The Big Sandy Mountaineer -

I am going to make this column short and sweet. Don’t Bundle! Bundling is when you pay more than one bill with just one check. In my case I have my Direct TV bundled with my internet and home phone service.

Last month I realized that my television bill was getting out of hand. I was paying $170.00 a month and not getting nearly that much service out of the television service. Cutting back did not come easy as I have been with Direct TV since 1996. So, at the beginning of last month I called Direct TV and cut enough programming to make my bill just a little over a hundred dollars a month. Much better, right? That very hour they cut all my unnecessary programs but when I got my bundled bill yesterday, it was still $170.00 for TV. I know that would not have happened when Direct TV was their own company but you see gentle readers, now Direct TV is owned by one of the worst weasel customer service organizations in the world, A T and T!. I called them and was told that even though they cut my programming immediately; because I was bundled I might have to wait at least one business cycle and maybe two.

Well, I unbundled myself yesterday afternoon but still I am responsible for another large bill from Direct TV and paid it under protest this morning.

It isn’t enough that I am one of the few people who answer my telephone when someone calls me. As a result I get an attempted scam several times a week. But now normal businesses are scamming as well.

What is the world coming too? No wonder so many of us are so dissatisfied in so many areas!

I’ve no answers except if you are bundled, unbundle yourself immediately. That way your life is a tad more your own!