I'm sure this has been posted a 1,000 times but I have a situation. Here's the situation: I have found the perfect little house on the outskirts of a rural town in Tennessee. The road is connected to a main federal highway and is about 1 mile from that highway. There is Charter on the road, on both ends of it. However, where this house sits, is a dead spot of about 3/4 of a mile. I called about having Charter connect service to this house. They originally quoted me $3800. I wasn't happy but it was just a good price on the house I thought I could manage. I told Charter to make sure that would be all expenses.
Later, I got a call from a tech who informed me it wouldn't be a few thousand, we're looking more like $13,000-$15,000. I asked why the sudden increase. He explained that originally, he just measured the distance from my address (or what would be my address--the house) to where the cable line ends. Once I indicated I was interested in paying for the extension, he "dug" deeper. He discovered that the current line has been extended as far as possible and to go any further, he'll have to go back to the main highway and run a better cable + amp to connect my house. I was disappointed. I asked him if there were other options and he said to pay it was about it.
So, now that you've been enlightened on the situation, I have a few questions. First, let me state that there are no other options for internet service at this location. AT&T U-Verse or DSL are no available. Verizon's MiFi is about it, only probably is you only get 1bar of service at this location (plus its capped which is a big negative).
1. I've read that Charter can "credit" you for doing an install like this. Although $13,000 is ridiculous for cable, if Charter would credit that for me (basically not a pay a bill for several years) I'd do it. Who do I speak to about this? Who has the power to make this decision locally? (Lebanon, TN)
2. There are about 20-30 homes in that "dead spot." I know some people on this road, several (5+) homes would def get Charter if it was available. ((For one, some close friends live on this road. They pay $200 for DirectTV, $60 for Verizon MiFi, and $25 for phone service (nearly $300 for all). Charter would save them $100-$150/month!)) Why will Charter not do this? First, it sounds like to me, the cable that is currently there needs to be upgraded anyways. Second, if Charter was going to charge me $13,000, I'm sure they could do the job for less than $10,000. If there are just 5 homes that buy Charter at $150/month, that's $750/mo! They'd make that money back in no time! Who can I present this to?
3. Every time I've worked with Charter, it's been terrible. The people in the office just don't understand the technical side of things on the road. When I was given a technicians number, he did a good job quoting me and all but he has no bargaining power as far as crediting my bill, etc. If I ask the office, they direct me to technician for quoting. If I ask tech, he directs me to office. I'm stuck! Help! Are there ANY options? I'd be willing to pay up to about $4000 w/o a credit. If they would upgrade their lines to where they currently are, I'd pay for the extension. Ugh!
This is the perfect house, at a great price. I have to have internet though for work. I don't want to have to pick another house. Please help!
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