It has been just about a month now since we canceled our TV service.  I’m happy to say its going alright.  Not that I haven’t thought of signing up everytime I get a DirectTV “special welcome back” deal in the mail.  Why they can offer those crazy $29/month prices after you leave, but not while you are with them, I’ll never understand. 

We have been surviving well on our Netflix account and free Redbox movies on Mondays.  Like I said previously, we hookup our laptops to our LCD TV and watch movies and TV shows online either at Netflix, which we pay $9/month for, or at the network websites (i.e. www.usanetwork.com – Psych, and Monk).  We recently discovered www.hulu.com, and www.fancast.com.  Which are operated in joint venture by the major broadcast networks, Fox, CBS, ABC, NBC.  They have a ton of content for free.  Of all the online options for watching video, Netflix by far has the best quality and reliability.  Hulu and Fancast (which share content with each other) have “iffy” quality.  They seem to take awhile to start playing smoothly, if they ever do.  Considering the fact that  I have a very stable 10Mbps internet connection, I can only assume that the problem is on their end, or that CDE is somehow throttling my connection. 

Aside from all the online video options, (and I forgot to mention Sling.com, which is still in beta testing) we really have found that we watch less and seem to be getting more done when we are home.  We eat more meals at the kitchen table, and have been cooking at home more as well.  All in all, I have to say that canceling our TV service is one of the best things we have done for our family.  The real test is going to be when Kayce is home all day with two boys over the summer.  We’ll see what happens then.

Kayce has taken on some blogging duties so I expect the site will be much more up-to-date now… Here are some random pictures I just found on my phone. The picture of my deformed tooth being prepped for a crown after it fell apart. I was just getting a filling repaired… I took this while the dentist was out of the room. The second is of a drum set that someone gave us for parker. And now… Back to Kayce.

After one full week without TV, I have to say…  Not too bad.  I’ll probably be enjoying it more, when I see the bill, or lack thereof in a few weeks.  We are using our unlimited Netflix.com account, and the Redbox, and haven’t really missed anything.  We have been catching our favorite show via their network website and watching them online with our computer hooked to our TV.  Parker has discovered a love of the Pink Panther Cartoons, which are surprisingly violent, and even had some drunk people in them.  Didn’t know that.  Also, I found Sling.com, which is a beta website, that Sling Media has created to stream video content.  They don’t have anywhere near the choices that Netflix has, but still just another source to add to the list.  Well, that’s the update for this week.  Keep checking back, and see if we make it.

Today I canceled out TV service.  Since we bought our house, we have Internet from Charter, Bellsouth, and now CDE.  Through CDE we have a 10Mbps connection.  Super fast, super reliable.  We have had TV from Charter, DirectTV, and CDE.  The CDE service had the potential to be fantastic, but they failed miserably.

Kayce and I have decided to try something alittle radical.  We have canceled our TV service, and are going to rely totally on DVDs and the internet for video entertainment.  I don’t know if you are aware at the amount of video available online.  I wasn’t until this past year.  With the speed of our CDE fiber optic connection and a computer hooked into our LCD TV, we can watch most all of our favorite show free on the various network’s website.  For example, we love HOUSE, we can watch full episodes virtually commercial free on FOX’s website.  With the speed of our internet connection the quality (while not HD) is as good or better than cable. 

For all those times when we just want to watch a movie, or the kids want to watch something… We have subscribed to Netflix Unlimited Plan for $9 a month.  We can get 1 DVD at a time, as many times as we want, or we can watch unlimited movies and TV instantly on Netflix.com.  This will save us about $50 a month, and we will be watching what we want, when we want, without having to channel surf, and sit through commercials. 

We’ll, keep you up to date and let you know how it works out.  Its an interesting little experiment, I hope it works out.  Right now, I’m laying on the couch with a wireless keyboard typing this on my TV.  Its amazing what you can do now, and I hope that everyone starts to embrace how TV, Computers, and the internet have sort of merged into one.  If nothing else, it saves money.  I suspect we will also get more done in a day, than if we were just casually watching TV as much as we do.  Wish us luck!

Ok, long story, here we go.  First off, the tips below still apply, with one exception.

By reporting charges before they have processed completely, the bank should be able to remove them immediately without having to credit your account, which can take days or weeks.

