[Pat Walkey]

Comcast bill kept going up each month so I switched to CenturyLink at pre tax $114.39 per month for 6 months then $126.39 for the next 18 months for cable and internet. First bill after correcting all their errors ended up at 125.42 pre tax. Fraudulent billing right up front which they will not correct. Internet is worse then Comcast. So how does Sumter County The Villages allow these bad cable companies to continue in the Villages?

[tuccillo]

I use CentruryLink for internet only and have had a few technical issues that were pretty quickly addressed. The performance and reliability have been fine. I had a few billing issues that were quickly handled. When you talk to a representative, take notes and tell them to make an entry as to what was agreed upon. Ask for their employee number and escalate to a supervisor if you aren't happy.

Originally Posted by Pat Walkey

Comcast bill kept going up each month so I switched to CenturyLink at pre tax $114.39 per month for 6 months then $126.39 for the next 18 months for cable and internet. First bill after correcting all their errors ended up at 125.42 pre tax. Fraudulent billing right up front which they will not correct. Internet is worse then Comcast. So how does Sumter County The Villages allow these bad cable companies to continue in the Villages?

[Philip Winkler]

Originally Posted by Brighthouse Cable Lysander

Hello Fellow Villagers,

If you are looking for an alternative to Century Link or Comcast, Brighthouse is available south of CR 466A. We do not have any contracts and most of our bundle campaigns with cable & internet do have a 2 year price assurance. Also we have seasonal plans for customers where you can put your services on hold from 2 - 9 months. So restrictions apply. For more information feel free to call or email me below.

When will you be coming to North of 466A?

[mixsonci]

Sorry, but I find Brighthouse is not much better than the others as far as price. I am paying $316 a month. I have only 1 whole house DVR (only records 2 programs) and 2 regular boxes, plus phone and internet. I also have a security system which is only $34 a month. I find this extremely high. Others on this forum have stated they have 5 boxes (record 5 or more programs) and have wireless and high-speed internet and pay almost $100 less than me.

[tuccillo]

I don't know how much "bundling" of services saves you so I don't know the net cost of phone but that is one area where you may be able to save money. I use a VoIP service, Ooma, for $3.50/month.

Originally Posted by mixsonci

Sorry, but I find Brighthouse is not much better than the others as far as price. I am paying $316 a month. I have only 1 whole house DVR (only records 2 programs) and 2 regular boxes, plus phone and internet. I also have a security system which is only $34 a month. I find this extremely high. Others on this forum have stated they have 5 boxes (record 5 or more programs) and have wireless and high-speed internet and pay almost $100 less than me.

[dalecrenshaw]

Originally Posted by bobsheckley

We subscribed to CenturyLink in 2/2014. Signed a 2 year, fixed price, contract for $125/month.
Went on vacation for 10 weeks starting in 5/2014. Took advantage of the vacation policy, which reduced the monthly charge while we were away.
Returned in 7/2014 and started regular service. The July bill arrived with a balance due of $200+. I called CL and got the bill adjusted to $125. August bill arrived with balance due of about $180. Got the bill adjusted to $125. September bill had balance due of $140. Got it adjusted to $125.
This process has continued thru the current month. I was always assured that it is not correct. Yeah, right!

I have settled for $155 as I was told the "2 year plan" is no longer available.

I was finally told yesterday that when a customer returns from vacation, the plan starts over, and all previous discounts are lost. What a devious way to do business.

I may not have taken the "vacation option" and continued to pay the $125/month, if I had know about their policy.

I plan to look at other options. Hope this note helps someone.

This happens to us all the time with Century Link. I have to call them every month to have something taken off my bill that they have falsely added. I have been charged 2 times in this past year for late payments. I called and pointed out to them that the bill says when the payment is due, and when the payment was received. In both cases, the payment was received before the due date. So, they took the late charges off. When I realized I couldn't trust their billing practices, I started paying attention to the bill and looked up my past bills. I was stunned to see that they had been charging me $10 a month for the entire year, for internet protection, which I had not ordered. So, I had that removed. Then they started charging me for Caller ID & Call waiting on my phone, which I did not order. This goes on and on. I have written several letters of complaint and have never received an answer back. Terrible unethical practices and terrible customer service!

[Schinus]

Century Link is an incredible company to do business with, NOT !! I had so many issues with their PRISM system that I thought I would start documenting them last fall. To date I have had 28, yes 28 issues since then. Some required calling them and some were nuisance type that would require a re-boot or switching channels momentarily to stabilize audio warble or freeze frame. Their service guys are great but their system is terrible for me. Last week we lost TV, Internet and phone service for 24 hours. The tech blamed it on another tech who he said made a mistake on the trunk upstream the previous day. I found out later that at least one other house on this street had the same issue with them. Tech told me there aren't any more good fiber optic cables on our trunk. He had to switch me to an unused line to restore service. I know there are others who just put up with poor performance. Maybe it would improve if Century Link was truly aware of all the issues. I just really don't want to tolerate poor service any more and I truly believe they just don't care. To you who are considering them just be cautious. Maybe I am an isolated case but I seriously doubt it.

