So a couple days ago, I wrote about quitting Comcast for cable television. And I got a comment from a Comcast CSR on the post the very next day.
As best as I can tell, Comcast must utilize some kind of newsreader/alert system for when folks write about them or their service. (Which probably means someone there is reading this. Hi guys!) The reason I say this is that given that the response didn’t exactly match the post(IE I never said anything about my service being intermittent. but the comment mentioned intermittent service.).
Either way, my blog was flagged. And it gave me the opportunity to ask why my internet bill had to go up $15 just because I wanted to watch less TV.
And the nice CSRs came thru and basically gave me my old rate.
Go blog. Go weird news reader alert script. Go comcast!
(As for you getting a discount by writing about complaining on your blog about comcast? Your mileage may vary.)
3 Comments
Comcast Sucks!!!
(I want a pony.)
I thought this blog entry and the last one on quitting tv were great. Something I have been thinking about a lot lately. My cable bill is really high. I have Comcast’s triple service (phone, internet, and cable) in Oregon.
So I have been thinking I think along the same lines as you. I mostly watch a few shows on network tv. I like the convenience of the DVR and I have HD. But, my bill is really high and the rental charge for the equipment is very high and unfair. Also, there are new alternatives out there. Its easy to hook your computer up to the tv (especially since many of us have laptops), Apple has HD shows on itunes, Amazon has ways to stream shows, netflix does too. Verizon is offering high speed internet and tv and phone packages. I’ve done some brief researching and was shocked to see how many alternatives there are to the easy monopoly comcast has had for so long.
I called their customer service to see if I could get a deal, similar to what a friend of mine got who is a new customer. The guy said that he can’t do that, but he can cut some “luxuries” if I want that. I was shocked that he would not even offer me an alternative package or work with me and offended at his response to me. But he got me thinking: digital cable, dvrs are luxuries and maybe I should just cut them all out. I know there are alternatives.
I think Comcast doesn’t realize how many of us can find alternatives to their services now. They are stuck in the old, Cable TV model and haven’t adapted to our highly networked, communicative world.
I am happy to see that they responded quickly to your blog entry. Just curious on your thoughts to alternatives to comcast and their generally mediocre customer service.
WRT to alternatives to Comcast’s customer service: The thing to do seems to be: write a blog post and/or document what you perceive to be not so wonderful about comcast service and/or pricing.
Comcast pretty clearly has PR folks that are trying to keep opinion and chatter online positive.
It is what it is.
With regard to alternatives to Comcast service:
I can’t really speak to your market but here there is at least the choice of RCN or Satellite. Verizon FIOS triple play is starting to get rolled out all over the Delaware valley as well.
However, for us, these choices were kind of beside the point. We want(ed) less television in our house. Comcast customer retention (or one of their competitors) could have offered us what we had plus some pay channels for free for a year and it wouldn’t have changed that.
As far as DVR goes, we had tivo from 2004 until we turned off cable. It was a series 2, which means no HD. So with no clean analog signal, the thing basically became a paper weight.
I listed my on Craigslist for $20. As of this writing, still no takers.
So TIVO was a casualty of our decision to drop cable TV.
However, as you point out, streaming netflix(haven’t tried), Amazon unbox(tried with TIVO not bad), iTunes(also good) are easy ways to get stuff to push out to any HD TV w a VGA or DVI port.
Along similar lines, our lifesaver right now is Hulu.com. They have tons of free movies and most episodes of major network shows available at any time. So, we don’t really miss the DVR time shift functionality.
Here is the thing: Comcast’s internet service is, at this time and in this market, difficult to beat. The only thing faster is Verizon FIOS, which is not available in every town around here.
Without a fast internet connection, none of the above mentioned services(unbox, Itunes, netflix, or streaming shows from hulu, or the websites for the major networks) are a viable alternative cable TV.
So the alternative we chose was: Dump cable and DVRs, stay tethered to a fat broadband pipe.
You might give it a try. It might work out for you.
Good luck.
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