Comcast Sucks

[NJStealth]

I must say this was a horrible experience. Comcast came out to install my cable. They were 3 hours late, The guy brought the wrong cable boxes. Needless to say he had an HD box with him so I was gonna temporarily take that one. He couldn't even figure out how to install it. I kicked him out of my house and called up comcast customer service and told them to never contact me even if they want to offer me free cable. They then gave me HSI for 19.99 a month for a year which I will keep. I should of never considered leaving DIRECTV. Then again lately Directvs customer service has not been too pleasant. The best retention would offer me to stay is 6 months of showtime and I would have to sign another one year contract. I guess nothing is perfect.

[dbronstein]

Originally posted by NJStealth
Then again lately Directvs customer service has not been too pleasant. The best retention would offer me to stay is 6 months of showtime and I would have to sign another one year contract. I guess nothing is perfect.

I don't understand this mentality that some peole seem to have that DirecTV (or Dish or whoever else) should give you free programming or equipment if you threaten to leave.

[Oknarf]

Originally posted by dbronstein
I don't understand this mentality that some peole seem to have that DirecTV (or Dish or whoever else) should give you free programming or equipment if you threaten to leave.

And I don't understand why directv would prefer to make us all buy new equipment to get a feature that could be downloaded to our Tivo's today.

Let's just say different people have different perspectives, and that the only one looking out for you, is you.

[Rax]

Funny, nobody told me I have to buy all new stuff.

[mattg]

I had a comcast guy come to my house when I had a non-DTV capable apt.

So he wouldn't screw up anything with my setup if he installed it when just my wife was home, I ran all the wires, and taped them to the location I wanted the digital box to be.

I ended up being home...

He hooked up the coax from the wall, the 2 audio cables, and the s-video. He then got this blank look on his face and asked me how the video got to the TV without a piece of coax connecting the TV and the cable box.

[dtivofan23]

lmao.....what cable company was this?


njstealth i would have kept that bad experience to my self. after that long thread about switching you know you gonna get alot of people saying "i told you so".

so you gonna stick with directv?

[Matt9876]

LOL ....MattG thats a good one !

[NJStealth]

I dont know maybe I should try dish network. See if they are competent.

[dtivofan23]

from what i have heard you dont wanna do that

[NJStealth]

why are there receiver fees if we pay for the receivers on dtv?

[Stanley Rohner]

This person won't be happy no matter what.

[ADent]

Comcast can be tempting though.

I just got an offer for Digital Silver with HD DVR (6412 I think) for $39/month for a year.

Still sticking with DTiVo for now.

[Jasonp55]

Not to threadjack, but this reminds me of something that I got in the mail today...

I guess that when I canceled Charter, I probably shouldn't have told them that I was switching to DirecTV, because now they send me mail about once a week trying to convert me back over.

Anyway, today I got some flyer telling me that I would 'save over $400 a year' if I switched back to Charter from D*. The front was advertising their premium digital package, and it had the HBO logos all over it. Looking on the back, it had HBO and Shotime checked for Charter (under the $30/month plan 'premium' plan) but not checked for D*. Turns out, that it comes with a 1 month PREVIEW of HBO and Shotime. And that $30/month price? It's introductory! After a few months, it shoots up to around $60/month. Just briefly going over the math in my head, it was clear that switching back would likely cost me money. D*'s not prefect, but at least they've never flat out lied to me.

But really, what should I expect? This sums the situation up nicely: When I moved into my current house, Charter was over a week late installing my cable (claimed that all their installers were booked, and that my order had gotten 'lost'), about three weeks later, DirecTV was a day early.

[Mark W]

Well, if I used the OP's logic, I never would have gotten DirecTV. Installers didn't show up or call for 3 appointments in a row, and when he did show up, the guy didn't know how to read a compass correctly. If you read this forum for more than a day or two, you'll realize that one thing the cable company doesn't have a monopoly on is crappy installers.