This is not true!  I checked our account on Monday and found charges to our account that weren’t ours.  I called the bank immediately, and from what I was told and understood, they had reversed the authorizations so that our available balance was back to normal.  I asked if there was anything else I needed to do, and they said basically, “No”.  I hung up, refreshed my online banking page, and the charges were gone.  I was amazed, and happily impressed.  I started telling everyone how wonderful US Bank is. 

Fast forward to Wednesday.  I check our account and almost fell through the floor…  The charges were no longer pending authorization, they had posted.  So that money was really gone now.  I called the bank very irriatated.  No one had told me the charges would still post after the authorization had been reversed.  I talked to them three times that day, going as far up the chain as I could.  They said, “It is part of our scripting to inform you that the charges can still post to your account.  It all depends on the merchant.”  WHAT??  No one told me that!  Had they told me that, I would have moved all that money to another account so it would still be available to me, and US Bank would just have to deal with the overdrafts, which would get refunded in the end anyway. 

So, BIG TIP!!  If you catch fradulent charges that haven’t posted yet…  Get the authorizations reversed ASAP, and as soon as the available balance is back MOVE THAT MONEY, so you still have it available to you.

I addition to not being informed that these charges can still post, the entire way these cases are handled is ridiculous!  Here is the work flow… Tell me this isn’t crazy!

-You notice odd charges, Call the 24 hour banking number
-They open a fraud case, and reverse the authorizations
-The funds are back (at least temporarily), and like me, you do nothing else
-Your awaits assignment to a Claims Processor (who only works 8-4:30pm M-F), which can take 7-10 days.
-In the meantime, the charges post to your account without your knowing, and you are broke
-You call the bank angery that no one told you this would happen, and want your money back now
-They say that only a claims processor can approve a provisional credit to your account
-You say well then transfer me to a claims processor
-They say sorry they are gone for the day and it can take 7-10 days for someone to be assigned
-You stutter for a moment becuase this is so crazy
-You say well it seems that they should think about expanding their claims department if they have so many cases that they can’t get to them more quickly, and that they should probably think about putting them on 24 shifts seeing as how important their job appears to be. 
-They say thanks for suggestion, but you know nothing will change
-You hang up and post a blog about how horrible US Banks fraud case system is!

Tell me that isn’t ridiculous!  There are so many cases like this everyday, you would think that the banks first priority would be to help the customer.  It isn’t!  If it was, they would have someone working on these cases 24 hours a day so that people lives wouldn’t be disrupted.  They don’t.  I tried to aurgue with them that these are not NORMAL circumstances, why would their employees work NORMAL hours?  They couldn’t understand that. 

Long story, short:  US Bank is not as great as I thought, and they obvisouly don’t understand the plight of their customers that go through this kind of problem.  Write them a letter, if you have US Bank.

Now, I just have to say, ARG!!!

In my last post I said what a great job my bank did… I take it all back. They neglected to tell me on Monday that even though they reversed the autherization on those charges that they will still post to my account. So, what is the point of reversing them? I called them, oh my bank is US Bank… And I will soon be switching if I can. Once I get to a computer, I’m on my phone… I will give greater detail as too the flawed system… Stay tuned, and away from US Bank. I’ll also give some tips on how to work around this problem. Check back.

Just a quick post to remind everyone to keep an eye your bank accounts over the holidays. I just spent a few minutes (WOO HOO to my bank for great service) on the phone with our bank clearing up almost $600.00 in fraudulent charges. Its always a good idea during heavy spending seasons to watch your bank account. If you have access to online banking i suggest you check your pending charges daily. By reporting charges before they have processed completely, the bank should be able to remove them immediately without having to credit your account, which can take days or weeks. Below are some more tips thanks to my banks website. 

I did not write the above tips myself.  They were taken from my banks website and I will gladly cite them for the information if you e-mail me.  I am not listing my bank for security reasons.  Thank you.

Having a great time on vacation this week.  We are all going to the Christmas play at Erin and Dusty’s church tonight.  Tyson and Parker are having a great time as you can see…  We have all been shooting each other with Tyson’s nerf guns.  Well… Carson just work up so we have to get ready to go.  Watch out for pictures and videos coming soon from all our Christmas activities.