Official Comcast CableCard Thread!

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Well i called comcast corporate and seem to have gotten the wheels turning here in Richmond, Va...They have been "out" of cablecards for two weeks and their only solution is to call back tomorrow.

I called corporate and they are going to track down some cablecards and make sure I get them. I have the Tivo HD which will support the M cards so should I ask for one M card or get 2 S cards. I am more worried about EASE of getting this thing to work than price at this point...

 

Yeah, I know. On the last call, I asked the CSR to try to flag my account somehow so someone who knows what they're talking about might actually find it. Which sounds crazy, but I actually got a call *from* Comcast last Friday, and had we diagnosed the problem properly then (I thought the second card was getting nothing, when it was actually just getting local/basic channels), we might have nailed it down.

The individual CSR doesn't seem enabled to find someone realtime who can help. Do I ask for a supervisor and hope they can locate the right person? Or just keep calling in the hopes that I eventually get someone useful?

Later,
COZ

 

Thanks. I know comcast's address but "office of the president" is not what I am after. I have found you get better results if you actually send the letter to a real live person.

So, for example "mary smith, executive assistant" vs. something generic like office of the president or CEO.

 

I have every called Comcast every other day for about 8 days trying to get a couple of cable cards for my new HD TIVO, actually just ttrying to talk to someone about them, or set up an appoitment. They keep telling me that their procedure is to send an email to "that department" and they will give me a call back shortly. Their answer varies from "shortly" to "24 to 48 hours". When I call back to ask why no one has called me back, they say all they can do is send another email to the cable card department. No one ever calls me back about them. I even told them that the FCC requires them to provide me with cards, and that they are refusing to even call me back. The lady says they are not refusing, that it just takes time to get back to me, as other customers need help too. Then she said she will check into it and I will get called back "shortly". Of course, no call back. I have asked to speak with a supervisor numerous times, only to be told, there is not one there at the present time, or they are busy and they can take my number and call me back. yeah, right. I have called numerous local Comcast retail outlet, and they say none of them carry the cards, that a technician has them and has to come out to install them. But I can't even get a return call from any of them to even ask a question or set up an appointment. i am highly PO'ed at this point. What can I do, or what would you do? All I want is to freakin talk to some on that handle the cards. I am getting the runaround an can't get anyone to help me, besides saying they will send someone an email and have them call me back. It has been 8 days, I would tink I could get a phone call by now.

 

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Here's some Comcast executives.

 

Executive summary: 100% perfect!

The Comcast guy came this morning, well inside the scheduled time slot. He was first-class and knew exactly what he was doing in every respect. He brought 4 M cards just in case, but the first one worked perfectly first time. He checked all the HD channels without being asked before asking me to sign off on the job.

The Comcast tech told me he is the guy who does almost all CableCard installations in this area. He knew all about Tivo, HTPC, etc. He recently had a multi-hour epic struggle getting an HTPC with CableCard slots to work properly (the HTPC had a dead slot), so Tivo HD was a walk in the park for him. He said that Tivo "has way more features" than the Comcast DVR box and had zero issue with people preferring Tivo over the Comcast DVR.

The only hurdle left is seeing whether next month's bill has any nasty extra charges. As previously mentioned, the local CSR said my bill would not change, because I am simply swapping my old (non HD) digital cable box for a CableCard. IOW, there should be no bogus "HD programming charge". And, yes, the non-premium HD channels (ESPN HD, Discovery HD, etc.) are coming in loud and clear.

 

hey all...

i've tried to read all 8000 pages of this thread...but...

i bought my hd series 3 yesterday, went to comcast nashville and got 3 single stream cards.

1st one activated fine.

2nd one i thought was fine, but it says card in slot 2 is associated with cablecard 1

so looks like i really just have 1 tuner working

can someone give me a quick answer on who/how to get this 2nd card provisioned correctly ?

thanks!

stephen

 

What do you mean "it says card in slot 2 is associated with cablecard 1"
On which screen?

Do you have Motorola or SA cards? You can search the thread for the pertinent CP screen info for either flavor, which will give you more information to help you help Comcast to fix the problem.

Most folks on the boards are willing to help if you give enough information to help, but your post is akin to "my car won't start. help me."

...and at the time of your post there were 124 pages.

 

Or 75 pages, if you're viewing 50 posts per page.

But I digress.

 

You can try a call/letter to the office of the president route or get a hold of your local franchise authority and complain to them. The office of the president info has been floating around in this thread, and your local franchise authority information can be found on your cable bill. I guess the last resort would be a letter/complaint to the FCC.

I'm just amazed at how some Comcast locations are totaly cool with Cablecards while others are so hostile. I wonder if it is a regional thing or just random? (Possibly a particular VP's area or something?)

 

Got my HD yesterday as an anniversary present.

Just called comcast and of course she was dumb. Said I needed 2 cards but they are multi cards

Installation cost 26.99
Monthly card cost is 8.99 (not too pset cause I get to dump the crappy comcast DVR!!!!)