[JimSpence]

Back in '96 I installed my own equipment. With no problems. Then about 15 months ago I got HD. DirecTV sent me the receiver and Phase III dish. I set up and activated the receiver using my round dish, just for SD of course. I mounted the Ph III on my deck railing and plumbed the mast. Then the installer came at the time indicated and I helped him run the two dual RG-6 cables (I had the hole in the house and conduit run to my equipment closet in the cellar. He then tweaked the dish and that was it.

About two years ago a TWC tech came to the house and offered my their latest deal at the time. I took him over to where the dish was mounted and said I have DirecTV. We then shot the breeeze for a few minutes because he was a former co-worker and I knew him. He indicated to me he would probably have DirecTV if he didn't get TWC as an employee. :)

[ThomasDrew]

At times, yes, but there's some things to like about Comcast....

1) 24-7 tech support and customer service. I once had an issue on Saturday night and had a tech in my home the following morning (that's a SUNDAY, mind you).

2) Want to pay your bill at 4am? Go right ahead!

3) Blazing fast internet connection that frankly, DSL can't touch...not by a longshot. (I reliaze that this is somewhat subjective)

...now granted, all of this comes with a price, which I consider almost exorbitant, but you do receive fair value in return.

I'm a former dish owner and I loved every minute that I was with DTV. Now, however, logistics make it impossible for me to go with their service so I am "stuck" with Comcast. I must say though, that as a whole, they have improved dramatically over the years....at least in the Richmond, VA market.

[Joedog]

Well Comcast in our area does not even offer cable modem service due to our old cable infrastructer.

Quote> Ridiculous, lightning, blazing fast internet connection that frankly, DSL can't touch...not by a longshot. > Quote
Well my DSL is 6 mbps download and 608 kbps upload on a static ip address.
So I think it compares well to cable internet. at about $50 a month.

[ThomasDrew]

Originally posted by Joedog
Well Comcast in our area does not even offer cable modem service due to our old cable infrastructer.

Quote> Ridiculous, lightning, blazing fast internet connection that frankly, DSL can't touch...not by a longshot. > Quote
Well my DSL is 6 mbps download and 608 kbps upload on a static ip address.
So I think it compares well to cable internet. at about $50 a month.


I pay 42.95 for service. and those specs are right in my ballpark. DSL, at least in my neighborhood, can't touch those speeds.

I will say though, that for as happy as I am with Comcast's internet service, there is no comparison when it comes to cable programming, options and pricing. DTV wins, hands down. (IMHO)

[NJStealth]

Fortunately my company pays for my high speed internet so I dont really care what the price is. Has anyone in NJ noticed a speed increase. My HSI seems quite a bit faster as of recently.

[Joedog]

Well plus my wife demands NFL Sunday Ticket.
So there is no way I could drop Directv.

[super dave]

Originally posted by NJStealth
Fortunately my company pays for my high speed internet so I dont really care what the price is. Has anyone in NJ noticed a speed increase. My HSI seems quite a bit faster as of recently. Did you not get the email from CC over a week ago? Here's the text:



Just when you thought the Internet couldn't get any faster, Comcast has increased speeds by 33%,* with no extra charge or equipment necessary. Now all your favorite Comcast features are faster than ever before!

To take advantage of the speed increase, simply unplug your modem, wait 60 seconds and plug your modem back in again.

They changed it to 4000/384

[GaryGnu]

Originally posted by dbronstein
I don't understand this mentality that some peole seem to have that DirecTV (or Dish or whoever else) should give you free programming or equipment if you threaten to leave.

Depends on how you look at it. These companies are making money from us, no matter what they give away, or they wouldn't do it. Honestly, I had a bit of a problem calling and asking for the free tivo from a company that gives me such good service. In the end, I did it. Other people go farther. I don't fault them for it. How many times in our lives have we paid a fee, a tax, or an extra charge? How many times are "rates raised"? It just seems that no matter what I do, or where I go, someone is trying to take my money for some reason or the other, and many times it seems they do it "just because they can." So I don't fault people for trying to get as much free stuff as they can. It helps balance things out a bit.

