Do companies care if they have your business or not? I no longer think so.
I switched from Hughesnet to Wildblue Satellite in 2010 for two reasons. One a new satellite was to be launched making Wildblue better and two, everyone I talk to (so far) is in the US. When I have problems, I no longer have to talk to Majabar in God only knows what country whom I can barely understand.
Today I got a call from Viacom which is part of Wildblue to tell me they are making appointments to change out the satellite dish and modem. The cost to me....$249.00 installation fee. Another $20.00 added to an already $70.00 a month fee. I balked at the new fee and the representative told me they would waive $10.00 a month for 12 months. I told the representative I would let them know.
I came and looked on the internet. I find Excede. They are part of Viacom but they advertise a $149.00 installation fee. I can buy a lifetime lease for $219.99 instead of paying $10.00 a month so I called and guess what...they are all a part of Wildblue. So...I called Wildblue back and asked about Excede. They told me that price was for new customers only. I told them it seems to me that they would want to keep their current customers happy instead of trying to rip them off for $100.00 for installation and $20.00 extra a month because they failed to tell me that I could buy a life time lease on the equipment. When my contract is up in September, I will have paid $240.00 for leasing.
When you live in the country you are punished. Our electricity cost more, I have to pay almost $90.00 a month for 200 channels to be able to have about 10 channels we actually watch on TV. Now the internet if I want any kind of speed will be $90.00 a month. Almost $200.00 a month to stay connected to the world...Sometimes I wonder if it's worth it.
We are rural also and I have to agree with you. The cost to stay connected is outrageous!
ReplyDeleteWe have Hughesnet and can't complain about the service, but the price? ouch!
Our "cable" is thru direct tv, again, great service but crummy price. I'll still keep my rural life, but at some point they will have to leave the budget.
Herbalpagan...when I pay my bill I will have to remember this is still much better than dial up which was our only option for a long time. I may not even switch to their new service until my contract is up in September. It's the principal of the thing.
DeleteTV is the only enjoyment my son has in his life so I will put up with that as long as I can. We used to have c-band satellite until everything went digital and even the side car would not work on most of the channels. The only thing about c-band was everyone in the house had to watch the same channel which I find funny. I remember not having cable until I was an adult. Everyone had a big old ugly antenna on their roof and we were lucky to get 3 channels and only had one TV set in the house. How spoiled we have become. In spite of it all, I still would not trade my rural life for city life.
I'm beginning to wonder the same thing, and I'm only paying a little over $100 a month.
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