I Finally Canceled Comcast Cable…Before It Hurt More Than My Wallet
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diaper I have written about my sketchy relationship with Comcast before, including a popular article about threatening to cancel cable to get a reduced (but still excessive) bill.
I would love to report that my relationship with Comcast has been a rosy one since then, but alas that’s not been the case. Not even close. The prices have continued to rise, the customer service has been sketchy, the services have had troubles and outages beyond the norm, and the billing statements I received never matched the ones I saw online. That caused no end of confusion.
However, the latest gem from Comcast happened around six weeks ago. I say that because I can’t pin a specific date on it — all I know is that it was around that time that I noticed problems. It was also the same time we got new neighbors.
Specifically, we were getting some very annoying disruptions in sound and picture throughout the day. Sometimes the sound would cut out every 30 seconds, for about 1 second at a time. Sometimes it was more spread out. The picture would pixilate, then return to normal.
We had experienced occasional problems like this in the past, but they were rare. To have it happen time after time was odd. I figured it would go away — it was probably just a problem in our area. When I called Comcast, a recorded message said there were issues in our area anyway.
But after a few weeks with no subsidence with this issue, it was still going on. I was confused, and once again I called Comcast to get a recorded message indicating service problems. “Wow, they’re having issues” I thought, and like the ostrich that I am sometimes, I stuck my head in the sand.
That weekend, I decided to blow the winter dust off my lawnmower and give my front and back lawn the first cut of spring. I took the small gravel driveway from the garage to my back garden, with the intention of taking the padlock off the gate. That’s when my foot caught on something and I went flying face-first into that same gate, scraping up my hand and my head and landing pathetically on the floor.
What I caught my foot on turned out to be a wire going from the cable box on the side of my house to the cable exchange box in the neighbor’s back yard. After some swearing and a little hydrogen peroxide, I came back to the scene to investigate the huge wire. I’d had Comcast since I moved into the home in 2002, and this wire had never been there before. Very odd. Was the new neighbor stealing my cable?
Well, no. And the reason I know is that this wire was providing the feed to the cable box, it wasn’t someone tapping the feed. And besides, it would be much easier to tap the exchange directly. No, this was a brand new wire.
I whipped out my phone, grabbed a few pics (below) and called Comcast customer service immediately.
As it turns out, they had no idea what it was. I called on a weekend, and they said they would send someone to my home on Monday to investigate. I stressed that this was a wire just flying loose above ground, and that it was clearly not just a tripping hazard but was no doubt the cause of all the service problems we’d been having.
On Monday morning, Comcast called to say that my wife needed to call them back to let them know she would be home for the appointment we had scheduled. Why? We made the appointment the day before, we specified the time. Anyway, my wife called back, stayed home, and Comcast decided not to show up anyway.
We called back requesting a new service appointment. We were then told that we could be charged for this call out if it was considered unnecessary. What?! A loose wire running across the main path between my front and back yard, a path used by two young children (3 and 5) is, in my book, something that needs immediate attention. Not according to Comcast. And by the way, my monthly bill is not exactly small. Including Internet and Phone, my Comcast bill is around $180 per month. And that includes a special promotion I’m on. When that expires, my bill will be closer to $220! For that kind of money, I want decent service.
After no luck with Comcast to resolve this wire, and the increasing costs being directly proportional to the decreasing customer service, I decided after 7 and a half years that I would call it quits. I met with a representative from DirecTV, told him what I was getting from Comcast and asked if he could beat it.
He could. Oh, how he could. My new bill will be around $80 less per month than the “special” I’m getting from Comcast. The only difference — I won’t be getting the Starz movie channel in that package, which is $10 a month to add on. No worries. And next year, when my introductory offer ends, I’ll still pay $50/month less than I pay on the Comcast “special.” Plus, I get way more advanced technology, including an HD DVR that holds 400 hours (as opposed to 60 with Comcast) and can be hooked up to every TV in the house. But I will miss On Demand and a few other cable luxuries.
What bugs me most about this is that Comcast is a GIANT of a company. They have no real competition, being the only cable company in Colorado and several other areas. They say satellite is competition, but it’s a different technology. If you want cable, with those great services like On Demand, you have to choose Comcast. They know this, and they abuse that knowledge. So much so that they are now hemorrhaging customers at an increasing rate. And when you lose a customer who has been with you longer than most people are married these days, you have big problems.
