I orderd cable and Internet this a.m. from Comcast which is affiliated with Time Warner Broadcast. I complained the prices were ridiculously high. I was not aware that they were connected with Time-Warner until they check my credit. The agent said I had a bill with them for a modem. I stated I did not have the modem. Well, to make a long story short, she told me that they are affiliated. I explained that I send it back through the mail.
However, neither she nor her supervisor asked me if they could qualify me for any discounts. I am sick and tired of the companies taking money from people and being outright greedy. I decided to look at who is governing these folks, because, cable should not cost as much as they are charging us, they are using public utilizes to get the service to us, much like the water company. My question to them, when I was a child - how can they charge us for water when the water does not belong to anyone? There answer was "we are charging for the delivery. Well, water bill are pretty reasonable, providing you don't have a swimming pool.
I went to the Local Franchise Authority (LFA) site it states "It is a local government organization that, together with the FCC, regulates cable television service [1]. In return for the rights to offer service in an area, a cable company must provide certain community benefits requested by the LFA. These might include public-, education-, and government-access channels, high-speed networks for local agencies and institutions, and/or special rates for seniors, the economically disadvantaged, and the disabled.'
In exchange for the local monopolies they enjoy, cable operators are required to negotiate for a franchise in the cities they serve, and these agreements include a number of community benefits:
Capacity, facilities, and equipment for public-, education-, and government-access (PEG) channels.
Support for the construction, maintenance, and operation of these facilities.
High-speed institutional networks (I-Nets), offering voice, video, and data service to local agencies and institutions.
Customer service guarantees, and discounted rates for seniors, the economically disadvantaged, and the disabled,
My question is - when did monopoly become legal again? The LSA statement appears to suggest that they are knowingly breaking the law for these companies. I called Comcast back to ask for my senior citizen discount. The representative stated, "We do not give discounts to any of our customers."
All senior citizens, economically disadvantaged families/individuals and people that are disabled, who are paying for cable, I'm not if Internet is included, should start requesting a discount from your cable company.. I will research more to find out if you should get retroactive funds. Go to http://www.democraticmedia.org/ddc/CCCIntro.php to see details to the agreement.
Mary
Atlanta, Georgia
U.S.A.