Do You Save Money Bundling Cable?
April 16, 2010
Bundling cable and other services sounded like a good concept when I first heard about it several years ago but I’d never researched the options through Comcast or Time Warner in my area until recently.
Benefits of Bundling Cable
For those of you not familiar with bundling cable the idea is that you buy your cable, internet, and possible phone service from the same company. The benefit to you is that cable companies like Time Warner and Comcast will offer a discount on all the services if you bundle them together. Obviously the benefit to the cable company is that you spend more money with them instead of a different company.
Another potential benefit to you is that you only have one bill to worry about and one company to work with if you have problems. Of course, if the customer service isn’t very good then it’s actually a drawback because then you have bad service when you call in about your TV, internet, or phone.
Cable Bundling Options
As I mentioned above, you have different options when it comes to bundling. I’m most familiar with Comcast so I’ll use them as an example. They have a package called the Double Play that allows you to sign up for both cable and high speed internet and get a discount on the services. They have another option called the Comcast Triple Play where you add on digital phone service to your TV and web. The total cost is obviously more but you get a discount on your monthly bill for each of the services.
Do You Save Money Bundling Cable?
What I’d like to know is whether bundling cable and internet, and possibley phone services, saves you money. The main thing I’d like to know is how much you save each month. If you’re willing to share, it would also be helpful to me and the other readers if you say which cable company you use and which package you signed up for. So if you save money each month by bundling cable please tell us about it in the comments below. Thanks!
All posts by Ben Edwards
As a Comcast direct sales person, I know there is a considerable savings when you bundle. Companies research and discovered the more products a customer has the longer is the retention. With that in mind, Comcast often adds even more valuable incentives to a triple-play versus double or single products. People will often try dumping the phone, however will only discover there is very little savings if any. If someone wishes to save money, dropping extra receivers and going to the digital transmitters, letting go of Premiums, or decreasing the channel line up or speed of Internet is usually a greater way of saving.
Thanks for the saving tips Diane!
I got in on the triple play bundle almost 2 years ago.. amazingly enough Comcast has not raised my rate. He is the dilemma though – I got the home phone with it but I NEVER use it. I don’t even know the phone number, I just get solicitor calls constantly. Last month I tried to call and cancel the phone and just pay for the internet and cable and they said it would save me 89 cents a month. That’s it. They said it would be more cost effective for me to keep my service as is. I just don’t get it. It costs me $110 a month (with taxes, etc) for this service and considering I don’t use the phone I am sure I could get cheaper service with another company for just the internet and cable. I just don’t want the hassle of having to change my service and/or passwords, so I stick with Comcast. I do wish there was a better way.
Hey Griff, I agree it makes sense to compare the prices separately with the bundled rate to make sure you actually are saving money.
Majory, I’m glad you feel better. I know what you’re saying about getting lots of channels that you don’t want. Every time I call a cable company they want to talk about how many channels I could get with all their packages. Each time I have to explain I already have far more channels than I need or watch, what I’m looking to do is to lower my cable bill.
ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! After the initial year or so the rates at COX continues to rise. Tax for this, less programming on a Friday/Saturday night, and on and on! Okay, but I’m disabled on a fixed income and I like TV for escapism. But I’m gonna escape to my laptop where I (and hundreds of thousands of my fellow escapees) get the same shows and movies that WE WANT TO SEE WHEN WE WANT TO SEE THEM! (Please note, Sporting events are limited on the internet!) However, its not worth looking for a cable package deal for the privilege of renting hundreds of channels when there is NOTHING ON THEM! Thanks for allowing me to vent! (Yes, I do feel better!)
That is true that you can save money if you bundle…sometimes its also wise to seperate each service & see if you’re really going to be saving “a bundle”.
Harrken, thanks for sharing. I didn’t even mention cell phone service in my write-up, I forgot some companies offer that service as well.
That’s a decent savings, $25 a month can certainly add up over a year.
Are you glad you decided to bundle all those services into one? Have you run across any downsides?
I bundle my local and long-distance landline, internet, cell phone, and tv services with Qwest and save $25 a month.