I should have been easy to keep. Comcast should have jumped on that dangerous wire (which is still there at the time this article was published), they should have apologized, they should have made good, they should have done a lot of “customer service 101” things. They could have said “hey, we are really sorry about that, we’d like to pay your cable bill for two months to make up for the poor reception and dangerous wire.” They could have given me a TV package upgrade for one year. The second doesn’t really cost them anything at all anyway — they just open a feed. As I used to work in the cable TV industry, I know what they can do. Instead, they basically just decided I wasn’t worth it. Is it any wonder Comcast recently won the WCIA (Worst Company In America) award after twice being runner-up?
And that’s why I’m writing today. Take from this what you will, but what I say is that you should not have to put up with the kind of BS that huge corporations like Comcast dish out on a daily basis. You are not just a number in a spreadsheet, you are not a statistic. If you’re getting rotten service, vote with your hard-earned dollars and take your custom elsewhere. Don’t feel trapped and told feel useless or apathetic. Sure, DirecTV doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of Comcast Cable, but man, they are about to have the chance to make up for that with how they treat me. And if it doesn’t work out, I’ll try Dish Network. If that fails, I’ll figure something else out.
Bottom line, you are the customer and you have rights. Not just that, you have power. If every single disenchanted Comcast customer left for DirecTV or Dish Network today, Comcast would have a huge problem on their hands. They may have to lower their prices, or improve customer service. The power lies with us. And we can choose how to use that power.
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Comcast isn't the only company that treats customers like parasites. Time-Warner Cable is the same way. Like Comcast, Time Warner Cable has a monopoly in our neighborhood. We were having outage issues, and a independent contractor with Time-Warner told us we needed new coax from the service main to the house. He couldn't lay down the new cable because that was somebody else's job. 2 days later, another contractor replaced the coax. But he decided to leave the cable running across my yard (approximately 1/2 acre). I wasn't able to mow or anything. Called TWC back and explained the situation. Another 2 or 3 days later, the cable was finally buried- only about 6" into the sod layer.
These companies know they have a monopoly (thanks to FCC regulations) so they just don't care. I hope Google's wi-fi initiative is successful, because maybe that will finally bring some competition. We don't even have TWC cable service, just their internet service, so if municipal wi-fi becomes a reality, we can finally be rid of the pestilence that is known as Time Warner Cable.
Comcast has a monopoly in my area (but not elsewhere in this city. This means the prices are higher here than a few streets over because they can be). Leaving them for dish was a great decision that I wish I made sooner. I get better customer service, lower prices, and I actually have fewer problems and outages which was what I was worried about.
I'd go out with wire cutters and deal with it myself... before someone gets hurt.
We had cable, we had dish, we had direct. Now we have an antenna that brings us PBS and local stations and a PS3/netflix disk combo where we can watch all kinds of movies and series on demand from our TV. I don't miss the extra channels one little bit and our bill is now zero (well, we pay for Netflix obviously, but we already were paying for that). And yeah, our antenna is HD. We have about 20 channels.
I got rid of all outside tv services and bought an antenna and picked up a tivo premiere. I could get a boxee now or wait for Google tv later this year but either way I'll get content from the internet and thats way more tv than I even need. And, the antenna was $40. The tivo was $299 but will last years. Compare that to a $100 per month.
Paul - Fair warning about DirecTV - you are signing a 24 month contract that if you try to cancel you'll get charged $20/month for.
We signed up for DirecTV awhile ago and as an extra conscious consumer I read the TOS and all the fine print very carefully. I couldn't find anything committing to me to any length of time. Fast-forward 6 months when I called to cancel only to find out I couldn't without a penalty. So, just be warned!
DirecTV does have On Demand. You need a broadband service like FiOS to access it though.
Been there, done that!
I had a similar horrible customer service experience with Comcast. So, I switched to DirecTV. But when my bill jumped over $80/month, with no premium channels or anything fancy. I did exactly what the 3rd post from "Guest" says.
I now have a digital antenna, with some good (PBS, all locals, all spanish, which I speak, and even a couple I didn't get with DirecTV, like US Sports), and some bad channels, I have Netflix, and use it a lot, not only for movies, but for TV series, I mostly use the Nexflix download. I use Hulu.com for a lot of TV shows, and for sports, I use ESPN3.com, which shows many prime time events (NBA, MLB, Soccer (from Europe, US, etc), Tennis, etc). So I might not have the last channel on earth, but I have about 75%.
