I
don’t know what’s going on in your neck of the woods, but here in Backroads,
the talk of the town is the forced hookup of cable boxes. I don’t have cable,
so I may not be the most reliable of sources. I used to have cable when I lived
in town, and it was out at least one day a week. Not that I got a reduction on
the bill or anything.
My
mom was all discombobulated because she doesn’t want the boxes. I thought it
was simply because the elderly don’t like change. Then she was upset because
DISH Network tried to stiff-arm her into getting a credit card or using mine in
order to establish service with them.
Well,
well, well. I’ve gathered a bit more information on CableGate. The talk at the
teacher lunch table was that if you don’t get the boxes, you won’t get a
signal. You have to get a box for each TV in your house. And there is a monthly
service charge of $24 PER BOX! That’s highway robbery! The one telling the
story has five TVs. She said that they just found out about the box thingy,
because their bill is paid and they don’t even open the envelope when a paper
bill arrives. She sent her husband to the office to pick up the boxes, and he
said they had an ARMED GUARD in the lobby, because people were so hateful about
being forced to get the cable boxes.
Oh,
but it gets better. The counter clerk complimented Luncher’s husband on his
polite behavior. In fact, they told him that since he was so polite, they were
going to give him his cable boxes for half price. Don’t that just beat all? She
said that other people were coming in, declaring, “This is CRAP! We don’t want
the boxes. We don’t want all those channels. We are fine with what we have.”
I had
to agree with them. “Well, it IS crap if they can pick and choose who gets
service for half price. How fair is that? Obviously, they can afford to give
away the service to SOME people, so they must have jacked up the price to begin
with.”
“I’m
not sure they gave him the boxes for half price. Maybe they gave him an upgrade
for the regular price.”
“Same
difference. Some people get a special rate on the whim of the counter clerk.
That’s no way to run a business.”
I
also found out that my mom was getting her cable box fee waived for the first
year. She didn’t say why. Maybe it was because she was threatening to ditch them
for DISH. Maybe it was because she’s a septuagenarian. In any case, that’s not
fair, either.
Mom
was really upset this morning. “Ever since Genius hooked up my cable box, I
can’t tell what time it is in here. The old one had a red light and showed the
time. This one just has a red light. I never know what time it is in the dark.”
I
hope that armed guard is still in the lobby, just in case Mom decides to give
them a piece of her mind about the clock thing.
My mom always manages a discount with the cable people. I think she scares them into doing what she wants.
ReplyDelete$24 / box is ridiculous! I would go DIrect TV or dish. They will usually offer a deal to whom ever threatens to change services.
ReplyDeleteAll TV delivery is a blue ribbon scam. All the deals go away in three, six, nine months. My sister says she only had dish so her husband can watch his old cowboy movies, but I'm sure she'd have it for her UFO channels, too. So, they have her forever.
ReplyDeleteYou can always get a deal for threatening to switch services. It is just annoying to have to stoop to that. I once had a Direct TV installer come into my park to service one of the pipeline families living here temporarily. He was speeding and when I told him to slow down, he told me to f### off! Yeah, I made him leave. I called in a complaint and was told to put it in writing. It has been about 5 years and I have yet to receive a response.
ReplyDeleteStephen,
ReplyDeleteI think you may be onto something, from what I've read about your mom. She is a force to be reckoned with.
My mom would not actually voice her complaints to them in person. She would fume at them behind the scenes, then take them some "Check Mix" as a bribe.
*****
joeh,
Well, she tried DISH, but there was that credit card issue. Right now she's in a holding pattern. In the dark without a clock.
*****
Joanne,
I agree. The only thing we ever got that stuck was free DVR service for life through DISH. Of course we bought two DVR receivers through them. And we have a lot of premium channels, because who wants to DVR the local channels and network TV? Not us.
Hick NEEDED the Outdoor Channel, which he rarely watches, unless it's hunting in Alaska, or gold miners. He prefers TV Land, for Andy Griffith reruns. Then his regular shows of moonshiners and ginseng hunters and car auctions. We don't get out much.
*****
Kathy,
I wish I could threaten to switch from FedEx to UPS for all deliveries. FedEx left a trench in our yard, from turning around in the grass when a wide expanse of concrete was available. Hick called around, went to the top, and got an offer of landscaping for his trouble. Being Hick, he refused. "I can do it myself with my tractor and roller next time it rains. I just wanted to make sure that driver doesn't ruin anybody else's yard." Yeah. Hick is so concerned about his fellow man.