More about my ATT service: I again called this morning to have my land line svc removed, but first I wanted to know what the difference would be in my bill. The reps talk in circles and never give you a straight answer, so I kept at this guy until he told me that as it is now, my monthly bill will be $113.85; if I have the land line disconnected the bill will be $127. Does this sound ludicrous?
I believe to cancel the entire ATT service - tv, internet, and phone, would cost me about $185 in penalties. I did get him to admit that this amount will reduce each month, so I will keep in mind that in 3 or maybe 6 months I will cancel the entire ATT service and find an alternative. The TV package and programs available are so poor (for the kinds of programs I watch), that I could get used to doing without TV. Internet is another matter although I could reduce the amount of time I spend on it, so maybe a "spot connection", such as a Mifi, might be okay. That way when I travel I could take it along with me, and it may or may not get a connection.
I know that all the major providers are essentially the same, and I wouldn't hope to get anything better by switching to another one. Thank goodness I have my jitterbug phone, which for $38 a month incl. taxes, gives me 700 minutes, and the unused minutes roll over to the following month. I don't text and don't use my cell phone for anything except to talk on the phone, so it's perfect! And if I call with a question, my call is answered by a real person!! I wish a company would do the same for TV and internet - but I'm such an idealist!
I had to keep telling the ATT rep to quit talking in circles and give me the straight facts. How can I make a decision if you tell me I will lose the "bundle discount" by cancelling the phone service, when you don't tell me how much the discount is and what the cost would be without it. I would love to sit in on a training session for telephone reps.
Enough of my ATT woes - even though I'm listed on all the Do Not Call registries I still get calls, but they are down to 2 or 3 an hour. I may just disconnect the damn thing entirely!
I'm going to go walk off my stress at the gym, and then allow myself a trip to Target. I need a bunch of little things and can't avoid it any longer, so I'll just have to stick to my list. We are in for about 3 more beautiful, tolerable days, until the weekend when the triple digits are back. I really do hate the hot weather.
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If you haven't yet, just turn off the ringer. That's what I do when I don't want to answer the phone. My family and friends know I only answer the phone when I want to. Every once in a while I will go through the incoming call list and return any I feel inclined to. Otherwise, to quote the punch line to an old joke "that's nice".
ReplyDeleteDang, what is this world coming to?? The more services that you disconnect, the more your monthly bill will be? Paying more for less is the American way, right?
ReplyDeleteJust tell the people you want to talk to your cell number. Then disconnect the ringer. You can still use the phone.
ReplyDeleteJust tell the people you want to talk to your cell number. Then disconnect the ringer. You can still use the phone.
ReplyDeleteThese bundles are nothing but a huge rip off. I will not even talk to these people. I want to get rid of MiWi but can't find a good alternative for home use. Verizon is the biggest theif of them all. Today there are so many free wifi places when traveling that you really don't need your own. The only thing bad about these free wifi is that they can cause hacking. Of course any system can be hacked.
ReplyDeleteHope you had a nice day yesterday and enjoy another good one today while the weather is cool enough
Why would anyone continue to pay over $100 month for TV channels they hate and a phone service they have disabled ?? Call ATT and immediately request a Supervisor - tell them you are OLD (yes this is the time to play the age card) . Tell them you didn't understand you were getting into a contract, were confused and misled by the reps and their bundles, and now you just want absolutely everything disconnected and you don't think you should have to PAY anything to do so. If you do this in a polite yet persistent manner the supervisor will probably do what you want and waive any termination fees - or worst case scenario maybe negotiate a $50 termination. THEN - use your Jitterbug as your phone , get no contract, unlimited home wireless internet for approx $30 - $50 month from Frontier, Time Warner, or Comcast. AND buy a pair of $20 rabbit ears and a $30 converter box for your old analog TV and then you will have FREE over the air TV for the rest of your life - Sacramento is one of the top 10 cities in the entire country for OTA broadcast TV - you can get all major networks plus multiple classic TV channels, PBS channels, and old movies - Sacramento has approx 25 - 30 FREE channels - Steve could set this up for you in 5 minutes - then you would never be dependent on another sales rep or contract and you would never pay for TV again. Things should not be as complicated as you make them - TV is FREE - make that call and enjoy your Freedom !!!!!
ReplyDeletePS - I highly suggest you do NOT get Mifi because it has limited data - Home wireless internet is high speed, stable, and UNLIMITED data - you can be online 24/7 if you wish - also the Mifi will not support video streaming, NetFlix, or a ROKU device which would bring you hundreds of more TV options - all FREE - but that's a whole other story - Baby steps !! - Talk with Steve - Good Luck !!!
DeleteI love Moonfly13's comment, and that's what I would do. When I'm in an area where I can't get the few TV shows I love, I watch them on-line. There are various ways to do it, and I end up seeing everything I want. Of course, I have unlimited data, so I can do that. If I was limited, I wouldn't. But if you have a home wireless internet account, like I used to have when I lived in a sticks-n-bricks, you could watch anything you wanted on your computer screen. It would be unlimited data, and very fast. That's what I'll do when I stop full-timing.
ReplyDeleteAbout the phone calls - I used to get so tired of sales calls, I'd answer, "Lo?" if it was someone I knew, fine. If not, I'd talk in weird monosyllabic words that couldn't be understood. They would finally hang up. It was fun for me and I assume they would eventually take my number off their list. Or just play with them. Ask a lot of "Why?" questions, keep them on the line. They hated that - time is money for them. I made a game of it. Or I'd ask them for their real name and phone number so I could call them at home when I felt more like talking. When I was not in the mood, I kept one of those silver referee whistles next to the phone and I'd just blow it into the receiver and hang up. Little by little, it stopped. I also put my number on the "do not call list" and after that I'd ask people for their name and other information so I could report them. Of course, they never answered my questions. I kind of look at those calls like they have broken into my home uninvited and anything is fair.