Possible overcharge by Hargray for cablecards

1855 Views 4 Replies 4 Participants Last post by wmcbrine, Aug 9, 2007

artbloch

Discussion Starter · Aug 8, 2007

I have had Tivo for many years both with Directv and with standalone units.

I am interested in the new Tivo HD and contacted my cable company for the cable cards.

I live in Bluffton SC off of Hilton Head Island which is serviced by a small cable company called Hargray.

I currently have two of their Scientific Atlanta HD DVR boxes which they charge $14.99 a month each and they charged $25 for the install.

Now that Tivo has the $299 HD box, my plan was to keep one of Hargray boxes and use the Tivo in place of the other Hargray box.

Contacting Hargray about obtaining cable cards, they confirm that they do indeed have the M cards and that they will charge $100 for the installation fee. They also charge $6.00 per card per month plus $9.99 per month for the HD service.

Seems to me that Hargray is trying to discourage the use of cable cards by charging so much. Are they way out of line with their charges or is this to be expected?

Thanks for your input

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tivoABE

· #2 · Aug 8, 2007

I have Comcast in S. Florida. They charged me $29 for the install. First card is free and the second card is $6.99/month. No extra charges for HD service.

Originally, I had their DVR and was getting charged $9.99/month for the DVR/HD service.

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artbloch

Discussion Starter · #3 · Aug 8, 2007

Thanks for responding. Your fees seem reasonable.

I was trying to see if an installation fee of $100.00 for the cable card as well as $6.00 fee for the card per month was way out of line.

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jmpage2

· #4 · Aug 8, 2007

artbloch said:
Thanks for responding. Your fees seem reasonable.

I was trying to see if an installation fee of $100.00 for the cable card as well as $6.00 fee for the card per month was way out of line.

You probably need to write a letter to the local franchise authority and complain that the fees are way out of line with what you pay for a cable box.

You can point to the FCC regulations that require cable co's to support cable cards and claim that the local cable company is charging extortion prices in an effort to try to convince people not to use cable card devices.

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wmcbrine

· #5 · Aug 9, 2007

artbloch said:
Are they way out of line with their charges or is this to be expected?

Way out of line. However, they'll probably get away with it.

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