[dbronstein]

Originally posted by GaryGnu
Depends on how you look at it. These companies are making money from us, no matter what they give away, or they wouldn't do it. Honestly, I had a bit of a problem calling and asking for the free tivo from a company that gives me such good service. In the end, I did it. Other people go farther. I don't fault them for it. How many times in our lives have we paid a fee, a tax, or an extra charge? How many times are "rates raised"? It just seems that no matter what I do, or where I go, someone is trying to take my money for some reason or the other, and many times it seems they do it "just because they can." So I don't fault people for trying to get as much free stuff as they can. It helps balance things out a bit.

There's nothing wrong with asking, and nothing wrong if they do it. But some people seem to have this sense of entitlement that "I've been a customer for 2 years so they should give me free stuff" and then get all pissy when they don't get it. The original poster even said that they offered him free programming but it wasn't enough. What did he want - three years of every premium channel for free?

[spinelli009]

just to add my two cents worth about Comcast...
as one member said earlier in the thread about them being late...not once...not twice but three times.to add the that i got there blazing speed internet which i was contacted one month later from corp. saying i am in the top 1% downloading (440 GB) a month and if i dont cut down my downloading i will be cancelled...so i went the next month trying to cut the downloading off and BLAM! they cut me off...i called the office and they gave me a number to call and i said forget it...there was more junk i went through about my bill and contract and this special offer only applied to my old address and and not this one since i moved to another address...JUNK!so i went back to directv which i had all along...actually had both and back to verizon DSL which i already had also...stay far far away from Comcast...they are no good...you will go in circles for hours like i did for two weeks straight...
hope this helps add the mess

[dtivofan23]

440 gb a month!!! dyam, thats alot

[spinelli009]

with the speed they offer 500 kb/s is very very nice and took advantage of it and they did to me also...:)

[Tivolino]

Yes it does. I left Comcast and will never go back...EVER

[dswallow]

Originally posted by ThomasDrew
1) 24-7 tech support and customer service. I once had an issue on Saturday night and had a tech in my home the following morning (that's a SUNDAY, mind you).
I know some people rely on installers for satellite services, but you are in control of satellite equipment; as long as stores are open you can service things as needed.

Originally posted by ThomasDrew
2) Want to pay your bill at 4am? Go right ahead!
DirecTV doesn't do this? I'd expect they do... but I don't do it this way; my bill is paid automatically.

Originally posted by ThomasDrew
3) Blazing fast internet connection that frankly, DSL can't touch...not by a longshot. (I reliaze that this is somewhat subjective)
Unfortunately it's a great concept that in practice usually pans out poorly. DSL offers reliability, although often at lower speeds. Cable can offer higher speeds, most of the time, though often not reliably. I recently decided to give Comcast a shot again at providing internet service. It worked fine for about 3 weeks. Then went to total crap. 2 weeks of service call attempts and the best I got out of Comcast was a technician visit who screwed up the follow up, claiming I changed my mind about the service call rather than forwarding it on to the central office to be dealt with where the problem existed. Total frustration exists with Comcast support. I claimed I'd never deal with them again some 3 years ago when I left, and last year I went back on my word and regretted it. Now when I say never again, I truly mean it. Comcast sucks... sure things CAN go right, but when they get screwed up, they usually stay screwed up for some time.

[mattg]

Originally posted by Jasonp55
D*'s not prefect, but at least they've never flat out lied to me.



I used to get advertisements from Comcast when I had a dish in a previous apt. I think it was just a generic "Current Resident" advertisement for digital cable. This advertisement said that with Comcast cable, you could get the "exclusive" Comcast Sports Net. CSN is the local DC "fox Sports" type channel which shows the local hockey, basketball, etc. This was a flat out lie. I had DTV, and had always been able to watch CSN - not that I wanted to though.

Comcast had recently bought the rights to the channel, and I remember telling my wife when they changed the name that they'll probably start claiming that Dish doesn't have it because it has Comcast in the name.

Quite a few of the people I talk to about DTV tell me that they'd consider it, but they don't want to lose their Comcast Sports Net channel.

[mattg]

Originally posted by ThomasDrew
At times, yes, but there's some things to like about Comcast....

1) 24-7 tech support and customer service. I once had an issue on Saturday night and had a tech in my home the following morning (that's a SUNDAY, mind you).

