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story category Charter's Dubious Internet 'For Life' Auction
If by 'for life' you mean 'until we're bought or collapse'
10:38AM Friday Mar 14 2008 by Karl
tags: business · cable · Charter Pipeline
Tipped by neofate See Profile
Charter customers in our forums note that the cable company's latest marketing effort involves letting customers bid for broadband & TV service for life. Apparently a straight-forward sweepstakes to offer free Internet for life was too costly for the debt-ridden company. Given Charter's recent problems with customer service and slow deployment of new speeds, we're not sure it's the customer who should be paying, but the highest bid is now topping out at over $14,000. But buried in the fine print:
Click for full size
If within 3 years of the winning bid Charter sells the system that services the Winner, Charter will prorate the amount the Winner paid based on length of service provided and refund the Winner a portion of the winning bid. Example: The Winner paid $3K — Charter sells system after year 1. Charter will refund the Winner $2,000. Any time after the 3 years, Charter will not offer any refunds.
So technically it's not "Internet for life," then is it Mr. lawyer smarty-pants? Particularly given the recent news that Charter is quietly fielding offers for part or all of the company's broadband network. Since Charter is 19 billion in debt and they consistently show up at the bottom of all customer satisfaction rankings, suggesting they'll even be around "for life" is a pretty bold statement. Selling potentially non-existent service is even bolder.

"I am sorry, anyone bidding more than 3 years worth of service is insane," says one forum poster. "To pay 'up front' for service that you will need to have for 15-20 years to break even is absolutely crazy. There are so many reasons why this is such a bad financial decision (for the bidders, not for Charter) that it is almost beyond comprehension."

Related:
  1. Charter To Test DOCSIS 3.0 Second Half Of This Year
  2. Charter Sale Rumors Surface Again
  3. Charter 16Mbps Hits More Markets
  4. Analysts Predict Recession Mergers and Acquisitions
  5. Charter 'Broadband For Life' Auction Ends With $71,540 'Winner'
  6. Charter Sucks Slightly Less
  7. Charter Starts Selling Your Browsing History
  8. Charter: Selling Browsing Data Is Like Offering Faster Speeds
Forums » Charter's Dubious Internet 'For Life' Auction

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morbo
Complete Your Transaction

join:2002-01-22
00000
clubs:

hilarious

"anytime after 3 years Charter will not offer any refunds"?!

at the current bid (near $15k), that would mean the monthly cost is more than $400! who in their right mind would consider this?

BloodRoses
The Purple Faerie
Premium
join:2003-03-17
New York, NY

Re: hilarious

That's on top of considering the worst fact of all... you'd be using Charter.

S_engineer

join:2007-05-16
Chicago, IL

Re: hilarious

Why not...at $14000 a pop, charter only needs 1,357,143 of these fools to get out of debt!
BF69

join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN

said by BloodRoses See Profile :

That's on top of considering the worst fact of all... you'd be using Charter.
Well in my area it's Charter or at&t and it's whopping 6 Mbps/512 kbps tier for $48( without phone service, $43 with ) or for $50 I can get 10 Mbps/1Mbps with Charter.

Jerm

join:2000-04-10
Richland, WA

Re: hilarious

I love it - you quote: $48 price (without phone service) for DSL and claim $50 for 10mbps cable - BUT it's actually $60/month for 10mbps cable bundled with TV, or $70 without TV.

$48 isn't close to $70, sorry.
BF69

join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN

Re: hilarious

said by Jerm See Profile :

I love it - you quote: $48 price (without phone service) for DSL and claim $50 for 10mbps cable - BUT it's actually $60/month for 10mbps cable bundled with TV, or $70 without TV.

$48 isn't close to $70, sorry.
Sorry first of all 10 meg is $50 with TV $60 without. Try getting your facts straight. Trust me I know what the prices are in my area.

