I got a call around dinner time from Hawaiiantel. They are our phone and Internet providers and I've been happy enough with them. Apparently Hawaiiantel has put cables in and can now provide cable TV for people in our area. The caller said we could get a "bundle deal" for cable TV, higher speed Internet and our phone." It would cost $115. She said all our TVs could be connected to the cable. I was ready to sign up, but I had her talk to Art first because he's the technical person around here.
After a while I heard him say, "No, we never sign up for anything by phone without thinking about it first. Yes, I realize I get a better deal if I sign up now, but I would prefer thinking about it."
What???? Why???? It sounded like such a good deal. We already pay about $56 for a slower Internet and phone. It'd be great to have cable instead of relying on our temperamental TV antenna in our attic.
Well... the next day I decided to call Hawaiiantel and get the answers Art wanted to more questions he thought of and here's what I learned.
1. The $115 is only for the 1st year.
2. There is a $150 installation fee which they would waive.
3. The HD (high definition) is ONLY for the first 6 months. You'd have to pay more for it after that, but I forget how much more.
4. The first TV is free. After that it's $4.95 a month for each additional TV. There's a box that goes with each TV which would make it hard for our wall mounted TV in the kitchen.
5. Although we only have three TVs since mom and we have small ones and then the wall mounted one in the kitchen, I was planning to get a small one for the guest room. Scratch that idea.
The bottom line was when I asked her how much it would cost the second year. She answered $181.00! YIKES! We'd be jumping from $56 to $181 a month!!!
Art smiled. "You don't need to watch more TV", he said. "You should be composing on your blog and reading."
So that's what I'm doing tonight.
Sigh...
What???? Why???? It sounded like such a good deal. We already pay about $56 for a slower Internet and phone. It'd be great to have cable instead of relying on our temperamental TV antenna in our attic.
Well... the next day I decided to call Hawaiiantel and get the answers Art wanted to more questions he thought of and here's what I learned.
1. The $115 is only for the 1st year.
2. There is a $150 installation fee which they would waive.
3. The HD (high definition) is ONLY for the first 6 months. You'd have to pay more for it after that, but I forget how much more.
4. The first TV is free. After that it's $4.95 a month for each additional TV. There's a box that goes with each TV which would make it hard for our wall mounted TV in the kitchen.
5. Although we only have three TVs since mom and we have small ones and then the wall mounted one in the kitchen, I was planning to get a small one for the guest room. Scratch that idea.
The bottom line was when I asked her how much it would cost the second year. She answered $181.00! YIKES! We'd be jumping from $56 to $181 a month!!!
Art smiled. "You don't need to watch more TV", he said. "You should be composing on your blog and reading."
So that's what I'm doing tonight.
Sigh...
Your post reminds me that I need to call Comcast, our bundle provider. We were running about $180 a month and I called and got it reduced by about $50, but now it is creeping back up again. I like the service, but I don't like the extra box for the kitchen TV. HD on our 55 inch is wonderful, internet is fast and the phone is there but hardly used. We use the DVR a lot. Movies are extra. I really don't know what is a good deal any more, but I do know that if they can offer new customers a lower rate, they can give it to me as a continuing customer. Grrr.
ReplyDelete55 inch? Oh my! I don't believe that size would fit in our tiny house.
DeleteYou are so lucky to have a detective like Art. I would have found out all those "extras" way too late. Kudos Art.
ReplyDeleteThe story of every telecommunication service these last many years. Service is more expensive than natural gas or electricity--and less useful.
ReplyDeleteArt really loved your comment, Joanne.
DeleteIn our part of the world, Comcast is the only game in town, so when they give you an offer, you take it. I will start paying $50/month more after a year's introductory "deal" -- it covers our internet and cable. We never got a landline when we moved here, and it's still going to be a lot of money. Not as much as yours, but close. :-(
ReplyDeleteWe have Hawaiiantel, Oceanic and dish. It is nice to have options. Art wants a land line because in a dire emergency, the cells sometime don't work, but the land line does.
DeleteComcast did this to us. I got their triple play for less than $100 and then with each upgrade and increase in fees our bill went UP. When it hit $200 I called them and asked for basic service and to cut anything that would reduce our bill to under $200. That was last year and it is now creeping up AGAIN.
ReplyDeleteSigh.... That's always the worry.
DeleteI know, I went through that too. One wants these services but the price can get outrageous. There was a program on TV of this very thing and that there are cheaper and wiser choices but unfortunately I was half asleep and missed most of it. I'll have to research it again. Ha
ReplyDeletelife is complicated...
