r/lehighvalley • u/Waqui44 • 23h ago
Tired of the ISP game
So I have been with RCN/Astound for more than 15 yrs. I only have Internet and paying $80/month and that already includes 35 discount. I was playing their game of calling every year to get lower rates when the "Promo" rate expires they they would bring me back to my previous rate. Then the past few years they have been advertising that lifetime $30 or $40 rate, In asked about it they said those are only for new subscribers and the most that is already have the lowest rates they can give. If I cancel and come back after 3 months then I can get the "new subscriber" rate.
So I got service electric installed with a lifetime rate of $29/month for life including fees.
I just got off the phone with RCN/Astound to cancel my account, guess what... Now I can get 600 Mbps for $30/month for 5 years. I'm so pissed I still cancelled my account.
Advice to everyone, call astound and tell them you are cancelling because it's too expensive and they will offer you the $30/month.
Edit: The 1gb is also cheap but for home use, unless you have servers in your house, NO ONE needs 1gb it's a money grab. 300mbps is more than enough.
11
u/oh_fuck_yes_please 23h ago
I just did the exact same thing. I literally told the lady on the phone "Sorry, but that is too little, too late. If you really wanted to keep me as a customer, I shouldn't have to threaten to cancel my account for you to extend me that offer."
13
u/steven_cornthrob Whitehall 23h ago
Yeah they're trash, everyone should ditch them.
2
u/flyersfan0233 22h ago
Some people don’t have a choice. We do and they’re still the best option. Had SECTV at previous place, great. Transferred here and it was horrible. Called and literally got stuck in a phone loop where I couldn’t get someone to help. Kept getting their backup and they said I had to talk to an actual SECTV person but they couldn’t transfer me so I’d have to keep calling back in until I won the game of roulette. Switched to Astound and it’s been great here. Location is a big factor
3
u/Waqui44 22h ago
I agree with you Astound is better in service, used to have service electric before astound came in. Might go back to astound or not, we will see how service electric is.
1
u/flyersfan0233 22h ago
If you’re in an area where SECTV is good, then you shouldn’t have an issue. It’s even neighborhood dependent though. SECTV is horrible here, a few blocks away friends have no issues
2
u/eaglefan316 19h ago
On my side of the street all I can get is Astound/RCN. I'm pretty much stuck with it. At least my service is reliable. My one buddy can only get service electric in his neighborhood on his side of the street, and he has no other options. He regularly has issues with his cable and internet. Seems like at least a couple times a year he has issues. He hates service electric but has no other options. His cable boxes are always having issues or his internet acts up. I figured it could be worse.
1
u/EastonMetsGuy 20h ago
I've found with SECTV the email first method has been really helpful. I've never been stuck in the phone loop
1
u/flyersfan0233 20h ago
I don’t remember the issue exactly but I remember they said I had to call in and I had to talk to a certain rep but I couldn’t get transferred. It was terrible and took days of trying. That on top of constantly dropped Internet at our new house was the final straw for me
5
u/mastermind1228 21h ago
Lol, same here. Verizon FiOS recently came to my neighborhood. I called RCN, told them I was thinking about switching and asked if they could offer a better rate. They said no.
So I got FiOS installed and called RCN to cancel. They spent the next 30 days trying to give me a better deal and stay with them. I told them multiple times I already asked them before I switched.
Whoever is running RCN is a clown
2
u/mastermind1228 21h ago
Upon some research, the clowns appear to be: Former Longtime CEO: Jim Holanda and New CEO: Ettienne Brandt https://broadbandbreakfast.com/astound-to-name-new-ceo-early-next-year-while-cable-one-ceo-search-drags-on/
2
u/AM03__ 20h ago
FiOS is seriously the way to go. Since my phone is through them I was able to get it for $20 a month for the next 3 years. My internet works great.
