Cost of Living in T-Town

[Jammie]

Could anyone tell me the cost and the company that you use for phone, internet, and cable packages? Do you have fiber-optics in the area yet? (We just got it up here about a year ago. So. Dak)[]

Also, what is a good company to use for insuring your vehicles and personal property as a package, too? We pay approx. $1200 per year for full coverage on two vehicles. They aren't sporty vehicles and we have good driving records. Does that sound about right for Tulsa, too?[]

[DM]

Try Liberty Mutual for insurance. Great company and fair rates. Yes, its a plug for the company I work for but its true. lol!  [] They give discounts for college grads, good records, multiline, etc.

As for the internet. I pay $99.75 for basic cable, internet, and a home phone. That is through Cox.

[Conan71]

My wife and I are lucky.  We both have cell phones as a bennie at the companies we work for so we don't have a land-line at home.  We both work on computers most of the day, so no need for internet at home either.  I have Cingular, she's got T-Mobile and she hates the coverage.  It might be her phone (Black Berry) or the coverage just sucks.  I dunno.  If you are primarily worried about local calling only, and won't be roaming much, Cricket is highly recommended by other's on this forum.

The best "bundle", at least from advertising, is Cox.  My Mom has the whole package.  I can tell you from previous experience that Cable is faster than DSL, or at least it was a couple of years ago, they may have made improvements on DSL in that time.

Insurance:  DM makes a good recommendation.  We use Allstate because my wife's life-long best friend is an agent.  A friend of mine swears by Oklahoma Farm Bureau insurance.  He said it saved him a ton over Farmers and the claims service is excellent.  He had ice damage over the winter and said they were very prompt.

[grahambino]

i have t-mobile,  i havent had any problems with the coverage in Tulsa.  I cant vouch too much for it outside of tulsa, i was in tahlequah last week & noticed my phone read 'cellular one DCS'   I pay ~50 a month.  if you travel outside of tulsa alot you might be better served w/ something else. ymmv.

im paying 19.99 for the first 3 mos of cable internet, (for net only, i dont watch TV) after that its going to be ~39.99 IIRC.
i wish we had verizon FIOS as an option here, maybe someday tulsa will get fiber to the curb, with a reasonable pricetag.

[cannon_fodder]

Cell Phone:  
Cingular for both personal and business.  Always treated us well.  Comparable rates and features.  Coverage from Houston to Denver to Chicago (area I am most likely to be in).  No dead spots found around town.

Cable/Internet:
Cox.  I wanted HDTV and high speed internet.  This was the only way I could get both on one bill for a reasonable price.  I think I pay $120 monthly for both (includes a ridiculous cable TV package).

The fiber backbone goes under downtown Tulsa... so some area's have fiber.  Many business do.  But the vast majority of residential is still on DSL or Cable.  My cable speeds tend to be extremely high so I wouldn't pay more for fiber anyway.  I assume the cable backbone goes to a fiber core in a short distance.

Insurance:
Switched from Allstate to Farmers.  My wife and I both have clean driving records so we pay next to nothing.  Just shop around and make sure you 1) check online, by voice, and in person as you will get three different numbers - choose the lowest, 2) get UM in Oklahoma.  $1200 a year for full coverage does not sound too high for sporty vehicles.  Coverage in Oklahoma tends to be expensive due to the storms and large number of uninsured motorists.

Happy hunting.

[Conan71]

quote:Originally posted by cannon_fodder

My wife and I both have clean driving records so we pay next to nothing.  

Good thing they don't count 30 minutes of harrassment by a cop on a bogus fishing expedition, eh Cannon? []

[TheArtist]

"Do we have fiber-optics in the area yet?"  

Yes, and oh we have paved roads and some of the fancy houses even have that new fangled indoor plumbing.

It was real excitin last year when they paved main street.  All the locals sat out at the corner drug store and wached with excitement and amazement.  Gave us something to do other than bowling and watching the tumbleweeds pile up along the barbed wire fencing.