[Ashokan]

We are moving to Village of Hillsborough next month. What options do we have for cable/internet/phone company? In Ohio we had a bundle with Time Warner, but I understand TW doesn't service The Villages. Any specific advice will be appreciated.

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by Ashokan

We are moving to Village of Hillsborough next month. What options do we have for cable/internet/phone company? In Ohio we had a bundle with Time Warner, but I understand TW doesn't service The Villages. Any specific advice will be appreciated.

IMHO, for what it's worth:
Comcast sucks, it always has sucked, and it always will suck.
I had to decide between Centurylink and Brighthouse, and after checking both out went with Centurylink.
The other posters are correct---if you get a discount deal but put the service on hold if you are away for months, you have to start over. But no big deal, just complain a bit and they'll give you your original deal. There are service outage issues with all the providers, a lot had to do with ongoing new construction and adding hundreds of homes to the backbone of the system, this appears to settle down as construction in an area finishes. Customer service has been fine, I have had no issues with "funny billing". Haven't looked a brighthouse recently, but my original impression was that they lacked a lot of the sophistication and features of Centurylink. Don't fret too much over this, just don't sign a 2 year deal and you'll be free to switch if you don't like the service

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by tuccillo

I use CentruryLink for internet only and have had a few technical issues that were pretty quickly addressed. The performance and reliability have been fine. I had a few billing issues that were quickly handled. When you talk to a representative, take notes and tell them to make an entry as to what was agreed upon. Ask for their employee number and escalate to a supervisor if you aren't happy.

Have you tested your internet speed????..........wondering what results you had.

[tuccillo]

I test it every now and again. It is always where it should be; 40 megabits/sec download and 20 megabits/second upload. They have higher (and lower speeds) available including 100 megabits/sec and 1000 megabits/sec (1 gigabit/sec) if you have the need.

Originally Posted by dewilson58

Have you tested your internet speed????..........wondering what results you had.

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by tuccillo

I test it every now and again. It is always where it should be; 40 megabits/sec download and 20 megabits/second upload. They have higher (and lower speeds) available including 100 megabits/sec and 1000 megabits/sec (1 gigabit/sec) if you have the need.

[TNLAKEPANDA]

One more reason NOT to use Century Link!

Originally Posted by bobsheckley

We subscribed to CenturyLink in 2/2014. Signed a 2 year, fixed price, contract for $125/month.
Went on vacation for 10 weeks starting in 5/2014. Took advantage of the vacation policy, which reduced the monthly charge while we were away.
Returned in 7/2014 and started regular service. The July bill arrived with a balance due of $200+. I called CL and got the bill adjusted to $125. August bill arrived with balance due of about $180. Got the bill adjusted to $125. September bill had balance due of $140. Got it adjusted to $125.
This process has continued thru the current month. I was always assured that it is not correct. Yeah, right!

I have settled for $155 as I was told the "2 year plan" is no longer available.

I was finally told yesterday that when a customer returns from vacation, the plan starts over, and all previous discounts are lost. What a devious way to do business.

I may not have taken the "vacation option" and continued to pay the $125/month, if I had know about their policy.

I plan to look at other options. Hope this note helps someone.

[justjim]

Why do all these various Cable Companies "Jack" customers around on their service? The answer, of course is obvious, because they can and it is still very profitable.

This industry is not regulated like other utilities (electric, gas) but othe other hand competition was suppose to keep prices low and be best for the consumer. How has that worked out?

As one not in favor of too much government regulation, Iam beginning to question if Cable companies shouldn't be regulated. They are necessary in today's modern world.

[tuccillo]

I believe we are in a good position in The Villages. If you live south of 466A then you have 3 choices for internet access (CenturyLink, Comcast, and Brighthouse) and 5 choices for TV services (the above plus DirectTV and Dish). In addition, you can "cut the cord" on TV services. With all these choices, you can shop around. The new reality is that new customers get better deals than existing customers but you can usually negotiate the "new customer deal" with some persistence after your first year (when your "new customer deal" expired). You just have to be willing to call every year to get a better deal. I have not found this to be unpleasant.

Originally Posted by justjim

Why do all these various Cable Companies "Jack" customers around on their service? The answer, of course is obvious, because they can and it is still very profitable.

This industry is not regulated like other utilities (electric, gas) but othe other hand competition was suppose to keep prices low and be best for the consumer. How has that worked out?

As one not in favor of too much government regulation, Iam beginning to question if Cable companies shouldn't be regulated. They are necessary in today's modern world.