2) Want to pay your bill at 4am? Go right ahead!

3) Blazing fast internet connection that frankly, DSL can't touch...not by a longshot. (I reliaze that this is somewhat subjective)

...now granted, all of this comes with a price, which I consider almost exorbitant, but you do receive fair value in return.

I'm a former dish owner and I loved every minute that I was with DTV. Now, however, logistics make it impossible for me to go with their service so I am "stuck" with Comcast. I must say though, that as a whole, they have improved dramatically over the years....at least in the Richmond, VA market.


1. 24/7 tech support? You mean Comcast will come out at 4am to fix your cable service? Wow.

2. Want to change your programming and pay your bill at 4am? You can do that with DTV, but not Comcast.

3. It is not subjective, but does have quite a bit to do with where you live, and what you consider to be "speed". My Comcast HSI line in woodbridge va got so bad over the couple years I had it that I switched to DSL. DSL was always more, but with the fees they had just tacked onto non TV HSI, it was the same price. I was lucky to get dial up bandwidth and pings on the weekends, so a 1500/128 DSL line was much faster.

Within a month of so of getting DSL, Verizon slashed the price in half to $30. Not only that, but I was getting every bit of the advertised speeds and had a ping of 10-15ms to most websites. Then, they increased the upload to 384, which I got all of.

Changed apts, and could no longer get DTV, but kept DSL because of price and performance. It was rock solid when it came to reliability... never once went down in 18 months. After Isabel came through Va, power was out for about a day. As soon as it came back, I was online. Cable TV was out for days.


Right now, I have an Adelphia cable modem which at first was horribly unreliable. After an area upgrade, it has been great, but still not matching the 10-15ms pings I had with Verizon. Of course, the $55 price is quite a bit different than $30 too. I'd switch to DSL in a heartbeat if I could.

[NJStealth]

Well I changed my mind again after speaking with a directv csr. They are just nasty. So I am going to give the comcrap installer another shot. Price is still much lower then Directv. Until Directv can give me HD for the same cost as I am paying for their service now I am leaving.

[goony]

Originally posted by dswallow
Unfortunately it's a great concept that in practice usually pans out poorly. DSL offers reliability, although often at lower speeds. Cable can offer higher speeds, most of the time, though often not reliably. Bingo. I need my internet to work reliably 24 x 7 and I'm just not confident that the cableco can deliver that, so I keep my DSL, which seems to have a once-a-year outage for just a few hours. I don't do giant downloads (that's what the OC3@155Mbs at work is for :D) and my wife is satisfied with the download speed for her Napster account, so I'll just stick with the DSL for now.

I'll never return to cable for my video, unless it's nearly free - I've been using DBS since 1996 and have been very, very happy.

[jfischer]

Originally posted by NJStealth
I dont know maybe I should try dish network. See if they are competent.

It's all the luck of the draw. Sometimes you'll get a competent installer, sometimes you'll get a trained chimp. Goes for Cable, DirecTV and Dish equally.

[memnoch]

Originally posted by goony
Bingo. I need my internet to work reliably 24 x 7 and I'm just not confident that the cableco can deliver that, so I keep my DSL, which seems to have a once-a-year outage for just a few hours. I don't do giant downloads (that's what the OC3@155Mbs at work is for :D) and my wife is satisfied with the download speed for her Napster account, so I'll just stick with the DSL for now.

I'll never return to cable for my video, unless it's nearly free - I've been using DBS since 1996 and have been very, very happy.

Exactly, and what some people don't realize is that although high speed cable may have better bandwidth, it doesn't mean that its faster. The bandwidth has to be more because its shared in "communities". There may be many people basically sharing your connection and bandwidth - the more people on at the same time, the slower speeds you'll have in your home. Some people say its also less secure because of this, because its like having all those people on your local network. DSL on the other hand, is a direct connection to your home. All the bandwidth is yours and only yours.

[NJStealth]

how is internet from directway?

[tfederov]

Originally posted by NJStealth
how is internet from directway?

Looks expensive. I think when I was comparing it to dial-up, it was fast but not as fast as my cable modem.