Though they aren't around anymore...

"Williams Communications' next-generation long-distance network, the fourth largest in the United States, will total 33,000 route miles connecting 125 cities by the end of 2000. The fully integrated architecture of the Williams Multi-Service Broadband Network couples ATM core switching with advanced optical networking technologies to provide carriers with data, voice, video and Internet services over any platform they choose. Williams Communications has received widespread industry recognition for its network architecture -- most recently the International Engineering Consortium's InfoVision award.

Williams Communications Group, through its subsidiaries, is North America's only exclusively carrier-focused fiber-optic network and the largest independent source of end-to-end integrated business communications solutions -- data, voice or video. Based in Tulsa, Okla., Williams Communications has 9,000 employees primarily in North America, with offices in Europe and Asia and investments in South America and Australia. Approximately 85 percent of WCG stock is held by Williams (NYSE: WMB - news) which, in 1985, became the first energy company to harness its core competency as a builder of networks to enable competition in the communications industry. "

Besides that Tulsa was one of the first cities in the US to widely use fiber optics and we still have one of the few major fiber optic "Trunk Lines" feeding right through our downtown.  Perfect infrastructure for any high tech or tele-service company to tap into.  And frankly an assett that I don't think our city promotes like it should.  

We sooo need to work on our image.  The very fact that people still ask if we have fiber optics or not is absurd. And I have heard that asked many times from others.

Oh and one other thing. Don't be alarmed if there are cows on the runway. They git out of Mr Craddoks pasture all the time and go grazin on the runway.  The plane will just buzz em a few times and they will git out the way.  []

[NellieBly]

Don't waste your money on uninsured motorist coverage. It does not pay for damages to your car if you get hit by someone without insurance. It only pays for medical expenses not covered by your insurance. It's a complete waste of money.

[inteller]

quote:Originally posted by NellieBly

Don't waste your money on uninsured motorist coverage. It does not pay for damages to your car if you get hit by someone without insurance. It only pays for medical expenses not covered by your insurance. It's a complete waste of money.

the proper term is 'underinsured' motorist insurance.

[Jammie]

Wow, thanks a lot. It looks like there are a few options and that the prices are quite reasonable.

I guess we've always carried uninsured and underinsured motorist because it doesn't seem like it adds to much extra.

Oh and don't be offended because I asked about fiber-optics. We just got it here about a year ago and although we're normally behind the times, I was told it wasn't all over the country yet.

Thank you so much for the names of companies. Now I can have a much easier search.[]

[swake]

quote:Originally posted by TheArtist

"Do we have fiber-optics in the area yet?"  

Yes, and oh we have paved roads and some of the fancy houses even have that new fangled indoor plumbing.

It was real excitin last year when they paved main street.  All the locals sat out at the corner drug store and wached with excitement and amazement.  Gave us something to do other than bowling and watching the tumbleweeds pile up along the barbed wire fencing.

Though they aren't around anymore...

"Williams Communications' next-generation long-distance network, the fourth largest in the United States, will total 33,000 route miles connecting 125 cities by the end of 2000. The fully integrated architecture of the Williams Multi-Service Broadband Network couples ATM core switching with advanced optical networking technologies to provide carriers with data, voice, video and Internet services over any platform they choose. Williams Communications has received widespread industry recognition for its network architecture -- most recently the International Engineering Consortium's InfoVision award.

Williams Communications Group, through its subsidiaries, is North America's only exclusively carrier-focused fiber-optic network and the largest independent source of end-to-end integrated business communications solutions -- data, voice or video. Based in Tulsa, Okla., Williams Communications has 9,000 employees primarily in North America, with offices in Europe and Asia and investments in South America and Australia. Approximately 85 percent of WCG stock is held by Williams (NYSE: WMB - news) which, in 1985, became the first energy company to harness its core competency as a builder of networks to enable competition in the communications industry. "

Besides that Tulsa was one of the first cities in the US to widely use fiber optics and we still have one of the few major fiber optic "Trunk Lines" feeding right through our downtown.  Perfect infrastructure for any high tech or tele-service company to tap into.  And frankly an assett that I don't think our city promotes like it should.  

