Cutting The Cord

Discussion in 'Gadgets & Tech Talk' started by Von Jones, Mar 16, 2016.

  1. Von Jones

    Von Jones Supreme Member
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    I've read a lot how many of you have cut the cord from cable or satellite. What difficulties did you encounter as far as equipment that you found out that you needed and problems you had to either figure out on your own or ask for someone's help?

    We have satellite service and when we decide to do this I'm thinking that the equipment will be collected by the company and I prefer not being left in a quandary as to what to do now.
     
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  2. Babs Hunt

    Babs Hunt Supreme Member
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    We had satelite service and when our contract ended all we had to do was return the equipment they installed inside to them. The satelite dish itself is still up on the roof. Then we plugged in our old converter box antenna to our flat screen, used our remote to go to channel selection...then chose look for air channels and when the TV was finished doing that we saw what channels we were able to get. We also moved our antenna around in different spots to see where it would pick up the most channels...once we found that out...that's where we attached our antenna.
     
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  3. Chrissy Cross

    Chrissy Cross Supreme Member
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    Thanks for the reminder, it's on my to do list. I think I have a month before my newest promotion runs out.
     
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  4. Bonnie Thomas

    Bonnie Thomas Veteran Member
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    I cut the cord with AT &T TV cable service, in favor of an outdoor antenna on the roof for my TV needs. That was easy .... returned their box and I was done.
    However, I still have Internet service with them. ... so that has me still connected to them for now.
    I'm trying to figure out how I can get past that situation.
     
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  5. Chrissy Cross

    Chrissy Cross Supreme Member
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    Gosh, this post has me stressing. I have a lot of things to do before the end of March!
     
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  6. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    I once again settled things with Comcast when they said they would take the extra $20 back off of my bill for the next 12 months. We have been talking about what we want to do, and since we are following the election situation so closely, and it is nice to have the cable channels for that, we decided to keep the cable , at least for the time being.
    Then, this weekend, my daughter messaged me that Sam's Club has a special wth Direct TV, and she is checking that out for herself and going to let me know if that sounds like it might be a better way for us to go as well.
    They are partnered with (I think) AT&T for internet, and it looks like the basic cable and internet would run us around $50 per month, for at least as many stations as we have right now, and maybe even more.
    It comes with a DVR which records shows when you want it to, and there is 3 month free of the premium movies channels. This means that we could watch any movies that we wanted to and then record tham while we have those channels for free
    At this point, Direct TV is looking like it might be a good option for us. Even if we turn the cable off, the price for internet goes up, so we would be paying around $70 just to keep internet from Comcast.
    If we can get all of it for less than that amount, then we are ahead of the game.
    Plus, the deal includes a $300 Sam's gift card.
    Unless Robin finds something wrong , or different than promised, we will probably switch to the satellite service instead, and that way we can still keep all of the special news channels to watch the election coverages.
     
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  7. Ken N Louis

    Ken N Louis Veteran Member
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    Caution....Read the fine print as to what happens after say 1 year..Some introductory offers look real good until later into the contract. I had one heck of a time getting Direct TV stopped when I moved my MIL down to Texas!!
     
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  8. Bonnie Thomas

    Bonnie Thomas Veteran Member
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    Yes, have heard some horror stories about stopping Direct TV too. They just don't take NO for an answer, and it doesn't matter what the situation is either.

    Son and DIL had their service while living in NC. When they moved to Texas, Direct TV billed them continually thru the move and while they were looking for a home .... all the while without the service. When they finally bought their
    3 story condo, Direct TV came out to install their equipment. .. But they couldn't get it up on the roof.. so finally they gave in and stopped the service. But that was probably at least 6-7 months without any service.

    I don't understand how they can get away with these practices.
     
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  9. Von Jones

    Von Jones Supreme Member
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    I have learned a lot about DirecTV over the past 10 years. As far as when one moves it is best to put the service on vacation until you are ready to start it again. My son told me about this and of course I called and asked how it works and you can read it as well on their website.
     
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  10. Von Jones

    Von Jones Supreme Member
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    I don't think there is another way for you Bonnie unless you don't want internet service at all or you can ask to use someone else's service with wi-fi and pay them. I let my neighbor do this.
     
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  11. Bonnie Thomas

    Bonnie Thomas Veteran Member
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    There are other options Von. I just haven't pursued them. FreedomPop is one such service. ... available in many areas, but I just haven't decided to go there yet. .

    http://www.freedompop.com/ ...... I see many complaints in the reviews
     
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  12. Von Jones

    Von Jones Supreme Member
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    Chrissy, if you haven't already you can call and talk to customer service and let them know that your promotion is going to end and discuss your options for other packages. I think going to their website before contacting customer service would give you ideas as to what you really want as far as the packages that are available.
     
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  13. Von Jones

    Von Jones Supreme Member
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    Yvonne I think this is the best deal since the two companies merged for new customers. From your past experiences with Comcast, DirecTV's customer service better watch out, huh? :D.
     
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  14. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    I'm paying for Sling but I have to remember to drop it soon. It's fairly expensive and I almost never watch it. Having cut the cord long ago, I am so out of the habit of having to remember when a show is on that I rarely boot up Sling and find anything that I want to watch. If I were a sports fan, it might be a good deal but I'm not. I like baseball if I can be there at the stadium, but not enough to watch it on television.
     
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  15. Ruby Begonia

    Ruby Begonia Supreme Member
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    I had the DVR, they sent a pre-paid box. I put it in the box and grandson dropped it off at the UPS on his way to work.
     
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