It is a rather obvious fact that cable companies are one of the most hated service providers in the United States. Over the years, many studies have shown data about how many people hate their cable providers and the stats have always been against the cable companies. Even you do not require official surveys to find out about this immense hate for cable companies, you can just ask anyone in your social circle about their experience with their cable provider; not to kill the suspense but the first line would be, ‘dude, I hate that company.’
Television is costly and the internet has become a necessity, yet most people are unhappy with their services. Furthermore, cable providers are losing clients left and right, due to the ongoing trend of cord-cutting and switching to streaming services.
So, in this article, we are going to examine the reasons for this hate for cable companies.
Loyalty is a farce
Most cable providers have promotional offers going on to get you interested in their services. However, what happens when the promotional time ends? Travesty. The prices significantly increase and you find out that those services do not provide as good value for money as you thought. Plus, you cannot leave them without an early termination fee which is also very costly.
The thing is that you should not succumb to the hike in price just like that. You should negotiate with your cable company in order to get a fair price. Furthermore, we would advise you to sign up with a cable provider that does not bind you to an unnecessary contract. For instance, if you look into Spectrum offers, you will find out that at the most market competitive rates, you can get its services without any contracts, and whenever you feel something is off, you can leave it without worrying about cancellation charges. Win-win situation!
Useless Customer Service
Year after year, cable companies score low on the American Customer Satisfaction Index. In 2020, the average ACSI score of cable companies was 63/100. Customer satisfaction seems like the least bothered aspect in the entire cable industry.
Clueless customer reps, horrifying termination charges, and regularly late technicians add up to the poor ratings and bad experiences of cable users. Cable companies came into business long before the concept of customer service was introduced and by the looks of it, most cable companies do not understand it even now. While some cable providers like Optimum and Spectrum are talked about positively, they cannot uplift the entire cable industry and so the onus is on all the companies to serve the customers’ interests in the best way possible.
Popular channels cost a lot
Cable companies have constrained upselling by offering the best media stations in more expensive bundles as it were. What’s more regrettable is that the channels differ from one provider to another. While you can get some famous family channels, for example, Cartoon Network and MTV, in DirecTV’s Select bundle, you might have to go for a top-tier bundle to get these from another service provider. This roughly means that people would have to pay a lot more than they have to because of a different service provider. How is that fair?
Frequent increase in price
If you have been a cable customer for a long time, you would be familiar with the idea of price hikes. At most times, price surges are unexpected and sudden making them even worse. When you sign up with a cable provider, all you see is what they want you to see: the promotional price or the new customer price. Once a set time frame passes, your cable price automatically increases making your bill look horrifying.
What happens is that sales representatives of these cable companies play sly and paint a picture so well that you fall for it. Do not make this mistake. Always inquire about the promotional time, price increases, and any other changes that are expected in service. It is better to be questioning now than whining later.
Expensive Add- ons
The advertised cable fees are just the basic charges that you have to pay. You will have to pay a lot more for the add-ons that are not even a choice. Extra equipment like digital video records is a necessity nowadays and you would have to pay for it on a monthly basis. Furthermore, if you want to enjoy premium and HD content, you will have to pay more. Premium and HD channels are listed separately and you need to add them on in your existing package, which makes your bill go gaga.
However, you can save money if you think subjectively. Nobody needs to install a DVR for every television in the house. Also, you do not need to add on any movie channels: there are plenty of free movie streaming sites online that can serve the purpose.
Hidden charges rule the bill
Sometimes the problem is not a huge bill but the trickery involved in order to make it huge. Cable companies are usually not upfront about all of their charges, which makes great room for hating them. When cable providers sneak additional charges into your bills, it will undoubtedly make you hate them. Did you know that installation charges and activation charges are two entirely different charges? You are mistaken if you thought that they are the same thing.
An average cable bill includes base plan charges, company-imposed charges, regulatory charges, taxes, add-on charges, equipment rental charges, and more (varying from provider to provider) which makes a huge amount. Plus, if you understand this scam and want to leave your provider, you will have to pay a cancellation fee.
The last word
This article has summed up the gist of why people hate cable companies. The answer is simple: cable companies make people miserable. If you have gone through this misery, you should just take a step out of it. The older generation had no alternative, but you have. You can easily cut the cord and switch to streaming platforms. You can even watch local channels without paying a dime through an antenna. So, do not let cable companies feed off you and just take the step for your own sake.
Good luck!