The main difference is (besides my internet connection), I pay $9 for all that.
I've been filling like a champ ever since.
Netflix streamed is the way to go IMHO. We don't miss cable a bit and have actually found some really cool shows we would have never watched if we didn't have Netflix.
I would love to use Netflix streamed, but my husband is hearing-impaired and uses captions. And Netflix hasn't gotten around to figuring out how to caption the streamed stuff - although Hulu and a couple of the networks online have. Still waiting on CBS to get with the program as well.
Even canceling with them is a chore. I canceled my service yesterday - primarily because I"m moving to a place with satellite provided (but even if it wasn't, I wouldn't be continuing with them). The customer service rep all but demanded my new physical address (not just a forwarding address), first so she could transfer the service, then so she could tell me about all their specials, then, when I finally mentioned that I already had service taken care of (hoping that would make her give up), she wanted to know who was providing it. What should have been a 5 minute call - disconnect, instructions for the final bill, done - was more like 15, and that was after waiting on hold.
This sounds like every headache I had with Comcrap. You're better off without them.
We love our DirecTV, Paul! I didn't get the Starz movie package either, but turns out most of the movies I wanted to watch are available as Netflix instant viewing films through their Starz partnership. With my Roku box or Wii, we can watch it through the TV any time we want -- so much easier and cheaper than buying the channels. And we don't do much Pay Per View for films -- we go the Amazon Unbox route for that. Still only $70 a month for phone, cable, and long-distance (yes, we still use our landline a lot!)
We had similar experiences with Comcast. We ditched them for Fios because we didn't have a clear view of the sky for DirecTV.
DirecTV, in my opinion, is the best service. We have had DishNetwork - it's not that great because of how the boxes work with multiple TV sets. We had some issues with DishNetwork that I remember aggravating me.
I will agree wholeheartedly, Comcast is horrible. It appears that they are trying to scare their customers away. I thought it was just us!!!
We like Fios but liked DirecTV more.
Congratulations on dumping Comcast! NetFlix is a great companion to Satellite TV because now you can watch movies using a Wii console!
Man, I'd be happy to be rid of Comcast. Unfortunately, they're not any cheaper than the other options out here (we tried satellite, but could only get service a few days a week). We canceled the cable package to cut expenses, but if we canceled the TV portion entirely, our internet bill would go up - and the internet is what we need to watch Hulu and access Netflix!
I don't think internet should be more than $30, but here the going rate no matter the company is at least $50.
Don't the new Comcast commercials say they have to give you a $20 statement credit if they miss an appointment? It seemed like from the commercials they were trying to improve their customer service. I guess they're just improving their customer service image and not the actual service.
I do have to say that we're a lot more satisfied with our basic Comcast cable (w/o a box) than we ever were with our more expensive service. We'd get rid of cable but we still want the internet.
"Don't the new Comcast commercials say they have to give you a $20 statement credit if they miss an appointment?"
That might be a local/regional promotion. I haven't seen anything like that around here. But maybe I just haven't noticed those commercials.
Thank you for this post! This is exactly the motivation I needed to call AT&T up and get rid of Comcast once and for all!
Highly recommend AT&T. I dumped Comcast about 6 months ago and got AT&T Uverse, we LOVE it.
We got rid of Comcast 4 years ago and went with Direct TV, and love it! You are right Comcast will not work with you at all. As far as the 2 year contract with Direct TV, yes they did explain it quite clearly, then after the 2 years there is never a contract again. Our niece just bought her first home, and called Comcast to see what specials they might have. NOTHING. They told her they don't work that way because they do not make people sign contracts. She called Direct TV, and again they explained clearly there was a 2 year contract and if she dropped out in the time frame it would be a flat fee of $150. She got an amazing new customer deal for 2 years. I decided to call them one day to see what they would give a good customer. The Rep was so nice! We actually started talking about all kinds of things and in the end she took $15 a month off of our bill for one year! Now that is customer service!!
Cable TV is bogus and Comcast's OnDemand service is primitive and offers a pathetic selection of viewing options. PC + internet + current-gen gaming console + third-party media server software (if needed) to steam content onto your television is the way to go. It would be a steep up-front cost to pick up the gear, but if you've got that stuff already anyway (and so many of us do), why would you even need a cable TV subscription? Woe to Comcast/xfinity/whatever as more and more people figure out it's not that difficult.