We sooo need to work on our image.  The very fact that people still ask if we have fiber optics or not is absurd. And I have heard that asked many times from others.

Oh and one other thing. Don't be alarmed if there are cows on the runway. They git out of Mr Craddoks pasture all the time and go grazin on the runway.  The plane will just buzz em a few times and they will git out the way.  []

She is probably talking about fiber to home, which we don't have, it's not the path that AT&T(SBC) and Cox have taken, we have fiber to node, which is effectively about the same thing.

[dsjeffries]

quote:Originally posted by Conan71
The best "bundle", at least from advertising, is Cox.  My Mom has the whole package.  I can tell you from previous experience that Cable is faster than DSL, or at least it was a couple of years ago, they may have made improvements on DSL in that time.

I might be biased since I work with AT&T, but I know that Cox's $99 bundle is only an introductory rate and after that time is over (maybe three months), they can raise the price to whatever they want to charge.

I've met some people that pay $180 per month to Cox for the bundle, and though that's rare (most are in the $125-130 range), they can do it if they want.

AT&T has a bundle that's around $90 and prices are good for at least 12 months.  Plus, you can tack on your Cingular bill.

U-Verse will be in Tulsa soon, which will be really exciting... Cable, phone and high-speed internet via fiber optics...

[stymied]

Okay, I have to chime in here.  Do not select an agent because "my wife's life-long friend is an agent".  Go to google and search for something along the lines of "san diego wildfires + underinsured"

I used to live in San Diego and was there during the October 2003 wildfires.  Several thousand homes burned in San Diego, San Bernadino, Orange, and LA Counties.  What quickly was realized after the dust settled was that most everybody's policies were not enough to rebuild.  Most policies have a build in multiplier along the lines of 3% or so for replacement cost increases, but the problem for several years has been that construction cost increases have been well above 3%.  Many insurance companies offered "supplemental coverage ranging from 25% to 50%, and even 100% for one company.  This supplemental coverage was supposed to kick in if there was a delta between the actual replacement cost and what the policy would allow.  Most of the policies for these average 3 and 4 bedroom homes in the suburbs of San Diego were written for about $80 per sf, but the actual replacement costs came in at around $140 - $150.

I worked for a construction consultant at the time mainly doing construction defect work and litigation support as an expert witness.  We were soon sought out by attorneys representing homeowners not knowing where else to turn.  There insurance company would not even tap into the supplemental coverage because the homeowners couldn't prove their policy wasn't enough to rebuild.  Nobody is going to rebuild the exact home that burned down.  Most of the homes that burned down were 20 years old or older.  Building codes changed and tastes changed, so the new homes that most of the victims were looking at didn't resemble their old home at all, so they didn't have anything to compare the new cost to the old.  We would take building plans stored at the City's planning dept. and estimate the building cost in current $.  This whole process would take about 15 hours for us, as we would get actual quotes where we could compared to the 10 minute "quick quote" the original policy was written on.  Whatever upgrades the owner's made along the way were factored in to arrive at a final number.  This final number was used to fight the insurance companies with.  Most of the insurance companies relented and gave the supplemental coverage, but many of the victims still didn't have enough coverage even with the supplemental coverage.

The whole situation received a lot of media attention and the "big three" of Allstate, Farmers, and State Farm received the biggest black eye, as they were time and again alleged to be using dirty tactics through the whole ordeal.  In all I did about 50 assessments after the wildfires.  I was able to deal with firsthand about a dozen different insurance companies.  Some were very fair, if not generous.  Some were downright nasty.  Some insurance companies paid additional monies to victims even after the Coverage A and supplemental coverages were exhausted.