[dtivofan23]

direcway is only for people who cant get dsl or cable. its EXPENSIVE, slow and unreliable from all that i have read.

[ourmusic]

Originally posted by jfischer
It's all the luck of the draw. Sometimes you'll get a competent installer, sometimes you'll get a trained chimp. Goes for Cable, DirecTV and Dish equally.

In my area many of the installers will install Cable, DirecTV and Dish. With the good installers it's a hit. With the bad installers it's 3 strikes. :eek:

Danny Fye

[ThomasDrew]

Originally posted by mattg
[B]1. 24/7 tech support? You mean Comcast will come out at 4am to fix your cable service? Wow.

2. Want to change your programming and pay your bill at 4am? You can do that with DTV, but not Comcast.



[B]



1. I never said that Comcast sent in-home service technicians out at 4am, rather, they were available on a Sunday morning less than 12 hours after I called.

2. You most certainly *can* alter your lineup, add/delete services and what not at 4am with Comcast. I have paid my bill at 3am before...on more than one occasion. Like they said...open 24/7

My experience here in Richmond with DSL was nothing short of horrendous. Others experiences may differ. Perhaps they think it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. To each his own. Personally, I've had to reboot my modem a few times and of course, after the increased speed rollouts. I cannot recall any extended outages off the top of my head.

I paid 19.99 for a six month promotion. I now pay $42.95 monthly and I consistently get 4000/384. Given my computing needs, I'm happy as a clam with that.

I just get tired of people bashing Comcast when the company, as a whole, has improved tenfold, at least here in my neck of the woods.

[malloryd]

Originally posted by ThomasDrew
I just get tired of people bashing Comcast when the company, as a whole, has improved tenfold, at least here in my neck of the woods.

Considering the forum you're on, you should expect nothing less than comcast bashing. If I were on a comcast forum, I would expect people to bash D*, not give glowing reports on their quality/service.

Just my 2 cents...

[GaryGnu]

Originally posted by malloryd
Considering the forum you're on, you should expect nothing less than comcast bashing. If I were on a comcast forum, I would expect people to bash D*, not give glowing reports on their quality/service.

Just my 2 cents...

I've seen Comcast forums, and there were mostly people bashing Comcast. :)

[super dave]

Originally posted by ThomasDrew
2. You most certainly *can* alter your lineup, add/delete services and what not at 4am with Comcast. I have paid my bill at 3am before...on more than one occasion. Like they said...open 24/7

DTV also has phone CSRs 24/7 so you can do the same. Also I can go to the web site and change my programming and pay my bills any time I want, thus avoiding any hold times. This is a bad comparison, I understand what you are stating, but the service is available to DTV customers as well.

I use CC for HSI and that's it. It has never crapped out. I ended up getting Vonage because of the reliability of the service. Never hiccuped. DSL could not hold a connection for 24 straight hours at my house, therefore not an option. And this left me with the other monopoly as my only HSI option. My only complaint is the price, service is solid.

[Mark W]

I have Comcast for HSI on a 6 month $19.99 trial now. It's amazingly fast and solid as a rock. However, at over $50/month, they will be getting the boot after the trial. No way I will pay that for internet.

[tfederov]

Originally posted by GaryGnu
I've seen Comcast forums, and there were mostly people bashing Comcast. :)

There's forums dedicated to Comcast? No way!

[GaryGnu]

Originally posted by tfederov
There's forums dedicated to Comcast? No way!

There used to be a site called comcastreallyreallysucks.com (seriously). There were forums too. And I got help there with some of my HSI issues. I think Comcast got it shut down though.

[mattg]

Originally posted by ThomasDrew
1. I never said that Comcast sent in-home service technicians out at 4am, rather, they were available on a Sunday morning less than 12 hours after I called.

2. You most certainly *can* alter your lineup, add/delete services and what not at 4am with Comcast. I have paid my bill at 3am before...on more than one occasion. Like they said...open 24/7


Well, I didn't know Comcast had finally let people change their subscriptions at all hours of the night, but you still have to call right? And both companies take payments online. Advantage here goes to DTV if Comcast does not allow me to change programming online.

