Sanity check from you cord cutters

[Looking4new]

I had a terrible experience with BELL (Canada) this week over the Amber Alert BS.

But doing some reading, I found out some disturbing things, and it puts various experience in focus.

It's about the call centers for all of our telecoms. And apparently they all work the same.

If you call to cancel, they (the operator) get a debit on their commission. So, often they will hand the call over to another "sucker" or even put you on hold hoping you will hang up. Also, sometimes, taking no notes, so there is no record of you wanting to cancel.

They also, try and give you as little free or any deals as possible as this also works against them personaly.

Are you telling us that you actually got someone that could speak Engrish well enough to be understood?

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Do you get the live Fox News feed as on cable or YouTube TV?

No, I have the app loaded on my Roku. It's fairly annoying, I don't watch it often.

 

[ultrarunner]

No one "needs" $5k in phone and cable costs. Stupid people do stupid things. Both should get second jobs if they spend that much time on their phones or watching TV.

There I go being judgmental again...and I am trying so hard to be better....but I abhor stupidity.

There are still a lot of people that don't know over the air TV exists here...

The Hospital Clinic was thinking of going with cable and because commercial the cost was quite steep... even back in 1995.

I put a $20 radio shack antenna on the roof to a splitter and then to the waiting areas... it has been flawless and when the digital the system never missed a beat...

Almost 25 years and using the 1995 rate of $210 per month the savings work out to be $63,000 plus the old CRT TVs are still working on their wall mounts... so $63,000 vs. $200 and a morning of my day to set up.

An added benefit is not having CNN in the lobby.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

No one "needs" $5k in phone and cable costs. Stupid people do stupid things. Both should get second jobs if they spend that much time on their phones or watching TV.

There I go being judgmental again...and I am trying so hard to be better....but I abhor stupidity.

Our family uses Republic Wireless for phone service. We pay about $70/month for 3 phones with 1gig data each. Extra gigs are $5 It uses sprint network, so not as good of coverage as the $$$ATT$$$ mothers. It uses your wifi in your home or work as much as possible to save.

You buy your own phone (they sell them, or if compatible, bring your own), and then you just start saving money.

They don't have brick and mortar stores, and their help is so so. But I'm saving about $130 a month or more. Might not be the best option for someone who has to go into a store for help.

Also, sprint and Tmobile are merging. Not sure what the fallout will be.

Republic Wireless | No-Contract Cell Phone Service Starting at $15

 

[Howling]

My contract recently ended with Comcast. Called and got rid of TV. They throw a lot of BS trying to get you to keep some basic TV. The streaming services will cost more than the TV service. Already paying for Netflix and Amazon Prime. The cable TV box has been unplugged for over a month. They magically had a bundle with basic TV that was slightly less than without it. We don't miss the commercials breaks in the TV shows.

Next is the landline phone. 99% of the calls are telemarketers. Need to upgrade my wife's phone for better sound quality then get rid of that line.

 

[ultrarunner]

Next is the landline phone. 99% of the calls are telemarketers. Need to upgrade my wife's phone for better sound quality then get rid of that line.

Ain't that the truth... one robo solicitation call after another or outright scams... like the Microsoft or Grandkid stranded or IRS warrant... etc...

 

[goeduck]

our Landline never gets picked up when it rings, we only return calls.

 

[ultrarunner]

our Landline never gets picked up when it rings, we only return calls.

Been having a lot of problems here with that...

I tried to teach Mom to screen calls but with her memory problems I didn't get very far and her elderly friends stopped calling saying she never answered the phone.

Put a lot of time into it to come up short...

Had it set up in in the kitchen/living room and said only pick up the phone if it is someone you know.

In a perfect world... well nothing is perfect.

There are few local companies that are relentless on Duct Cleaning and Carpet Cleaning and Google listing service... if I had the time I would do a sting operation as we are do not call like everyone...

 

[goeduck]

Been having a lot of problems here with that...

I tried to teach Mom to screen calls but with her memory problems I didn't get very far and her elderly friends stopped calling saying she never answered the phone.

Put a lot of time into it to come up short...

Had it set up in in the kitchen/living room and said only pick up the phone if it is someone you know.

In a perfect world... well nothing is perfect.

There are few local companies that are relentless on Duct Cleaning and Carpet Cleaning and Google listing service... if I had the time I would do a sting operation as we are do not call like everyone...

I do not envy you. I went through the same things but all the parents (both sides) are gone now. The scammers focus in on the elderly and that makes it really hard.

 

[ultrarunner]

I do not envy you. I went through the same things but all the parents (both sides) are gone now. The scammers focus in on the elderly and that makes it really hard.

They really do... tonight there were 9 calls with 3 messages... I have the machine out of sight.

Two of the messages were "Official" sounding stating her Medicare has been suspended due to fraudulent activity and she must call immediately to provide security information to be reinstated...

The other message is from Microsoft stating her computer has been determined to have a virus and she must call for instructions on how to remove the block... she doesn't have a computer and has never touched one in her life but they had her name, etc...

It is often the small things that make up quality of life and far too many that prey on vulnerable with little consequences... just like the tens of thousands of smash and grabs car break ins that happen here in epidemic proportion...