Fun with Comcast cable

BlueFox

Today I canceled my expanded digital to the absolute basic TV package, which is just over the air channels via cable. Anyway, I never watch TV other than maybe 15 minutes a night while eating dinner, and I was tired of paying for it. So, now my cable package is the basic TV, and Internet access. Tonight I come home and can't access my music server via wireless. WTF, I am thinking. After a bit I realize Comcast has turned off everything. No TV, no Internet, not even local wireless access. At least they provide a number to call on the TV screen, and that is where I started. Finally, after an hour or so, I have the service I want operational. However, it took multiple calls, getting disconnected on transfers, and starting over before it was working. You would think after all these years of people complaining about Comcast they wouldn't screw things up so bad, but apparently not.

F1nut

Finally, after an hour or so, I have the service I want operational. However, it took multiple calls, getting disconnected on transfers, and starting over before it was working.

The last time I dealt with them was in 1986. I see nothing has changed.....amazing really.

obieone

Cancelled Directv 2 years ago. Don't miss any of that crap at all!:rolleyes:
Between YT and Amazon Prime, I'm all set.

VR3

Have not had cable in three years, don't miss it

leftwinger57

You think you have/had problems.I have Cablevision N.J. And what was happening was this unbelieveable depixalation of picture like every other few seconds and I would miss any dialog /action that was involved at the time. Now I call service ,oh they changed every F-connector the box the run in my house this and that ,read the feed from outside and it never got resolved.After about what seemed like 400 service calls and over telco ,finally both a tech ,supervisor and someone from c/s or puplic affairs came out and finally admitted it was a system wide problem that had to do w/ them going all digital and ditching their analog gear.I said for all this disturbance I want a credit ,No Credit because you really never lost all cable programming.After the storm they revamped their entire networking system and I have not seen my screen go nuts since they retooled .

SDA1C

VR3 wrote: »

Have not had cable in three years, don't miss it

Been 7 years for me and don't have the slightest itch to return.

WLDock

I recently moved and was glad to see all of the XFINITY Movers Edge radio, TV, and print ads. At last...a company willing to make moving easy. We called and got things set up before the move. Once in the new place... Lo and Behold, they screwed this up as well. No service, multiple phone calls, agents that don't know how to LISTEN, etc, etc, etc. I think it would have been easier if we would have just canceled service then started up new service.

Comcast has so many customer service issues, its really not funny.The only reason I'm still with them is because the dish companies and their price/contract don't do anything for me. I have a feeling that one day I will have just internet and maybe their basic local package. However, I really loved the uncompressed HD picture using my DIY Gray-Hoverman antenna. Last year when I first moved the fam from out of state we did not have cable for a while. We watched the Olympics on the 50" Samsung Plasma and the picture was stunning! Just a pure signal. The DIY antenna was awesome!


http://www.digitalhome.ca/ota/superantenna/
http://www.diytvantennas.com/sbgh.php

pretzelfisch

I just have internet with them years ago we went from the entry level speed to 30mbs the upgrade on the phone was fine I install the new modem and long behold still getting the slower speed. Called them to turn off the speed cap, no joy they had to send a tech out. who happened to be competent and called the service desk and had them remove the cap. Which because their backend is Frankenstein required cancelling my internet and starting it over again in the system at the higher speed.

Dabutcher

I pay them $34.99 a month for high speed Internet and Netflix $8.99 a month and Redbox $1.49 a Blu ray rental. Now Comcast is airing Al Jezeera America but no Blaze TV ? WTF? CEO of Comcast golfed w Obama Friday? Peace. D

polrbehr

I STILL cannot sign up with Verizon FiOS, not available out here, nor do they have any clue when it will be...

Thank goodness Cablevision is pretty good with their offerings (both speed & customer svc.), maybe a bit pricey but
not much else to choose from. In fact, they just doubled my internet speed, gratis. Yeah, I know, we do pay for it, but what the Hell, they didn't have to do it.

jflail2

Comcast is a DEBACLE. I ran into the same issues when I moved. "No, you didn't ask for a service transfer, we cancelled your account." Say what?

Honestly, the only way I can get anything done is to go speak to someone in person in our local office. Those ladies actually have their **** together, and were very honest in saying "the folks that provide online support haven't got a clue." I was very pleased with their in person support. One of the few companies where online chat is just not an option for me.

I'm kind of stuck with them, as I don't want a dish in my yard/ on my house, and there's no Fios option here for internet.

zingo

I had so many issues with comcast that we dumped them a while ago for FIOS; Never been happier, paid less, and had less issues!