Secondly I have no use for a at&t phone line thus I would have to pay the extra $5. I do have Charter cable. Thus I would only pay $50. So $48 is close to $50. Even if you want to compare $48 to $60 guess what it's 6 Mbps vs 10 mbps. 67% more speed for an extra $12 and double the upload. Um yeah I'll take that deal.
kherr
Premium
join:2000-09-04
Collinsville, IL
clubs:

edit:
March 14th, @08:54PM

Re: hilarious

And with Charter, how much of the time do you get full bandwidth. With ATT I can't remember a time when I was below my speed.
When my dad had Charter HSI he had muliple outages a week. So many that he gave up calling it in to get a credit.

Jerm

join:2000-04-10
Richland, WA
·Charter Pipeline


edit:
March 15th, @01:42AM

BF69 -

If I go to Charter.com and type in an address and zip for Camden TN the prices I am presented with are the ones I quoted (after the promo period). Try it.

From Charter's website:
$59.99/month for 10mbps + $10 fee (in fine print) for no CATV

I have nothing against you personally, I'm just quoting what WHAT THE CHARTER WEBSITE SAYS FOR YOUR ZIP. What one thinks is the price is irrelevant, go to the source.
djhexer

join:2002-10-07
Sparks, NV

said by Jerm See Profile :

I love it - you quote: $48 price (without phone service) for DSL and claim $50 for 10mbps cable - BUT it's actually $60/month for 10mbps cable bundled with TV, or $70 without TV.

$48 isn't close to $70, sorry.
Wow I must be one of the few. For 10/1 and Unlimited LD phone for 50.00 a month for a year

dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ

said by BF69 See Profile :

said by BloodRoses See Profile :

That's on top of considering the worst fact of all... you'd be using Charter.
Well in my area it's Charter or at&t and it's whopping 6 Mbps/512 kbps tier for $48( without phone service, $43 with ) or for $50 I can get 10 Mbps/1Mbps with Charter.
so its currently 25 years before the bidder sees one dime of benefit! what idiots
--
You can never be too rich, too thin or have too much Bandwidth

ykronic
Premium
join:2006-01-31
Canada

Re: hilarious

said by dvd536 See Profile :

said by BF69 See Profile :

said by BloodRoses See Profile :

That's on top of considering the worst fact of all... you'd be using Charter.
Well in my area it's Charter or at&t and it's whopping 6 Mbps/512 kbps tier for $48( without phone service, $43 with ) or for $50 I can get 10 Mbps/1Mbps with Charter.
so its currently 25 years before the bidder sees one dime of benefit! what idiots
well, it is suppose to be 'for life'. 25 years is generally minimum for a life sentence in prison.

BloodRoses
The Purple Faerie
Premium
join:2003-03-17
New York, NY
·Cox HSI

said by BF69 See Profile :

Well in my area it's Charter or at&t and it's whopping 6 Mbps/512 kbps tier for $48( without phone service, $43 with ) or for $50 I can get 10 Mbps/1Mbps with Charter.
I've been faced with that decision myself in the past, I wanted faster but in the end I chose Verizon DSL at 3 Megabits. I would do it again if I had to. I've in fact lived in multiple Charter areas, and have a long list of bad customer experience with them. That's not to say I would have problems with them again, but past history makes me not want to even bother, personally.
--
Faerie Blessings,
Stephanie - www.GlitterFaerie.com

RadioDoc
Put Out The Cat
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11
Chicago, IL
·AT&T Midwest

Oh hell. They should have etched an image of the Virgin Mary into a cable modem and sold it on eBay. They'd have bids easily an order of magnitude above that...

Apparently the sucker birth rate has accelerated considerably above one per minute.
--
Toolmaster of La Grange.

T1 Rocky

join:2002-11-15
Dallas, TX
·Time Warner Telecom
·ygnitionnet
·Comcast

I'd love to hear the call to the billing department for the guy with the lifetime service after the company get's bought.
"No, see I payed $15,000 for lifetime internet access in 2008. No its not the platinum package, its the free internet for life deal that they only gave to me because I paid them $15,000. Just look in your computer. I already told you its not the platinum package, its the super special prepaid lifetime package only offered in 2008 and I won it because I outbid everyone. Don't you understand? Im the winner. OK, I'll hold."

greendragon
Premium
join:2003-09-20
Stewartville, MN

Re: hilarious

ROFL

MrMoody
Sittin downtown in a railway station

join:2002-09-03
Clayton, NC

edit:
March 14th, @11:11AM

Bidiots

Just goes to show what bidding fever does to certain people. I wonder how many of them seriously intend to pay.
cahiatt
Premium
join:2001-03-21
Smyrna, GA

edit:
March 14th, @11:42AM

Re: Bidiots

Petoskey, MI $25.00 3/12/2008 12:22 PM CDT
That's smart money right there....

pokesph
It Is Almost Fast

join:2001-06-25
Sacramento, CA
clubs:

bids.

