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88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned) to Bhruic

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to Bhruic

Re: If you can afford the 100 Mbps tier

said by Bhruic:

Is "you can afford to pay it" the metric that we are now using to determine if something is priced fairly?

Yes it is and always has been. Is $250K a "fair price" for a Lamborghini? It's a car. I takes you from point A to point B like a $15,000 Kia.
Bhruic
join:2002-11-27
Toronto, ON

Bhruic

Member

You've rather missed the point. If all the people paying $110/mth now could afford to pay $1000/mth, would that justify Charter in making the price increase? The issue isn't what people can afford to pay, it's what people are willing to pay.
rradina
join:2000-08-08
Chesterfield, MO

rradina to 88615298

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to 88615298
Well, kind of if after you buy the 250K Lamborghini it costs you $100K/month to maintain it.
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned)

Member

So someone paying $1320 a year for 100 Mbps internet can surely afford a ONE TIME $200 fee.
88615298

1 recommendation

88615298 (banned) to Bhruic

Member

to Bhruic
said by Bhruic:

You've rather missed the point. If all the people paying $110/mth now could afford to pay $1000/mth, would that justify Charter in making the price increase? The issue isn't what people can afford to pay, it's what people are willing to pay.

No YOU miss the point.

A) Things are priced based on what people are willing to pay.

B) Charter doesn't have to justify it's costs. Not to you or anyone else. Charter could charge $1000 for installation. Guess what, no one would get that tier then and then Charter will adjust pricing accordingly.
mj3431
join:2003-04-21
STL, MO

mj3431 to 88615298

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You're assuming that everyone is getting the service at the standard rate. I'm currently getting 100M for $60/mo as part of my bundle. When the promotion ends I'll surely go back to 30 instead of paying nearly double just to keep this package.

This way they'll be able to charge the $200 "activation fee" to discourage people like me from taking advantage of great pricing in the future. Funny thing is Charter called me and offered me this spectacular deal, which I verified here on the direct forum before proceeding back in March.
rradina
join:2000-08-08
Chesterfield, MO

rradina to 88615298

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to 88615298
I agree they can afford it but usually the more "luxury" the item, the more free perks. I believe BMW offers lifetime free routine maintenance (whatever that means). It sure sounds better than paying $200 to install Charter's elite package.

If you ask me, the $200 install fee is to discourage folks from getting it because, perhaps, just perhaps, too many folks are signing up for it and they are having trouble supporting it. Either that or folks who get it bench the performance and when they don't get what they believe they deserve, Charter has to "tweak" their install (run a new drop, split the node) until the are satisfied.
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned) to mj3431

Member

to mj3431
said by mj3431:

You're assuming that everyone is getting the service at the standard rate. I'm currently getting 100M for $60/mo as part of my bundle. When the promotion ends I'll surely go back to 30 instead of paying nearly double just to keep this package.

This way they'll be able to charge the $200 "activation fee" to discourage people like me from taking advantage of great pricing in the future. Funny thing is Charter called me and offered me this spectacular deal, which I verified here on the direct forum before proceeding back in March.

if you're getting it at a promo rate you already have it and thus won't be charged the $200. This is only going to affect NEW 100 Mbps customers and they won't have a promo rate.
88615298

88615298 (banned) to rradina

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to rradina
said by rradina:

If you ask me, the $200 install fee is to discourage folks from getting it

I though that's what the price increase from $88 to $110 was for.

perhaps, just perhaps, too many folks are signing up for it and they are having trouble supporting it.

I doubt that "too many" people are signing up to pay $110 a month for internet.
Bhruic
join:2002-11-27
Toronto, ON

Bhruic to 88615298

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to 88615298
You really need to work on reading better, because when I say "it's what people are willing to pay", you can't really come back with "No, it's what people are willing to pay!". Well, I guess you can, but you look silly.

Similarily, I wasn't asking them to justify their costs. I was refuting your point that this is a perfectly acceptable charge for no other reason than the fact that people can afford to pay it. Being able to afford to pay something doesn't automatically mean that it's an acceptable charge.

elios
join:2005-11-15
Springfield, MO

elios to 88615298

Member

to 88615298
thought that was how supply and demand worked
ether every one is getting it there for price goes up or they are just trying to keep keep people from getting it

its one or the other you cant have it both ways
rradina
join:2000-08-08
Chesterfield, MO

rradina to 88615298

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If few sign up, then their statement doesn't make sense. There's not enough revenue made to fund those incremental investments. I really don't care if they charge an install fee but this smells a lot like a Billy Mays infomercial where if you buy one at $19.99, you get one free, just pay a separate $15.99 processing/postage/shipping/handling/whatever fee.

Ultra is a premium service which results in higher incremental network investments, equipment costs, and other operating expenses," the company tells me. "In an effort to maintain reasonable monthly recurring service fees, we have implemented a higher installation fee for Ultra customers."

This statement is especially full of hot air in an economy that loves to give stuff away but charge a monthly fee for the life of the product. The RIAA would just love to get rid of the concept of selling a song on any medium if they could figure out a way to charge you every time you play a song.
mj3431
join:2003-04-21
STL, MO

mj3431 to 88615298

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I understand that it only applies to NEW 100m activations. My point was that when they bring promotions back (and they will at some point) this will discourage customers from purchasing the higher rate tier. This is simply a move to slow uptake on this tier since it costs them much more to upgrade the network, split nodes etc. to support it.