Moose68Bash

In my remote area of the great north east, Comcast is the only viable option, if I want high-speed Internet access. I have had many, many problems.

The best of the rest with Comcast, however, was when one of their so called customer service reps did not want to listen to my problem or to deal with it. So, he hung up on me and coded my issue as a "self-install failure." Now, I can tell you for sure that I did not try to self-install my Comcast service; one of their techs spent a couple of hours in my house doing the install. He did a lousy job, so they had to send a second tech out. He spent most of his time complaining about the work of his colleague. So, this was no "self-install" problem.

The problem turned out to be that at a construction site nearby, they cut the cable. Comcast techs in the are finally called it in and told the service dispatch organization what was going on. At that point, the customer service rep said that it was not a "self-install" problem -- that is, when I called to cancel the scheduled service call because repairing the cut cable had restored my service.

C'est la vie!

tonyb

Customer service issues tend to follow the whole cable industry like a lost puppy. Ever try calling AT&T and talking to a real person ? It's an arrogance of sorts that says they have you by the balls, so what. Most area's the choices are limited so that mentality is justified....by them anyway. Only by way of more competition will that change.

krabby5

I'm kind of stuck with them, as I don't want a dish in my yard/ on my house, and there's no Fios option here for internet.

And people wonder why cable customer service sucks? That's what happens when their is no other option. wtf do they care?

tonyb

With my previous post said, I recently switched back to Comcast from AT&T. Saved me 80 bucks a month too. Inspite of Comcasts poor customer service, which is on par for every cable provider, they do offer the best. There on demand has the most movies, the most in past episodes of your fav. series, and their picture quality is right up there. They now guarantee their rates for 2 years instead of one, and let you keep your old e-mail even if it's from another provider. They are very solid as far as dependable service that rarely goes out, so I never have to really call customer service anyway. This may not be the case in all area's obviously.

George Grand

I have the cheapest service Comcast provides in my area. No HBO, no "special" channels whatsoever. I'm about $140 monthly for tv and internet combined. Not long ago they published in the newspaper some of the prices that Comcast charges you and me each month for each particular channel or network. At least for THIS area. It did not surprise me at all to find they charge me about $5 a month for the channel that broadcasts Nascar. It costs me about $5 a month for ESPN, ESPN II, Son of ESPN, and The Return of ESPN. $5 for the Golf Channel. Cooking and travel channels also. These are all things I don't watch. I like to watch the History Channel and that cost me about 9 cents a month. The same for A&E, and any other channel that you might actually learn something from. If I don't feel like having an educational experience from time to time, checking out the honeys on the Spanish stations costs me about a quarter a month.

If I could "build" my own package, instead of having to suck on one of these pre-packaged rips they offer, I'd be much better off.

tonyb

Agreed ^^^^, and also may go along way in customer satisfaction too.

jflail2

krabby5 wrote: »

And people wonder why cable customer service sucks? That's what happens when their is no other option. wtf do they care?

Couldn't agree more. That's the result of lack of competition; inefficiency. I was so excited when I first caught wind of Fios years ago. Still not available here, and I haven't looked, but it sounds like they're not going to expand their infrastructure anymore, so I guess you either have it our you don't at this point (I hope I'm wrong....)

billbillw

For 3 years I was happy with OTA only (I had a sweet antenna on the roof and distribution through the house) and DSL for internet. I used my Tivos to record locals and supplemented with Netflix and Redbox. I was happy for the most part except during college football season. Then the Braves went to cable/satellite only (no longer any local broadcasts except when Fox has a feature game. I do like to watch baseball, but its not enough to fork out $60+ a month for cable service.

Then last summer, I moved to a house that is in the broadcast shadow of a mountain. Very wooded and no line of sight to the satellites. No ATT U-Verse, no FIOS. Comcast was basically my only option. So, I have Comcast now. Digital Starter. I can't complain at this point because I'm still under some promotional pricing. The internet is definitely faster than the DSL I had previously and I am able to watch some of my favorite shows sooner (compared to waiting a year to catch them on Netflix). I had Comcast years ago, then DirecTV for many. At one point, satellite was significantly cheaper, but I think those days are gone.

In my experience, Comcast works well until you try to make changes. Then you are in for headaches. So far, this go around with Comcast has been trouble free. I did self install. Activated my modem over the phone, did self installs for my Tivo cable cards, called to pair them, and everything has worked exactly as it should. I haven't had to call, visit the office, or anything in over a year.

Now, I am about to return one of my cable cards since I changed out some of my system. Hopefully, it doesn't mess up evertyhing that has been working so well.