Here is a few comments concerning the best and worst insurance companies I dealt with:

AAA - by far the best.  they were the only insurance company that provided their customers with "guaranteed replacement" coverage.  Basically whatever it cost to rebuild, they were covered.  The adjustors were extremely fair in dealing with me.  The experience I had in dealing with AAA is the sole reason I have my home and autos covered with AAA today.

USAA was probably second.  They had supplemental coverage that equaled 100% of the original coverage.  Basically everyone was eventually taken care of after getting some help from us to argue their case.

There was a third best company that I can't remember right now.  I will

Travelers was borderline criminal.  Travelers refused to pay for new slabs even though the slabs themselves were damaged including damage the encased piping and rebar within the slabs.  This was even after the county of San Diego condemned all the concrete slabs that remained after the homes built on them had burned to the ground.  The county would not issue new permits because the slabs were damaged beyond any reuse potential and Travelers attempted to sue the county to make them issue permits for the damaged slabs.  

AllState, Farmers, and State Farm were all pretty bad.  Farmers and State Farm were definitely worse.  Their supplemental coverages ranged from 20% to 30$ I believe.  Even after we helped them get all of the supplemental coverages, some of these victims were still underinsured by over $150,000.  And before you think, "oh that's San Diego, that can never happen here.  Those must be mansions, etc."  First of all, out of about 50 claims I looked at, the largest home was slightly over 3,000 sf.  Most were between 2,100 and 2,400 sf, 2-story, 3 to 4 bedroom, 2 bathrooms, 2 car garages, with about a 7,000 to 9,000 sf lot.  These were basically what amounts to a $160,000 home in Broken Arrow now.  Secondly, construction costs have gone up all over the country (remember the Arena?), so it's not just a California thing.  Also, what no one can anticipate is the regional impact of a natural disaster.  Factoring in regionally high demand for labor and materials on top of an already strong construction market will cause prices to skyrocket at the local level (remember Katrina?).  This is what happened with the wildfires in San Diego-already a very strong market, then a huge drain on local resources for the short term.  Is it that unrealistic to think we could lose several thousand homes to an outbreak of tornados?  What then?

Bottom line: do not shop on price alone.  If you are getting quotes on your home, ask questions like "you say I need $150,000 in coverages.  What if my home ends up costing $200,000 to rebuild?"  Compare coverages for contents.  This can vary a lot.  Ask about separate deductibles for roofs.  In the end, even though your agent might suggest a coverage amount for you, it is your responsibility to be informed!  Buyer beware!  Your agent will do a quick quote in a matter of minutes and want to lure you in with a low price without ever stepping foot in your home to notice that you have a new kitchen or that you have expensive window coverings.  When in doubt ask a contractor to do an estimate on the cost to replace you current home.

[cannon_fodder]

*yawn*

Have you nothing better to do Teddy?

<- never been ripped off by a contractor in Tulsa.  
<- Gets what he pays for 99.9% of the time.

[Jammie]

quote:Originally posted by DScott28604

quote:Originally posted by Conan71
The best "bundle", at least from advertising, is Cox.  My Mom has the whole package.  I can tell you from previous experience that Cable is faster than DSL, or at least it was a couple of years ago, they may have made improvements on DSL in that time.

I might be biased since I work with AT&T, but I know that Cox's $99 bundle is only an introductory rate and after that time is over (maybe three months), they can raise the price to whatever they want to charge.

I've met some people that pay $180 per month to Cox for the bundle, and though that's rare (most are in the $125-130 range), they can do it if they want.

AT&T has a bundle that's around $90 and prices are good for at least 12 months.  Plus, you can tack on your Cingular bill.

U-Verse will be in Tulsa soon, which will be really exciting... Cable, phone and high-speed internet via fiber optics...

There you go~U-verse sounds like it'll have exactly the package we'll be looking for.[]