I bet that is just how your neighbor's tech set up their cable. We had a tech come out to our house and he couldn't get into the outside cable routing box thing, so rather than try to open it, he just routed around it. He didn't tell us, so when we tried to move our TV to another room we had to smash open the cable box and re route it ourselves.
That sounds exactly like the service I got from Adelphia in Virginia. They're the Big Oil and Big Insurance of the television/internet world.
Unbelievable that they are so happy to give out massive crap to their overpriced customers while still feeling that they "deserve" to be in business.
I have Qwest in Colorado, where you can bundle with DirecTV, and have been thrilled with my faster and more reliable internet. A big, big step up from Comcast.
We had a sort of similar case w/Comcast. They never got us working properly. We gave them 2 years and every time they came out, they'd say that the guy before them did something wrong. Then one time we were charged $30 for the repair visit, even though it was their fault, the guy never brought the promised modem back, and we were still having problems. I called to complain and they wanted to us to sign for some repair plan or we'd be charged every time they came out. It was a nominal fee and the customer service rep kept likening it to inside wire repair plans. I refused to pay, because it infuriated me to have them trying to charge me to fix their mistakes. We had been more than patient. The customer service rep was furious with me for refusing to pay the fee and started yelling at me. Then two weeks later, we received a notice saying our account had been audited and it ends up that we had not been paying enough money. They did not try to bill us retroactively, but our bill was supposed to be approximately $50/month more for now on. I know the customer service rep had something to do with it. She was irrationally mad that I wouldn't pay the fee and just couldn't understand the idea of me refusing based on principle.
So we canceled our account like a hot potato. What really bugs me now is that they keep coming to our house to "let us know that they will be doing work in the area and they didn't want us to worry" (their excuse for knocking on our door despite our very explicit "no soliciting" sign - why would I worry that Comcast was doing repairs on our street?). "But, while they have us there..." At our door, they have offered us insanely cheap deals, but once again, they just don't get it. I don't care how cheap it is if it is down 50% of the time and they want to charge me to repair their mistakes. I'll calmly explain this and they'll turn around say, "But, what if I get you this price?" It's like dude, are you listening to what I just said? Meanwhile, I shouldn't even talk to them based on the fact that they are soliciting me at the door, which I refuse to do and they are the only ones who have ever disregarded my very explicit "no soliciting sign" (it is not rude, but states that we don't do business, make donations, discuss politics or religion, view demonstrations, etc. through the door- I've found that if I don't spell out every possible scenario, people come to the door and ignor the "no soliciting" sign because they "aren't soliciting"). I've changed my sign to now say, "This includes you too Comcast!"
The sign my late husband had made says, "No matter what you are selling, including your religion, GO AWAY!!" It's worked like a charm for years now.
It is really nice of you to still allow Comcast to advertise in your feed.
I cancelled my paid TV several years ago and now watch about 45 minutes of news four times a week. I rent a Redbox movie about five times a month.
The balance of my time that used to go to TV watching now goes to blogging, gardening, photography, reading, etc.
If you are able, get away from the TV altogether, it rots your brain.
I don't know so much about rots the brain - it depends on what you're watching. Mythbusters is pretty good as are lot of the Discovery/History and occasionally DIY programs. Movies are also worthwhile entertainment.
On the other hand, mindless TV viewing sucks away an enormous amount of time. Americans who complain that they they have no time to clean their houses, pay their bills, go to school or do any number of things they want to should think long and hard about paying for cable TV.
And I'm afraid I have a hard time getting all riled up about cable TV as a consumer issue. Just stop paying poorly run companies present 90% crappy programming riddled with ads for stuff you don't need. No long term contracts, no competitors. Just money in your pocket and time on your hands. (Sounds great to me!)
We haven't paid for cable in over decade. (And we've got kids, too!) We do have streaming Netflix but no antenna. It's more than enough and the kids get their cable fix when we travel.
I have just gone through months of madness and frustration with Comcast. They are so bad that I no longer use automatic bill pay with them (I pay every other bill this way). Every month there is some "surprise" fee or charge. The customer service reps never know anything (apparently, they don't take notes). I left Direct TV for a few months, but I am back now- and happier than ever. Unfortunately, I still have to deal with Comcast for internet access.