I tried to tell her I only need one card if they are multi, so I guess my hubby will have to deal with the installation tech and see if we actually need 2 cards.

My installation apt is almost a week away.

I still plan to try to visit a comcast store near my work place and see if I can score 2 cards that are activated etc... Doubt I will have luck but I can try right?

I saw some people have had luck with that earlier in this post but I have a feeling comcast is using the tivo 3 to get an installation charge out of all of us.

thanks for this post It really helped!!
Karen

PS: I am in the Chicago area.

 

I have spent a few days now trying to get cable cards working for a friend in Houston. First they didn't have the cards we got in person in the system Then the card would not authorize and I had to get a replacement. Now I have to wait until Monday because activations only happen during business hours of 8-5, m-f. Lame.

 

$8.99 sounds a little high for Comcast territory. Make sure they're not including a $7 box rental fee with that.

 

I don't have any cablecards in my S3 becuase Comcast just couldn't get it right. They kept on saying that the cards were bad. I think they tried about five CCs.
Well, I read somewhere in this site that you can use the S3 as a dual tuner as long there are no cards or two cards in it. Mine does not have any. So I connected a HDTV antenna, a $40 one and I can pick up my local HD channels clearly. I am happy with that. I will keep it that way becuase I don't pay for my cable becuase it's already included in my association fees. I love the fact that I am able to record two HD channels at the same time just by using the antenna. I love it.

 

Bellingham WA, Comcast
I just got my HDTivo on Thurs, picked up the cards myself in the afternoon, spent 15 minutes with the Comcast tech on the phone, watched free NBC fall previews this weekend, and my picture quality is actually much better through the Tivo than from the cable box. I'm feeling lucky and I'll return the old cable box and extra M card this week and pray there aren't hidden fees somewhere.

 

Thanks, I think it is too high too. I plan to call and try to get a different csr and get that lowered.

I am on the phone right now and geesh...comcast really does suck! The guy is sending me to tech support to see if I can know what the 8.99 fee is per month. I think that is cause the lady put tivo on my account. Comcast is really frustrating.


Oh well, I guess I could have expected that, I still think the 8.99 is worth dumping the comcast DVR.
I am being told 7.49 for the 1st card and 1.50 for the second now.... gotta love comcast.

now CSR #3 says free for 1st card then 1.50 for second.

 

Both of those are likely correct.

The difference is one is including the additional outlet charge. But if it's the only/first outlet then that charge is built into your digital programming package.

 

OK, so I checked again after getting back into Houston. Some of my channels come in, while others do not. I Called support again and they didn't have all my packages set right. He sent a hit to fix that and some i checked were now on that were not before but not all of them. Tech support told me it may take some time for all the channels to come in. True?

 

The experience I had, combined with yours, makes me think that there was a fair amount of training for CSR's in the last month in whatever call center services Seattle. My last experience swapping out my two S-cards for a M-card was smooth as silk as well.

'Bout damn time.

 

I recently bought a TiVo S3. This was a big mistake as I am now forced to keep Comcast. Anyways, I schedualed an install for 2 Multi-Stream CableCards. The tech came and essentially jammed them cards into my TiVo and left. Didnt check ot see if it work or anything. I was unable to be at home due to work so I had someone there who is not as informed as I am when it comes to these type of things. I called Comcast and I was informed that another Tech would have to come out and fix the problem. Not being able to get time off work I had to schedual someone to be at my house again. The Tech came out 3 days later to fix the problem.

He installed and got working one Single-Stream CableCard with the exception of a few HD channels. The seconds card worked for bassic channels such as CBS, ABC, or FOX, but it did not work for such networks as ESPN, TNT, or FX. The Tech also removed my cable modem from my account shutting down my internet.

I spend two hours on the phone getting my internet working on Saturday. I called Comcast today to resolve my cable issues. I informed the customer service rep that ESPN, TNT, FX was not working on one card and that TNTHD, UHD, and MOJO was not working on the other. The customer service rep tried to reset the cards but that did not work. I was on hold while the TiVo was restarting and I guess she was looking at my account. I was informed that I would no longer be getting TNTHD, UHD, ect unless I opted to pay an $11.99/month fee. I told her that this was unacceptable. At that moment I my TiVo was opperational and I informed her that her reset did not fix any problem. She then told me that I would need to schedual an appointment for a Tech to come out.

I then asked to be transfered to a manager. She flat out told me NO. After bantering with her she put me on hold for 10 minutes. I was then informed that no manager was available and that they would call me back. That was several hours ago.

I called back and asked to speak to a manager. I was transfered. There was no record about my previous request. I report my previous customer service rep and filed a complaint. I then spent the next 2 hours "trouble shooting" my problem. In the end I have my 3rd Tech coming out tomorrow.

So in the end I have a TiVo S3 I am stuck with, two worthless CableCards, several missing channels that I will not be getting back, and a larger bill.

Sweet!!!!