Television by largeprime @ Flickr.com
Recently my husband and I decided to revisit our cable bill and see if we could possible save money with another company. With our present company, we have the bundled package of telephone, cable, and internet. We realized that we just don’t use our landline phone and are looking to drop that portion of the bill. We use our cell phones for calling and keeping both is just not economical. I love my high speed internet with my present carrier so I’ll keep it with them. But the television is another story. We are just not too happy with that portion of our service.
One option that I came across in my search was Direct TV. From their website it looks like they have multiple packages with multiple options. One package had over 265 channels. We are just not sure that we need that many channels.
There are many questions that we have about switching and about their service.
- Do we want to put a dish on the side of the rental house?
- Do we need 265 channels?
- If we decide we don’t need 265 channels, can we get a package that includes the channels that we want?
- We have 3 rooms that we would want the Direct TV system installed in. How much extra is this going to be? Is there an extra charge on it each month?
- What is the contract period?
- Is the monthly payment locked in for the duration of the contract period?
- How quick can it be installed?
- If something goes wrong with the system, is there a local place to take it for repairs?
- If there is no local place for repairs, how is it handled?
- This brings us to another point, what exactly is the warranty on the system?
- In regard to payment each month, do they draft the checking account or can you pay online?
- What exactly is going to be the saving if we switch?
- Is the savings between the cable and Direct TV service going to be enough for me to start spending time to get it switched?
These are just a few of the questions the we have started asking ourselves. I’ll let you know when I’ve found out more information. If you have recently looked at a similar switch or if you have any other questions that I haven’t thought of asking, please leave us a comment.
Till next time,
JT Locke
The Frugal Housewife
About The Frugal Housewife
I’m going through a similar process. I have dropped my landline through the cable company and would like to switch both the TV and the Internet if I can find them cheaper with comparable service. Good luck. I’d be interested in hearing what decision you make.
My sister has satellite TV service and hates it. With her basic package, she has more channels that she isn’t interested in watching than she has that are of interest her. The channels she really would like to have would triple her monthly payments. She doesn’t get programs from ABC, NBC or local news either. So she has to go online to watch TV shows that she likes and get the local news. If cable TV was available in her area, she would change without another thought.
To Lea, it sounds like your sister has a crappy package. Modern packages have locals in virtually every market in the country. Not only that but the most expensive “basic” package (not including hbo’s or pay per views) with directv and satellite is no more than around $50 so tripling her bill? Maybe if she wants original broadcasts from Bangladesh or India … those are very expensive… but then again, isn’t it amazing they’re even offered?
Not sure if you made the switch yet or not (I assume you did…), but due to my frustration with my satellite signal suddenly dropping I came upon this post. I have Direct tv, and overall I am very satisfied. For some reason, however, the signal is acting up. Could be the weather, could just be the line to the receiver, but it is madning. One thing to consider: if a severe storm is blowing in from the South or Southwest, then the signal will drop – no satellite tv until the storm passes. Kind of a pain in the Spring.