One Less Way Cable Companies Can Charge You

Cable Companies Have A Bit Of A Reputation

There have been some questionable business practices by cable companies over the years. Long gone are the days of the local cable providers. As the larger companies became even larger, they knew you needed them. For years, many areas only had one option available to them. The companies could charge basically whatever they wanted because… well, what options did you have?

Again, times change, and streaming is taking more and more from television providers. The cable companies still have a stronghold on providing Internet, and that isn’t likely to change soon.

For services, most people are provided a modem from their cable company. This isn’t included in their pricing – and you will be charged anywhere from $10-$20 a month indefinitely, forever. Some people opt to buy their own modem. There are pros and cons to that, but it is definitely not for everyone. One major con is the limited support you would get from your provider. Many tech savvy users, however, do opt to buy their own modem. This can pay for itself in a year or so.

That is, unless your provider charged you to use their equipment, whether or not you used it.

Yep, You Read That Right

This loophole in laws was closed recently, but the fact that it existed is ridiculous. It was legal to be charged for nothing. That issue is resolved now, however it should have ended six months prior to that; the enforcement date was pushed back six months as cable companies protested that they didn’t have the resources to change their billing practices by the original date.

Frontier is one of the larger companies that was still practicing the “charge you for nothing” method. Their website read that you would be charged for their equipment “whether you used it or not,” though it has since been changed.

Let’s all be glad for the regulation we do have – we could be charged for it.

Image Source: (iCLIPART)