I do not know where you live but Direct TV has partners like Qwest and Century Link as well as others so you can bundle your internet with your direct tv. I should know I left Comcast just today and bundled with Centurylink for my internet and Direct TV
Comcast is truly horrible. I would switch to Dish or DirecTV in a heartbeat if it weren't for the fact that they'd had to drill a bunch more holes into my old brick house just to get the same setup that I have now. 2 coax lines for the HD DVR, 1 coax line for a second TV upstairs, and 1 coax line for the Comcast cable = way too many holes in my poor house.
Wow, I am shocked and surprised to find only one other comment here ( on a frugal living website) in support of living without any kind of cable TV service at all. I can proudly say I have never ever subscribed to cable in my life. I'm in my late 40's. Think of all the thousands of dollars I have saved, and all the advertisements I've (not) missed. We don't get TV even over the airwaves. Might be interesting to see what life is like without it if you haven't ever given it a go. And no, I am not into self deprivation. Instead I have a HD overhead projector with a 96" electronic drop down screen and 5.1 Surround Sound System. We subscribe to netflix and check stuff out from the library for free. You can only watch one channel at a time anyway. For me, the more I get a way from all the advertising hype the less I seem to "need" stuff and the more satisfied I become with the things I do have going on in my life. Interesting how that works. Less can be more!
Wow. I gave up having any cable or satellite type TV (actually...I never had satellite) in the 1990s. It's just money down the drain and makes me sit around staring at a box that pumps my brain full of crap. I can do that for free. After about a month, I didn't miss it. I use only free dial up internet or go use the public wifi at the library or another facility in town. I had NO IDEA that it cost so much these days for tv and internet.
I can get a year's worth of my netflix for one month of your old TV bill. Amazing.
Good luck with your new company...perhaps someday you will join me on the dark side.
I just did the same thing_Got rid of Comcast_their lousy customer service_too many problems for the money. Went to DirectTV. it was seemless and they have packages just like Comcast.
I moved just before I started writing my doctoral dissertation. I realized that all those first-month freebies would woo me away from productivity, so I decided not to get cable until after I finished. Six months later I asked myself: do I really need Comcast?
Netflix, Hulu, and a stellar local library combined with an antenna and I'm fine. It's more fun to watch ballgames at the neighborhood bar anyway (us Mets fans like to share the misery). And you can bet that my bar tab is still smaller than my monthly cable bill was.
Yup. Comcast ripped us off too. Sent a coupon for a free on demand movie, but never gave us the credit when we sent it in.
I used to work for directv and later time warner, and it's a good thing i did. I always get my cable for free, i kept my tools.
Substitute Charter for Comcast, and you've just describe our experience with cable TV. Which is why we ONLY use Charter for broadband access now. All our TV needs are now met by a desktop computer hooked up to our television. Voila! There are options. Baaaad cable companies!!!
I had nothing but great experience with Comcast, I only use cable internet though. They aren't very fast but whenever there was an issue they fixed it. I live in Philadelphia so it may depend on local management but I have absolutely no complaints. As soon as Sprint's 4G covers my area I'm using my cellphone for the Internet access. 3G is still not quite there to make me get rid of the cable internet.
I can't even imagine paying $180 for those services. Because I use the broadcast channels for what little TV I have time to watch, I'm paying $74 for phone and Internet. If Comcast's charges are similar to Cox's, you must have been paying $106 a month for a zillion channels with nothing on. Why?
Last I heard, the government and comm co's wanted to get rid of broadcast service. When that happens, I just won't watch television at all. Even now, if I can't get it on my computer, I'm not likely to watch it.
Paul,
Your story really hit me hard. My wife and I have been dealing with Comcast for years. I'm on the phone with Comcast now as I type this comment (on hold of course).
All I can say is: "Wow. I'm so sorry my friend. So sorry. I wish I could help you fight them."
I've managed some amazing feets in the battle against them. Including for the last 3 years getting: Free Basic TV channels, Free HD TV channels, Free High Speed Business Class Internet, Free Modem Rental, Free HBO, Free Showtime, Free Encore, Free Starz, Free DVR Rental, Free DVR Service, and a host of other things. Yes I know that sounds like I'm bragging a bit but I want to tell you how you can do it too. I'm being totally serious here this is no spam message or late night TV self help DVD advertisement. This is just the honest to God's way that I handle Comcast.
