CenturyLink

CenturyLink advertises a DirecTV Select programming package, high-speed internet, and home phone bundle for less than $100 a month for the first year on its website. But that’s not what you’ll pay per month in the second year, which is a requirement under a two-year contract for the DirecTV portion of the bundle.

Promotion details linked toward the bottom of CenturyLink’s website note that while bundling any package with DirecTV requires that customers enter into a two-year contract for the programming, a $29.99 promotional monthly rate for Select expires after one year. In year two, the monthly rate jumps to $53.99. That doesn’t include the cost of set-top boxes, for which you can tack on an additional $7 per month per TV, a CenturyLink customer service representative told TINA.org in an online chat.

And while CenturyLink promises a “3-year price guarantee” for internet and phone — the remaining two-thirds of the bundle — a TINA.org reader said the monthly costs for both services inexplicably rose more than $20 in the second year after she signed up.

The bottom line? It’s easy to get lost in the land of bundles. Promotional rates expire and sometimes the math doesn’t seem to add up. That’s why it’s important to read all the terms to know what the longterm costs really are.

Find more of our coverage on bundles here.