Poll: Who hates Comcast?

jauburn · 09-25-2006, 06:05 PM

I'm so sick of Comcast. Monopolistic pricing. Lousy service. Charging for cable cards when they shouldn't. Inconsistent policies. Horrible technicians.

I bet I'm not alone. As soon as Verizon's FIOS gets installed here (I'm counting the days left), Comcast is toast!

Who feels the same?

ZeoTiVo · 09-25-2006, 07:25 PM

I do not use Comcast now and never have. cant vote in your poll

maki · 09-25-2006, 08:01 PM

Just got a "Something's changing here!" brochure from them (switching from TWC). I haven't been a customer of theirs long enough to say.

slevdog · 09-25-2006, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZeoTiVo

I do not use Comcast now and never have. cant vote in your poll

Then why post?

dmdeane · 09-25-2006, 09:19 PM

TechTV.

maki · 09-25-2006, 09:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slevdog

Then why post?

It takes a lot of posting to stay above the 9 posts per day mark.

alansplace · 09-25-2006, 09:21 PM

hate them?

i don't even know them!

--
Alan

kybluedevil · 09-25-2006, 09:34 PM

Sorry, but for me, Comcast has been a positive experience. I had been an eleven year DirecTV user, with three D*tivo units in our house, including one H10-250. Our need for highspeed internet beyond what dsl could provide was our reason for switching to Comcast. That was in April of this year. Since then, Comcast has provided us with excellent service. PQ is better than with D*, and the highspeed internet is terrific. Service has been reliable, and since I'm a D* switcher, I got a deal that resulted in a substantially lower rate than my previous D* and dsl combined. I realize that for others, Comcast may not be so hot, but here in central Kentucky, it truly has been a surprising and pleasant experience.

megazone · 09-25-2006, 11:16 PM

Before I moved I had Comcast, now I have Charter - in many ways I wish I still had Comcast.

petew · 09-25-2006, 11:23 PM

Comast has been built as a series of Mergers, we were TCI, then ATT now Comcast so each region is different. But here in San Jose I've always found their fees to be reasonable and their tech's competent. When they installed 4 outlets for me the cost was a lot less than the materials.

bicker · 09-26-2006, 05:29 AM

I agree. People always want something for less money, but the reality is that for $3-$4 per day I'm getting the best entertainment available piped into my private home, and that's a great value.

dmdeane · 09-26-2006, 05:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dmdeane

TechTV.

And just to be clear, my grudge here is against Comcast the corporation for buying TechTV, merging it with G4, and letting the idiots running G4 completely ruin whatever TechTV goodness was left over from the merger.

I have Comcast now and I have no complaints with their service. I distinguish between Comcast the service and Comcast the corporation. I can't really blame Comcast the service for what Comcast the corporation did to TechTV.

AntiPC · 09-26-2006, 07:54 AM

They seem fine to me. I don't appreciate their internet service until I try to help friends with DSL. The reliability of both the TV and internet has improved dramatically here over time, and the speeds of the internet and content offered have both kept pace too.

No hate here.

jauburn · 09-26-2006, 08:11 AM

Verizon's FIOS is so far superior to Comcast that it's not funny. Not only is the service worlds better, but you get much more for literally less than half the price. Comast has been raising prices steadily over the years while not improving service one iota. Companies like this pile up the ill will toward them to the point where once an alternative is offered, no amount of placating will help them.

TerpBE · 09-26-2006, 09:15 AM

Comcast in Philly is the worst. The ONLY way you can get all the Phillies/Flyers/76ers games in the Philadelphia area is by subscribing to Comcast cable. They used a loophole in the law so they don't have to provide the games to satellite providers.

d_anders · 09-26-2006, 09:22 AM

FIOS sounds great, but it's going to take YEARS for them and services like it to be nationwide....but Comcast has steadily improved in my area...I've had them since they were cablevision here.

The OnDemand services are excellent, and are definitely an edge over sat and if you have Premium content (HBO), etc., I now no longer need to TiVo movies for later watching...every single movie for the month is available to be watched at any time.

If the all the networks provided each of their shows, with advertising, via ondemand after the original air time, and kept them available for the season (or kept the last 5 shows), the need for DVRs would become less.

dirtypacman · 09-26-2006, 09:35 AM

Can't say I hate but I sure don't like paying the outragous bill every month... which is my own fault cause of course I must have it all.

jauburn · 09-26-2006, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dirtypacman

Can't say I hate but I sure don't like paying the outragous bill every month... which is my own fault cause of course I must have it all.

Actually even if you don't "want it all," you pay a huge bill. What's the absolute lowest you can pay just for basic cable? Where I live it's really about $50. That is outrageous.

Remember when the concept of "cable" first arose? The idea of pay TV was that you wouldn't have to put up with commercials. Seemed reasonable.

Well, look what has happened. Now you pay for TV AND have to put up with just as many commercials.

Johnny B4 · 09-26-2006, 10:27 AM

Their rates are rediculous. $176/mo for HBO/Show, Speed, an HD DVR and HSI. I did get a bit of a break though when I threatened to cancel HSI and get SBC's new DSL Elite. They pricematched for a year. Now if I could just do the same for the cable.

