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Well, my lack of financial planning have resulted in me not having a cushion to cover an unexpected expense.
in this case, we had to replace our cable box, which is going to set us back just under 500$
with that, plus having to pay for my mistake with my cell phone - about 300$, I have basically given myself a headache for the next 6 months, as I will have to pay in installments.
I really wish I would stop making my life more difficult . . .
Comments
Missing button
We need the “that sucks” button. :(
Hugs, Dot!
Emma
Cable box?
The cable company must not want your business very bad. When I had cable, the box was rented and included in the monthly cost; if it went bad, they replaced it free. I now have DirectTV and the cost of my receiver was included in the set up charge and when I upgraded to a DVR, the replacement was free.
But I'm with Emma, we need a that suck button.
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Ich bin eine Mann
Rent vs Buy
The cost tension hinges on how long you plan to be with a provider.
If it is very long term then owning the equipment may make more sense as the rental fees do rack up.
I own my own cable modem as an example and over 9 years it is far cheaper than renting from the cable company, in this case concast.
OTOH, renting means you are entitled to free upgrades.
It really depends on what the needs are.
In the case of Dororthy, that is 500 CAD which translates to 361 USD currently. Say rental is 12 USD a month then you break even in under three years.
If it is 10 USD a month then that is 3 years.
Concast is charging that larcenous rate so I've overpaid by a lot. Being able to buy outright also means you can have more cable boxes without having to rent each one.
Dot's problem is that she has no reserves of money set aside for the inevitable issue of electronics breaking or other life emergencies. Only she can resolve that.
Sorry to hear that. In the UK
Sorry to hear that. In the UK, Virgin media with a basic package with TIVO plus 100meg broadband is about £30 per month. $500 sounds very expensive.
Leeanna
Not everyone can get Vermin
aka Virgin or if they can, wants them.
For about 10 months of that rental (which will probably double when your 'lock in' period ends unless you threaten to leave) I recently upgraded my FreeSat receiver to one that works like Sky-Q. That was £299 delivered. Plus £37 for a new Satellite LNB and I am good to go.
My old receiver was 10+ years old and works very well, but I wanted to record more than 2 programmes at the same time.
I have no rentals/subscriptions for TV.
Oh, and Vermin's 100MBits sucks around here. Between 3pm and midnight, you are lucky to get 10Mbits. The Vermin network here still runs the old NTL Cable that dates from the early 1990's so congestion is a big thing.
YMMV naturally
Samantha
PS
I wonder if Dorothy could not get a secondhand cable box from somewhere like Craigslist?
TBH I have Sky so I don't use
TBH I have Sky so I don't use my Vermin TIVO. It can record 4 things at once I think. I was going to dump virgin but got them to half my price put me up to 150meg.
Leeanna
Cable Box ...
Something is really, really wonky about the cost there ...
In fact I am getting the very strong sense that the cable company is >>lying<< to you. Somebody is lying. Or running a confidence game on you - same thing as lying.
This looks like the problem/situation that I call:
Stop.
Abort.
Start over.
As for hardware ... Searched on Amazon for "internet cable modem box docsis". First screen of results included hits around $100 USD. Look at your "box", see what you need, check Amazon, check reviews and Star ratings. Betcha an imaginary plugged nickel you need a DOCSIS 3.x. (DOCSIS is a standard, not a brand.)
---
Give cable company a 'cold call' (don't identify yourself) and inquire about new service. You are "new to the area". (Heck I'm 'new' to the house I'm living in ... well I was 'new' when I had my first birthday here ... :O :) ) Ask cable company about rent/buy and buy your own box - and what box d you need. (Psst - write down what box, wrong box won't work.)
Better, call 'the other' cable company.
Also call your City, see if they have any 'breaks' based on your age, or, sigh, disability.
Since you are posting, here and elsewhere, I'm pretty sure you have >internet< access.
I'll need to assume that your cable box is for video - HBO, NetFlix and such. A lot of video entertainment is delivered on the 'net. Which means that the same box that converts that Internet wire coming in to your home/apt into these very words you're reading - will deliver video - same as YouTube.
---
Deep breaths, move slow, take notes on cable box.
cable box
The cable box I think is just the tuning part of the setup. The cable modem is a separate unit that has the whole docsis thing that one can buy. Concast in the US will NOT sell you a cable box (tuner), only rent one out, which sucks.
Possibly a deposit?
Is it possible that this charge is a "full price" deposit? If you don't have a good credit rating, they may not trust you to return their equipment?
Michelle B