My trick is I fight them tooth and nail! I document EVERY call, EVERY visit they make to my home, EVERY outage, EVERY bad audio sync up, EVERY bad DVR noise I hear, EVERY Internet speed lag, EVERYTHING. I document the date, the time, the person's name I speak with, their Id #, their call center location, their supervisor's name, their call center floor manager's name, their call center director's name, and their director's phone number & extension. I write letters to the Executive Office of the President of Comcast and I make phone calls to the local, state, and regional Comcast offices and managers. As well as CC'ing Comcast executives into my complaint letters that I write to my State's BBB, my State's Attorney General's Office, and the FCC. I make them give me credits for outages, I make them give me credits for titling in my TV's picture, I make them give me credits for importantly installed equipment, I make them give me credits for annoying DVR sounds, I make them give me credits for every missed tech appointment, I make them install new drop lines to my home, I make them install new grounding rods, I make them install new coax lines in my home, I make them give me free upgrades to top of the line models, I make them give me free curtsy free premium channels.
And trust me Paul I don't just do this with Comcast I do this with all my ISPs (like AT&T for phone service). Call them while you're going to work. It makes that 30 minutes plus commute go by in breeze.
Make Comcast FEAR you Paul. Make them FEAR YOU! Take back the power and I swear to you and your family will live virtually ISP / Comcast bill free for all the rest of your days.
All the best luck to you and your family my friend!
Your digital pal,
_Rob Rayburn
Cut the wire.
No cable. No satellite. I read books.
Comcast is the only internet and phone provider out here, other than one other company that cannot compete with the technology of Comcast. Well, alas DH and I have decided we can live with out cable and phone. Thank goodness for netflix and magic jack, but we still have to keep comcast for the internet. As far as service with Comcast, oh where to do i begin. We had Att&t and dishnetwork for years at our previous place and dishnetwork did everything they could to keep us as customers. With comcast, the prices are ridiculous and both of my cable boxes went out in less than one year. Not to mention that the system would shut down always in the middle of my favorite program and not come back up for about 30 mins. They were a total pain in the rear and I will be glad to claim an extra 100 bucks per month :)
I hate comcast.. they are a monopoly in my area too... they tell me one rate.. and then my bill is ALWAYS different. They need to go out of business for their greed. I tell the reps all the time, Comcast is the worst.. Glad to read I'm not alone. and I will never be on auto-pay cause they screw me. -Great read, Thanks
Ok so this may sound biased, (I work for DISH Network) but let me tell you my Comcastic technician story. I took the day off to have my service installed. Tech was late. One hour....ok, two hours, maybe I should call. When the customer support agent gets on the line, she informs me that my service has already been installed. What? After about 10 minutes of arguing with the lady, I ask to be transferred to a supervisor, who confirms that my service has been installed. Only when I threaten to cancel, does someone offer to contact the technician. "He is on his way." Tech comes out, install is very quick, I sign the paperwork so I can finally sit down and watch TV when the tech decides to ask "do you have any beer?"
Believe me when I say that I was fired from COMCAST because I was always tellin the truth to customers, I kid you not. I am the type of the person that feels for people and let me tell you some things that I found out with Comcast. First of all, their billing system is messed up like totally. They increase charges because there are some "internal" products that they have to pay for and since they dont have the money, who do they go after? You guessed it
Majority of Comcast drivers are so lethargic that when they are suppose to PROVIDE service people, they dont and how do I know this? They go out and sit in their cars, sending messages to the center that the customers are not available when the drivers NEVER knocked on the door in the first place.
When customers do call in, we are told to tell the customers upfront that they will be getting "excellent" deals BUT we shouldnt tell them that after 6 months, the deal will be cancelled and normal charges will increased!
I mean dont get me wrong, some customers were so obdurate but after being there for months, I understood why and when I was getting cable, Comcast was the last provider on my mind.
All in all, I say they are soooo messed up.
Comcast here in Sacramento must be an anomaly. I've never had trouble with them. I canceled without difficulty about 8 years ago, went with just the antenna for a long time. But with the "digital transition" which is clearly for my benefit, I no longer got PBS at all, though I live about 15 miles from their transmitter. I got basic cable hooked up last week, again without a problem. I am sorry you have so much trouble with them. I would have just cancelled my own service and cut that wire without a second's thought!