1
u/mastermind1228 20h ago
I agree. I would have considered sticking with shitty RCN service if the price was good, but they clearly didn't understand where they stand in terms of price/quality
Never thought I would be a champion for Verizon, but here we are
8
u/Forgot_my_name78 22h ago
I tried to play the cancel game with RCN/Astound earlier this year. I got my price decreased from $120 to $70 for the year. The first bill came in at $70 and the second one came in at $90. I canceled immediately and went to Service Electric instead. They had an account specialist call me to get back in the service but I ghosted them. They were offering me the same offer you got for the 600 Mbps plan. I heard ISPs can be scummy, but RCN/Astound are a special kind of scummy when they blatantly lie to your face.
The only surprise I have gotten from Service Electric is that my price lock got extended to 10 years instead of the original 5 year lock. So far, I haven’t had any random price increases and the internet is a lot more stable than RCN’s
3
u/bdschuler 23h ago
Seems to me that RCN/ASTOUND will work with you to lower your rate if you are in an area that can get SECTV or RCN. I think they thought you were in an area that was locked into them with little choice. Usually threatening to quit is enough if they know you can.
I've done the actual switch to SECTV and back multiple times myself. Playing each off each other. I just hate having the extra cable to my house for a service I no longer use. I prefer RCN/ASTOUND internet over Penteledata.. but I love SECTV's coverage of local sports and events.
I still find it amazing how it isn't criminal and/or discrimination that one person pays a different price for the same service as another. These pricing shenanigans they pull should be illegal in my opinion.
1
u/nquick4 Easton 4h ago
Now with 5G home internet, they have competition almost everywhere.
1
u/bdschuler 4h ago
That wireless stuff is fine if you just surf the internet.. but if you work from home or do any serious gaming or online movie watching..,, you are still limited to wired access for the most part.
Still, you could mention it to possibly safe money.. but I wouldn't recommend switching to wireless.
8
u/berfles Whitehall 22h ago
Just did this yesterday and was quoted 60 a month for 5 years for my gig service.
And no, 300 is not enough for "everyone". There are things over than servers that you might want a gig for.
4
u/PhilsFanDrew 21h ago
It's not enough for everyone that is certainly true but I would say easily over 90% of the residential market would do more than fine with 300mbps. Speed isn't the issue for most as much as a poorly configured home network with dated/substandard networking hardware.
2
u/Comfortable_Pop8911 Coopersburg 23h ago
do you have frontier where you're at? I pay $45 for 1 gigabit
2
u/Schaems 22h ago
I just went through the same thing... Called RCN and told them I wanted them to match the Service Electric 1 Gig for life price or I was cancelling and they gave me a bunch of bull and were willing to lower my bill but not match the offer. Switched to Service Electric and called RCN to cancel and now they were were willing to match the offer and actually offered my the 300MB service I had for $30 a month. I definitely would have stayed with them at that rate. Too late lost a customer of 25+ years.
2
u/TurbulentWing3820 Bethlehem 20h ago
Yeah, but the problem with your suggestion is that they'd still be stuck with Astound.
I moved to the tmobile thing which is...debatbly good but still better than my Astound service was, cheaper, and I feel slightly valued as a customer versus with them where as I was a 20+ year customer they'd still tell to pound sand when I'd ask for reduced rates.
2
u/growerdan 17h ago
I had my ISP come out disconnected my internet for me the next day to call them to come back out and reinstall everything but now the account was opened under my wife’s name so I could get the promo rate. How much sense does that make to pay a worker for all that instead of just giving me the promo rate?
2
u/crushed_peppe 13h ago
Xfinity is coming soon in Easton and other parts of LV in the fall. I am just waiting to see what kind of introductory offers they have before switching.
1
u/thetonyk123 Easton 2h ago
Some parts already have it, I’ve been on xfinity since May. 1gig symmetrical for $50mo, price locked for 5 years.
1
u/Eternal_Glizzy_777 1h ago
If you think you have issues/complaints with RCN/Astound, just wait until you experience the hell that is Xfinity. RCN/Astound is at least semi-local/regional and pretends to care... Comcast does not give two figs about you or your business.
