Does this sound right?

[BarTopDancer]

I called up the cable company to downgrade my service. They told me it's a $30 charge to downgrade, and it's a fee charged by every cable company in accordance to the FCC.

I've upgraded and downgraded over the years and have never heard of this before (the person said it's been going on for over a year).

I know the FCC is messed up, but does that sound right? Or is this their new way to get people to stay with more expensive services.

[Gemini Cricket]

Ralphie and I just downgraded our cable two months ago and did not get hit with a fine. Our company is RCN. We had a bunch of channels (Showtime, Starz etc) we never watched and gave it up for basic cable.

[€uroMeinke]

I've never been charged a "downgrade" fee, but we have satelite.

What if you cancel your service alltogether and sign up fresh?

[BarTopDancer]

I'm thinking about it. I'd go with satelite but I'm downgrading because I don't watch anything.

They claim it's because they have to re-wire the cable to block the extra channels. Um ya, I only have basic cable.

[innerSpaceman]

If you only have basic cable, what would you be downgrading to?

[Prudence]

Dollars to donuts there's no "FCC fee." That's the standard line they spout when imposing a service charge because if you tell people it's a government requirement they'll more readily acquiesce. Phone companies do the same thing. Likely the other utilities do, too, but I've not had the joy of arguing with them.

[BarTopDancer]

If you only have basic cable, what would you be downgrading to?

Antenna service. I don't really watch the additional stations that I have.

Basic cable has VH1, MTV etc..

Antenna service has the networks and stations like KDOC.

I called them back, and it's pretty much a penality for downgrading. The person I spoke with said it wasn't an FCC fee and I never should have been told that. He offered to waive the fee if I still wanted to downgrade but the price difference in the two services isn't that much anymore so I declined.

[Prudence]

I'm pretty sure that the FCC doesn't regulate consumers directly.

Around here the cable company will tell you, when you sign up, that basic cable doesn't exist. You have to argue to get that service.