It has been more than 30 days since I cut off my DirecTV and sent back my equipment. We have been happy with our choices on Hulu, Netflix, and watching TV in real time on the HD antenna. It's even been nostalgic in finding some TV shows from my childhood my wife and I are enjoying all over again. Shows like the Cosby Show, and Emergency! have made it into our Hulu lives. My son likes Emergency! because he is all into police and fireman. in fact, he was a policeman for Halloween. Essentially, we have enjoyed our new lifestyle. I will tell you, though it's not all roses, though. There are some drawbacks. I'll get into those shortly.
I received an email shortly after returning my equipment that included a survey link to tell DirecTV why I canceled my service. Essentially, it cam down to three things. Number One - I was locked into a 2-year contract and realized too late that it was a bad deal. Number Two - I was paying twice the rate for new customers and had a lower package than was offered to new customers. Number Three - Customer Service failed to act in a timely manner to make me a happy customer when I complained about the pricing and options available to new customers compared to my current options.
I have since received several emails about new promotions. I have also now started to receive phone calls from DirecTV account managers that sound like they are on a manufacturing line, telling me they can save me up to $360 a year! I don't even pay $360 a year right now for what I have, so does that mean they're going to pay me to watch TV? Unlikely, I'm sure. I told the guy three times I wasn't interested and he kept on keeping on, so stopped keeping on and hung up. I'm sure I'll get a call back in the few days again.
So what do we like about our new lives as cable cutters? The freedom of not having a 2 year commitment to some service I may not like. The freedom of watching a show or movie of my choosing when I want to. The ability for my family to watch something different from me. I also, enjoy the fact I have control over when and where people watch shows. We can easily lock out shows that are too mature for my kids. The limited commercials that appear, although one of those limited commercials is driving my wife nuts. I think she might actually tackle the poor actor in the Wynn Casino commercial if she ran into him in person.
The things I don't like are the limited account access imposed by Netflix. They limit each online account to 2 concurrent uses. I think that's a little short sighted considering the number of devices each person and family now has in their household. We have run into the limitation a few times and have been able to switch over to Hulu as a consolation prize when it happens. If we have to open another Netflix, it's not the end of the world, but that eats into my savings for doing this whole thing anyway.
Hulu has trouble sometimes with delays in getting into and through commercials. Sometimes it locks up and we have to start the show over again, or back out and come back in. That may be just my media player device, as we have not really had the problem on a computer so much. Outside of that we have not had any other problems on Hulu.
My HD antenna works great giving a good, strong signal for many channels I watch and showing the sports that are available in HD and 5.1 digital surround sound. We get occasional blips and pixelation through the HD antenna. I'm not sure how much of that is the network or the antenna. My signal is solid and the weather is clear. I'm thinking it's mostly a network issue because some do it more than others. The big draw back altogether is I don't get to watch many sports. I tried the MLBtv, but quickly canceled. The blackout restrictions are ridiculous. I couldn't watch any Ranger games, even when they were away. The NFL option is way too expensive.
So overall, I am truly satisfied with the decision to cut the cable. My family is also satisfied and able to watch the shows they want. Even the ones they used to watch they haven't even asked about. It's been a pretty good decision. Our Internet is fast enough to handle multiple streams and still allow me to work and download files when needed. Not bad. My total TV bill is less than $20 per month. Including Internet my total right around $50 per month. I don't know many people who are paying for TV and Internet a total of $600 per year.
Showing posts with label lower my bills. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lower my bills. Show all posts
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Thursday, September 13, 2012
My Life as a Cable Cutter
Today is my first day living as a cable cutter. A few weeks ago I wrote a post about taking the cable cutting challenge. The goal is to live off of OTA TV, Netflix, and Hulu for a year. There may be a couple other odd and end services mixed in, but the point is to watch TV for less than $30/mo. So far, I'm at $18/mo with Hulu and Netflix. I plan to probably add MLBtv next year. That will be around $120 for the season, but probably will only add $10 to my average monthly bill. I'm good with that, for now. That's still under the $30 mark.
My kids like some shows we won't be able to access through our TV, like Regular Show and Adventure Time on the Cartoon Network. Most of the episodes are available through the website, though and we can watch those on a computer. I'm not getting a DVR of any kind right now, like Tivo or something similar. I don't have the need.
Sunday is my first football season without Cable or Satellite. The good news is that since they have always been on Fox and CBS, they will still be there. And I can watch some football this Sunday. Last week I was able to pickup the network games, so I have no doubt it will be the same this week.
Good bye, DirecTV. I see you have some awesome packages on your site and are even including NFL Sunday Ticket for free! It's for new customers only, though, because I asked about lowering my bill. I'm as low as I can go at $70+/mo, while new customers get a deal that's almost half that cost and with more channels than I have. Are you offering the super special deals, because people are abandoning ship and realizing they can get along without you? Hmmm.... I know you will never admit it, even if it's true. I wonder what the landscape will look like in 5 years.