ReplyDeleteTV is too expensive, I ditched cable ages ago.
ReplyDeleteIf it sounds too good to be true, it probably is . . . Sky deals are terrible so we got rid of Sky.
ReplyDeleteNever make snap decisions. I learned that the hard way more than once. Experience was probably Art's teacher too.
ReplyDeleteSigh, everybody wants money for something and everything... it's such a tough life. There isn't a time where we haven't been scammed once or twice in life and it might happen again but gosh, if you have someone whose got that ability to read between the lines. Learn to never second guess them, believe them, take their word for it, say thank you for saving me a whole lot of trouble and learn from the lesson and then do what you exactly did here, PASS IT ON!! Love it when people share these experiences... save us from being "scammed"... HUG
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot of scams going around in Hawaii because we have a high senior citizen community which scammers prey on.
DeleteGood thing you checked! I am wary of the 'deals'.
ReplyDeleteTell Art I agree with him! We watch too much television. Reading and writing and going for walks and a whole bunch of other stuff are better than watching TV. Our tv is ancient. I really got that brought home to me a few weeks ago when we visited the SONY store in Palo Alto. The tvs there were the size of our walls. The definition was great, but oh Lord, the prices! I will keep watching what little bit of tv I do watch on that old, small, last century tv.
ReplyDeleteOh, and we don't have cable. We do watch some shows on Hulu through our computer.
I really think I'm going to consider Netflix.
DeleteHi Kay, It is kind of like the vacuum cleaning people, you did not seek them out they tried to catch your attention and entered your zone. It is a good thing Art could hang up the phone and cut them off, unlike the vacuum cleaner machine people which you had to chase out of the house.
ReplyDelete~L.
Art is always a lot more cautious than I am. Sigh... It's true.
DeleteAh, the great wisdom regarding any proposal: "We'll think about it." Then some penetrating analysis usually reveals what kind of snake oil they are selling. We have a dish connection and a deal with the local phone company for internet. It works better than the cable service, according to the neighbors I've talked to, and we pay about 40 percent less.
ReplyDeleteHmmm... I haven't looked into the dish option. I wonder...
DeleteThanks for posting your experience with this offer. I had Hawaiiantel cable TV on my "to inquire" list but thanks to your post today, I'm not bothering to inquire at all. Although Oceanic basic cable prices have gone up, it is still much cheaper (less than $20/mo) than taking the leap to Hawaiiantel cable, especially after the introductory period. I am disappointed their prices are so out there.
ReplyDeleteL...w
Oceanic is less than $20 a month? Seriously? I need to look into this!
DeleteIt went from $14.63 (more or less) per month...to $16.37 this year, then it slowly crept up to $19.33, now $20.41. So it is no longer less than $20. I haven't been paying too close attention since I have the bill on automatic payment on credit card.
DeleteWe just looked into the Basic cable feature for $18.03 + tax with Oceanic, but it wouldn't gain us much since we already have our antennae. The antennae is temperamental, but we get most of the stations we need.
DeleteArt is so right about not signing up to anything over the telephone. We get lots of similar calls and I always suggest they write to us and then put the telephone down. We've resisted getting cable TV, there's more than enough television on terrestrial channels, and we usually end up watching a DVD or reading a book anyway. For the couple of hours that our television is on in the evening I don't think we need to pay.
ReplyDeleteI guess I'll download more books onto my Kindle from the library.
DeleteArt is wise to demand think time. My rule is to never buy or contract with someone who approaches me first. If I want a service, I will go out and look for it.
ReplyDeleteYou are an alert consumer! Well-researched!
ReplyDeleteThere are many scams out there.
Dumb how they lure us in.
There is a new one, people 'renting' a cottage that they do not actually own, and the renter turns up, and has lost their money!
We've had quite a few of those in Hawaii too. Aggravating!
DeleteWell, I guess if it sounds too good to be true it usually is. Good for you! They are laying fiber optic cables in the neighborhood right now. Our whole street was torn up and trenches dug in our front lawns. I'm hoping they'll be coming back to check on the dirt patches they have filled with seed, because it looks pretty awful right now. And I'm sure they will be offering us 'good' deals when it's all be connected. I'll be following your example and will investigate thoroughly :)
ReplyDeleteThere are so many options like number of channels, HDTV, DVR, the cost of the 2nd year, cost of the extra boxes for each additional TV, etc. to consider. Then there's the bundling prices. Aaaaack!
DeleteArt Smart!
ReplyDelete