I have never needed a tech to come out to my house for DTV. The wonderful thing about DTV is that ALL of the wiring needed for service is 100% under my control. If something knocked the dish out of alignment at 2am, I can fix it within minutes. I don't need to wait the 12 hours for the tech to access the locked down neighborhood equipment.


My experience here in Richmond with DSL was nothing short of horrendous. Others experiences may differ. Perhaps they think it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. To each his own. Personally, I've had to reboot my modem a few times and of course, after the increased speed rollouts. I cannot recall any extended outages off the top of my head.


Like I said, it greatly depends on location, and what you consider speed to be. I play more online games than I do large downloads. To me, I define speed as latency. If connection 1 offers 3Mbps but the average ping is 50-75 with spikes in the hundreds, and connection 2 offers 1.5Mbps with 10-15ms with no spikes above 50... I take connection 2 every time even if priced the same. When I monitored the ping of my DSL line, the graph was as flat as a table top. The cable line with Comcast was a roller coaster.

If you live in an area with reliable low ping DSL, I don't know of too many people who can justify spending up to twice as much for cable.


I paid 19.99 for a six month promotion. I now pay $42.95 monthly and I consistently get 4000/384. Given my computing needs, I'm happy as a clam with that.

I have Adelphia which has been reliable in the past few months following an upgrade. However, I am not a fan of cable companies and their "HSI monopoly" fees. They know many people can't get DSL, so they add a $12-$15 fee onto their customers with only HSI. I was a comcast HSI only customer when the fee jumped from $5 to $15 in one month, and right after a general HSI increase. I think my bill jumped about $15 in 2 months.

Cable companies do this because they know that their TV services (without HiDef as of right now) can't compete. If they can find a way to increase the cost to their HSI and TV customers thinking of making the jump from Cable TV to DTV, they do it. A friend of mine has Adelphia analog cable with HSI. He said he would switch to DTV, but the monopoly fee would increase his total bill. The FCC just released numbers saying that the average cost of ANALOG cable jumped over $45 a month. The number of TV's in the avergage household is just over 2. So, most people in the US could save about $5 a month or pay the same for an all digital TV service as they do for analog cable.

[super dave]

Originally posted by tfederov
There's forums dedicated to Comcast? No way! http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/tvcomcast

[NJStealth]

Well comcast finally installed the cable correctly after 3 tries. I want to say I am pleased with the functionality of the Scientific Atlanta. The season pass manager is not as pretty as tivo but it has all the functionality that a tivo has. You can tape 2 shows at once and you only need one cable. And it does have a season pass manager just not as simple as tivo. The one thing that really made me sold on this was the fact I am a sports fanatic and sports on HD is just incredible looking. Overall, I think DTV is better. But since I am getting this for 40 bucks a month with hbo showtime and 2 HD DVRs for a year its a steal of a deal. Hopefully next year Directv will have a similar deal that you dont have to pay a grand to get HD with tivo.

[FaT]

It's all the luck of the draw. Sometimes you'll get a competent installer, sometimes you'll get a trained chimp. Goes for Cable, DirecTV and Dish equally.

Case in point - I decided to go from Comcast to DirecTV recently. 2 installers came on a Fri afternoon and said they couldn't install because they weren't allowed to go onto my wood shake roof (could damage it). So I said well strap the antenna to the chimney. They said they didn't have a chimney strap, but I could reschedule.

Two weeks later, no one showed up between 8 and 12 and promised. I got a call at 11:45 saying that they would have to reschedule for next Wednesday with solemn promise to give me priority and show at 8:00 a.m. wi chimney strap.

On Monday I called to make sure. They never heard of priority or need for chimney strap, but would be sure to make note of it.

Wed I called at 10:00 because still no show. Promise to call back not made. Finally, at 11:30, installer shows - never heard of priority to show at 8:00, did not know why I was promised a chimney strap (they cost $50.00!), and said there was no reason at all why he couldn't go onto the shake roof. Said the original installers were just too lazy to do the job.

Then he says he can't go under the house and wants to string a line all the way around to the front exterior of the house. I told him to hit the road, Jack, and don't you come back no mo, no mo.

All past install experiences with Comcast were great.