[tuccillo]

It has been relatively smooth sailing with Century Link until I recently changed the speed of my internet service and went to autobill pay via a credit card. We only have internet service. The new bill now showed a phone service. They removed the charge when I called but it appears that it was somehow added automatically. The next morning I received an e-mail indicating that they were suspending my phone service for non-payment. Obviously this stuff is triggered by automated services and isn't error free. As always, it is worthwhile to examine your bill.

[kellyjam]

I have Brighthouse phone and internet. I switched to Ooma for my phone and when I called Brighthouse to drop phone service and they told me there would be no drop in price for my bill. Its now $55 for 15 MPS and no phone service. I am going to Comcast where I got $39.99 for 50 MPS with no contract.

[tuccillo]

We have 40 Mbps download/20Mbps upload for $45/month total with a one year commitment. We also use Ooma for phone service as cellphones are too spotty for work conference calls.

Originally Posted by kellyjam

I have Brighthouse phone and internet. I switched to Ooma for my phone and when I called Brighthouse to drop phone service and they told me there would be no drop in price for my bill. Its now $55 for 15 MPS and no phone service. I am going to Comcast where I got $39.99 for 50 MPS with no contract.

[TVMayor]

Originally Posted by kellyjam

I have Brighthouse phone and internet. I switched to Ooma for my phone and when I called Brighthouse to drop phone service and they told me there would be no drop in price for my bill. Its now $55 for 15 MPS and no phone service. I am going to Comcast where I got $39.99 for 50 MPS with no contract.

Now for the rest of the story....
As of Jan 1 Comcast rates for internet are...
Performance Starter $49.95
Performance $66.95
Blast $78.95

Voice/Data Modem or Wireless Gateway $10.00 up $2 from 2014

$39.99 is fishing bait good for one year. 50 MPS is Blast and in one year it will jump to $78.95 plus the usual annual increase which was $2 this year.

[tuccillo]

At the end of one year there could be another good deal from Comcast. Our $45/month with CenturyLink includes the router lease and all taxes/fees but at the end of the year I will need to call them up and see what the new deal is.

Originally Posted by TVMayor

Now for the rest of the story....
As of Jan 1 Comcast rates for internet are...
Performance Starter $49.95
Performance $66.95
Blast $78.95

Voice/Data Modem or Wireless Gateway $10.00 up $2 from 2014

$39.99 is fishing bait good for one year. 50 MPS is Blast and in one year it will jump to $78.95 plus the usual annual increase which was $2 this year.

[Bonnevie]

it's all a shell game....they all eventually raise prices so you either suck it up because it's a pain to switch or you switch every two years. I used to be the former but I'm starting to think it's time to switch it up. Plus, you'll probably get the most up to date equipment instead of having the older stuff which they charge extra for if you want better equipment.

[tuccillo]

We have actually been paying about the same amount for internet access for the last 10 years (only in The Villages for 1 year) - roughly $50/month. What has changed is the speeds keep getting higher. Our CenturyLink cost actually went down because we went to Autobill pay and the speed went up.

Originally Posted by Bonnevie

it's all a shell game....they all eventually raise prices so you either suck it up because it's a pain to switch or you switch every two years. I used to be the former but I'm starting to think it's time to switch it up. Plus, you'll probably get the most up to date equipment instead of having the older stuff which they charge extra for if you want better equipment.

[theorem painter]

Originally Posted by tuccillo

Our CenturyLink cost actually went down because we went to Autobill pay and the speed went up.

What I learned today from Century Link is that if you change your credit card with Autobill you lose a portion of your discount. We had a $10 discount for Autobill and I had to change our credit card because it was cancelled over the Home Depot breach. Our discount went down to $5 and I was told that it takes them too much time to update credit cards, hence, the penalty. I went round and round with them and they would not restore the discount. They ended up giving me another promotional price but the whole experience made me want to scream.

[tuccillo]

These companies seem to have trouble handling changes. I have also received some conflicting information from CenturyLink: one sales rep says one thing and another says something else. The credit card update issue you experienced defies logic - they have computers, they should be able to handle this. I am glad to hear it worked out OK with another new promotional price. I have found it is not a bad idea to call every 6 months and ask "whats new?"

Originally Posted by theorem painter

What I learned today from Century Link is that if you change your credit card with Autobill you lose a portion of your discount. We had a $10 discount for Autobill and I had to change our credit card because it was cancelled over the Home Depot breach. Our discount went down to $5 and I was told that it takes them too much time to update credit cards, hence, the penalty. I went round and round with them and they would not restore the discount. They ended up giving me another promotional price but the whole experience made me want to scream.

[john1953]

I have century link for all 3 services.Internwt,phone and TV.Was really conned by the sales guy.I don`t have HD on my TV.Century link says i`am to far from the "hub" to receive HD tv.I will be dropping the TV portion and going with direct TV.

[tuccillo]

I would guess that you are in a part of The Villages where they haven't run fiber optic cable to the house. The older copper based DSL networks are sensitive to the distance from the switching stations - it sounds like you are too far away to have sufficient bandwidth to support HD.

Originally Posted by john1953

I have century link for all 3 services.Internwt,phone and TV.Was really conned by the sales guy.I don`t have HD on my TV.Century link says i`am to far from the "hub" to receive HD tv.I will be dropping the TV portion and going with direct TV.