An Update: I just got a call from someone high up in Customer Service at DirecTV. They were verifying that I wanted to cancel my service and asked why? I explained it was a cost issue. They were willing to increase my channel package and cut my current payment by at least half! What a deal! I was already at the lowest package and they were going to bump me up and cut my cost by half. That would have put me at about $40/mo. It's a great deal, but still not $20/mo. I declined the offer. I'm sure I would have had to sign another 2 year contract and lose the cost benefits over that time and eventually climb back up to the current payment levels. I'm not playing that game anymore.
Out of all the times I called before to work with DirecTV, why do I have to go through the process to cancel my service to get attention from them? Why do they have to be faced with the prospect of a customer committing to dropping service. When I commit to doing something like that, I've made up my mind and I'm done. It would take a lot to get me to change my mind. Even if I do, I probably wouldn't be going back to that company because they let the relationship sour to the point of termination.
My kids like some shows we won't be able to access through our TV, like Regular Show and Adventure Time on the Cartoon Network. Most of the episodes are available through the website, though and we can watch those on a computer. I'm not getting a DVR of any kind right now, like Tivo or something similar. I don't have the need.
Sunday is my first football season without Cable or Satellite. The good news is that since they have always been on Fox and CBS, they will still be there. And I can watch some football this Sunday. Last week I was able to pickup the network games, so I have no doubt it will be the same this week.
Good bye, DirecTV. I see you have some awesome packages on your site and are even including NFL Sunday Ticket for free! It's for new customers only, though, because I asked about lowering my bill. I'm as low as I can go at $70+/mo, while new customers get a deal that's almost half that cost and with more channels than I have. Are you offering the super special deals, because people are abandoning ship and realizing they can get along without you? Hmmm.... I know you will never admit it, even if it's true. I wonder what the landscape will look like in 5 years.
An Update: I just got a call from someone high up in Customer Service at DirecTV. They were verifying that I wanted to cancel my service and asked why? I explained it was a cost issue. They were willing to increase my channel package and cut my current payment by at least half! What a deal! I was already at the lowest package and they were going to bump me up and cut my cost by half. That would have put me at about $40/mo. It's a great deal, but still not $20/mo. I declined the offer. I'm sure I would have had to sign another 2 year contract and lose the cost benefits over that time and eventually climb back up to the current payment levels. I'm not playing that game anymore.
Out of all the times I called before to work with DirecTV, why do I have to go through the process to cancel my service to get attention from them? Why do they have to be faced with the prospect of a customer committing to dropping service. When I commit to doing something like that, I've made up my mind and I'm done. It would take a lot to get me to change my mind. Even if I do, I probably wouldn't be going back to that company because they let the relationship sour to the point of termination.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Taking the Cable Cutter Challenge
I am taking on the challenge to join the cable cutters that is continually growing. I am not switching to anyone else. I am not renewing my service or keeping it month to month. My family and I have found something strange about our TV shows. We can watch almost any of our shows through other mediums that are either free or require a nominal monthly payment with no commitment. The savings could be up to $900/yr for us.
Stay tuned as the time closes in and I make the call to cut our paid TV service. We will pay for Netflix and Hulu Plus access, have an HDTV antenna for local stations, and use a computer or mobile phone to access web sites of content providers to watch our other favorite shows. We may also pay for individual movie rentals from our local rental store or even watch a show or two on iTunes. I don't think we can stop watching The Walking Dead cold turkey.
Why are we doing this, you might ask? Well, first of all we pay around $80/month for our TV subscription. We can probably go with another provider for less for a year, then switch again. I really don't enjoy switching every year just keep my cost down. I don't like having to find a provider, find a package, wait for installation, take off work for installation, deal with the problems after installation, and deal with customer service during the whole process. It's annoying, inconvenient, and pointless to have to wait at home between the hours of 8 to noon or noon to 4 to get setup and installed. Then, after all that go through the process of learning the new channel line up and finding the shows I like to watch. It's just a complete multi week long beating.
The average person over 15 years old watched 2.8 hours of television per day in 2011 according to a Bureau of Labor and Statistics study ( http://www.bls.gov/news.release/atus.nr0.htm/). People pay an average of $73.35/mo of cable or satellite charges according to the Benton Foundation (http://benton.org/node/79458). Include Internet and a phone and the average home entertainment and communications bill is about $200 or higher! That's at least $2400/yr. With prices continuing to rise for each of these services, something is going to have to give between the consumers and the providers.