ZeoTiVo · 09-26-2006, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slevdog

Then why post?

because with such an option on the poll - I could see what people think of Comcast without having to always hit view results

bicker · 09-26-2006, 12:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jauburn

Verizon's FIOS is so far superior to Comcast that it's not funny.

AFAIC, Verizon "sucks" -- they refuse to provide me television service. Of course, I'm being fascitious, but in the end, I expect that once Verizon has deep enough penetration and gets sufficient market share (i.e., a lot more drain on their resources, for which they will not adequately ramp-up to service), they'll be practically identical in terms of service to Comcast, which, while not great, will be pretty good.

btwyx · 09-27-2006, 12:45 AM

I went off the cable company when they were TCI (and had taken over the local co), and got really annoyed at them when they were AT&T. Then I got DirecTV, and I was very glad to be shot of them. DirecTV went downhill, and I now have an S3 and the cable co is Comcast. Hate might seem a strong word for it, but sometimes I think its accurate.

MickeS · 09-27-2006, 01:52 AM

I used to have Comcast for a few years, I guess they were fine... never had any reason to mess with CableCARDs though

MickeS · 09-27-2006, 01:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jauburn

Verizon's FIOS is so far superior to Comcast that it's not funny. Not only is the service worlds better, but you get much more for literally less than half the price. Comast has been raising prices steadily over the years while not improving service one iota. Companies like this pile up the ill will toward them to the point where once an alternative is offered, no amount of placating will help them.

That I agree with. I bet that if a simple (non-dish) alternative to the local cable companies monopolies were offered, today's cable companies would see a customer drain like few companies before them... judging by posts here, Verizon FiOS seems to be such an alternative, and I haven't seen anyone say they wish they had stayed with their cable company instead.

supasta · 09-27-2006, 02:58 AM

The prices are high, the techs are idiots, and there were constant billing issues with the last 2 moves and service transfers.

However, in my area the only other option is Qwest/DSL and DTv. NO THANKS!

I am actually quite happy with the service, just wish it was priced a little lower for analog cable. The alternatives I would not be happy with, and don't know anyone who is, so I'll stick with Comcast.

AntiPC · 09-27-2006, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jauburn

Verizon's FIOS is so far superior to Comcast that it's not funny.

Thanks. If I ever move, I'll keep that in mind. AT&T and Verizon aren't offering fiber here yet, but if they come in with something better, I'll change.

Moebius · 09-27-2006, 10:39 AM

I'm no longer a Comcast customer (don't exist where I am now), but over the past few years I've gone from absolute loathing to actually appreciating them a bit.

I was in the Boston area, so I went from MediaOne to AT&T to Comcast. For the year or so after Comcast came in I was in constant frustration. Either cable was out, or the internet service was going down, or any other number of problems with channels and such. It got so bad in fact that I switched to Verizon DSL, and would have gone to DirecTV if I could have managed a place to put the dish. More proof of my dislike came when I called to cancel the internet service and they didn't even ask why or try and keep me.

Fast forward to 2 years ago, wife had been laid off, things were getting a little tight, so I call Comcast to cut back to the absolute base package (I had the everything mega super package). I explained to the nice rep that we just needed to save some money for a while and all. She puts me on hold for about 5 minutes, then comes back and offers to let me keep everything I have for $5 more than the base package. Now, not because I was cancelling service or anything, but just doing a "good thing". Yeah, it could be argued that they charge so much, it was easy to absorb such a thing, but they didn't even have to do that.

Around that time I started noticing other changes. Few outages, nice people on the phone, actually showing up on time for appointments (and having a clue). Allowing self installs, even of the HD which before they would charge for a visit to plug in the new box. Thing had improved enough that I actually was sad to leave them.

jauburn · 09-27-2006, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AntiPC

Thanks. If I ever move, I'll keep that in mind. AT&T and Verizon aren't offering fiber here yet, but if they come in with something better, I'll change.

Of course Comcast fought the Verizon fiber rollout every step of the way--just another sign that the company is going down!

pagoatboy · 09-27-2006, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by petew

Comast has been built as a series of Mergers, we were TCI, then ATT now Comcast so each region is different. But here in San Jose I've always found their fees to be reasonable and their tech's competent. When they installed 4 outlets for me the cost was a lot less than the materials.

They (Comcast ) just gobbled up Adelphia along with TWC; also TWC and Comcast switched territories and customers in certain markets.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TerpBE

Comcast in Philly is the worst. The ONLY way you can get all the Phillies/Flyers/76ers games in the Philadelphia area is by subscribing to Comcast cable. They used a loophole in the law so they don't have to provide the games to satellite providers.

This is true and does suck; it is one of the most important reasons I still don't or probably won't switch to D*. I live too far North of Philly to get Comcast but my local cabco isn't any better. I don't know of any cable co who is lowering prices these days; it's all a racket as far as I'm concerned.

panther61 · 09-28-2006, 07:08 PM

No NFL Network offered

No sign of HDTV in the future

Customer service roulette (sometimes in Canada)

All they advertise is now phone service!

Their commericals are funny though "The Slowsky's"