No, you are the anomaly. Sacramento is no different, Comcast is the devil if you want anything other than no set top box and internet. All their "packages" are horrible and the worst customer service on the planet. They don't care about you, only your money. If you had a good experience count your blessings. 99% of us don't. Internal company chaos, no reasonable plans unless you are new customer or sign a contract. I won;t sign a contract with them beacuse I know they can't and won't please me as a customer. When the bill automativcaly goes up without a warning, they will NOT work with you. Long term loyalty mewnas nothing to them, in fact it counts against you. I switched to Surewest out of Roseville and it's way cheaper and better. Never going back to Comcast, ever.
I hate Comcast's customer service just as much as you do but I like their product. The only thing that keeps me from switching to Dish Network or Direct TV is that they seem to require a commitment for the lower rates and I don't know that it's worth it. Although I've debated writing articles of this exact same nature myself more than once. I've been flat out lied to, hung up on, told I would get a discount off my next bill MULTIPLE times and even after repeated phone calls... it never happens.
I live in Colorado and Comcast was the only game in town at the time. The price kept going up and then Directv came to town. So, we signed up for Directv... Well, with a basic channel, we just got our bill and it increased another $20 a month. Whaa? So I called to complain and they said they couldn't do anything about it. There are no discounts. My husband called and the response was the same. Today, I called to cancel service. I was a customer for nearly 11 years. They said they would decrease my payments to $45/mth. I said NO. They said they would give me a deal if I stayed. I told them that we tried to reason with them and all they did was tell me NO. So, I am returning the favor. I have switched to Netflix and the kids don't mind. I also cancelled my phone service and you know what? Without Directv and a landline, I'm saving $120 a month !
I use comcasts basic service for $10 which has fox, cbs, abc, cnn and some pbs stations. also antenna tv. I heard netflix is good too. cable is really not needed anymore. and I got tired of the rising rates too.
hi, Im in a desperate situation with comcast
After being told 3 times I would no longer receive incurring charges, and after calling 11 times to cancellations department, after 3 long months. i now have a 250 dollar bill i can't even begin to pay. originally I wanted to get 1.5mb I got stuck with 12, and a phone, even though I clearly stated i wanted 1.5.
I got behind and called the get it reduced to what I wanted. the rep told me to pay a certain amount of money, and I could get it reduced. So i did, but I couldn't get it reduced. sO i told them to cancel my services, and they said they did. well this went on for a month. Last month I sent the box back, because i got another charge, and they said that i couldn't cancel until the box was back. well I sent it back and contacted comcast to make sure it was. Well it wasn't, and they said now I need to call this number. I called it 7 times attempting to reach someone. and I did, but I got disco'd on again. I told them mfers I wouldn't pay a dime, and called them back later, and after about 2 attempts I reached someone and they said it was cancelled, and I would not receive charges. I decided to check back with comcast and they said it was still not cancelled, from a different source, then i went into a fury, and they recommended calling again, and I was swinging around the SUE word like it was a bat. well I was told to call again, and I did and told them this was my last attempt. Well I got ahold of a lady and we got it 'cancelled.' I contacted comcast and made sure it was and they said it was.
Well a whoel month later, I just incurred another charge. And I YELLED SUPERVISOR. I would not speak to any one but the supervisor. once I got a hold of him, first thing I said was I'm sueing.
He explained to me that he respects my decision, and that I would continued to be charged, until I paid off everything, including all the charges i've incurred.
Now they have me in a hole I can never pay off
So funny, I have called Comcast for outage maybe 3 times in the past year. Every time I call, the same pre-recorded message says that there is an outage in my area. I find it amusing that you get the say run around, I bet that message plays regardless if there is an outage or not!
They do that all the time. You should have just cut the cable at your box and again at the furthest other point. This would have saved you the trouble of helping them correct their mistake. Your neighbor would have been the one calling them up and dealing with the headache. And if they run the wire again... rinse and repeat.
almost the same thing with our attic. lol ppl next door to us their cable wire is like connected to ours. we called to complain about the service an the cable guy goes into the attic and pulls the wrong cable wire. this most of happened b4 cuz the guy next do came over and knew flat out what happened... btw i live in a townhouse.
I had Comcast for 4 days then received a 306 dollar bill in the mail!
They billed me for a month I never had and would NOT change the price.
To make a long story short, I ordered a bunch of on demand and told Comcast bye.
I will go with an antenne