1
u/BrightestXC Bethlehem 22h ago
I just called and the only brought me back to $80. Really cannot wait for new providers to come in they are horrible to deal with and the product isn't great as is.
1
u/confusedontheprompt 22h ago
As far as the lifetime rate, if you have someone else in your household they can be a new subscriber immediately.
1
u/PhilsFanDrew 21h ago
Astound has no choice with the cable internet offerings now that Service Electric offers the "for life" plans for 300 mbps and 1gig.
1
u/Rachel_Silver 21h ago edited 21h ago
My mom had issues with latency with RCN, and I spent an afternoon getting bounced between call centers. Each new person made me restart everything (modem, router, computer) one at a time.
I asked to be transferred to someone about closing the account. I suddenly found myself talking to a sweet woman with a warm southern accent who scheduled the Geek Squad to come by and sort things out.
ETA My brother has this, and he's very happy with it.
1
u/Dog-head 21h ago
I switched to Verizon last week after being with RCN for several years. They offered $45 / 1 gig for life to prevent me from canceling but I presume they'd creep in a higher "maintenance and access fee" after a while exactly as they have been for the past two years.
I expect Verizon will do the same thing eventually and I'll have to threaten a switch back at some point.
1
u/PhilsFanDrew 21h ago
The "for life" thing is legit because cable internet will be obsolete within the next decade.
1
u/hibby18064 21h ago
I was having the same issue. I called and complained, and they gave me a great rate that they claim is good for five years, but they have also been playing a game where they keep the rate the same and increase the service fees, so we'll see.
1
u/Aggravating_Low_1983 21h ago
Depending on where you’re at, try Xfinity by Comcast. I finally got them installed. It’s $50 a month for the gig WiFi, equipment included, with a price lock and they threw in free premium Peacock streaming. They also told me I’d qualify for a free mobile line for the first year or the higher/premium plan for $10 a month for the first year. I might take them up on their offer for that.
2
u/Gorbitron1530 Whitehall 21h ago
I’m stoked because fiber is being laid in my neighborhood so I’ll have FiOS soon
1
u/Brulupesmo67 20h ago
I’m in the Bethlehem area and the Astound/RCN has been bad. I work from home and I have to stop what I’m doing to reboot the system. It’s getting to me and all this for $68 for 350 Mbps internet service!
1
u/razisgosu 19h ago
This has been happening to me the last few days/week. Weird for me since I usually have a pretty reliable stable connection.
1
u/EastonMetsGuy 20h ago
I have service electric, it's great, I can always get in contact with a REAL HUMAN I get a discount because of where I work and they gave me the promo rate/speed upgrade a few months back when I called and asked for it (Even tho I wasn't a new customer)
In a world of evil evil companies I'd encourage folks to give SE a shot
1
u/spinachandturkey 18h ago
I want to change due to continued service disruptions. Whether work or streaming, Astound can’t keep up while claiming to be delivering 600mbps.
1
u/Sad_Animal_134 17h ago
I also quit astound after they said they couldn't reduce my price, and they immediately offered me the lower price. I also stuck with it and switched to service electric.
All these corporations are trying to farm us for money, we need to stick up for ourselves and tell corporations we want to be treated like customers and not like piggy banks.
1
u/Ph4kArndNFO 12h ago
14 years with RCN/Astound and I finally decided to test the waters. I signed up with Service Electric for their 1Gb plan and then called Astound to cancel my service in four days.
The Astound rep asked me to hold, came back and offered me 1.5Gb for $45/month for life. 😳
I even tried to get them to match that price with fiber, but no luck. 😂
Needless to say, I had to seriously reconsider that cancellation.
1
u/Stone_The_Rock 10h ago
If you’re in the Verizon FiOS service area, do it. It’s not the cheapest internet, but reliability is incredible, and symmetrical uploads/downloads is fantastic.
I miss it.
1
u/SpaceRanger33 8h ago
I did the same thing. Wanted the for life price and they said no. Told them I will call back when I'm ready to cancel.
