With the average family paying upwards of $70 per month for cable alone and throw on another $40-50 per month for broadband Internet, the bucks are really adding up. In many cases, families pay more for cable/Internet than they do for electricity or water each month. Fortunately, cable customers are not powerless to fight back. Here are some proven and probably surprising tips about how to get your monthly cable bill lower.
Cable & Satellite TV
Audit of San Diego phone bills highlights challenges of deregulation
25 years after the breakup of the AT&T monopoly, a comprehensive audit of more than 700 San Diego phone bills challenges the long-cherished assumption that "phone deregulation has reduced costs for all customers." The ugly reality is that for the majority of wireless and landline telephone bills studied, customers pay unjustifiably high per-minute charges for long distance and wireless services. Get an overview of the 87-page report here. Get the full report in PDF format.
Lower your cable bill with one phone call and four magic words
Learn the magic phrase that can lower your cable bill.
Consumer Alert - DirecTV Complaints On Rise
UCAN has received many complaints about DirecTV from disgruntled consumers. If you're a victim of DirecTV, please file an online complaint with UCAN's Fraud Squad. If you signed up for a bundled AT&T / DirecTV package in California, you may also want to file a complaint with the California Public Utilities Commission at https://ia.cpuc.ca.gov/cimsapp/
Time Warner Cable - Equipment Return Policies From the Twilight Zone
Patience is a virtue. Lying is not. So when Time Warner declares that customers attempting to return cable equipment at Time Warner offices in San Diego is rarely subjected to having to wait to return equipment one is forced to wonder is Time Warner just flat out lying or has it's sense of realiity been altered by watching too many episodes of the Twilight Zone.
Cox Celebrates New Year By Charging New Fee and Raising Existing Fee
Starting January 1, 2010, Cox customers will see a slight increase in their monthly bill. Cox is both charging a new fee, the Regulatory Cost Recovery fee, and raising an existing fee, the Universal Service Fund fee
Washington Attorney General Sues DirecTV
UCAN has received many complaints echoing the same unfair sales practices alleged in a recent lawsuit filed against DirecTV by the Washington State Attorney General. If you're a victim of DirecTV, please file an online complaint with UCAN's Fraud Squad.
Defunct "ComCast Must Die" Web site rises from the ashes ...
The Web site Comcastmustdie.com, created by AdAge writer Bob Garfield is history, but now it has been reincarnated as customer-circus.com. Full story.
San Diego citizen journalism and media discussion forum
UCAN's affiliate New Media Rights is hosting a discussion forum on the future of media and journalism in San Diego. Join in on the discussion now!
This is the report that AT&T does NOT want you to see: Phone Bill Survey of UCAN Members
This analysis of consumer phone bills in PDF format has spurred an intense reaction from AT&T and its cronies in the mainstream media. This report dares to suggest that the deregulation of phone services has increased the cost of communications for low-income consumers. GET IT HERE.
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Utility Consumers' Action Network
(619) 696-6966 or file a complaint about a company online.
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- Remember, if you have any questions about copyright law or need legal information regarding intellectual property, the internet, or new technologies, visit our affiliate New Media Rights at www.newmediarights.org. If you are in the San Diego region, you can also can apply to use our multimedia studio and equipment for free.