Umm, uhh... I.. think.. I'll.. bid $1.00 Bob.. ..err Drew.

Air WAV

join:2000-09-16
Saint Louis, MO

LOL...

Charter needs to pay me $14k to use their service!
--
»StLouisBroadband.com
kd6cae
P2p Shouldn't Be A Crime

join:2001-08-27
Riverside, CA
·Dreamhost
·Charter Pipeline

Wy is Charter is so much debt?

I don't understand Charter. Here in Riverside, the network has been rock solid for the 2 years I've been on it, with only two outages in that entire time. Yet some of their other areas, such as nearby mountain communities, they won't upgrade their cable plant to even support modern high speed internet? then there's this claimed upgrade to 16/2, well where is it, and why haven't any of their markets here in Southern California certainly, seen this claimed new tier?
Could these be just some of the reasons they're so far in debt?

morbo
Complete Your Transaction

join:2002-01-22
00000
clubs:

Re: Wy is Charter is so much debt?

those are symptoms of being so far in debt.

the cause: stupidly acquiring other companies/cable locations that they couldn't afford.

DHRacer
Fire Survivor

join:2000-10-10
Lake Arrowhead, CA
·Charter Pipeline
·Verizon west (ex G..

Not totally sure what you mean by "nearby mtn communities" but up here I've got 10/1 and it has been rock solid and working as expected. Now their TV plant is for sh!t up here (I miss DTV) but so far the Internet at least works and is fast. I've only had one major outage and that was for 1.5 months, though it was caused by the mountain fires not Charter. I'm still hoping Time Warner buys them. It would get cheaper and better.

No way this area ever gets 16/2, but frankly I'm just thankful it has 10/1.

--
"No one will believe you solved this problem in one day! We've been working on it for months. Now, go act busy for a few weeks and I'll let you know when it's time to tell them." (R&D Supervisor, Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing /3M Corp.)

wifi4milez
In Need Of Garbage Pail Kids 1st Series

join:2004-08-07
New York, NY
·Sprint Mobile Broa..


edit:
March 14th, @11:41AM

What a bad idea.....

I sincerely hope that nobody actually gets stuck paying for this "service". I wont even renew my cell phone contract (I have been month to month for years), let alone commit $15k to my cable company. If they offered some assurance that the winning bid would be honored even if they were bought then it might be a better deal, but capping it at 3 years is terrible. Some jerk is going to win and go take out a loan, then when Charter (is sold/imploads/etc) they (dumb consumer) will be stuck paying the bank a few hundred dollars a month for service they no longer have.
--
с новым годом
deadzoned
Premium
join:2005-04-13
Baton Rouge, LA

**

Devil's always in the details isn't it? Wow, someone is going to get screwed hard when they win that auction for "Free service" for life.
rid0617

join:2003-07-20
Greer, SC

Re: **

"Devil's always in the details isn't it? Wow, someone is going to get screwed hard when they win that auction for "Free service" for life"

And then announce they just sold the company

outofbounds

@sbc.com

wow

If you are the winning bidder and outside the service area, will Charter build out to you to fufill the contract? If so, the $15K may be just right for someone that can't get BB.
MOTO6809

join:2007-11-05
Springfield, MA

Re: wow

said by outofbounds :

If you are the winning bidder and outside the service area, will Charter build out to you to fufill the contract? If so, the $15K may be just right for someone that can't get BB.
Read the fine print..
jester121

join:2003-08-09
Lake Zurich, IL

hehe

That's like me optioning futures on my liver (available after I die of cirrhosis).

netwire
Premium
join:2001-04-27
Mooresboro, NC

I'm lost...

