Many people are left frustrated with bad cable TV providers. If you are indeed dealing with one, then it’s important to recognize the signs.
While many do understand the problem, they are stuck in contracts that they cannot escape. When this is the case, you just have to get on with it and wait until the contract ends.
But doing that doesn’t solve the problem. Nobody likes bad service. Thus, you must understand the signs that point towards a bad cable TV provider.
Let’s go ahead and do that.
1. Lack of Loyalty
What cable TV providers love doing is making a comfortable bed for new customers. But what about the existing ones? Well, they get to sleep on the ground.
Cable TV providers always offer great deals so that new customers sign up. But the problem here is that they don’t move a single finger once the deal ends. They might offer you a great package that involves TV, phone, and internet, and all that for under $100.
But you can expect a huge rise in prices once the deal ends. This is a strategy that providers use to lure in new customers. But this strategy is counterproductive for existing customers.
This lack of loyalty is the first sign that you’ve signed with a bad provider. Everyone loses in this situation. The provider loses customers, the existing customer leaves, and the new customer will end up disappointed by the lack of loyalty shown.
If your cable TV provider does indeed practice this, then don’t be afraid to give them a call. You can even discuss the possibility of leaving if they do not lower your bill or give you a better package.
A great strategy to use is to mention a relative or friend that has the same package as you but a better deal. Don’t be afraid to negotiate as you’ll only end up paying more than you should.
2. Terrible Customer Service
We’re all aware of bad customer service. It does indeed exist and plenty of companies, including cable TV providers, have it. But there is a huge difference between bad and terrible customer service.
The level of satisfaction among customers can tell you plenty about the television provider. If the satisfaction rate is low, then you’re dealing with an unprofessional, unwilling, and overall bad company.
Customer service exists to help you, the customer, overcome your issue. But as it turns out, the agents working at the call center are paid so low that they cannot be bothered with helping you overcome your issue. Furthermore, some of these providers have so many issues that you cannot even get them on call.
This is probably because their call center is swamped with unsatisfied customers. So what do you do about it? No one will tolerate bad service, especially if the call agent is rude or refuses to help you.
What you can do is go online and tweet about your problem. Cable TV providers hate bad reputations. One way to shine a light on bad customer service is to let the whole world know about it. Social media is great for this. If enough people are watching, your issue could go viral and perhaps even make a change.
If you are in need of instant repairs, then express it clearly in your message. Plenty of people rely on their home internet for work. Waiting several days for the repair crew to come is something that no one will tolerate.
If you want to avoid such problems, then it’s important to find a reliable cable TV provider that doesn’t have these issues. But how do you find those? Well, you can visit this website to know more.
3. Useless Options
When it comes to making money, cable TV providers will offer you a huge variety of options or services to go along your internet, TV, or phone.
When it comes to television, they will offer you anything from premium channels to useless channels that nobody watches. After all, why would you need cartoon channels if you don’t have kids and aren’t interested in watching them?
What most people like is access to their favorite channels. A survey showed that people only watch 20 channels on average. This is mind-boggling considering that cable TV providers offer us on average up to 100 channels with even their most basic offer.
So why would you pay huge amounts of money for channels you’re not even watching? Having the ability to scale back is what separates good and bad providers.
4. Hidden Fees
No one likes to pay for stuff that they have no idea about. Hidden fees can cost you up to $20 a month! And the fact that you have no idea what you’re paying for makes it even worst.
This is an obvious sign that you’re dealing with a bad cable TV provider. But what are some of these fees?
The most common types of fees are broadcast TV fees. Cable TV companies say that they charge extra to cover for the obtaining permissions of local broadcast channels. These channels are mostly news channels.
Another common hidden fee has to do with sports channels. Namely, regional sports fees are mandatory same as broadcasting fees, but this time you’re paying to cover the costs for obtaining the permissions to broadcast regional sports.
There are plenty of other fees such as HD technology fees, cable modem and router fees, setting up fees, administrative fees, installation fees, ISP-related fees, and dozens of others.
These fees don’t really cost anything when on their own. But it becomes a problem once you bundle them together.
5. Multi-Year Agreements
The biggest sign that you’re dealing with a cable TV provider that isn’t that great is when you’re asked to sign a multi-year agreement. This is something that you should think twice about as you’ll end up in a contract deadlock for more than 12 months and probably up to 24. This isn’t so bad per se, but things get complicated if you remember the first point we made. You will be offered a deal or discount on the first 6 or 12 months, but you’ll end up paying far more until the end of your agreement.
