Cable Woes

I'm a dork... I admit it.... but I love the Style Network!

We went for almost 10 years without cable, but in November 2009, I finally bit the bullet and we got cable. Probably not the smartest financial decision, but I was tired of our previous phone and internet provider (constantly went out and would have to wait DAYS for a service call), so I contacted the cable company and bundled the services for just about $15 more than I was already paying for just the phone and internet. And I had a happy teenager.

So tonight, I clicked over to the Style Network and the screen said "Not Authorized".... huh? I've had that channel since we got cable! And outside of college football season when I'm an ESPN addict, it is the main channel I watch. So, I called up the cable company, and lo and behold, I've been getting channels I wasn't supposed to get. And those channels were going to cost me $35 more per month. Needless to say, I kind of felt like I'd received a "bait and switch" especially after already paying an increase after the first year expired.

Obviously, I was a bit frustrated... but I stayed calm, talked it out with the customer service person, explained the situation and my current budget, and she worked with me. I dropped the land line since the only time its used is when charities I've never heard of call me, and she added in some promotions (which they normally don't do when you're dropping a service) and we got my bill down to about $20 less than I'm currently paying. Bye, bye landline.... but I can keep my Style and ESPN addictions.