Just curious on how other people feel about this. In my area my only option for Cable is Comcast and because of this they tend to do what ever they please and have awful service. Its so bad I feel like they own my apartment complex because they always have 4 or 5 trucks driving through at any given time. So what are other peoples opinions on this?
It's definitely a horrible situation to be in. The absence of choice and competition makes companies think that they can make all the crappiest moves they want. It really gets on my nerves. Luckily we can choose between two competing providers over here, but it is still a heck of a close call - they are both stiff on their prices, so its a good thing the other one has a track record of horrible service.
The lack of competition for any sort of utility/cable company is absurd. The government has laws to protect the "consumer" from monopolies but they let this crap slide with no problem. Probably because when banks are monopolized they can't make as much money, but when the utility companies are monopolized it will help the government rob its citizens even more. I would love to hear how 2 cable companies and 1 electric company is not a monopoly...
We only have two options here in my town for "cable tv". One of which is run through the phone lines. Needless to say, that company is not the best option since I have heard whenever it gets to be too windy, the tv goes out. The other one always seems to be way to expensive.
In my area of the city, I have only one choice for cable. It's Time Warner Cable. There service isn't bad. They are very responsive. I do think they are a bit high, but I don't have any other option.
I also have Time Warner Cable and it's the only cable option. They "own" my complex and several others. I think they're okay but their prices are a bit high and they've rose several times since I've used their services. I almost went to satellite but I don't have a "personal outdoor space" and they're not allowed on the roofs at my complex. I cut back to the most basic cable package and I mostly rely on the Internet for watching shows and movies. The only reason I haven't dropped cable completely is because I get a small discount with it bundled with my Internet. I heard over the years that other options were coming to my town but those rumors never went anywhere. I would be glad for even just one other option, at least TWC would have a reason to keep up on their services and offer better prices. They used to always advertise specials and now it's rare.
If you have an XBox 360, you can stream shows from Hulu Plus ,Netflix, Crackle and more. I've given up cable for now and I depend on the internet and streaming sites like Hulu Plus to watch shows. I'm not sure if I'll give up cable forever but right now I'm saving towards some goals and every bit helps. If you read the comments on the Hulu website, a lot of people have posted about how they gave up traditional cable.
Cablevision is pretty good. I think they were douches in the beginning but as time went on they've become more sensitive to their customers. And ultimately I am happy with their service. My only issue with them is sometimes, when they're updating the cable boxes. The tv just shuts off by itself. Then the box programs itself for like 2 minutes before you can turn on the tv again and get a picture. But this usually happens at like 3am and I'm usually asleep 5 nights out of 7 at 3am so. No biggie.
In my city something similar happens. There is a dominant company, Cablevision, which has a monopoly in the country. Its direct competitor is the Direct TV digital service. Between these two companies share the market, but there is an important pre-eminence of the first one. This is quite problematic as the company increases prices in a period of time absurd. Similarly, the supply of TV channels is not very interesting and was somewhat arbitrary. I think those are the rules of the market, but we as consumers can wear that way of doing business.
I think in the big scheme of things. Cablevision is doing way better than Direct TV. Direct TV has lost so many channels that Cablevision has. Plus I think both have different customers bases. For example, IFC (Independent Film Channel) and Sundance Channel. Are the sorts of stuff New Yorkers watch. But Direct TV subscribers are more suburban. So they wouldn't watch stuff like that. Not to mention I heard Direct TV customers have to pay for the NFL network. Cablevision customers get it for free.
Well their days are soon going to be over with the internet monopolizing nationwide lol. Soon people will realize that deal is better with the net than those cable companies. They're so expensive!
It could be worse, I almost moved to an area that the cable was controlled by a local cable company who was really terrible. Thank goodness I looked up some reviews and happened to find that out before moving in. I lost my security deposit over it, but it was better than being miserable for 12 months until my lease was up. Apparently, their "high speed" internet was so bad that it was hardly above modem speeds most of the time. I wouldn't even have been able to get Time Warner there, since this local company owned the lines to the whole apartment complex. I had no problems with Time Warner about 7-8 years ago, but more recently I have. They've certainly slowed down my internet speeds from what they used to be, and when they've offered me deals in the past I find out later that the exact shows I like to watch are now missing from my plan - so I have to pay extra to get them back on. They also like to creep your bill up with random charges they're hoping you don't notice.
I don't mind so long as my prices are reasonable, my signal doesn't get affected or go out due to storms and such. And the channel packages are good. If all three of those things begin to take a turn for the worse however, I will strongly consider switching.
I have not had cable for over two years now, and I don't miss it at all. My son and I watch stuff on Netflix, and most of the networks websites seem to show episodes of prime time shows the day after they air, which is fine by me. We don't watch sports, so there's nothing else we need.
I hate it, too. I have Charter instead of Comcast, but the idea is the same. They're the only cable provider and they also have the only real internet options that aren't dialup in my area, so I'm stuck getting both through them. In order to get the best deal, I'm better off getting my phone through them as well, but that means that when they go down, I lose *everything* and it could take a while to get any of it back.
Companies will do whatever they can get away with if they have monopolized an area. The big companies take their customers for granted and offer quite poor service, in my experience. The lesser known companies offer better service because they are less complacent.
I despise any monopolies. When companies have them, it puts a literal stranglehold on their customers. And the customer has no choice but to put up with their crap because they have no other option to fall back on. So needless to say, my feelings on cable companies having monopolies in certain areas are quite negative.
But what if your provider treats you good and takes care of you? What would the complaint be exactly?
I saw a map of the US a few years back that showed that most of the US gets offered cable only by a single company, mostly the big cities being the main exception.. That's bad for competition and bad for the consumer. I mean in a few areas they may offer good service, but in general they do not. It's definitely a problem. And internet access is also increasingly going the same way with many areas having only a fixed line and one mobile provider. In these situations they can charge pretty much what they like, which is bad for prices and consumers.
It's horrible. That's why I'm excited about Google Fiber. It's moving along slowly, but in time, enough people will hear about it and either demand it in their cities or vote out the officials that allow such monopolies to go on.
