Comcast Cable stories
dane_peterson
Posts: 1,903
Reading the other thread made me want to tell of my recent experience with Comcast. But instead of hijacking the current thread, I'll make my own.
Three weeks ago I sold my TV. It was the only TV in the house, and since we're moving Feb 1st, I decided to call Comcast and cancel our cable. No point in paying for a service we can't use.
Two days later, my internet stops working. Turns out they disconnected ALL my services. This was on a Friday morning. I use my internet FREQUENTLY. They told me they could get a tech out Sunday morning to reconnect the service. It's kind of interesting to me how the internet magically stops working, but they need to send a tech out to reconnect it. After some frustration, I accepted my fate and hung out at Starbucks for the weekend with my laptop and T-Mobile HotSpot.
Sunday morning, 2 hours after the tech left from reconnecting our service, I get a call from Comcast inquiring why I disconnected my cable. I tell them it was of no use to me, and that we would be moving in a short time. The lady tells me I can sign up for internet and cable for $19.99 each/month. (We're paying over $100/mo currently for both) I tell her I'd definitely be interested in $19.99 internet, but don't need the cable yet. So she says she'll call me back early February to get me signed up for cable again. I then mention that I will have an HDTV, and would require those services as well. "Easy, that's a $9.99/mo upgrade, and comes with free HBO, etc... I'll call you the first week of February. Remember my name!"
I hang up, confused. Not only have I already forgotten her name, but why the hell have I been paying $1XX.xx/mo? That's a LOT of money for those services for as little as we used them. We pretty much only watch movies anyway.
But if I'm going to be paying $49.97/mo for the same service I had over a month ago, I'd be paying less than half I was before. That's a little easier to swallow.
So what I'm getting at is, if you ever have a week where you don't feel like having your cable, call and cancel it. You'll get a really good deal the next month.
Three weeks ago I sold my TV. It was the only TV in the house, and since we're moving Feb 1st, I decided to call Comcast and cancel our cable. No point in paying for a service we can't use.
Two days later, my internet stops working. Turns out they disconnected ALL my services. This was on a Friday morning. I use my internet FREQUENTLY. They told me they could get a tech out Sunday morning to reconnect the service. It's kind of interesting to me how the internet magically stops working, but they need to send a tech out to reconnect it. After some frustration, I accepted my fate and hung out at Starbucks for the weekend with my laptop and T-Mobile HotSpot.
Sunday morning, 2 hours after the tech left from reconnecting our service, I get a call from Comcast inquiring why I disconnected my cable. I tell them it was of no use to me, and that we would be moving in a short time. The lady tells me I can sign up for internet and cable for $19.99 each/month. (We're paying over $100/mo currently for both) I tell her I'd definitely be interested in $19.99 internet, but don't need the cable yet. So she says she'll call me back early February to get me signed up for cable again. I then mention that I will have an HDTV, and would require those services as well. "Easy, that's a $9.99/mo upgrade, and comes with free HBO, etc... I'll call you the first week of February. Remember my name!"
I hang up, confused. Not only have I already forgotten her name, but why the hell have I been paying $1XX.xx/mo? That's a LOT of money for those services for as little as we used them. We pretty much only watch movies anyway.
But if I'm going to be paying $49.97/mo for the same service I had over a month ago, I'd be paying less than half I was before. That's a little easier to swallow.
So what I'm getting at is, if you ever have a week where you don't feel like having your cable, call and cancel it. You'll get a really good deal the next month.
Post edited by dane_peterson on
Comments
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I moved into my house a year ago February. In my old apartment I had Time Warner for cable modem and digital/HD cable. Just before I moved I called TW and said I wanted to cancel all services. The guy asked me why and I told him I was moving into a house and was going to get satellite service because it was cheaper. He immediately offered to lower my bill. For 12 months, my total bill (incl. taxes/fees) was ~$96/month. This was down from $140 full price.
Fast forward to today and my bill for February arrives and it is back up to $140 again. So last night I called TW and was very up front and honest. I told the guy when I moved in I got a deal for 12 months and that now my bill was too high again. He put me on hold for a couple minutes, and then told me he had lowered my bill back down to the $96/month for 4 more months.
Yeah, its kind of a pain to keep calling them, but its better than paying them an extra $40 a month for the same service. If they think they are going to lose you as a customer, they will almost always offer some kind of concessions. -
Almost always. But not always. I also did this for a while, but eventually they just say "OK" and call your bluff and cancel your service. Which is kind of a hassle
If you will it, dude, it is no dream. -
yeah, I've had them call my bluff before as well...
For some really odd strange reason whenever that happens, the call ends up getting disconnected!
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Why not just hook up an antenna and receive OTA digital? You can also scan the cable system for QAM and 8VSB high-def channels if your TV supports that.
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Well, since my TV doesn't have a built in HD tuner, I would have to shell out for one. That's what I get for buying an HDTV in 2001.
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You're actually in good shape then. You can get one of the new 5th gen tuners that decodes QAM from the cable system in addition to OTA ATSC. The number of channels you can pick up from the Comcast connection depends on how many HD channels they are carrying QAM in-the-clear. Some cable systems are showing Discovery HD, etc over QAM... and most are carrying the local affiliates at minimum. An antenna will still give you the best HD though, universally speaking the OTA HD broadcasts are higher bitrate than any wired or satellite transmission form.
The Samsung DTB-H260F is the new hotness from Samsung... Best Buy carries it for $179. It's gotten great reviews on AVSforum.