To prepare ourselves for the transition we have started to write down the shows we must have, shows we like, shows we sort of like, and shows we can live without. We have located these shows on various outlets. Some are free, some not, some can be had OTA, and others on DVD. A new trend the major networks have started is requiring some sort of Cable or Satellite account to watch shows on their sites. Some shows have an 8 day waiting period, while others have even a 30-day waiting period, if you don't have such an account. I think this will ultimately hurt the networks, since they are broadcasting OTA for free, yet making people suffer for trying to watch on their web site. The good news is that Hulu Plus, for example, is allowing the shows to be aired the next day like always. But you must have a paid Hulu Plus account. That's a small price to pay and acceptable.
We would like to create a lifestyle out of doing this. I have been researching and there is a movement, albeit, small at this time, but as the media players start to come of age and become more advanced, I believe there will be a battle between the networks, satellite and cable providers, and online content providers, with the consumer holding the power to force change in any direction. Without our money, they cannot survive. I may be dating myself a little here, but I can remember a time when TV was primarily watched OTA, and cable channels were an after thought. I can remember when my family had dinner in the living room and watched the Cosby Show. No recording, no fast forwarding, no pausing. Just watching it live at Prime Time.
I already have a Western Digital Live TV Media Player that does several streaming sources, including Netflix, Hulu Plus, and MLB TV, among many others. I also have a hard drive attached with all my movies. I will be buying a Mohu HD antenna for my OTA channels. It gets really high reviews and is less than $50. I live within 12 miles of all of the stations in my area. This antenna has a range of 30 miles and has a better Db rating than a lot of others. My next post will be the testing of OTA reception and ease of use. Stay tuned.
Provide your feedback on how you might do this or have done it.
Stay tuned as the time closes in and I make the call to cut our paid TV service. We will pay for Netflix and Hulu Plus access, have an HDTV antenna for local stations, and use a computer or mobile phone to access web sites of content providers to watch our other favorite shows. We may also pay for individual movie rentals from our local rental store or even watch a show or two on iTunes. I don't think we can stop watching The Walking Dead cold turkey.
Why are we doing this, you might ask? Well, first of all we pay around $80/month for our TV subscription. We can probably go with another provider for less for a year, then switch again. I really don't enjoy switching every year just keep my cost down. I don't like having to find a provider, find a package, wait for installation, take off work for installation, deal with the problems after installation, and deal with customer service during the whole process. It's annoying, inconvenient, and pointless to have to wait at home between the hours of 8 to noon or noon to 4 to get setup and installed. Then, after all that go through the process of learning the new channel line up and finding the shows I like to watch. It's just a complete multi week long beating.
The average person over 15 years old watched 2.8 hours of television per day in 2011 according to a Bureau of Labor and Statistics study ( http://www.bls.gov/news.release/atus.nr0.htm/). People pay an average of $73.35/mo of cable or satellite charges according to the Benton Foundation (http://benton.org/node/79458). Include Internet and a phone and the average home entertainment and communications bill is about $200 or higher! That's at least $2400/yr. With prices continuing to rise for each of these services, something is going to have to give between the consumers and the providers.
To prepare ourselves for the transition we have started to write down the shows we must have, shows we like, shows we sort of like, and shows we can live without. We have located these shows on various outlets. Some are free, some not, some can be had OTA, and others on DVD. A new trend the major networks have started is requiring some sort of Cable or Satellite account to watch shows on their sites. Some shows have an 8 day waiting period, while others have even a 30-day waiting period, if you don't have such an account. I think this will ultimately hurt the networks, since they are broadcasting OTA for free, yet making people suffer for trying to watch on their web site. The good news is that Hulu Plus, for example, is allowing the shows to be aired the next day like always. But you must have a paid Hulu Plus account. That's a small price to pay and acceptable.
We would like to create a lifestyle out of doing this. I have been researching and there is a movement, albeit, small at this time, but as the media players start to come of age and become more advanced, I believe there will be a battle between the networks, satellite and cable providers, and online content providers, with the consumer holding the power to force change in any direction. Without our money, they cannot survive. I may be dating myself a little here, but I can remember a time when TV was primarily watched OTA, and cable channels were an after thought. I can remember when my family had dinner in the living room and watched the Cosby Show. No recording, no fast forwarding, no pausing. Just watching it live at Prime Time.
I already have a Western Digital Live TV Media Player that does several streaming sources, including Netflix, Hulu Plus, and MLB TV, among many others. I also have a hard drive attached with all my movies. I will be buying a Mohu HD antenna for my OTA channels. It gets really high reviews and is less than $50. I live within 12 miles of all of the stations in my area. This antenna has a range of 30 miles and has a better Db rating than a lot of others. My next post will be the testing of OTA reception and ease of use. Stay tuned.
Provide your feedback on how you might do this or have done it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)