We all have to do the same things every day, we get up and follow some kind of routine, whether it be off to work or taking care of the family duties most of us have a lot in common. One thing I am sure have in common are bills. We work to pay bills, inflated service provider bills, utility bills, rent or mortgages, auto, insurance, credit cards, you get the picture. Every month end we dread going to the mailbox and opening our bills, because they probably account for 50% of your net income or more. Just last week I opened my television providers bill and it was over $168.00! For a standard package with a few extra channels, a basic internet plan, and telephone long distance charges. Ok I get it, I have a few premium channels on my TV service plan, and I may have made a few long distance calls but there is no way my bill should be this high.
Like you I have no time to go through every line, every detail of my bill, I just stick my tail between my legs and pay it, I think we all do.
Not this time, I actually sat down with a coffee and started analyzing my bill, that’s when it be came clear little did I know it but I was paying for fees that I had no idea I was paying for, I just paid it.
First I started with my TV portion of my bundle, $X ok I get it my provider has to keep the lights on too and run a business so the base rate is reasonable, but what about the extra $X fee for connection maintenance? administrative fee, premium channel codex filtering, external box maintenance? and extra $40 more than what I thought I signed up for. Wow! are you kidding me? this portion of my bill I assumed was X when really it was Y. So as my blood pressure boils I call my provider and ask what’s up with these extra fees? I am told these are sometimes applied periodically if a tech comes out to adjust my signal, or if I made a few calls into the helpdesk. Nobody told me anyone was coming out, or that I would be charged for tech support, I think I will be watching my bills more carefully from now on.
Moving onto the next portion of the bundle, the internet, ok so I pay $X for the service that looks right, but what is this charge for extended bandwidth usage of $X? Nobody told me I had a barrier on my data using with this plan, and a fee for disconnect reconnect? nobody was here? I don’t recall anyone coming and tinkering with my connection. Now I have two services in my bundle that I cant account for over $Y in fees, don't even get me started on the long distance.
I was charged for talking to an uncle overseas $X that I swear I thought from what I was told would be free evenings and weekends! I called my provider again and asked how much am I paying without the hidden fees? The operator sounded puzzled, like it was the first time she’s ever had that question asked. So I repeated, how much do I pay for my bundled services, without the extra fees attached to each service.
She types a bit and comes back and says $X/mth, ok I said then why am I paying $Y? She tells me there
are "extended" fees for using extended services.
To put it into perspective 1/3 of my bill was "extended" service charges. Enough is enough.
The good news is there was a "Cheeper" alternative, the solution is Cheepnet. A service where I know what I am paying for, no extended service charges or hidden fees. Where a bundled price is just that, and where long distance service promises are never broken, and if I do download a few extra data packets I am not being charged extra. My monthly withdrawal from my account is the same every month allowing for me to budget accordingly, actually I really don’t ever have to worry about it because I purchased my Cheepnet box as a one-off and now only pay a marginal fee monthly for my services. Over and above that the tech support and service level provided has been outstanding!
If your tired of being billed for things you dont even know your being billed for, or would like to save on your services whether it be business or residential Cheepnet is the answer.
Cheepnet customer testimonial - Ron Parson Ottawa ON
For details on the services and rates for the services available go to http://www.cheepnet.com/ and complete the sign up page.
