the new customer promotions, and all the cost to switch customers, and switch them back -- all of that cost finds its way into the prices we all pay.
MisterBill
Verizon FiOS
join:2002-06-05
Yorktown Heights, NY

MisterBill to matcarl

Member

to matcarl
said by matcarl:

Wow, never heard of that scam. Billing will catch up to you eventually
Not a scam. I'm on my 3rd free trial. I've had FiOS for 6 months. I think I've paid for a couple of weeks of HBO (because I had a pending order to change my package after my 6 months were up). You call up and they remove it for a day and then add it back with the promotion.

Bill Neilson
Premium Member
join:2009-07-08
Alexandria, VA

Bill Neilson to GrassCutter

Premium Member

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If it wasn't for me getting HBO for free, I would have dumped it years ago

I just threaten to cancel and boom, get it for free

Not worth paying for

GeekNJ
Premium Member
join:2000-09-23
Waldwick, NJ

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I called today to cancel HBO/Cinemax. Not a single question on why or an attempt to get me to not cancel. Took less then 5 mins from start to finish.

Now if my other support calls to Verizon were as quick and as successful!
ansky
join:2009-05-18
West Orange, NJ

ansky to GrassCutter

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said by GrassCutter:

Yeah, if it weren't for Entorage and Curb, HBO would not be worth it. Now that both are out of season and with the price increase I may drop it. It seems that the less you subscribe to, the higher the percentage of your increase. It appears there was a decision to raise prices $1.00 across the board.
You can just wait for the end of the season and then subscribe to HBO for a month and watch all the episodes On Demand. Then at least you are only paying for 1 month of HBO as opposed to 3 or 4 months if you watch each episode first run.

Greg2600
join:2008-05-20
Belleville, NJ

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I don't think I've gotten the letter for an increase, but I thought the pricing was "locked" in under a current contract?
PJL
join:2008-07-24
Long Beach, CA

2 edits

PJL

Member

said by Greg2600:

I don't think I've gotten the letter for an increase, but I thought the pricing was "locked" in under a current contract?
The letter says that the increase is "...effective on January 17, 2010, or at the end of your promotional term." Remember, the package charges (triple play, etc.) usually have a guaranteed price for a period of time (mine did for two years when I renewed in November), but the premium subscription services (like HBO) are not included in that price guarantee. The subscriptions may have a "promotional term" but that would have been defined when you signed up for the subscription.

Vamp9190
Premium Member
join:2002-02-11
Chantilly, VA

Vamp9190 to matcarl

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said by matcarl:

Wow, never heard of that scam. Billing will catch up to you eventually
Are you saying that CS 'renews' HBO for another free 3-mos, but then billing will just bill for it anyway? Is the customer at fault for trying to get HBO for free, or is VZ just saying OK to another 3 mos, but then billing won't do it, so the customer gets billed?

My free 3 mos. is up in mid-Jan.

What I don't get is why would VZ renew my free HBO if I say I am going to drop it.....they are giving it to me for FREE right now anyway.

If someone can provide an explanation that makes sense I am listening.

slash
MVM
join:2001-03-01
Boston

slash

MVM

I'm not scamming anyone. They offer more free service and I except. I do not/have not get/been billed