Crap is going to hit the fan when customers find out POP3 is no longer support by Charter only IMAP.

OK so say Charter now just makes the $50 tier $30. Would people then expect Charter to offer a promo price still?

Well you see 20$/ mo may seem like NOTHING to CEOs at ATT and Charter, BUT for the ordinary joe it adds up to quite a bit over a year or more. So folks MUST play that idiotic game whether they like it or not IF they want the internet and want to be able to stay within a budget.

The fact is that the economy still is TERRIBLE for MOST consumers.

If playing musical ISPs every year is how one saves $20 a month then well that's their decision. Personally I think I would find some other way to save $20 a month. Constantly switching ISPs seems a bit of a pain in the behind.

I don't understand why you think I should not take advantage of a promo that saves me $39 per month and delivers equivalent service.

Sure and you realize your U-verse pricing was also a promotion and when that ended you would not get that extended.

Fact is in my area 12 Mbps U-verse is $48 a month( non promo ) and 18 Mbps Uverse( if you can get it ) is $53 a month. Sorry Charter's 30 meg for $50 is better than either. Why would I pay $3 MORE per month for 40% LESS speed? And a $2 per month savings isn't worth a 60% reduction in speed either.

OK say you have 100 customers getting $30 promo That's $3000 a month for those 100 customers. Now say promo ends and the price goes back up to $50. Now let's say 30% of those customers leave. Charter still has 70 customers paying $50 a month which is $3500. A 17% INCREASE in income.

And even if 40% left you'd be at the same $3000 but Charter is better off because they have 40% less customers to deal with which means reduced costs. Now it's doubtful 30% will leave let alone 40%.

People aren't as upset about the promo price ending as much as the fact that there is NO less expensive Charter alternative tier of service if you can't or do not want to pay the high price for that 30mb plan.

Last time around there was a Uverse option, which I pointed out, but they said they could no longer offer promo rates. So, rather than accept a 26% increase we changed to Uverse and got a 7% decrease. From my perspective this was purely a business decision - I wasn't upset or outraged.

I believe the ubee's that charter gave out support 8x4..

People aren't as upset about the promo price ending as much as the fact that there is NO less expensive Charter alternative tier of service if you can't or do not want to pay the high price for that 30mb plan.

I am currently on the 100mb/5mb tier. That is why I am curious if my current modem would support those new speeds.

If true. Will this require a new modem? I have a Ubee U10C035

Three channel for upstream and 8 for downstream is around the corner.

As you say, you don't have numbers. Assuming that Charter has reliable numbers is also speculation on your part. It could just as well be a seat of the pants decision by the new leader to make his mark.

In November 2012 our 2 year deal with Charter ran out so rates were going from $117 to $147 for TV and internet. Charter was hard nosed about this increase. We moved to Uverse for $108. Two months later Charter called and offered a deal for a similar price (but fewer TV channels). Based on this, my guess is that Charter is getting some pushback from people like me who have an option.

Charter loses a lot more when a customer drops them than when a customer changes tiers - seems like they should notice when some customers have options, especially when a customer comes to their office and shows them those options (as I did).

With Uverse we upgraded the number of TV channels considerably but lowered the internet from 15/3 to 12/1.5 at a monthly total of $108.

Internet seems about the same, Vonage phone works better(clearer audio), TV has more channels, DVR is easier to use. So far we're happy -- time will tell if it was a good move but the cost difference made it hard to resist. We weren't unhappy with Charter's service, just the cost.

And it also states "The fee is not listed on Charter's site listing of fees, and users say it's often inconsistently applied." Again, this is not the fee you are thinking of.

Also the "change of service computerized fee" used to be named the "service restoration fee" which is where all this confusion is coming into play. Sadly that article is incorrect. Trust me on this, as someone on the inside at Charter, this isn't the $1.99 payment by phone fee everyone thinks it is.

I had a chatty tech over two days ago and he told me my area was going to be upgraded to 4 channel upstream bonding and 120meg soon. Can't say if he was just talking BS.

He's talking about over cell phone.

For that same $50 bucks you can get Phone and Data service over wireless. For the customer that want internet at home also a low price tier would be fine.

The computerized service fee is if you don't pay your bill on time and your account has a pending order on it to shut your tv/internet service off and you call in, make a payment and the pending order is cancelled. Your account is automatically billed $2.99 for it. Other than that if you call in to make a change to your account and pay the bill otherwise, it's still $1.99. There's been a lot of confusion around that.

I think the average user would like to lower their bill.

I'm still on a promo until may so I've got 15/3 right now. Perfectly speedy, does everything I need, no caps (at least enforced) as our node doesn't appear to be oversold.

I don't care for 30/4 internet... I'd be happy with 10/2 or even 10/1 for $25 a month but 30/4 for $49.99 a month... c'mon

We all see it for what it is... a pure money grab. With the lower tiers people who didn't use the internet much were paying little amounts. Now people who barely use the internet are paying almost $50 a month just to have internet (not like there's any real competition around here.)

It's stupid but it is what it is I guess.

I think the average user would like to lower their bill.

I'm still on a promo until may so I've got 15/3 right now. Perfectly speedy, does everything I need, no caps (at least enforced) as our node doesn't appear to be oversold.

I don't care for 30/4 internet... I'd be happy with 10/2 or even 10/1 for $25 a month but 30/4 for $49.99 a month... c'mon

We all see it for what it is... a pure money grab. With the lower tiers people who didn't use the internet much were paying little amounts. Now people who barely use the internet are paying almost $50 a month just to have internet (not like there's any real competition around here.)

It's stupid but it is what it is I guess.