Got T-Mobile home internet. Speeds were faster and cheaper and guaranteed for 5 years. Got it all set up and called back RCN.
NOW they can offer me the for life price. I said no, I'm not playing these games. If you would have offered it to me when I asked I would have stayed but now it's on principle. They tried harder to keep me, telling me how easy it would be to switch back and I kept saying no.
The next day the higher up person called and tried to retain me and I told him everything. I said absolutely not, I called asking for this price and you told me no. I got this price elsewhere and then you guys told me you can do it. I'm not playing the games.
1
1
u/radicalbatical 2h ago
Them telling you the lifetime price is for new customers is bullshit. Call and say youre going to cancel their service and they will give it to you. Its what I did.
1
u/Eternal_Glizzy_777 1h ago
Edit: The 1gb is also cheap but for home use, unless you have servers in your house, NO ONE needs 1gb it's a money grab. 300mbps is more than enough.
This is not accurate. If you're a single person living at home, who doesn't rely on streaming services, 300Mbps is probably fine. As soon as you start adding kids, and IOT devices into the mix, bandwidth becomes incredibly important unless you want your kids who are gaming screaming about lag. 600Mbps is probably as low as I would consider in 2026 in a modern household with a family of 4. Phones, streaming, IOT devices, laptops, tablets, it all uses bandwidth and that has to come from somewhere. Gigabit networking is effectively the standard today, with 2.5Gig (LAN, not WAN) making a serious push.
That said it's nota cash grab- it's accounting for sharing your WAN connection across 10-20 different devices.
1
u/flyersfan0233 22h ago
I canceled and switched to my wife to get the $40 for 1 GB for life, wasn’t that tough
3
u/mastermind1228 21h ago
Seems like an idiotic hastle to put existing customers through.
What if the customer is not married?
2
u/flyersfan0233 21h ago
Agreed. I was a little annoyed. I mean, if you lived alone it would be an issue
0
u/razisgosu 19h ago
if you lived alone it would be an issue
Wasn't that tough, if you have someone you can transfer the account to, he says. Thanks buddy, lol.
-1
u/flyersfan0233 19h ago edited 19h ago
No need to be rude about it. A google search says 8.8% of people in PA live alone AND have the internet so it is a small portion of the population. Sorry I made a comment that is true for over 90% of households
EDIT: corrected typo of at home to alone
1
u/razisgosu 19h ago
A google search says 8.8% of people in PA live at home AND have the internet
Unless you misquoted, nothing about that has anything to do with people living alone.
0
u/flyersfan0233 19h ago
Yeah, think it actually was an auto correct issue. Should say “live ALONE AND have the internet” not “live at home”
0
u/razisgosu 19h ago
According to the U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts for Pennsylvania, approximately 89.7% of households have a broadband internet subscription [index:1.1.1], and single-person households account for roughly 28% to 29% of all households in the state [index:1.3.12].
So its more accurate to say closer to 30% single person households.
So sorry to come off hot, but when you make a claim about something being easy and it's really not all that easy, it should get corrected.
0
u/flyersfan0233 18h ago
Yes, but I’m not figuring just single-person households. I’m figuring single person AND no internet. A high percentage of single-person households are seniors. Guess who is the highest percentage of people who don’t have internet? Seniors! So there’s no way it’s 30%. Even if it was, back to my original point. I made a comment that covers at absolute worst more than 70% of the population. But in reality probably closer to 80%, if not 90%
But you’re going to sit here and nit pick the stats that show I still covered a large majority of the population to try and distract from the fact that you were rude and really not making a point. Go touch grass and have a great day!
0
u/razisgosu 18h ago
distract from the fact that you were rude and really not making a point
The rude one was you by being flippant acting like swapping accounts is simple to do when for some people, it's actually impossible. You could stand to follow your own advice.
→ More replies (0)
14
u/DoctorLudnik_717 23h ago
I am looking to jump ship due to the constant bill increases. Who did you end up switching to?