I do not understand how this is "free service for life" I mean, you are still paying for it! Any idiot that placed a bid and truly intends to pay... I have no pity for them.

Doggett

@sanmina-sci.com

Re: I'm lost...

NO WHERE does it say "FREE". It only says High Speed for Life. Why are you trying to inject the word free in there????

gatorkram
Spelling and Grammer impared
Premium
join:2002-07-22
Winterville, NC
clubs:

Fun and Sport

People spend a heck of a lot more money than this, all the time, every day. Ever been to Vegas?
--
Give me bandwidth or give me death!
»/testhistory/661871/4f240
zed260

join:2007-09-30
Cleveland, TN

16k

16k now

marigolds
Gainfully employed, finally
Premium,MVM
join:2002-05-13
Saint Louis, MO

Bidding on the Wii

People are not bidding on the service.
They are bidding on the Wii.
You can -only- be entered to win the wii if you bid.

As for the "winning bid":
Once notified, the winner must make full payment to Charter within 48 hours of notification. If full payment is not received within this time period, the next highest bidder will be declared the winner and so on until the winning bid is paid in full.

--
ISCABBS - the oldest and largest BBS on the Internet
telnet://bbs.iscabbs.com
Professional Geographer
Geographic Information Science researcher
cscottm

join:2002-05-09
Kent, WA
·Qwest.net

Does this come with unlimited bandwidth?

I wonder out of the people who are bidding the 19+ amount for lifetime service, will actually pay for it, and if they do, even though its lifetime, does this also include unlimited bandwidth. Charter would probably have some loophole saying that its lifetime service & not unlimited bandwidth & that alone would allow them to cancel you, but not have to refund anything to you.

Of course I wouldn't bid on anything that says after 3 years if we sell, then you lose. That pretty much tells me that Charter has in their minds that they are going to try to sell slightly after the 3rd year starts so they don't have to pay anything back.

hdman
Flt Rider
Premium
join:2003-11-25
Appleton, WI
·Alltel Axess
·WildBlue

Charter is nothing but a joke....

What a friggin JOKE. Read their fine print on the auction. You must live in their footprint to be able to bid. These clown want to charge me $20,000 to run the cable down the street they SHOULD have serviced in the first place, to service my home. The sad part is that I wouldn't even OWN the cable! Yep, thats right, if a neighbor wanted to then connect, they would pay NOTHING towards the bill.

Yes, I know, get the neighbors together, we did that. There were a few who didn't want to pony up the upfront charges, but there would nothing to stop them from signing up later on. Charter is a joke, and that is from experience. Long story, but they promised the service one fall to begin in the next Spring. When Spring came, they denied ever making the promise.

HDMan
--
The proper way to break in a Harley: Grab a fist full of throttle, and ride it like you stole it!!!

whackamol

@mastercard.com

Bid to $34K Plus

Bid is now at $34K plus.

No, these are not people just trying to win the WII as all you have to do is 'Register to Bid' to be put in WII drawing. Forcing people to Bid to get a chance at the WII would be illegal.

Also, the peeps currently bidding all have multiple bids in which shows they are not concerned with the WII. Apparently they are just rich lemmings....

Also, Charter has been very specific that it is not 'unlimited bandwidth' but the highest bandwidth available in your neighberhood.

Bidders are hoping Charter doesn't get bought out or they are sol.

wisccharterislam

@charter.com

charter

look at the stock price over the past 5 years!! the bitch is going down down down as is the company. mgrs dont dont care and inslave worker to work off the clock without pay and are being sued. they are not paying down the 20 billion and why pay for wireless internet when you can get it for free

Steve517

@charter.com

Price

So at $49.99 at month and if you bid $37,790(which the bid is over 41,000), just to break even you would have to have the service for 62.9 years, just to break even.
don544

join:2003-03-23
Ortonville, MI

71 THOUSAND

Was the winning bid,who can not do that math?
Forums » Charter's Dubious Internet 'For Life' Auction

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